iSean

this is my blog entry live in front of my ED 205 class using my new Flock browser.

Web 2.0 Cracks Start to Show

Spam, scams and scatterbrains — the same problems that plagued the old internet are cropping up again in a new wave of technologies known collectively as Web 2.0.

But this time around, proponents say Web 2.0 has been better engineered to withstand the troubles that wrecked Usenet, BBSes and free e-mail.

The cycle is so predictable, it’s almost a natural law: Every new internet movement popular enough to generate buzz also generates a backlash.

This time, the debate revolves around the cracks that are starting to appear in Web 2.0, a term coined by O’Reilly Media Vice President Dale Dougherty to describe a post-dot-com generation of sites and services that use the web as a platform — things like Flickr, BitTorrent, tagging and RSS syndication.

so, i mentioned web 2.0 in a previous entry, but i didn’t take the time to describe what it is. this article talks about it briefly, but i like that this article is less about describing what it is and much more about describing the issues and barriers that web 2.0 is encountering. if you want to better understand web 2.0 then i’d recommend this article.

i am using the Flock browser more and more and liking it more and more. i felt like adding a blog entry and i am doing this without visiting my site. i just took a screenshot so i’ll add it to my flickr account and see if i can add it to the post after doing so.

i don’t have much new to add except that i miss having the spell check built into the browser, but this is a .4 release, so there is MUCH time before we even see 1.0.

here’s the image from my browser (flock):

Flock Founder Hopes New Browser Will Fly - Yahoo! News

Startup Flock has released a Firefox-based browser meant to enhance the user experience by incorporating some of the Web’s most social features, such as file sharing, RSS feeds, and Web logging, according to the company’s co-founder.

well, this new browser appears to be *the* browser for web 2.0.

not sure what web 2.0 is? try a google search.

if you have an inkling into web 2.0 and you are already into the whole user designed approach to the web and user interactivity, then this is the browser for you. in fact, you can download a preview release of this browser now at this address: http://www.flock.com/developer/ (i am doing so in the background as i type). i’ll provide a review after trying it out. stay tuned.

Wired News: E-Tutors: Outsourcing the Coach

COCHIN, India — A few stars are still twinkling in the inky pre-dawn sky when Koyampurath Namitha arrives for work in a quiet suburb of this south Indian city. It’s barely 4:30 a.m. when she grabs a cup of coffee and joins more than two dozen colleagues, each settling into a cubicle with a computer and earphones.

More than 7,000 miles away, in Glenview, Illinois, outside Chicago, it’s the evening of the previous day and 14-year-old Princeton John sits at his computer, barefoot and ready for his hourlong geometry lesson. The high school freshman puts on a headset with a microphone and clicks on computer software that will link him through the internet to his tutor, Namitha, many time zones away.

It’s called e-tutoring — yet another example of how modern communications, and an abundance of educated, low-wage Asians, are broadening the boundaries of outsourcing and working their way into the minutiae of American life, from replacing your lost credit card through reading your CAT scan to helping you revive your crashed computer.

personally, i think this is a great story to read about. the article describes how american kids are finding online tutoring from companies in india. i can’t believe that online tutoring is very profitable, so this would be an outsourcing solution that is hard to argue against. then again, i can’t tell that this is a service that was here to begin with given how new the web and related services are . . . if this particular business started in india then can we really call it outsourcing? anyway, i like to read that kids are using technology in ways that are productive and help with the learning process.

wow, two blog entries in one day . . . i am on fire. ;~)
Tallahassee Democrat | 10/15/2005 | Surfing through class

Bringing laptops and wireless Internet access into classrooms was supposed to enrich classroom discussions by, for example, allowing students to import information from the Internet and share it with the rest of the class. But instead, some students are using their laptops to message friends, shop online, peruse Web sites and pursue part-time jobs. The result: There is a rising backlash against classroom computer use from professors and schools.

