Week 9 - Web 2.0

To successfully complete No. 9 - Web 2.0 you must...
READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands On Activities.

Your total time commitment is about 30 to 40 minutes.

Introduction to Web 2.0
What happens when people, ideas and the Internet intersect? Web 2.0 happens. The Internet is evolving. It’s morphed from a way to access information into a virtual space for discovering and exploring new relationships and new passions. Web 2.0 tools, such as the blogs and wikis which you have learned about during the course of this training program, give everyone the opportunity to self-publish, connect with other people, organize their work and their lives and communicate with the world. Web 2.0 is not so much a new computing platform; it's a mindset. It's people exploiting technology to enable people at work, play and life.

Web 1.0 was a passive, surfing based environment. Web 2.0 is a user-driven, participatory and personalized environment where people create, edit, search, evaluate, organize and share information ---- with or without the involvement of libraries and librarians.


Experience Attributes of Web 2.0:

• Decentralization - Users experience services on their terms.
• Co-creation - Users participate in the creation and delivery
• Remixability - Experiences are created and tailored to user needs by integrating the capabilities of multiple services and organizations.
• Emergent Systems - Cumulative actions at the lowest levels of the system drive the form and value of the overall system. Users derive value not only from the service itself, but also the overall shape that a service inherits from user behaviors.

Foundation attributes distribute the value of the user experience across the network and down the long tail.


Foundation Attributes of Web 2.0:

• User-Contributed Value - Users make substantive contributions to enhance the overall value of a service.
• The Long Tail - Beating the sales of one or two best-seller products by using the Internet to sell a cumulatively greater amount of the products that have low demand or low sales.
• Network Effect - For users, the value of the network substantially increases with the addition of each new user.

"Learn More About" Web 2.0
1. Read this Wikipedia article, Web 2.0 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2 (Time Commitment 5 minutes)
2. Watch this YouTube Video, What is Web 2.0? at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LzQIUANnHc (Time Commitment 3:01)
3. Read this article, What is Web 2.0 by at http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html. (Time Commitment 15 minutes)

Hands-on Activity

Part 1 Add a Blog Post about web 2.0

• Sign onto Blogger
• Select the new post link in your dashboard or the create link under the Posting tab.
• Use the compose tab to type a brief message about your experience with this hands-on activity.
• Label your blog post: Week 9 - Web 2.0.
• Questions to get you started: Is it all hype? What do you think about web 2.0? How is it essential to remain relevant to customers?
• When you have finished typing and are ready to publish your thoughts, select the orange button, publish post. This will add the post to your blog. If you select the blue button, save now, the blog post will be added to your list of posts for editing and publishing at a later time.

Part 2 Add a blog post about Learning 2.0 Remixed

• Sign onto Blogger
• Select the new post link in your dashboard or the create link under the posting tab.
• Use the compose tab to type a brief message about what you learned from this blog post.
• Label your blog post: Week 9 - Learning 2.0 Experience.
• Questions to get you started: What was your favorite exercise during this learning program? How has this program affected you? Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
• When you have finished typing and are ready to publish your thoughts, select the orange button, publish post. This will add the post to your blog. If you select the blue button, save now, the blog post will be added to your list of posts for editing and publishing at a later time.
  

Congrats! You are now web 2.0 savvy.

Evaluate this Learning Experience

Through this program, participants were asked to provide feedback for individual lessons by commenting on blog posts. Comments were monitored during the course of the program. Adjustments were made to lessons based on participant's feedback. Thank you for this collaboration!

The program is at an end; we need your help again. To complete the overall evaluation of this learning experience, please fill out a Library Department Training Evaluation form on Beachnet.

Also, you can contact Cindy Hart at chart@vbgov.com with any suggestions or concerns.

Week 8 - Social Networking

To successfully complete No. 8 - Social Networking, you must...

READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands On Activities, including reading the Important Tips.

Your total time commitment is about 30 to 40 minutes.

Introduction to Social Networking
For many, online social networks (OSN) are about establishing and maintaining personal connections and finding friends with shared interests. As noted in the 2007 Horizon Report by the New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE, “Researchers note that online spaces like MySpace and Facebook give students a safe place to gather, in much the same way that young people of previous generations hung out at the burger joint, the roller rink, or the mall…” (pg. 12)

There are social networking sites for almost every conceivable topic and hobby; these sites range from photo sharing to music to book clubs to social activism. According to a January 2007 Pew Internet & American Life Project, in the past five years, social networking sites have moved from a niche activity into a phenomenon that engages tens of millions of Internet users of all ages. “Almost sixty percent of teens, aged 12 to 18, use online social networks”.

The Internet is woven into everyday life; it is transforming communication into a seamless process. People move between telephone, computer and in person encounters actually increasing daily social interaction. Social networking sites play an interesting role in the lives of many people today.


