University of Glamorgan An LCSS-LR Guide to... USING WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES TO ENHANCE TEACHING, LEARNING AND RESEARCH Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of web-based communities and hosted services that aim to facilitate collaboration, communication, content generation and sharing between users. Although the term Web 2.0 suggests a new version of the web, it does not refer to an update of any technical specifications. It means that there has been a change in the way that software developers and end-users use the web. We can now all use the Internet to do things for ourselves, without needing any technical knowledge and mostly free of charge. Web 2.0 is a generic term for a wide range of resources, known as social tools, now available on the Internet; also a generic term for a massive change in culture. This guide provides examples of ways in which Web 2.0 technologies — normally regarded as leisure activities — can be used to engage learners in the 21st Century. Web 2.0 is not only changing the way we learn, but also how we: use the web; find information; use information; do our jobs; interact with people; and look at everything! Contents Connect with friends and family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Connect with colleagues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Share information with other people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 enhancing Send short, quick messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 through Share your research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 learning technology Share your thoughts in an online diary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Make your own audio or video broadcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Build a collaborative website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Stay up to date with RSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 The Common Craft Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES IS Customer Support Services (LCSS) issupport@glam.ac.uk +44 (0)1443 482882 EST152-01LRC released March 2009 • © University of Glamorgan 2009 LRC Guide… Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Enhance Teaching, Learning and Research If you are interested in Web 2.0, then the only way to really ‘get’ it is to participate and join the conversation. Try to embrace the functionality of the tools, but not the tools themselves as you may find that they will come and go. Think of Web 2.0 as a state of mind, and you will quickly discover how many of the tools will save you time and make your life easier, whilst others are just for fun. The examples listed in this guide have been selected because of their popularity, they give a rough idea of Web 2.0 functionality, and we believe they are what people at the University are using now. Connect with friends and and family Implications for teaching, learning and research The general view of younger generations is that ‘e-mail is for old people’. Social networking sites have become part of the daily routine for millions of Internet users, and they are where our students congregate. Maybe we now need to find ways to take our expertise and learning processes to where they are (that is if they want us there!). An understanding of privacy issues on such services is important. It will help us to emphasise to students that, as they reach their final years of study, they need to present themselves in a good light when seeking employment. Many employers are known to look up job applicants on such sites. Students may also need advice on privacy and security issues. Examples of social networking tools http://www.bebo.com http://www.facebook.com http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk http://www.myspace.com http://www.ning.com (create your own social networking site) http://secondlife.com (a 3-D virtual world created entirely by its residents) Connect with colleagues to create professional or business networks Implications for teaching, learning and research Social networking sites also cater for networking on a professional level. These sites provide various ways in which you can make connections, so why not set up a personal profile, link it with your colleagues’ profiles, and see where it takes you? Examples of professional networking tools http://www.academia.edu http://www.linkedin.com http://secondlifegrid.net (enables your organisation to create a public or private space on Second Life™ using their 3-D virtual world technology) 2 THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES Share information with other people Implications for teaching, learning and research Content sharing allows for improved collaboration on all sorts of things. You could send/share files, so that, for example, ‘work in progress’ is available for comment. Or, you can simply share your favourite bookmarks (i.e. links to your favoured websites), video clips, your PowerPoint slides, spreadsheets etc., with selected people, the whole world, or no one if you prefer! To make it easier to share content, tagging services (where available), allow you to ‘tag’, with a word meaningful to you, resources within a web site (e.g. an advert to sell your banjo on Inform, a well-used website bookmarked using del.icio.us, or a favourite photograph uploaded to Flickr). Tagging make it easier for you to find things again, as well as to share your favourites with other people. Furthermore, tags are useful for people who prefer to use layman’s terms to find information, because they bridge the gap between controlled