Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 Tools

    When you think of the world wide web and how it has grown, developed, and been shaped over the years, it is quite incredible to see how far it has progressed.  Back in the late 1990's, the internet was a novelty, where individuals would be able to use their internet dial up, and visit slow loading web pages to read information on various topics, news, and other growingly helpful websites.  You would then be able to use a word processing document, and type up information to be printed, or saved on your 3.5 inch floppy.  You could play games, and visit themed chat rooms and have text enabled discussions.  Today, computers, technology, and the world wide web has become ingrained in our culture, and has become a major part of how we lead our lives today.  Information is available in seconds, the amount of activity online continues to grow infinitely, and mainstream media and commerce is conducted through computers, tablets, and handheld devices.

Web 1.0

      It has been suggested, that the World Wide Web has gone through 2 main stages, with the third continuing to evolve today.  The first stage is Web 1.0.  This first implementation of the world wide web has been coined to be the "read-only web,'' by Berners-Lee.  http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/464-Basic-Definitions-Web-1-0-Web-2-0-Web-3-0
During these early stages of the internet, a user could visit static websites to obtain information.  The information was and is useful, but users had little to no interactivity with the site, in terms of developing or shaping the content within.  Quite often when a user visited the website, there would be little reason to return to it in the future.  http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-101.htm

Web 2.0



During the mid-2000's, the world wide web experienced a shift to more dynamic websites, where users would be able to shape the content and information contained within. The Web 2.0 shift to "read-write" websites can be characterized by the social media movement in technology, with the innovations of wikis, blogs, tags, and so forth. This new age has allowed users to contribute content and interact with other web users more easily, which has resulted in greater accessibility and a greater influence as to the content that is being displayed over the internet. Sites such as Pinterest, Youtube, and Twitter rely entirely on user driven information and content. As such, the most populated and visited websites today are those where user interactivity remains at the forefront of the webpage.

Web 3.0



http://diaryofanelearner.com/2013/04/10/web-2-0-vs-web-3-0-what-really-is-the-difference/

     Many techie enthusiasts and scholars believe we are about to enter the third stage of the evolution of the internet, while many believe that it is already here.  Web 3.o is a more semantic web, that makes the web not only a means of readability and interactivity with users, but also with machines as well.  This new web has computer applications that can speak to each other directly, and allow for broader searches for information through simpler interfaces.  http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/464-Basic-Definitions-Web-1-0-Web-2-0-Web-3-0
This can already be seen in Smart devices and smart phones used by millions of individuals worldwide.  The Smart device can track your location using standard GPS, and suggest places in the area you may to want try, giving you directions on how to get there, along with information about the menu as well as customer reviews.   Web 3.0 is here!

     Web 3.0 and Education

http://www.edudemic.com/what-is-web-3-0-and-how-will-it-change-education/

      Web 3.o will have a profound impact on the way we look at education in terms of delivery, content, accommodations, and assessment.  Learning will go beyond the classroom, and allow for students to access important information and stay in contact with the instructor beyond instructional hours.  Flipped classrooms, Blended Learning, and a Universal Design for education is a big part of the Web 3.0 movement in education.  Learning can be done at home, homework can be done at school, technology is being used to drive learning, and students are more engaged with online posts and discussions regarding content and understanding of new concepts and ideas.   The teacher is no longer the source of information, but rather the facilitator to growth and understanding.

     Assessment no longer needs to be done in terms of pencil and paper methods that is traditional to the classroom.  Students can utilize Web 3.0 tools to go on scavenger hunts and discover the mysteries of numerous ancient civilizations, or engage in online problem solving techniques to solve complex math tasks.  Novel summaries can be presented in blogs or posted online video reviews, and science experiments and technology designs can be accomplished through collaborative efforts using Web tools.  Web 3.0 provides for a more in depth educational experience, that can reach a variety of different types of learners.

      The slideshow below reviews this societal change of how we view the world today in Web 3.0, and its effects on education.

Preparing our students for Web 3.0 learning from Judy O'Connell

21st Century Learning and Leadership - A Narrative

     I truly believe that 21st Century Learning and Leadership can be characterized with one simple word: community.  The internet, social networking, social media, technology and communication, it has all developed into a giant community of individuals that have been linked together by a particular commonality.  These common links have spread rapidly and branched out into other links, which have connected individuals by means that many have never thought of before, or even thought possible.  We are a community of teachers, we are a community of learners, and as such, 21st Century Learning and Leadership has connected us together more effectively and has made the entire world a bit more of a smaller place for all of us to live in and connect with.

