Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]

Welcome to the
California League of High Schools/
National High School Association
2009 Annual Conference
Monterey, California

Making Heads or
Tails of Web 2.0

– for School
Administrators
Ellen Faden is a former Senior Technical Writer
and current Substitute Teacher seeking a District
Chinese Dragon Image
Courtesy of Newton Public Schools Internship in English at the Middle/High School
Newton, Massachusetts level in California. Please call (415) 342-1552

Copyright 2009 Marin Documentation Group
www.marindocgroup.com

Goals
 To be able to make beneficial
suggestions to your staff;

 To begin considering a new
direction in the adoption of state of
the art software in your District; and

 To tame the Web 2.0 dragon!


Overview
What is Web 2.0 – from an Administrator’s Point of View?

 A collection of software tools, such as Blogs, Wikis, Websites,
Document Sharing and Content/Learning Management Systems
that enhance student learning and reduce costs in your District; or,
a group of programs that foster collaboration and revolutionize the
way you do business;

 Most programs are free;

 They do not have to be adopted all at once;

 Recommending the tools or products discussed in this
presentation will not leave you in the lurch because they will not
become obsolete;

 And, over the long-run, the offset in costs from adopting Web 2.0
tools will be significant. The scenario is in reducing costs of
technology while hiring a technical project manager or consultant
who can lead your District in the efficient use of these tools.

So, how can your District move towards effectively
implementing the promise of Web 2.0?


Basic Web 2.0 Architecture

-- Discuss: if this is your District Server, what programs can users
download onto their clients?

Accessing Web 2.0
Applications
Many Web 2.0 applications are freely
downloadable from the Internet, unblocked by
District servers. Others, such as MySpace™,
are restricted, based on your District’s
Acceptable Use Policy. Web 2.0 client
programs are so easy to use that they do not
require helpdesk support; instead, they are
maintained on the manufacturer’s server.

Because some students and teachers are
already familiar with downloading, you may
find a variety of them already in use in your
District. This is OK because they serve the
ultimate purpose of interaction and
collaboration, and cost nothing to maintain.

The Magic of Web Browsers

Web Browsers provide links from
a computer to Internet web
pages. Internet Explorer™, the
first browser, is still used on most
District servers. Mozilla Firefox™
and Google Chrome™ are two
recent Browsers. Whether your
teachers use IE, Firefox, or
Chrome is of no consequence.
Once again, the resulting access
to information is the goal of this
tool.


Web 2.0 Programs

Browsers enable you to find the
collaborative Web 2.0 programs Websites
that are out there in cyberspace.
You might type something like Blogs
“teaching websites,” or “academic
wikis” into the Google™ Search
Wikis
Engine to find some of them.
Recommendations are found at Content Management
the end of this slideshow. Systems


California League of High Schools/National

Web 2.0 Programs High School Association Annual Conference -
2009

A classroom teacher
may have a Website,
Blog, Wiki, or any
Websites
combination thereof.
Some Wiki development
Blogs –“Diaries” that
programs (and others)
present information
also provide Blogs,
by date
demonstrating how the
functions of Web 2.0 Wikis – Encyclopedic”
tools overlap. So, content repositories
whether a teacher uses
a particular Blog or a
Wiki Development Content/Learning
Program doesn’t really Management Systems
matter…until such time
May replace district records,
as your District enacts
assessments, and more
standard usage policies.


Websites
Many staff have already begun to
create Websites with Web 2.0 tools. As
an Administrator:

Familiarize yourself with your
District’s Website and those of its
individual schools;

 Suggest Website Development
Programs to begin developing
standards in your District. Suggestions
are listed at the end of this
presentation.

Samples:
New York City Los Angeles Berkeley

College Park High School, Pleasant Hill, CA


Website Development
Programs
To establish a common learning curve
for students, you may eventually want to
suggest one Website Development
Program to your teachers. If some
teachers are already using one, have
them discuss its pros and cons at a staff
meeting or in a Learning Community.
Free Website Development Programs
can slay computer costs. Adobe®
Dreamweaver® costs $399, while
Google Sites is free. “We use Dreamweaver primarily with some Flash and
Fireworks thrown in. I used a third-party vendor for the
drop-down menu…I update daily as necessary. I have one
Further recommendations are on the student helper who was in the web design class last year
final slide. and so has the required skills to make edits. He does the
flash banner on the front page among other special effects.”
- High School Webmaster


Blogs
A Blog (a contraction of the words
“web log”) is a dated diary
maintained by its owner that focuses
on topics of interest to its
subscribers. Subscribers may also
add comments, images, etc.

With a classroom Blog, students
read information, add commentary,
describe events, and upload
graphics or videos. A teacher usually
has either a Website or a Blog.

Recommendations are provided at A blog created by “Cordle”
the end.


Wikis
Wikis provide information by topic,
like an encyclopedia. Wikipedia,
the most famous wiki is not
citable, as anyone may contribute
at any time.

Once a subscriber receives a log-
in id to a classroom wiki, they can
freely contribute to it. Teachers
and student teams can monitor
content for relevance and
accuracy, and edit their classroom
wiki over time. Wikis are a great
application for subjects such as
journalism and history.

Wiki Development Programs

Wikispaces (for educators)
and Mediawiki are two
wonderful programs. It
would be difficult to
recommend one over the
other!