"Learn More About" Social Networking
1. Read this Wikipedia article on Social Networking Services at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network_service . (Time Commitment 5 minutes)
2. Listen to this podcast on social networking sites.(Time Commitment 5 minutes)

3. Watch this YouTube video, Social Networking in Plain English at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc (Time Commitment 1:48 minutes)



Hands On Activities


Part 1 - Try out a social networking site.

I recommend that you try either Facebook or LinkedIn. The Library Department has an organizational profile in Facebook. Many library staff are Facebook users as well. LinkedIn is a networking site for professionals. Hundreds of City of Virginia employees are part of the LinkedIn network.

If you want to try LinkedIn, watch this YouTube video on LinkedIn at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzT3JVUGUzM. (2:28 minutes)
If you want to try Facebook, watch this video on

Part 2 - Create a blog post about Social Networking
1. Sign onto Blogger
2. Select the new post link in your dashboard or the create link under the Posting tab.
3. Use the compose tab to type a brief message about your experience with this hands-on activity. Questions to get you started: Was it easy? Did you enjoy it? How can social networking help you improve communication at home or at work?
4. Label the post: Week 8 - Social Networking
5. When you have finished typing and are ready to publish your thoughts, select the orange button, publish post. This will add the post to your blog. If you select the blue button, "save now, the blog post will be added to your list of posts for editing and publishing at a later time.

One more week to go!

Week 7 - Web Widgets & Gadgets

To successfully complete No. 2 - Web Widgets & Gadgets, you must...

READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands On Activities, including reading the Important Tips.

Your total time commitment is about 25 to 35 minutes.

Introduction to Web Widgets & Gadgets
A web widget, also known as a widget, is a small program (reusable code) that can be added to any web site including a blog or personalized start page. Widgets provide additional functionality. Some examples of widget including addding a YouTube playlist or embedded player to your blog, signing up for RSS or bookmarking a web page using the social bookmarking site del.icio.us.

A gadget acts and looks like a widget; they are created with proprietary programming code. It works only with a specific web site or a set of specific web sites. For example, Google Gadgets can look and act like widgets. But, they only work on Google pages.

There are many uses for widgets and gadgets. The Virginia Beach Public Library is using a Meebome instant messaging widget to chat with library customer. Information organizing widgets allow you to collect and use information that you find while doing research. Zoho Notebook allows you aggregate content from multiple sources or applications. It's a great tool for collaborating on team projects. You can sart a group notebook. Then, send content and comments and save it all in one place.

"Learn More About" Web Widgets and Gadgets
1. Read the article Web Widgets on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget. (Time Commitments 2 minutes)
2. Watch the YouTube video, What are web widgets Part 1 at http://youtube.com/watch?v=HRAmQ_m2asg&feature=related. (Time Commitment 1:16)
3. Watch the YouTube video, What are web widgets part 2 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoeHy40qjEs&feature=related. (Time Commitment 1:29)

Hands On Activities

Part 1 Add a Wideget to your Blog

• Visit Widgetbox at http://www.widgetbox.com/
• Select a widget to add to your blog.

Part 2 Create a blog post about widgets

• Sign onto Blogger
• Select the new post link in your dashboard or the create link under the Posting tab.
• Use the compose tab to type a brief message about your experience with this hands-on activity. Questions to get you started: Was it easy? Did you enjoy it? How can you use a widget or gadget to improve efficiency at home or at work?
• Label Your post: Week 7 - Wed Widgets & Gadgets
• When you have finished typing and are ready to publish your thoughts, select the orange button, publish post. This will add the post to your blog. If you select the blue button, save now, the blog post will be added to your list of posts for editing and publishing at a later time.

Great job! Next week, it's all about social networking.

Week 6 - Tags, Folksonomy and Social Bookmarking

To successfully complete No. 1 - Tags, Folksonomy and Social Bookmarking, you must...

READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands On Activities, including reading the Important Tips.

Your total time commitment is about 35 to 40 minutes.

Introduction to Tags, Folksonomy and Social Bookmarking

Tagging is an open, informal method of categorizing online content such as web pages, blog posts, images and documents. A tag is a keyword or term that is assigned to online content. The tag describes the content and allows it to be found by a user who may browse or search for it. Tags are chosen by the content creator or by the consumer (someone who views or uses it). A single piece of content can have multiple tags. A collection of tags is known as a folksonomy.

A folksonomy occurs when content creators and consumers collaboratively create and manage tags as a means of describing and categorizing content. The tags can be generated by everyone. They are freely chosen keywords instead of a select vocabulary. Tagging is a key component of many web 2.0 applications, especially social bookmarking sites.

