Web 2.0 workshop

Web 2.0 and implications for higher education Martin Weller

Outline
Some web 2.0 definitions
Web 2.0 examples and transitions
Activity 1
Web 2.0 implications for higher education
Activity 2
Discussion

What is Web 2.0
Both an approach and a set of technologies
Web as platform
Harnessing collective intelligence
Evolutionary development
Lightweight programming models
This time, though, the clash isn't between a platform and an application, but between two platforms, each with a radically different business model: On the one side, a single software provider, whose massive installed base and tightly integrated operating system and APIs give control over the programming paradigm; on the other, a system without an owner, tied together by a set of protocols, open standards and agreements for cooperation “ users add value and the technology or site needs to be set up so that it encourages participation” Users must be treated as co-developers , … The open source dictum, “release early and release often” in fact has morphed into an even more radical position, “the perpetual beta,” in which the product is developed in the open, with new features slipstreamed in on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis….

What is Web 2.0?
The transition of websites from isolated information silos to sources of content and functionality , thus becoming computing platforms serving web applications to end users
A social phenomenon referring to an approach to creating and distributing Web content itself, characterized by open communication, decentralization of authority, freedom to share and re-use , and "the market as a conversation"
A more organized and categorized content, with a far more developed deeplinking web architecture
A shift in economic value of the web, possibly surpassing that of the dot com boom of the late 1990s
A marketing term to differentiate new web businesses from those of the dot com boom, which due to the bust now seem discredited
The resurgence of excitement around the possibilities of innovative web applications and services that gained a lot of momentum around mid 2005
Wikipedia

What is web 2.0
Ajax, Democracy, Don’t mistreat users (Paul Graham)
Writing semantic markup (transition to XML)
Providing Web services (moving away from place)
Remixing content (about when and what, not who or why)
Emergent navigation and relevance (users are in control)
Adding metadata over time (communities building social information)
Shift to programming (separation of structure and style)
(Digital Web)

Some Web 2.0 transformations
Web 1.0
Ofoto
mp3.com
Britannica Online
personal websites
Publishing
content management systems
directories (taxonomy)
Stickiness
Web 2.0 Flickr Napster Wikipedia Blogging Participation wikis tagging ("folksonomy”) syndication

Take one example
Stickiness
Don’t want lots of info – want appropriate chunks
Changes the way you write content
Loss of central control
Loss of context
Increased user control
Form of personalisation
Increased currency
Syndication

Techie side
RSS – Really Simple Syndication (or sometimes Rich Site Summary). Allows users to subscribe to web sites that are updated regularly.
API –Application Program Interface. This is a set of routines or protocols for developing or interfacing with a piece of software.
Mash up – this term refers to the process of mixing two or more different services together to create a new type of service. It is at the heart of much of the web 2.0 approach. E.g. Housingmaps .

Some web 2.0 examples
Netvibes
Flickr
Wikipedia
Del.icio.us
43Things
YouTube

Analysing Web 2.0 characteristics
The Long Tail
Data is the Next Intel Inside
Users Add Value
Network Effects by Default
Some Rights Reserved
The Perpetual Beta
Cooperate, Don't Control
Software Above the Level of a Single Device
Tim O’Reilly (2005) What is Web 2.0? http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

Web 2.0 and OpenLearn Use XML as the basis for our material and work on conversion to accessible formats such as DAISY and to be viewable as print and mobile. Software Above the Level of a Single Device 8 Separate availability of sensemaking tools and look for new tools to come in from the users. Cooperate, Don't Control 7 Release new tools in the LabSpace while monitoring use and getting feedback from users The Perpetual Beta 6 Adopt Creative Commons and make clear that reuse is permitted and encouraged. Some Rights Reserved 5 Let users rank content easily and use highlight active areas to identify what is working and where users are going. Network Effects by Default 4 Allow users to contribute to increase the value of existing content by participation in forums and journal, and by providing new content in the LabSpace. Users Add Value 3 Build on the quality assured content that we have. Data is the Next Intel Inside 2 Offer specialist subjects and consider everyone as a potential user The Long Tail: 1 Impact on OpenLearn O’Reilly’s advice No.

Activity 1 - Individual
Specify three characteristics that you think typify web 2.0 applications or approaches.
Identify any part of your current (personal or professional) activity that can be identified as web 2.0 and state why it corresponds to the principles you have specified in part a)
Now think of an activity you do that could be enhanced or altered by adopting a web 2.0 approach, stating how it would be changed.

Technology Implications
Good technologies we can use e.g. Flickr, delicious, Google Maps, RSS feeds.
Do they constitute a Personal Learning Environment?
Should we outsource technical developments e.g. Google Apps for your domain?
How do we recognise the toolset students bring to study?
"Compared with the staid corporate-software industry, using these services is like “receiving technology from an advanced civilisation”,

Technology implications (2)
Web 2.0 vs. VLE
VLE is good because:
It cannot be assumed that all students have tools or adequate technological skills.
In order to facilitate a lot of functions, it is necessary to integrate tools with existing institutional systems. This type of integration is difficult to achieve with many different tools.
By providing one central system technological support, for example a help desk, can be provided.
In order to facilitate some group tasks it is necessary for students to be using the same systems
Ignores general competence and the wealth of consumer technologies

Social implications
As much a social phenomenon as a technological one
E.g. blogs and traditional broadcast
Democracy – at odds with HE hierarchical approach?
Collective intelligence – quality, academic role
Reuse – assessment, academic role
Who decides quality?

Activity 2 - Groups
http://www.go2web20.net/
Choose one of these (preferably one you are not familiar with) and give an example of how it may be implemented in education.
(For an example, see my blog posting on the potential use of Blufr in education).

Some questions for the OU
Can we understand our student needs if we don’t understand web 2.0?
What impact will it have on how we design and run courses?
Are we ready to let go?
Is it here to stay?
What are the exciting things we can do?
What tools should we be looking at?
What research should we be doing?

http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk	157
http://research.edu.uea.ac.uk	44
http://www.via6.com	5
http://webopedia2.wordpress.com	5
http://edgarleguizamontarazona.wordpress.com	4
http://www.slideshare.net	4
http://nogoodreason.typepad.co.uk:80	1
http://72.14.205.104	1
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http://edtechlady.blogspot.com	1

Web 2.0 workshop

by Martin Weller

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