Thing+2

=Thing 2 (Week 1): What is Web 2.0 and (Why) Does it Matter?=

**Introduction**
Disclaimer: This course was created in 2009, when Web 2.0 was first being introduced. Why are we still learning about Web 2.0? Because all of the tools created are valuable resources in creating maintaining an engaging classroom environment. More and more, technology is becoming less about the tools and more about "just good teaching." However, until you learn the tools, you can't get to that goal. So, this class focuses alot on the tools, but the reflections will bring you to the "just good teaching" part. _ The term "Web 2.0" (used interchangeably with "web tools") with can be applied across broad categories of emerging technology tools and design principles, social and economic shifts, business philosophies, participatory media and culture, etc.... Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts, social networking and social bookmarking sites, tagging, photo- and video-sharing, RSS, etc...) are collaborative, browser-based and user-driven. They include platforms and tools for publishing, connecting, sharing, organizing and remixing.

A popular synonym for "Web 2.0" is the "Read/Write" web, which suggests that users are //**contributing**, **creating** and **collaborating**// rather than just **//consuming//** web content. "Web 1.0" or the "Read-Only" web was a place where the average user didn't publish content, because it required technical knowledge (HTML and other programming code) and money (to purchase server space and software). Web 2.0 tools allow users to easily participate and to customize their online experiences. Another term you might hear is "**prosumers**" rather than "consumers" because web users are able to produce content.

At it's core, Web 2.0 is about powerful Web-based technologies **connecting people and ideas**.

**So, what is Web 2.0?**
Here are a few "one-sentence" definitions, and one that is slightly longer:
 * "It's not a web of computers, it's a web of people." - [|Tim Berners-Lee], Inventor of the World Wide Web
 * "Web 2.0 is the two-way web where content finds you." - [|Ron Rasmussen], KnowNow
 * "People doing things together on the web." - [|Mitchell Baker], Mozilla Foundation
 * "Web 2.0 is all the Websites out there that get their value from the actions of users." - [|George Jones], InformationWeek
 * "The new WWW: Whatever. Whenever. Wherever." - [|Tom March], Educator, Inventor of WebQuests
 * "Less than a decade ago, when we were first getting used to the idea of an Internet, people described the act of going online as venturing into some foreign realm called cyberspace. But that metaphor no longer applies. Facebook, Snapchat, Flickr and all the other newcomers //aren't places to go, but things to do, ways to express yourself, means to connect with others and extend your own horizons//. Cyberspace was somewhere else. The Web is where we live." - [|Steven Levy and Brad Stone], Newsweek

**Discovery Exercise: (Why) does Web 2.0 matter?**
Please watch the following video clips to learn a bit more about some important "21st Century Shifts."

**The Web is Changing**...
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 * Web 2.0: The Machine is Us/ing Us** by Michael Wesch (4:30)

**The World is Changing**...
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 * Shift Happens / Did You Know?** by Karl Fisch (8:20)

**Students are Changing...**

 * A Vision of Students Today** by Michael Wesch and students at Kansas State University (4:45)

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Educators must change...
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 * A Brave New World Wide Web-** Be brave! Do not go quietly into your classroom! by Dave Truss (4:20)

**Task 1**

 * What might Web 2.0 look like in school and why should I care?** Do a little research on Web 2.0. What does it mean, how has it evolved since the early 2000's? Consider the ways in which Web 2.0 tools might change (or have already changed) your professional practice. How might you be able to use these new tools to to engage today's "digital learners?" Why would you want to? For Thing 3, you will be asked to complete a blog post reflecting on your initial thoughts about Web 2.0 and its role in 21st Century teaching and learning, so please make a few notes as you research the topic.

Task 2
Search the web for another video related to Web 2.0 and/or 21st Century Shifts. YouTube and TeacherTube are a good places to start. **Save the link, you will share it with the group in Thing 3. Here's a link to get you started-** http://couros.wikispaces.com/TechAndMediaLiteracyVids

Here are two of my favorites...

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 * Meet 20th C and 21st C ** by Cramlington High School

**Three Steps to 21st Century Learning** by Jackie Halaw media type="custom" key="22099388"

[|Kathy Schrock's Complete List of Web 2.0 - updated 2016]
 * Resources **

Go on to Thing 3