Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]

Welcome to the California League of High Schools/ National High School Association2009 Annual ConferenceMonterey, California

Making Heads or Tails of Web

2.0– for School

Administrators

Chinese Dragon ImageCourtesy of Newton Public SchoolsNewton, Massachusetts

by Ellen Faden – Marin Documentation Group: Senior Technical Writer and Substitute Teacher (seeking a District Internship in English at the Middle/High School level)

http://www.newton.mec.edu/

This presentation gives you:

An overview of Web 2.0 tools;

Knowledge to enable you to make fruitful recommendations to your staff;

A direction in implementing some new software; and

A tamed dragon!

California League of High Schools/National High School Association Annual Conference - 2009

What is Web 2.0 – from an Administrator’s Point of View?

The collection of software tools, such as blogs, wikis, websites, document sharing, and content management programs, that can be used, or are already being used, in your District.

A group of programs that enable collaboration among staff, in classrooms, and within your district, and that can potentially revolutionize the way you do business.

www.marindocgroup.comwww.marindocgroup.com

Overview



BackgroundThe Internet began as a place for communication via virtual communities like the WELL, and for the presentation of information on individual websites. Over time, these opportunities have exploded into amazing new technologies including social networking and document sharing.

Today, Web 2.0 applications focus on interaction andcollaboration.

-- Discuss a few differences between now and then.

California League of High Schools/National High School Association Annual Conference – 2009

- Making Heads or Tails of Web 2.0


Basic Web 2.0 Architecture

-- If this is your District Server, what programs can users download onto their clients?



Web 2.0 programs, such as blogs, are freely downloadable from the Internet, and are not blocked by district servers. (Others, such as MySpace™, are restricted, based on your District’s Acceptable Use Policy.) Most Web 2.0 applications are so easy to use that they do not require helpdesk support; rather, their maintenance is provided by the manufacturer. Most programs appropriate for schools are free, open-source, or very low-cost.

Because students and teachers may be familiar with downloading programs, you may find a variety of them already in use in your district.

Basic Web 2.0 Architecture



California League of High Schools/National High School Association Annual Conference - 2009Getting Started:

The Magic of Web BrowsersThe main purpose of a Web Browser is to provide links from your computer to web pages.

Internet Explorer™, the first Browser, is still used by most District sites to connect to the Internet.

Teachers and staff may choose to download other Browsers onto their computers. This is OK, because all Browsers achieve the goal of linking to websites. The following slide gives examples of the types of sites that can be accessed.


California League of High Schools/National High School Association Annual Conference - 2009Web 2.0

Programs

Websites

Wikis

Content/Course Management Systems

Blogs

The best way to get to various websites is to use your Web Browser to take you to a Search Engine, such as Google™.

Google can take you to:

• Websites;• Blogs;• Wikis; and• Content (or Course) Management

Systems (CMS)


California League of High Schools/National High School Association Annual Conference - 2009Web 2.0

ProgramsWebsites

Col

lect

ions

and

Pre

sent

atio

ns o

f Dat

aSearch Engines can find data

Norm

ally,

proprietary

Wikis –

EncyclopedicEncyclopediccontent repositoriescontent repositories

Content/Course Management Systems

May replace district records, May replace district records, assessments, and moreassessments, and more

Blogs – “Diaries” that present “Diaries” that present

information by dateinformation by date



Not only do we use computers to access websites, but Web 2.0 allows users to easily create websites, and many teachers have begun to do so. From an Administrators point of view, you should know about your district’s website, those of the individual schools in your district, and you should be able to suggest good website development programs for your teachers.

New York City Los Angeles Berkeley

College Park High School, Pleasant Hill, CA

Recommendations:You may want to suggest one website program for your teachers to use to establish a common learning curve for students. If some teachers are already using a classroom website program, have them discuss the pros and cons of it in a staff meeting.

googlesites weebly classtell($20CAN/year)

Websites

Teachers can use Web 2.0 programs to create classroom websites:

Mrs. Richau’s website

http://schools.nyc.gov/default.htm

http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,47493&_dad=ptl&_schema=PTL_EP

http://www.berkeley.k12.ca.us/

https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?continue=http://sites.google.com/&continue2=http://sites.google.com/&continue1=http://sites.google.com/&service=jotspot&passive=true&ul=1

http://www.weebly.com/

http://classtell.com/page/home

http://sites.google.com/a/googleclassrooms.org/mrs-richau/Home


California League of High Schools/National High School Association Annual Conference - 2009Blogs

A blog (a contraction of the words “web log”) is a dated diary maintained by its owner that focuses on topics of interest to its subscribers. Subscribers may also add comments, images, etc.

Recommendations:

You can find all of the resources in this presentation on the Marin Documentation Group Blog, hosted by Google’s blogspot. If a teacher has a classroom blog, (s)he and students may read

information, add commentary, describe events, and upload graphics or videos. A teacher usually has either a website or a blog.

http://marindocgroup.blogspot.com/

https://www.blogger.com/start



Wikis provide information on topics, like an encyclopedia. People can freely contribute to a wiki, once they receive alog-in id. Wikipedia is the most well known wiki, and is the most popular online encyclopedia (not citable).

Recommended Applications:Wikispaces (for educators) and Mediawiki are two wonderful programs for your staff to use to create wikis. It would be difficult to choose one over the other!

Wikis

http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki

http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki



Document Sharing Programs have become popular over the past several years and are great tools for collaborative and project-based learning.

Recommendations:Google Docs™ provides a program suite similar to Microsoft Office™. Not only do the documents reside on Google’s server, making them accessible and sharable by multiple users, but they can be downloaded to clients in Microsoft (and other) formats.

Document Sharing Programs



Moodle Course Management System (CMS) is a free, Open Source software package designed using sound pedagogical principles, to help educators create effective online learning communities. You can download and use it on any computer and it can scale from a single-teacher site to a University with 200,000 students. Using Moodle in your District would require tech support assistance to help you design and set it up.

Put my moodle here, view other examples…Joomla is similar to Moodle, but not specifically designed for schools. See information in Notes.

Course (Content) Management Systems


Final SuggestionsFinal words of wisdom – turn on your computers!!


Conclusion

I hope this presentation has helped you make heads or tails of Web 2.0!

-Ellen Faden Marin Documentation Group

-PRINT HANDOUTSImage Courtesy of Lexi RubinCollege Park High SchoolPleasant Hill, CA

http://www.marindocgroup.com/

Making Heads Or Tails Of Web 2 0[1]

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