OER and Web 2.0 Teaching Part Three

From OER Commons Wiki

Contents 1 Part Three: Web 2.0, Teaching and Learning 2 Tools: Social Media 2.1 Twitter and Microblogging 2.2 Podcasting 2.2.1 iTunes U 2.2.2 Tools for Podcasting 2.3 Social Video Tools 2.4 Social Photography Tools 2.4.1 Flickr 2.5 Blogs 2.6 RSS 2.7 Delicious and Social Bookmarking 2.8 Related OER repositories and sources 3 Evaluating tools and purposes 4 Next Steps

Part Three: Web 2.0, Teaching and Learning

We spent a lot of time in Part Two looking at specific tools. We will cover a number of additional tools in this section, but also make time for pulling back into the how and why of teaching and learning.

If you feel overwhelmed, here are a few things things to keep in mind. First, don't feel that you have to plunge into this using lots of new tools at once. Pick one or two that you find immediately relevant, and try using them.

Also, remember that most of these tools and sites can be approached easily first as a "user" or "consumer" (of information, resources, etc), and then later you can step into being a participant, creator, editor, member.

Finally, if these tools are new to you, every single one of them may seem like "one more thing" to add to your already burdened schedule. However, if you begin slowly and sustainably, you will probably find that many of the tools will align to work together. You may not end up using all of them in your daily practice, but you may find synergies among the tools you use, so it will not feel like a burden. We will talk later about how you decide which to keep-- in other words, how you evaluate the tools' utility.

Tools: Social Media

Getting Started

This short video is a very helpful introduction to the idea of social media: Social Media in Plain English

What do you make of the video's analogy of media with ice cream production?

In the analogy, what was the breakthough that allowed people to access the flavors they wanted?

In this new world of "everyone as a creator," what are the new skills and understandings students should be learning?

What does this imply for teachers as creators? As consumers? What are the "media" we create and consume in the classroom and in preparation?

In the ice cream world, why do you think people jump from being eaters to being small producers? What about with media? (Does it matter what the medium is?)

Twitter and Microblogging

Getting Started

Put simply, Twitter is microblogging: people connected to social networks to keep others informed on what they're doing and to push out quick bits of information and questions.

A Common Craft introduction to Twitter is here: Twitter in Plain English. You might find it easier to follow a step-by-step screencast here, which takes you through signing up for an account, finding people to follow, and updating.

Twitter in Education

How do you use Twitter in Education? There are a few popular reasons and ways, including professional conversation and growth. Some people find Twitter invaluable during conferences, so they can learn what others are picking up in various sessions. Educause has a helpful PDF "7 Things You Should Know about Twitter," which talks more about its educational relevance, including its potential to stimulate students' metacognition. See also this Education Week article, and this list of brainstorms.

Activity:

1. Go to http://search.twitter.com and search for an educator, colleague, author, expert, or someone else you would be interested in following. Is there someone you've heard at a conference who you'd like to know more about? They may well be on Twitter already. This can be a great way to get your toe in the water.

1. Think about your personal learning network, and how adding some of these new voices might help expand your network.

Questions:

• What would it take for you to contribute to Twitter with your own account?

Podcasting

Getting Started

Podcasting in Plain English

iTunes U

Tools for Podcasting

Social Video Tools

Getting Started Although there are many video sharing sites (see this list at Wikipedia for a start), we're going to mainly look at Youtube and Blip.tv.

Social Photography Tools

There are many websites that allow you to share photographs with others. The very long list includes:

• Flickr
• Kodak Gallery
• Panoramio
• Photobucket
• Photoshop.com
• Picasa
• Shutterfly
• Smugmug

If this isn't a big enough list, you can find a list of ten here or a list of 45 photo sharing sites here. Wikipedia has a helpful background article on photo sharing here, if you are interested in the historical angle and some of the technological issues underneath.

For a couple of reasons, we're going to focus on Flickr in our exploration. It's not that we own Yahoo stock, or that there aren't other worthy contenders. But Flickr shows some of the key features of photosharing sites we want to talk about, and it has features which make it a good OER source as well.

Online Photo Sharing in Plain English

Flickr

Getting Started

You can find a step-by-step guide to starting to use Flickr here (PPT file).

Flickr is a giant in the online photo sharing world, and it has a few features that make it especially compatible with OER. Naturally, they make it easy to sign up, upload your pictures, edit and share them. You will recognize from the OER Commons tool the idea of using tags to organize content.

And from the discussion of social media, you will probably recognize some of the options for sharing your photos, to make sure you're able to share what you want with whomever you want.

Flickr and OER. One of the great features in sharing is how easy Flickr makes it to add a Creative Commons license to your work. In the "organizr," you can easily pick one of the Creative Commons license and add it to a particular picture, or a whole set or collection. Or you can apply one of the CC licenses to all of your work (see account preferences). Doing this will allow other people to use your picture(s) in the ways that you specify without their need to ask your permission individually. It also allows people to search for images based on the type of license. Many of the licenses images to be used for non-commercial applications, which student reports and teacher presentations certainly are.

Flickr allows you to assign CC licenses to images you upload.

Activity: Flickr as an OER resource

What if you're working on a slideshow, and you need a good image of a butterfly? Maybe you even need a particular species? Go to Flickr's advanced search. In the search box, enter "butterfly" or whatever it is you are looking for.

You'll see that you can choose to only search within Creative Commons-licensed content. If you check that box, you then get the option of checking two more. One will return content that you could freely use commercially (leave this unchecked), and one that will return images that are licensed not only for reusing but also adapting. In other words, if you intend on modifying the image at all, select that checkbox.

Then just click on the search button, and you should see some images to choose from for your project.

Activity: Flickr as an OER repository: Library of Congress Images

The Library of Congress controls over 134 million items, including among this collection many photographs and other images. In the last few years, the LOC has decided to put up a sampling of images on Flickr, as a pilot program. They were both looking to gain experience in social media and tools, and also to share their images with a wider audience. As of 10/2008, they have two big sets online, one called "1930s-40s in Color" and one entitled "News in the 1910s", each of which contains thousands of pictures.

The Library of Congress makes many times more photographs available on its own website, including through its Prints and Photographs Online Catalog. Depending on your need, the Flickr search may help you find appropriate images quickly.

Flickr has expanded its collection of images from public collections in what it calls the Flickr Commons. It now photographs from other public collections around the world.

Going Further

Lifehacker has a helpful list of tips for Flickr beginners to help you maximize your experience.

Blogs

Getting Started Blogs in Plain English video

RSS

Getting Started

RSS in Plain English video

Delicious and Social Bookmarking

Getting Started

Common Craft's YouTube video on Social Bookmarking using Delicious

Related OER repositories and sources

Evaluating tools and purposes

When you look at a Web 2.0 tool, what are the questions you ask to see whether it's appropriate or potentially beneficial for your school environment? Let's build a list of those questions here.

You might want to think separately about who will use the tool:

• Is this a tool for teachers to use in preparation for a class?

• Is this a tool for teachers to use in class?

• Is this a tool for students to use in class?

• Is this a tool for students to use for research or homework or otherwise outside of class?

To what extent you can judge whether a new tool or resource will be worthwhile before you use it?

How long do you think you need to use a tool to know whether or not it is helpful?

Next Steps

Please explore the next parts of the course:

http://wiki.oercommons.org/mediawiki/index.php/OER_and_Web_2.0_Teaching_Part_Four