tech tidbits

WHAT IS? —

Web 2.0 The Machine Is Us/ing Us, Mike Wensch, Kansas State University, Media Ecology and Cultural Anthropology.

"Web 2.0 is a category of new Internet tools and technologies created around the idea that the people who consume media, access the Internet, and use the Web shouldn't passively absorb what's available; rather, they should be active contributors, helping customize media and technology for their own purposes, as well as those of their communities." (techsoup, the technology plce for non-profits)

Where is technology headed? 2008 HORIZON REPORT ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES - Collaboration on the web in many forms. >> more

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking website -- the primary use of del.icio.us is to store your bookmarks online, which allows you to access the same bookmarks from any computer and add bookmarks from anywhere, too. On del.icio.us, you can use tags to organize and remember your bookmarks, which is a much more flexible system than folders. >> more

Digg Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. Everything on Digg — from news to videos to images to Podcasts — is submitted by the Digg community. Once something is submitted, other people see it and Digg what they like best.

Twitter - an online application that is part blog, part social networking site, and part cell phone/IM tool. It is designed to let users describe what they are doing or thinking at a given moment in 140 characters or less. As a tool for students and faculty, Twitter could be used academically to foster interaction and support metacognition. >> more

Lulu - a web-based self-publishing service, providing online access to the tools an individual needs to design, publish, and print original material, including books, brochures, reports, calendars, and posters. Self-publishing offers an alternative to traditional publishing by allowing authors and creators of content to decide what gets published and in what form, allowing anyone to publish a book inexpensively and much more quickly than with traditional publishing. Faculty can use the service to publish more timely textbooks and other material for courses, and by having access to the tools of production, students can see and understand the processes involved.
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Collaborative Note Taking - students taking and working on notes in a collaborative effort in class and online using wikis. >> more

MERLOT - Find peer reviewed online teaching and learning materials. Share advice and expertise about education with expert colleagues. Be recognized for your contributions to quality education. >> more