     Within all communities, individuals have different roles to play.  Those who have become adept with communication and technology have become leaders for 21st Century learning practice.  They have characterized the way we use these online tools, as well as how we can use them effectively for our own personal interests.  They are the go to’s when it comes to innovation and representation for effective communication of thoughts and ideas.  It is important to stay up to date with current technologies in order to maintain effectiveness and productivity within one’s chosen field.

    Within education, teachers and leaders have one simple goal, to educate our next generation or workers in the most efficient and effective means possible.  To do this properly, we need to embrace 21st Century tools to educate our students.  These tools provide an effective and engaging means for students to learn content, engage in inquiry, and acquire the skills that they need to become self sufficient community members.  These are the tools that they are going to need anyways once they enter today’s workforce.  The questions then lends itself, why use 21st Century tools sooner rather than later?… Because these are the tools that our learners are currently growing up with.

 

      With regards to social networking tools, I found that I was already using several tools that I first learned about through simple word of mouth; friends, family, and colleagues.  However, I found that there were many other social networking tools that I did not know about, or know that much about, and certainly did not know how to use.  Several of these I actually learned about while conversing with my students.  Applications such as Instagram, Dropbox, SnapChat, and even Twitter, I found my students knew more about than I did.  This is the age that they are growing up in, and as such, we as educators would be crazy to not use these tools in the classroom in order to connect with our students, and work towards building a community among our learners.   

      21st Teaching and learning within education encompasses two key focuses: connecting with our students, and connecting with our colleagues.  21st Century learning tools allow teachers to engage their students more effectively, by using these tools to communicate with students (and parents) beyond the classroom walls, present subject matter, and share student learning.  Since our students are a multitude of different learning types and styles, computer technology tools provides a means to educate all learners, with a variety of applications, software, websites, and programs that are meant to differentiate for all.  This leads to greater motivation and engagement among our students.  Likewise, 21st Century learning tools allows educators to connect with each other to share ideas, content, and pedagogy with one another.  Social networking has been a valuable asset, when sharing tools that would benefit our students.  I have found so many great ideas for my classroom and my own teaching practice over the past year, by accessing edublogs, wikis, Pinterest, and numerous other sources that could benefit the students of my classroom.

Pinterest Teaching Apps Board

     21st Century teaching and learning tools have so many upsides that could benefit education and learning.  However, it can seem overwhelming with just how many great resources and tools there are out there.  Furthermore, technology is continually evolving and changing, that it may seem hard to keep up.  The big thing for a person to remember, is that we are not alone.  This is a community, and as such, there are many places where an educator can find help.  One just sometimes needs to be pointed in the right direction.  That is where our education system and leaders in education and technology needs to focus, on making sure to send that individual in the right direction.  

Fair Use Revisited

     It is the role of the teacher as a leader to provide an access for communication, both with other educators as well as students, as it pertains to using and understanding 21st Century tools.  Utilizing various social networking sources is great means to share information and resources on websites, links, apps, and a variety of other resources as well as information, that can benefit teaching practice and pedagogy.  When accessing information on the web, teachers as well as students need to give credit as to where original ideas came from.  Accessing a slideshow on a news report for class use, or even during a staff meeting is a great way to model fair use.  Credit needs to be given to the original creator of the slideshow, but who decides to share his or her product with the internet community for transformative purposes.

Here is the link to my previous blog on Fair Use and the Creative Commons.

http://timstevens111.blogspot.ca/2014/02/fair-use-and-creative-commons.html

       In this post, I discussed the importance of students citing their sources when they obtain information from the internet.  Furthermore, I discussed the importance of utilizing the licensing features of the Creative Commons when they wish to share their ideas on the internet, but still maintain the credit for their original ideas.  In this day and age, referencing resources is so important, because of the speed and ease at which we can share information.  Before the internet, sourcing materials was done in regards to books, magazines articles, scholarly articles, and other informational sources.  It was easy to do and easy to see where information and original ideas first came from.  Now, it is extremely difficult to keep track of sources, as these sources of information have become less linear, and more of the web that is the internet.

     When discussing the resource of the Creative Commons with my staff members, I was not surprised in the least to see that no one, including my administration was familiar with the website.  I myself had not heard of it until recently, earlier on this year.  It is a shame, as it is something that can be extremely useful to the entire educational community.  We all use the internet to access information and resources for a variety of reasons, and especially in this age of social networking, more and more people are sharing their creative works with the internet.  The Creative Commons provides simple licensing for its users, so an individual may share a creative works throughout the internet, but still maintain credit for the original idea, as the works continues to be accessed and passed on from one user to the next.