Social bookmarking is a way for Internet users to manage online bookmarks. Users establish an account and add tags to intersting web pages or other online content. The bookmarks are accessible via any Internet device instead of tied to a computer and it's browser based favorites listings. In a social bookmarking site, bookmarks can be public or private. Users may share bookmarks chronologically, by category or tags, or via a search engine.

Listen to a podcast on tagging, folksonomy and social bookmarking




"Learn More About" Tags, Folksonomy and Social Bookmarking
1. Watch both of the following videos:
On YouTube video --- Tagging & Folksonomy, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq6vwDSPcok (Time Commitment 2:12)
On YouTube video --- Social Bookmarking in Plain English, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x66lV7GOcNU (Time Commitment 3:25)
2. Do the Otter Group's Del.icio.us tutorial at http://www.ottergroup.com/learning2.0/?p=14. You do not need to download the file. Select the play button (side ways triangle) on the embedded player on the web page. (Time Commitment 8 minutes)


Hands On Activity

Part 1 - Create a Del.icio.us Account

• Select the register link at http://del.icio.us/. (View Screen shot)


• Enter the required information: user name, real name, password and word verification.


• Install the buttons.


• Do the button help at http://del.icio.us/help/buttons.


• NOTE: Yes! You have to sign up for yet another account. Don't worry! This is a Yahoo company which is really a Google company. So, you really have one account.

Part 2 - Tag some web content using your account.

• Read "A guide to saving bookmarks" at http://del.icio.us/help/saving.


• Log-in to your Del.icio.us account.


• Search or browse for web content to bookmark.
  Use the Tag button or select the pull down for del.icio.us and choose "Bookmark this on del.icio.us.


• Add notes to the pop-up from del.icio.us if desired.


• Add tags to describe the web content that you are bookmarking. Use spaces inbetween tags.
  

Part 3 - Create a blog post about using Del.icio.us.

• Select the new post link in your dashboard or the create link under the Posting tab.


• Use the compose tab to type a brief message about your experience with this hands-on activity. Questions to get you started: How can you use multimedia in your work? How easy was it to learn about multimedia?


• Label the post: Week 6 - Tags. Folksonomy and Social Bookmarking


• When you have finished typing and are ready to publish your thoughts, select the orange button, "publish post". This will add the post to your blog. If you select the blue button, "save now", the blog post will be added to your list of posts for editing and publishing at a later time.
  

Important Tips
1. If you use a staff computers for this activity, the Internet tool bar has been locked down by ComIT. The Del.icio.us buttons will install as options in your browser bookmarks.
2. Use the “Post to my Del.icio.us” link to add a desired web page to your Del.icio.us bookmarks. You will need to log-in to Del.icio.us before you can do this.
3. Use the “My Del.icio.us” link to view your account.
4. Tags on del.icio.us must have spaces between them.
5. When using two or more words to create a tag, you can not use spaces between them. So, use no spaces, a dash or hyphen between words. Example: social-media, socialmedia, or social_media

Wow! You have discovered another an important facet of the social web --- tagging, folksonomy and social bookmarking. Enjoy!

Week 5 - Multimedia (Photosharing, Podcasting & Videocasting)

To successfully complete No. 5 - Multimedia (Photosharing, Podcasting & Videocasting), you must...

READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands On Activities, including reading the Important Tips.

Your total time commitment is about 35 to 45 minutes. Please note that the time commitment is slightly larger for this week.

Introduction to Multimedia

Photosharing
Photosharing, either public or private, is the uploading and publishing of digital images to the purpose of sharing with other people. Photosharing is not liminted to web-based photosharing services life Flickr, Buzznet, Photobucket, SnapFish or Kodak Gallery; personal computer networks, camera phones and other devices are equipped with applications that make photosharing possible. Flickr is the fastest growing photosharing site on the web. It is also known as one of the first web sites to use keyword “tags” to create associations and connections between images and site users.

Podcasting
AUDIO FILE + RSS FEED = PODCAST. A podcast is an Internet radio show in MP3 audio file format. The file is uploaded with an RSS file by the creator to a server, then downloaded by the user for listening on a computer or other device with headphones or a speaker.

What makes a podcast special is how they are delivered to the user. They are downloaded automatically by software capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or Atom. The software is always-on when the user’s computer starts and runs in the background.

Listeners not need an MP3 player to hear the podcast; their computer does all the work. In fact, 80% of all podcasts are consumed on the PC which they were downloaded.

Listen to a podcast about podcasting. Too bad that I could not figure out how to make an alliteration out that sentence.

Vodcasts
Video podcasting, sometimes referred to as vodcasting or vidcasting, is video-on-demand. It is almost identical to podcasting except the content is video versus audio. The content is also more likely to be played on a personal computer than on a personal media assistant. It may be delivered as a file or as a stream. Estreaming is a form of Vodcasting.

"Learn More About" Multimedia

NOTE: Select one multimedia to learn more about, then Read, Watch and Do the corresponding activities and resources.

