Building a Web 2.0 Classroom (Pt.2)

In part 2, Mr. Murphy takes the audience through a research project and demonstrates how each of the ten skills is used to gather info and media to produce a multimedia project within a wiki. The whole process ultimately becomes a "community of online projects" which then allows for comments, elaboration, and collaboration. "Community needs to be infused" into a Web 2.0 classroom to allow the "conversation" to take place. The conversation becomes just as important as the project because it makes the project more valuable and meaningful.

Mr. Murphy explains it better than I am able:

Content is cool but……its all about the community conversations!

This idea refers to the deeper value of web 2.0 for teachers and students. Often the initial attraction to the web involves the ability to self publish, use images, slideshow, video etc. And teachers and students take the self publishing processes as the primary participation in the web 2.0 experience. What these participants soon discover, however, is that the value of content is not in making and presenting it, but in having it viewed and commented on and the ensuing conversations that come out of the content presentation process. Making content without audience is a process that ends right when it should be growing. The online world lets the conversation continue and gives the content making process more value and meaning.

Another point that I found revealing is Mr. Murphy's discussion of the "process of proximity." In the video he demonstrates how cutting & pasting, moving & aligning, etc. are actually ways to gather and place info closer together for easier understanding. And Web 2.0 is a process that brings people closer together in terms of time and space.

I highly recommend this K12OnlineConference2007 presentation, the author's blog and his GoogleVideos to anyone who wants to understand Web 2.0 and how it will allow classroom learning to become more meaningful for students in today's world.

Building a Web 2.0 Classroom

Here is another great presentation from the K12OnlineConference2007, Step by Step: Building a Web2.0 Classroom. I've listened and watched part 1 only at this point. The presentor, Drew Murphy, explains and demonstrates 10 basic skills he feels are needed to understand and use Web 2.0 more effectively. These skills are not new to me, especially after completeing the CSLA tutorial, however, since I always find it hard to break down the big picture into smaller bytes, this part of the presentation allowed me to step back and review how I have been able to make progress in my personal exploration of Web 2.0.

Mr. Murphy groups the 10 skills into three activities: Exploring & Participating; Deconstructing & Reconstructing; and Connecting and Creating. These activities are what make the new Web experiences, 2.0.

I've listened to part 2 and can't wait to complete the download of the video to see the examples he uses to apply the 10 skills in a Web 2.0 classroom project.

Metamurphism, Drew Murphy's blog, contains the videos and notes. (Use the tabs at the top, Web2.0, part 1; Web2.0, part 2; and Be the Box)

Return from Texas

I've been visiting my sister in Texas and her DSL was on the blink so I didn't get much chance to continue my Web2.0 explorations. Got back yesterday and have been trying to get caught up with my home-based email and a few of my RSS feeds. Here's a cute video, Librarian's Blues, that was posted on American Libraries Direct, October 24, 2007.



Well, enough fun for now, back to work. There are so many great learning opportunities available right now! SO much to learn and so little time.

• I have to finish exploring the Collaborative Web Pageflake. I think there are still 3 applications to learn about; Thinkature, VoiceThread, and JayCut.
• And then of course there are all the different presentations from K-12 Online Conference 2007. Let's see...there were 4 different strands with 9 presentations each and a keynote for each strand = 40 presentations, of which I have listened to 10 and viewed 1 of those. I've got a ways to go before I complete this conference.
• Then there's the AASL 13th National Conference which took place in Reno, Nevada. I can peruse the handouts, only about 100 of them (I'm not kidding), to help me decide if I want to purchase the conference DVD and/or CDs.
• In addition to the conference recordings, the AASL online learning e-Academy (if you have trouble with this link, keep trying. I got errors many times before getting the proper page. I'm not sure if the ALA website is still being revised, like WEMTA's) offers online courses and the Digital Institute 2007.
• And last but not least are the new AASL Learning Standards (pdf) to peruse and digest.

See what I mean???