      It is important that leaders are modeling fair use of content, as I have said for many years while teaching, we need to lead by example for our students, and other educators alike.  When we are accessing information from any website, that information needs to be cited.  When we are taking an idea from a project that was found online, that idea needs to be sourced.  When a clip from a video or slideshow is used to support a new idea or project, that clip or video needs to be referenced.   Leaders must lead by example, and source all original ideas and information, and teach others how to do so likewise, whether it be through P.D. or social networking sources.  The original author deserves that fact, as it is not only right thing to do, but it is law to do so.  We wouldn't want it any other way if it were our own ideas being sourced by other users.

      One final thought as it pertains to copyright and Creative Commons use; we would all want to ensure that if our ideas and creative works are being reused over the internet,  they are being reused within a means that we are comfortable with and that still respects the intent of the original work.  I'm always reminded of those Rick Mercer photo shop challenges, when an original photo is photo shopped in a way to make the focus individual appear in a more humorous depiction.  As funny as those after images are, I've always wondered how the subject of the picture feels about this new image.  Think of the Creative Commons as a sort of photo shop censor.  Your original works will only be re-shared in a way that you are comfortable with, rather than in a way that you just may not agree with or appreciate.

Links

      Here are a few links to my About Me page, Twitter account, Professional Blog, Livebinder for Math Resources, and Evernote link for Math Content.

About Me:  http://about.me/stevenstim

Twitter Account: timmeredu111

Blog: http://timstevens111.blogspot.ca/

Livebinder:   http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1341915 (Also embedded in a blog post)

Evernote:  https://www.evernote.com/shard/s469/sh/bd61ae5d-0811-4802-a494-aeda52c83a41/e0a6f2f9d812b7833a0f486898e49f20

You can also find me on Google +

Barriers for implementing 21st Century teaching and learning Tools

     With all the benefits of the continued use and promotion of 21st century teaching and learning tools, there still seems to be a lot of resistance on the part of educators and professionals for utilizing these tools on a regular basis, and in an effective manner.  As a teacher, I've always found the biggest issue standing in my way is that of time.  If I had the time to sit down for a few hours to test out and play with new apps, software, sites, or programs, I'd have very little difficulty in looking to apply these into my regular teaching practice.  However, with so many things that need to be done, both in and out of the classroom, along with the demands of everyday life and personal obligations, that time is not always so free and easy to obtain.  I've noted that many of my colleagues are often in the same situation.

     There are many other factors that can get in the way of implementing 21st century teaching and learning tools into classroom use.  Another large barrier is that of adequate resources.  Often, schools and educational institutions lack in the resources available for teachers to access 21st century tools.  A lack of technology or insufficient access to available technology, continuous time constraints, and inadequate technical support often get in the way of teachers attempting to use technology in the classroom.  I've found in my own board, this is a very real issue, especially among elementary schools in the district.

     Aside from a lack of resources, I've noticed others barriers that included an inadequate knowledge and skill set, as well as effective assessment strategies can be significant barriers to utilizing 21st century learning tools.  Many teachers lack the knowledge necessary to use specific types of technology, or are very hesitant to try new technologies they are unfamiliar with.  This is often enough for teachers to shy away from these tools, and they often lead to certain attitudes and beliefs forming about the full effectiveness of these tools in the classroom.  Furthermore, knowledge of effective assessment in program planning when using 21st century learning tools is very limited among many educators.  Many teachers simply do not know how to use these tools to assess their students, and they often view these tools as "a way to keep kids busy." (Ertmer, Addison, Lane, Ross, and Woods, 1999)

     For 21st century teaching and learning tools to be utilized effectively within the classroom, it is up to teacher leaders, school administration, and school boards to work together to educate educators on the pedagogy and assessment applications when utilizing these tools.  If boards and administration can provide their teachers with resources and release time necessary to work with these tools, then teacher leaders can work with educators on effectively using these tools in and out of the classroom and thus benefiting the educational development of all our students.

Social Networking Obligations in Education

Reflection Question Is there an obligation for leaders to use social networking tools in your own organization? Should leaders be transparent?