1. Read one of the following wikipedia articles:
Photosharing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photo_sharing (Time Commitment 5 minutes)
Podcasting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting (Time Commitment 5 minutes)
Video Podcasting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_podcast (Time Commitment 5 minutes)

2. Watch one of the following videos on YouTube
Online Photosharing in Plain English at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPU4awtuTsk (Time Commitment 3:00)
Podcasting in Plain English at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-MSL42NV3c (Time Commitment 3:00)
Adventures in Videocasting at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeI5WicdpiU (Time Commitment 4:45)

3. Do one of the following tutorials:
Photosharing - Flickr Tutorial at http://www.flickr.com/tour/ (Time Commitment 5 mintues)
Vidcasting - FreeVlog tutorial at http://www.freevlog.org/ (Time Commitment 15 minutes)
Podcasting - Podcasting Guide at http://www.guidesandtutorials.com/podcasting-tutorial.html (15 minutes)

Hands On Activity

Add a Blog Post about one of the three different types of multimedia

• Select the new post link in your dashboard or the create link under the Posting tab.
• Use the compose tab to type a brief message about your experience with this hands-on activity. Questions to get you started: How can you use multimedia in your work? How easy was it to learn about multimedia?
• Label your post: Week 5 - Multimedia
• When you have finished typing and are ready to publish your thoughts, select the orange button, "publish post". This will add the post to your blog. If you select the blue button, "save now", the blog post will be added to your list of posts for editing and publishing at a later time.

Important Tips

1. Due to bandwidth issues, please try to do your work for this week at off - peak Internet usage times during the business day.

Keep going! You're doing a great job. Comment on this blog post and tell us what you think of this lesson.

Week 4 - Instant Messaging

To successfully complete No. 1 - Instant Messaging, you must...

READ this blog post.
DO and THINK about the information in the "Learn More About" activities.
LEARN by completing the Hands On Activities, including reading the Important Tips.

Your total time commitment is about 30 to 40 minutes.


Introduction to Instant Messaging


Instant messaging (IM) is a form of online communication that allows real-time (or close to) interaction between two or more people through personal computers or mobile computing devices via the Internet. IM users can exchange messaging privately, similar to email, or join a group conversation. Although typed text remains the primary convention for IM, the technology has grown and now allows users to send images, audio and video files and other attachments.
An early version of IM appeared first in the late 1990s. The list of IM tools has grown to include dozens of applications. Technologies that enable IM such as wireless connectivity and web-ready mobile devices have become widespread.

The interactive nature of IM is closer to spoken conversation that written correspondence. Users communicate in a manner that is a step beyond email. They get a sense of presence of other IM users through emoticons and other devices. Yet, they have a perception of distance and often safety.

Hundreds of millions of people use IM to stay connected. According to the September 2004 study "How Americans Use Instant Messaging," by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 53 million adults send instant messages on a daily basis. More importantly, an entire generation --- the Millenninals ---is growing up using IM. They do not think of it as technology. It's a regular communication channel that suits their needs.

Listen to a podcast on Instant messaging.





"Learn More About" Instant Messaging


1. Read this Wikipedia article on Instant Messaging, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_messaging. (Time Commitment 5 minutes)
2. Read this article Email is Dead, at http://www.bigblueball.com/forums/general-other-im-news/41527-ap-aol-instant-messaging-trends-survey-email-dead.html (5 minutes)
3. Read this article, Instant Messaging Proves Useful In Reducing Workplace Interruption, at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080603120251.htm (2 minutes)



Hands on Activity

Part 1 - Try Instant Messaging
NOTE: Instant Messaging requires an account with an Instant Messaging service and a software download on your personal computer. To eliminate these obstacles, you will experience Instant Messaging through a web-based tool called Meebome. This tool allows anyone --- without benefit of a personal IM account--- to interact with library staff via Instant Messaging technology. Curious about how it works? Check it out at http://www.meebo.com/about/.

• Go to the URL http://www.vbgov.com/askvbpl during the service hours of Monday through Thursday, 3 to 7 p.m or Saturday 1 to 5 p.m.
• The status will show ASK VBPL online; type a question into the small box. The box says Type here and hit enter to send. Library staff will send you a response that will display in the larger box just above where you typed.
  

Part 2 - Create a blog post about your Instant Messaging experience

• Sign onto Blogger
• Select the new post link in your dashboard or the create link under the Posting tab.
  Use the compose tab to type a brief message about your experience with this hands-on activity. Questions to get you started: Was it easy? Did you enjoy it? How can IM help you improve communication at home or at work?
• When you have finished typing and are ready to publish your thoughts, select the orange button, publish post. This will add the post to your blog. Select the blue button, save now; the blog post will be added to your list of posts for editing and publishing at a later time.

Great job! Next week, you will explore multi-media.