web 2.0 or 3.0?

This week we are exploring web 2.0. I found this topic really interesting and was diverted along the way into thoughts about web 3.0. I think the uses and potential of web 2.0 tools such as wikis and blogs are reasonably well understood but like most of these things maintenance and updating is the key to relevance and also one of the trickier aspects.

The other is the pace at which technology and interface trends change. In fact, as Weebly, shows us, it is now no longer necessary to have any knowledge of web code to create a website. I think the bigger issue is the idea that connectivity, regardless of interface, will become more a part of teaching - particularly if we want to engage today's students. Perhaps as Herring (2011) suggests about websites needing to be evaluated on their educational merits - the use of any technological tool should be because it is the best vehicle for learning not simply for the sake of using technology.

O'Connell (2008) refers to informal learning spaces and the opportunities for personalised learning that web 2.0 can provide suggesting that it's part of the TLs role to structure this material to promote information literacy. This make me think of the value social bookmarking could potentially have - which links back to web 3.0 and the idea of making meaning and connections of data

web 3.0 - the semantic web. The idea of filtering the filters, aggregating, integrating and adding value to content - making sense of the data. But whose sense and how to describe? This is a great video! I have been more and more drawn to Judy O'Connell's work - i wish my blog held a fraction of her insight and knowledge!

The Next Big Thing is Web 3.0. Catch It If You Can from Judy O'Connell

O’Connell, J. (2008). School library 2.0 : new skills, new knowledge, new futures. In P. Godwin & J. Parker (Eds.), Information literacy meets Library 2.0 (pp. 51-62). London : Facet Publishing.

Kennedy, J. (2006). Collection Management: A concise introduction. (2^nd ed). Wagga Wagga NSW: Centre for Information Studies.

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connected learning? Is it possible

I thought this was an interesting premise - or goal for the future of education. Its exciting ...but technology changes so fast and today's connection trends may be different tomorrow - think my space to facebook, or tumblr to instagram, some suggest that twitter may not be relevant in 3 years. But whatever the interface connectivity is here and if we want to remain relevant then we need to integrate and tap into student's interests and preferred ways of connecting and communicating.


access this and more at Connected Learning Infographic | Connected Learning

websites and wikis

For our next assessment we need to create a learning pathway in the form of a website or wiki. This week I have been playing around with free software. I have loved weebly! Its so easy to use and looks so slick that I want to make websites for other stuff too!!

Am actually excited about this upcoming assessment.... mad isn't it?

ETL501 assignment 1

This week it's full on assignment time - the main thrust is to look at criteria to evaluate websites. Part of the assessment was critically evaluating 2 criteria. In some ways the terminology, number of website evaluation guides and the concept of what constituted a set of criteria was harder conceptually than the actual evaluation we were required to do.

Partly this was due to the fact the assessment was open to interpretation about if we were analysing criteria for students to use or criteria for teacher-librarians. It was further complicated by authors such as Schrock who has the 5Ws - which are mainly directed at students, then also has a series of survey checklists (which look a lot like criteria) that are developed for both students and teachers and then also has her ABCs of website evaluation which looks like 26 criteria!!

Our lecturer suggested that partly the confusion on forums is a result of MASS (mature Age Student Syndrome) I think I have to agree - sometimes i'm quite clear about what I'm doing then read a post and am totally confused and unsure.... anyway...

In the end I evaluated Herring (2011) and ALSC (1997). Herring's strength is ultimately in that it is designed for teacher-librarians and puts education first, however, I think that his technical criteria are underdeveloped. Conversely the ALSC is strong on technical but weak on content and education. My position is that there is no definitive set of criteria. To make any evaluation worthwhile both the learners and educational context need to be considered and that means adjusting some of the criteria when looking at achieving a particular knowledge construct or product.

Schrock, K. (2002-12). Critical Evaluation of a Website: websites for Use by Educators. Retrieved http://kathyschrock.net/eval/pdfs/evalteacher.pdf

Herring, J. (2011). Improving Students’ Web use and Information Literacy: A Guide for Teachers and Teacher Librarians. London: Facet Publishing

Association for Library Services to Children (ALSC) - American Library Association (1997). Great websites for kids Selection Criteria. Retrieved http://www.ala.org/alsc/greatwebsites/greatwebsitesforkids/greatwebsites

searching

This week we explore search engines.
After reading about various search engines and the algorithms they use, I came away realising I am a lazy searcher. I have since been more conscious about what search engine i'm using and are employing better search techniques - using advanced searches, domains and " " more often than I used to and adding the - where appropriate!

Using a site such as Beaucoup can be advantageous in choosing the right search engine for the job .... but even though the 3 click rule has been dispelled, a one stop search shop like google does have appeal to the lazy searcher.

To test how well some search engines performed, a search on term "volcanoes school" was done. It was an enlightening. I tested different search engines gathered from the beaucope site but many of the results very very unpromising despite some being supposed to be educational search engines.

I enjoyed watching the videos on the knowledge 2.0 Livebinder site and spent a lot of time exploring different aspects of this site and the websites and information attached. I highly recommend it to everyone!

My favourite 'new' (to me) search engine is Wolfram Alpha - i like facts and calculations (though would have liked to know more about where they pull individual information from.

I guess the main point is that there are many different search engines and as an information professional you need to be aware of what's out there and hone your information and searching skills all the time......

no more lazy searching people

web evaluation

This week sees us exploring website evaluation.
It occurs to me that there is plenty of cross-over with aspects of collection management and the selection criteria used for acquiring resources. In fact many of the website evaluation tools are a simple extensions of those employed in selecting traditional resources (see Kennedy, 2006, pp. 50 - 53).

As was discussed in ETL 503 and raised by authors such as Hughes-Hassal and Mancall (2010) and Bishop (2007) when conducting any sort of evaluation of resources the purpose of the resources and the intended users and their characteristics must be the primary focus. In this way I agree with Herring's (2011, p. 39) assertion that educational criteria must be afforded the highest consideration.

In looking at the criteria available for use it is also worthwhile considering for whom the criteria is developed? Is it for a teacher or T-L to use in evaluating resources for students or is it designed for use by students. This distinction should colour the language and depth of evaluation required by the criteria.

Bishop, K. (2007). Community analysis and needs assessment. In The collection program in schools : concepts, practices and information sources (4th ed.) (pp. 19-24). Westport, Conn.: Libraries Unlimited.

Herring, J. (2011) Improving Students' web use and information literacy: A guide for teachers and teacher librarians. London: facet Publishing

Hughes-Hassell, S., and Mancall, J., (2005) collection Management for Youth: Responding to the needs of Learners. Chicago, IL: American Library Association.

Kennedy, J. (2006). Collection Management: A concise introduction. (2^nd ed). Wagga Wagga NSW: Centre for Information Studies.