I believe that leaders in education, and in any field realistically, do not necessarily have an obligation to use social networking tools, however they do have an obligation to stay current with the latest trends, movements, and developments in education.  Where can you find and share these developments more easily and quickly; through social networking tools.  What better way to share great ideas and network with other professionals than to connect through Twitter and pass on information through the use of websites, blogs, and wikis.  

Teaching today is about professional development, examining our own practices to ensure that we are delivering content and curriculum effectively to our students, and in such a way as to keep them motivated, interested, and engaged.  Collaboration and communication is essential for this process to reach our students, as educators need to connect with other professionals to obtain a wide variety of teaching strategies and methods.  No two students are alike, as our children are learners of all different types and intelligences.  To differentiate effectively for our students, we as educators have a responsibility to address these student needs, and as such, leaders in education must connect with each other to share information effectively.  This is where social networking becomes crucial for effective professional development.

For leaders, principals, teachers, coaches, and schools alike, the rewards of accessing social networking are already apparent.  Many schools are using Twitter and Facebook accounts to post announcements, share school updates, and let the community know about school events that are occurring.  New Milford High School in New Jersey is one such school that has taken to social networking to inform parents, students, and educators alike on the great things happening at their school.  You can access their sites below.

http://twitter.com/newmilfordhs

www.facebook.com/pages/New-Milford-NJ/New-Milford-High-School/114382501908040

Bill Curry, head coach of the Georgia State football team has embraced the use of social media and social networking.  He has his own Twitter feed and Facebook page, as he, along with numerous other coaches within all sports, has discovered that any one of his recruits could be reached at any time through social media sites.  Here are the links to his pages here.

https://www.facebook.com/bill.curry.9275

https://twitter.com/coachbillcurry

The results are significant, leaders within education and athletics have had significant results by utilizing the benefits of social media.

Social Networking Supporting Teaching Staff

How can the use of Twitter or other social networking tools help leaders support staff? How is this different from other methods?

Personally, I have found the use of Twitter and other social networking tools to be a great resource to support my colleagues and fellow educators. I am always discovering fantastic links with great ideas to support a wide spectrum of educational development.  Staff members can access information on my twitter account, within my blog, in my Livebinder, or through my Delicious links to obtain resources, ideas, and materials to support their own teaching practices.  

Within my own school board, there is a huge push to support mathematics, with math learning and math talks.  I recently attended a workshop outlining some of the features of the Dreambox math application.  It is not only a great tool to use to aid in the attribution and development of math concepts, but it also provides a wide variety of reports to assist teachers in assessing their students.  The information I learned in this workshop I can easily pass off to my colleagues in my school through social media.  Then can access a tweet from me, that would give them access to a powerpoint presentation, or the Google docs document that was shared with me during the workshop.  This would give them instant access to the information I obtained, which would allow them to quickly and easily adapt the ideas and concepts within, into their own use of the Dreambox software.

Social Networking is different from other methods, simply because of the little amount of time it takes to share the information and learning.  Previously, the learning that I obtained during this staff meeting would be later shared with my teaching partners at the staff meeting for the following month… that is, if there was time and room on the agenda!  With social media, the information can be shared instantly, allowing teachers to adapt the concepts immediately, and thusly benefitting the students more promptly.

Social Networking and Teacher Leaders

Reflection Question 

How can teacher leaders, coaches, consultants, etc.,  use/teach social networking tools in their roles (Provide rationale about why (or not) these skills should be addressed or used at the leadership level.

(200 words..)

Social networking tools have revolutionized the way we share and process information. Living in the age of communication, society has managed to make the sharing of news, events, and activities almost instantaneously through the use of social media.  No longer do we have to wait for the morning paper, the six o’clock news, or word from friends to spread about interesting and important situations within our community. Social networking and social media has allowed us to share information in real time, not after the event has occurred, but while it is currently unfolding.  

The use of these tools can greatly benefit teacher leaders, coaches, consultants, and many other individuals in education.  Teacher leaders can utilize the benefits of social networking, by sharing their knowledge and professional development instantly with other educators. They no longer have to wait until staff meetings to take place, as information can be shared immediately within an appropriate platform.  Meetings don’t even need to take place in person, as a leaders can correspond with peers through a variety of platforms, whether it be a document on google docs, or a face to face conference using Skype.   

Furthermore, the use of social networking tools have allowed leaders to develop personal learning networks among peers for professional development. Individuals can network with other leaders in a variety of fields 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with the use of Twitter, Google+, and Linked In.  What use to take years to establish, when developing a network of contacts professional development, can now occur in the space of just days and weeks.