Document Sharing Programs
Document Sharing Programs
are fantastic collaborative
tools for project-based
learning and writing. They
enable users to access a
document, spreadsheet, or
presentation at school or at
home, and to update it at any
time.

One English/History team
used Document Sharing to -- Discuss: Lotus Notes™ story?
develop National Geographic-
type brochures about
California cities.

Content/Learning Management
Systems

LMS or CMS’s are the crowning jewel of Web 2.0 programs. Open Source, or
peer-developed software, is created by sophisticated users to meet particular
needs, and to share their programming prowess freely with others. Many Open
Source programs provide equal functionality (if not greater) than very
expensive ones. For example, Moodle is “designed using sound pedagogical
principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. It
can be downloaded and used on any computer and it can scale from a single-
teacher site to a University with 200,000 students.” – Moodle Website --- and,
it is free.

The main expense in implementing Open Source Software in your District is
paying the salary of the person who will manage the project. Investing in
technical project management will, over the long run, be more fruitful than
investing in expensive, outdated products.


Resources I.
Access the links to all of these sources from Slideshare on individual computers.
Website, Blog, and Wiki Development Programs: Content/Learning Management Systems:
Google Moodle is a Course Management System (CMS), also
known as a Learning Management System, (LMS), or a
Weebly
Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It's a free Open
ClassTell Source web application designed to help educators
create effective online learning sites.
Wix
Samples:
MediaWiki
http://moodle.sandi.net/
Wikispaces
http://imoodle.imgsoftware.com/worcester/
Document Sharing Programs:
http://roseburg.eduhost.org/
Google Docs™ provides a program suite similar to
Microsoft Office™. The documents reside on Google’s http://moodle.howeschools.org/moodle18/
server, making them accessible and sharable by
http://westerly.k12.ri.us/moodle/
registered users. They can be downloaded to client
devices in Microsoft (and other) formats. Users log in to http://bhs.berkeley.net/index.php?page=moodle
Google and access documents from anywhere: at home,
Ms. Faden is a Moodle Consultant
in school, or on a trip. Google Docs is highly
recommended for teachers and students, because it The first and only strategic solution for connecting K-12
effects collaboration and saves time and lots of paper! communities: (not Open Source)
More importantly Google Docs eliminates the Schoolwires (Alameda County)
dependency on paying to upgrade Microsoft applications


Resources II.
Google for Educators Technology in Education:
http://www.cited.org/webinars.html
Clear and Understandable Applications for
For Teachers:
Students, Educators, and Administrators
Online Magazines: AVG Personal Antivirus
Education Week School Technology Funding:
Important News regarding Campus Technology and Technology Grant News and Index
Security
Marin Documentation Group Resources:
T.H.E. Journal is dedicated to informing and
educating K-12 senior-level district and school
Website
administrators, technologists, and tech-savvy
Wiki
educators within districts, schools, and classrooms
Ellen Faden Resume
to improve and advance the learning process
through the use of technology.
Web Browsers:
http://www.thejournal.com/
Associations: Firefox
Chrome
California Educational Technology Professionals
SeaMonkey
Association
Advanced K-12 Technology Leadership
PBS for Teachers


Resources III.
Non-Academic Content Management System School and church Web sites
Personal or family homepages
Joomla Information
Who uses Joomla?
Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS),
which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online View these Joomla sites to understand the “look and feel” of Web 2.0
applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and programs:
extensibility, have made Joomla the most popular Web site software
United Nations (Governmental organization) - http://www.unric.org
available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely
available to everyone.
MTV Networks Quizilla (Social networking) - http://www.quizilla.com
What's a content management system (CMS)?A content
L.A. Weekly (Online publication) - http://www.laweekly.com
management system is software that keeps track of every piece of
content on your Web site, much like your local public library keeps
IHOP (Restaurant chain) - http://www.ihop.com
track of books and stores them. Content can be simple text, photos,
music, video, documents, or just about anything you can think of. A
Harvard University (Educational) - http://gsas.harvard.edu
major advantage of using a CMS is that it requires almost no
technical skill or knowledge to manage. Since the CMS manages all
Citibank (Financial institution intranet) - Not publicly accessible
your content, you don't have to.
The Green Maven (Eco-resources) - http://www.greenmaven.com
What are some real world examples of what Joomla! can do?
Joomla is used all over the world to power Web sites of all shapes Outdoor Photographer (Magazine) -
and sizes. For example: http://www.outdoorphotographer.com
Corporate Web sites or portals
PlayShakespeare.com (Cultural) - http://www.playshakespeare.com
Corporate intranets and extranets
Online magazines, newspapers, and publications
Senso Interiors (Furniture design) - http://www.sensointeriors.co.za
E-commerce and online reservations
Government applications
More examples of companies using Joomla can be found in the
Small business Web sites
Joomla Site Showcase Forum.
Non-profit and organizational Web sites
Community-based portals


Conclusion

I hope this presentation
has pointed you in the
successful direction of
Making Heads or Tails of
Web 2.0!
Ellen Faden
(415) 342-1552
Marin Documentation Group Image
Courtesy of artist, Lexi Rubin,
College Park High School
Pleasant Hill, CA

Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (19)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (10)

Similar to Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]

Similar to Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1] (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]