vocabulary indexing and the use of plain language. Examples of content sharing tools Documents: http://www.sharecow.com http://docs.google.com Flow charts, diagrams etc: http://www.gliffy.com Photographs: http://www.flickr.com http://photobucket.com (photograph management sites give students studying photography or other art-related subjects the opportunity to receive feedback, and engage with both experts and amateur enthusiasts) PowerPoint Slides: http://www.slideshare.net Social Bookmarking: http://del.icio.us http://digg.com http://discover.theiet.org (the Institution of Engineering and Technology has created ‘IET Discover’ to allow engineers to search peer-reviewed articles, reports and resources that other engineers are finding useful) http://www.furl.net http://www.stumbleupon.com Spreadsheets: http://numsum.com To-do Lists: http://www.tadalist.com Video Clips: http://www.teachertube.com http://www.youtube.com THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES 3 LRC Guide… Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Enhance Teaching, Learning and Research Send short, quick messages Implications for teaching, learning and research Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time synchronous online chat. If you type an instant message, it goes straight to the person and appears on their computer screen almost immediately. Examples of instant messaging tools http://www.meebo.com http://webmessenger.msn.com http://www.plugoo.com http://www.skype.com http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com IM can also be used to send files or to conduct voice conversations over the Internet. It can provide many benefits as an instant and effective method of communicating, especially for those who are geographically challenged. Share your thoughts in an online diary or journal, or simply let other people know what you are doing Implications for teaching, learning and research A blog, short for weblog, is a form of online diary or journal, and its popularity has grown remarkably in recent years. Blogs are commonly used as a tool for teaching and reflection, as well as for one-to-many communication. For example, an academic could use a blog for sharing course announcements, news and feedback with students. Microblogging is a variation that typically involves publishing very short messages instead of lengthy prose. This can be as simple as updating your Facebook status to let your friends know what you are doing now, but the best current example is known as ‘twittering’ (see below). Examples of blogging tools http://www.blogger.com http://www.glam.ac.uk/blogs/1441 (see all Glamorgan blogs in the University’s Blog Network) http://www.typepad.com http://www.livejournal.com http://twitter.com (provide updates for family and friends about the basic question: “What are you doing?”) http://wordpress.com 4 THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES Make your own audio or video broadcasts Implications for teaching, learning and research Podcasts were originally popularised by the introduction of iPods, and as such the name comes from a blend of the words ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcast’. A podcast is essentially an audio broadcast that is hosted on a web site, and thus becomes available on demand. Video podcasts (sometimes shortened to vidcast or vodcast) are used to deliver video clips. Both can be listened to or watched online, or downloaded to a ‘podcatcher’ such as iTunes, or to a portable device such as an iPod or MP3 player. Podcasting for pedagogic purposes is an emerging force in Higher Education. It is now possible for you to create your own interesting and stimulating content, and all you need is a microphone, video camera and a connection to the Internet. There are endless possibilities for the use of podcasts in education. For example, students could use podcasts as an alternative publishing tool for assignments and presentations. You could use podcasts to broadcast many types of messages for example, to preview forthcoming lectures, to record and share discussion groups or maybe even an interview with a professional in your field, to provide faculty or campus tours, and so on. Podcasting is particularly useful in distance learning to enhance tutor-student presence, and external podcasts from sites such as the BBC, or online newspapers or journals can be a useful resource for study. Examples of podcasting tools http://www.impala.ac.uk (a Higher Education Academy project investigating the impact of podcasting on student learning) http://podcastingforpp.pbwiki.com http://www.podomatic.com http://podcasting.weblog.glam.ac.uk (Glamorgan’s blog about all things to do with podcasting) Share your research Implications for teaching, learning and research Many universities are now setting up their own open access repositories for research. The ‘Registry of Open Access Repositories’ and ‘Sherpa’ are both investigating issues in the future of scholarly communication, and both provide access to institutional repositories in universities to facilitate the rapid and efficient worldwide dissemination of research. Examples of research repositories http://dspace1.isd.glam.ac.uk/dspace (University of Glamorgan Online Research Repository) http://roar.eprints.org http://www.sherpa.ac.uk http://intute.ac.uk/irs (Intute Repository Search) THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES 5 5 LRC Guide… Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Enhance Teaching, Learning and Research Stay up to date with RSS Implications for teaching, learning and research There is some discussion about