SchoolArts - December 2008

Technology
Web 2.0: The Read Write Web

Angela V. Christopher

Illustration by Cindy Hasio

Afew months ago, I could not have explained Web 2.0. If you had asked me how it would impact teaching and learning in the classroom, I might have struggled to give an intelligent answer.

My ignorance has begun to fade with experiences associated with the instructional design and technology course I am taking. As a result, I can converse with some intelligence on the topics of wikis, blogs, web-based tools, office suites, social bookmarking sites, and widgets. Best of all, I feel confident enough to blog about Web 2.0.

Web 2.0

Just a few years ago, individuals uploaded information to the Web and the public retrieved information when it was needed—this is what we call Web 1.0, or information retrieval. In today’s Web 2.0 world, individuals not only upload information to the Web, but they also share information and collaborate freely. This is called the Read

Write Web, or

Web 2.0.

Today, individuals interested in collaborating on a particular topic are creating wikis to encourage others to contribute to and edit the content of a site. People with similar professional backgrounds or interests are also forming groups in social networks and in social bookmarking sites like Diigo (www.diigo. com) or Del.icio.us ( delicious.com). Professionals and students are using

web-based office suites like Google Docs ( docs.google.com) or Zoho ( zoho.com) to “peer edit” papers and share data. The examples of Web 2.0 technologies are growing daily, and I have reviewed some of my favorites here.

Blogging

I have developed a blog, AestheTECH ( aesthetech.weebly.com/blog.html), using a web-based developer called

Weebly (www.

In today’s Web 2.0 world, weebly.com).
individuals not only upload ^Aside ^from ^beinginformation to the Web, but ^completely ^free,the simplicity of
they also share information _the _developmentand collaborate freely. _tool _is _its _bestfeature. The drag-
and-drop elements allow the user to
add text and titles, video, audio, RSS
feed, and other widgets—all without
having to know how any of it works.

Social Bookmarking Social bookmarking is also an awesome technology. Sites like Diigo provide tools to highlight text, add

sticky notes, and share your favorite pages with the general public, or with a particular group.

Social and professional
networks provide excellent
avenues for professionals
to collaborate, discuss, and
share information. This
spring, I joined Art Educa-
tion 2.0 ( arted20.ning.com),
a social network developed
by Craig Roland that aims to
bring together art educators,
particularly those who have
a passion for new technol-
ogy. The benefits of this type
of membership are amazing:
if I have a question, I just
ask and a community of
experts is available to guide
me. I can post new tools, sources of
information, or great lesson plans. For
a teacher who is usually the only one
in her content area (talk about feeling
isolated) Art Education 2.0 provides
an amazing amount of information
and support.

Finally, there are tools out there that are free and fun to use for students as well as teachers. Anyone can create slideshows in Zoho, Google Docs, or Slideshare ( www.slideshare. net) and embed the slideshow directly into a webpage, e-mail, or document. Two of my most recent favorite free-bees are Toondoo ( www.toondoo. com) and Mr. Picasso Head (www. mrpicassohead.com).

It seems that developers and the public have decided that the benefits of sharing information far outweigh the benefits of receiving 100% credit. New ideas tend to surface when debate and collaboration take place and Web 2.0 makes it possible to collaborate with anyone, anywhere, any time, about anything.