


Originated in a conference between O'Reilly Publishers and MediaLive International, the term was coined in 2004 to described a whole new class of interactive applications that emerged after the dot-com bubble burst in 2001.
Important tools
What is RSS?Links
Yahoo! lists a plethora of RSS Aggregators, but increasingly they are built into browsers and other regular software.
Examples:
Sample applications:
Links
Google Reader
Online Polling - PollPub.com
Create your own polls using text, images, audio, and/or video. Polls are useful for giving your students another avenue to engage in your course.
Doodle, another online polling site, is designed specifically to assist in scheduling meeting times.
As of July 27, 2007, Blogger has an integrated polling feature that allows you to add a poll to the side bar of your blog.
PollPub.com Free Polls
Interactive Online Maps - Frappr! Maps
Frappr! Maps allow you and your students a unique (and simple) method to visualize one another. Anyone can add their name, photo and message directly on a Web page, blog, or course site embedded with Frappr!--no account creation is required. As the owner, you can find information on where and how frequently your students visit the map.In online learning, Frappr! Maps could be used for:
According to Frappr.com, they are "the fourth largest map service behind Mapquest, Yahoo! Maps and Google Maps".
Wiki - PBwiki
One of the most versatile Web 2.0 applications is the Wiki.
Wiki uses:
PBwiki is representative of many wiki sites - offering free hosting for educational uses. It includes several templates: classroom, syllabus, and group project. PBwiki also offers ideas for instructional uses of wikis, as well as "how-to" videos for your students. In addition to basic wiki features, you can add widgets for spreadsheets and calendars, videos, and voice chat.
Try it out at our Web 2.0 Sampler Blog: http://madison23.pbwiki.com/
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) - Skype
Skype. This one of several Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software programs that enables high quality audio computer-to-computer over the Internet.
Synchronous communication through web conferencing is a powerful tool for distance teaching and learning. It can be used many ways:
Shared whiteboard, typed chat room, and other features add value to this free Web 2.0 application.
Virtual Worlds
There are more than three dozen virtual worlds that are in used in educational applications. Best known for Education is
Google provides a wide range of online Web 2.0 applications.
Zoho provides a great suite of applications from word processing to projects and many more. Most are available at no charge.
A helpful application is to store information online behind password protection.
A different approach to displaying metasearches. Kartoo draws links among sites and provides a dynamic graphical display.
Photo sharing online is a great way to distribute examples of artwork and geographic locations.
Shared Bookmarks - del.icio.us
A great tool for sharing lists of web sites. For example, see this List of Top 100 Tools for Learning!
del.icio.us uses folksonomy, or tagging, for tracking, grouping, and searching bookmarks. Folksonomy is a user-generated taxonomy used to categorize and retrieve Web pages, photographs, Web links and other web content using open ended labels called tags. It improves searches by allowing users to label information with their own language.
Electronic Portfolios (e-portfolios)
According to Wikipedia:"An electronic portfolio, also known as an e-portfolio or digital portfolio, is a collection of electronic evidence assembled and managed by a user, usually on the Web. Such electronic evidence may include inputted text, electronic files, i mages, multimedia, blog entries, and hyperlinks. E-portfolios are both demonstrations of the user's abilities and platforms for self-expression, and, if they are online, they can be maintained dynamically over time. Some e-portfolio applications permit varying degrees of audience access, so the same portfolio might be used for multiple purposes."
Here are additional readings and related resources that may be useful:
Activities Required and Problems to be Solved
Master's Degrees
Graduate Seminar through Desktop video Conferencing
Different Types of Communication Protocols
Software Examples and How They work
Lessons Learned
Blended learning
Details of Collaboration
Strengths and weaknesses tools for virtual collaboration
Reflection and lessons learned (collaboration)
From the remote collaboration process:
Positive findings
Limitations
The Role of Presence
Social Presence Online Correlates with:
Techniques for Developing and Sustaining Community Online
Begin the course by focusing on the development of social presence (but don't tell them this is your purpose)
Posting Biographies and Introductions and enhanced through the use of ice breaker actvities that are fun and designed to hep students get to know one another. Use the first week of the course for these activities and delay real engagement with content.The content can be used as a basis for ice-breakers, however.
Establish guidelines for engagement
This can be achieved by posting a set of guidelines developed by the instructor and asking for a response to them by students or students can be given a set of parameters within which they can develop their own guidelines.
Establish minimal participartion guidelines.
The minimum pariticpation expected should be included in the guidelines with an understanding that more is better.
Allow students to disagree
Professional disagreement on issues is healthy ad should be encouraged. Hopefully, as the community develops, students will jump in and mediate if things get heated.
Develop a course that is exciting, challenging, and incorporates collaborative activity and opportunities.
Elements of Community Building
Community
three elements:
Outcomes