what RSS stands for; most people choose 'Really Simple Syndication', with the emphasis on ‘simple’. RSS essentially provides a way to package updates about the content of a resource; think of it is a vehicle for distribution. With RSS, you no longer need to waste time visiting news sites or blogs to see if there have been any updates. Instead, the updates come to you, in one place. Examples of RSS readers http://www.bloglines.com http://www.google.com/reader http://www.pageflakes.com http://pipes.yahoo.com Implications for teaching, learning and research If you check web sites for new content on a regular basis, then simply choose an RSS reader to subscribe to (they’re free!) or use the one built in to your browser (if you use, for example, Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer 7). Once your subscription is set up, whenever there is new content you will receive the headline, maybe a brief summary of the information, and a link to the full content. BBC News famously uses RSS feeds to send content to their subscribers; keeping them up-to-date with the very latest headlines. BBC content is broken down into discrete items so that it is easy to subscribe to different parts, such as the latest world news, or news from the UK, or Wales, or just South East Wales if you prefer. Or you may prefer to subscribe to the latest in education, entertainment, sport (or just the football results), or weather forecasts (choose your next holiday destination or Pontypridd) and so on. RSS feeds are offered by nearly all news and blog sites, and any other web pages, displaying an icon such as the standard orange or something similar. Example of an easy-to-use RSS feed: http://news.bbc.co.uk Build a collaborative website Implications for teaching, learning and research Most of us have used the world’s most famous wiki, Wikipedia, to look something up, but have you ever seen or used any other kind of wiki? If the answer is no, it may be time to start adding wikis to the tools you use to increase student engagement. 6 THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES How to… Wikis are relatively easy set up, and provide a way for any number of people to create shared content and collaborate on projects (even if it is only to organise a camping trip together) in a co-ordinated way. With wikis, your students can work together in one place to outline, draft and edit projects; you could post assignments, course materials, study guides, etc. Students could be motivated by being allowed the freedom of expression, and the ability to work with a wide range of people. It is also a possibility that you could ask your students to build and share their own search engines or portals on any given topic (see examples below). Examples of collaborative tools Create a wiki: http://pbwiki.com/education.wiki http://wikisineducation.wetpaint.com http://www.wikispaces.com Create a search engine or portal: http://www.eurekster.com http://www.rollyo.com Use other wikis: http://knol.google.com (allows you to create and share ‘knols’ (units of knowledge) with a by-line, about your own area of expertise) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki (the original wiki) The Common Craft Show: video explanations of Web 2.0 tools Common Craft has produced a series of short videos in plain English, offering simple but effective explanations about complex topics. There is a ‘social tools’ collection that covers many of the technologies mentioned in this guide eg.’RSS’, ‘Wikis’, ‘Social networking’, ‘Social bookmarking’, ‘Blogs’, ‘Online photo sharing’, ‘Podcasting’, ‘Twitter’ etc. You can access these online at: http://www.commoncraft.com/show and http://www.youtube.com/user/leelefever THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES 7 LRC Guide… Using Web 2.0 Technologies to Enhance Teaching, Learning and Research Bibliography Bradley, P., 2007. How to use Web 2.0 in your library, London: Facet. Briggs, L.L., 2008. The power of wikis in Higher Ed. Chatsworth, CA: Campus Technology. Available from: http://www.campustechnology.com/articles/2008/08/the-power-of-wikis-in-highered.aspx [Accessed 28 August 2008] Franklin, T. and Harmelen, M. van (2007), Web 2.0 for content for learning and teaching in Higher Education, Bristol : JISC. Available from: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/digitalrepositories/web2content-learning-and-teaching.pdf [Accessed 16 December 2008] Godwin, P. and Parker, J., 2008. Information literacy meets Library 2.0, London: Facet. iTunes, 2008. Making a podcast. Cupertino, CA: Apple. Available from: http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html [Accessed 29 August 2008] Kirriemuir, J., 2008. A spring 2008 "snapshot" of UK Higher and Further Education developments in Second Life, Bath: Eduserv Foundation. Available from: http://www.eduserv.org.uk/upload/foundation/sl/uksnapshot052008/final.pdf [Accessed 19 Feb 2009] Steckerl, S., 2007. Survival guide: online social networking. FreePint, 237, 13-19, 13 September 2007. Available from: http://www.freepint.com/issues/130907.htm#tips [Accessed 30 Jan 2008] Salmon, G. and Edirisingha, P. (2008)., Podcasting for learning in universities, Maidenhead: Open University Press. Wesch, M., 2007. The machine is us/ing us (Final version), Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University. Available from: http://youtube.com/watch?v=NLlGopyXT_g [Accessed 23 December 2008] THIS IS ONE OF A SERIES OF GUIDES FROM LCSS LEARNING RESOURCES IS Customer Support Services (LCSS) issupport@glam.ac.uk +44 (0)1443 482882 EST152-01LRC released March 2009 • © University of Glamorgan 2009