The only Web 2.0 software that I can remember having experience with are facebook.com and wordpress.com. I have had experience blogging using wordpress.com before for wnst.com a Baltimore based sports website and I have continued to blog for ISTC 501. Blogging is an interesting way to reach people with content generated or gathered by myself and it allows me to interact with people in many different ways. I can post comments on other blogs, receive comments on my blog, respond to my comments, rate people’s blogs, etc. A blog is very customizable and therefore represents the author; however, if the poster wishes to remain anonymous that is also possible. A blog can be used in a serious manner or in a very informal one. Various types of multimedia can be featured on one blog as blogs can be extremely interactive. Blogs can also feature polls and hit counters to display their popularity.
I have used facebook.com since I started college. At the time my younger sister introduced me to it I was very skeptical. I soon got the hang of it and I have been hooked ever since. Facebook can be negative in some ways as keeping up with everyone’s status is an endless task. The best part about facebook is the sharing of information, photos, etc that can be done in an instant. It is an upgrade over software such as AIM that I experienced in my younger days because it is easier faster and combines email, instant messaging, file sharing, etc all in one package. One could spend hours taking quizzes, talking with friends, and just about anything else on facebook.
The types of Web 2.0 software we examined today in class have a much more beneficial side as far as education is concerned. It is amazing what technology can do for learning if utilized properly. We examined the site wePapers.com which is supposed to be a place for people to share academic papers, form study groups, etc, but I think it may be a place used to plagiarize other’s work. The internet can be used in both for good and bad intentions and as a teacher I have to model the proper use of these powerful tools.
2 Comments
I have also not used a lot of Web 2.0 tools but I do see the benefits of using such tools in the classroom. I am also a Facebook member (obvi). I feel like Facebook is just getting too technical and sortof scary. You can see what people are doing at all times while on Facebook and now you can leave away messages and talk to friends through their message system. I don’t know, it might be becoming a little too much.
Nice post:)
Regarding wePapers.com , I think it’s true that the knowledge on the web can be used to plagiarize. You can say it on sites like wikipedia as well, but the fact is that wePapers holds high end academic knowledge as presentations, articles and notes which are almost impossible to find due to anti open access on academia.