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A New Social Context for Information
1/16/2008
The most significant fact about Web 2.0 for educators is that key functions and intelligence have moved or are moving from the desktop to the Web, and by doing so they have changed. Those functions and intelligence are no longer just about personal productivity, but about the social context for information -- what other people think about the information. And they are not limited to one place but are accessible throughout the Internet world.Scott Spanbauer, in PC World last month, said "PC World asked me to give up desktop applications for a week and work solely on the Web -- and [three weeks later] I still haven't gone back to the desktop." So, computing is moving "out there," and it's not just "personal computing" but "social computing." If we accept that all learning is social, Web 2.0 may be more in step with learning reality than the book or the PC.
What does social computing mean?
- Consider the simple IM or chat tool available on many Web 2.0 sites (search "chat" to see the myriad options). Talking online to friends, some of whom may be more expert in the topic at hand at the site, is a great brainstorming experience.
- A wiki, a sort of "step up" from chat, preserves comments made by the group, but doesn't have the conversational immediacy of chat. A wiki is used to collaborate on a project over distance.
- A blog, or what we could think of as a "vanity tool," allows everyone to publish views, ideas, or research, or simply a log of activities, and then invite responses. A blog is usually in reality closer to "publishing" than conversation.
- Social networking sites such as Facebook allow you to create your own social space for sharing and communication, and to find out what others are doing. It's a way to "hang out" on the Web.
- Social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us allow you to store your bookmarks at that site and to see which bookmarks (URLs) are most popular among users of del.icio.us.
- Photo-sharing sites, like Flickr.
- Encyclopedias, such as Wikipedia.
- And many other sites and functionalities that help move the psychological center of information technology out into "the ether."
In the aggregate, Web 2.0 offers many of the functions and activities you find on a "real-life" campus.
Some colleges and universities have already built virtual campuses, or extensions of their campuses, in Second Life (SL), a 3D virtual environment. See the following quick sampling of quotes mentioning events SL, including a museum event, an economics course taught in SL, NASA's interest in using virtual worlds like SL, and a dance event in SL:
- "An interesting museum-oriented session was held earlier today (noon, SL time [Pacific time]) at Dr Dobb's Island Amphitheatre entitled 'Conceptualizing and Prototyping Museum Exhibits in Second Life.' I've blogged it briefly at..." -- from a SL list.
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