you know, this article got me to thinking . . . i teach almost exclusively in computer labs or in classrooms that have wireless laptop carts. i know this going in — in fact, i request it. when you teach in this environment, you learn to use this internet access to your advantage. sure, a few students here and there will check their email and get off-track, but professors who use the technology to supplement and enhance what they are teaching will find a more captive audience. and, the article touches upon this:

Some professors have responded to the prevalence of networked computers in class by changing their teaching styles. The University of Houston’s Adams, for instance, now peppers his lectures with enough questions to reduce students’ Web surfing. When he is discussing a particularly complex subject, he says, he tells students to close their laptops.

i think technology opens up more opportunities for distraction, but many of these students probably daydreamed for portions of classes in the past . . .or passed notes . . . or doodled . . . or (you get the picture?)

i have stopped requiring attendance in-class. and all of my in-class sessions can be taken online if a student decides not to come to class. i still get about 1/2 of the students who want to come to class, but the other students complete the requirements online and they get the same kind of credit. when students come to class knowing they could be sitting at home sleeping during the time, i think they are probably more motivated to learn. and, i don’t notice the same issues being described in the article. i hope these professors learn to embrace the technology because it’s not going away any time soon.

Blackboard, WebCT combining forces

The top two providers of learning management system (LMS) software and services for higher education, Blackboard Inc. and WebCT Inc., have announced an agreement to merge. The merger would leave the combined entity with more than 80 percent of the LMS market share in higher education, which includes the software platforms that drive online learning. The impending deal has a price tag reported to be approximately $180 million.

Blackboard says the transaction will combine two academic eLearning organizations into a single company with the client base, resources, and expertise to meet the rapidly evolving needs of educators around the world. But the deal also has the potential to squeeze out other LMS providers and reduce competition, some observers fear.

well, that’s certainly my fear. we have the two largest suppliers of online learning management systems and they are both based on old technologies. so, we’ll end up with the best of both worlds, when both worlds are quite lacking. and, they easily control the market (>80%), so what does this say for the future of online learning? call me less than enthused.

School Laptops: Save or delete?

The critics were right and just as predicted, seventh- and eighth-graders in Maine are using their state-issued laptops for games and for entertainment, not just tests and homework assignments.
(Anecdotal stories mentioned — edited out by Sean) . . .as Maine’s One-to-One Laptop Program draws to a close. The $37.2 million program, which started in January 2002 under the wing of then Gov. Angus King, ends in early 2006.

That means the 37,000 iBook laptops in the states’ middle schools today (seventh- and eight-graders have 34,000 of them, their teachers have 3,000) are supposed to go back to Apple Computer Inc. at the end of the school year.

i just read the full article and it doesn’t bode well for those people who want to see laptop initiatives happen. as i mentioned earlier, assessing these program according to NCLB is the wrong way to measure whether they are effective or not, but that’s what’s going to happen. it also doesn’t help to hear about kids wasting time on the machines, but most adults waste time on these machines as well. in fact, i read recently that adults waste hours of each work day on their computers (e.g., web, email, IM, etc).

so, i suppose it will be interesting to read the final report once the laptop program ends at the end of this year. soon, decisions will need to be made regarding whether to extend the program and i think it’s a hard pill to swallow when the economy is not doing as well as it was when this program started. i don’t know much about the teacher training that went into Maine’s program, but i would bet that very little training (or none) would be enough to see a program like this fail miserably. on the other hand, the Detroit program I mentioned a few weeks ago has training as an integral part of their program, so i hold out hope that they realize more success. Time will tell, eh?

As technology develops, MIT finds ways to get computers to all children - The Daily Free Press - Science

As the world becomes increasingly technologically dependent, the use of computers in classrooms has become more beneficial. One university in Massachusetts is developing a durable $100 laptop computer that may be mass produced for thousands of children around the world.The Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently updated the development of a self-reliant and durable laptop for children.The computer’s A-C adapter would double as the carrying strap and a hand crank could be used power the machine if no electricity were available. Every minute of winding would power the machine for 10 minutes.The laptop is encased in rubber to resist damage from spillage or simply dropping the computer.

this story has been running through the blogosphere for the last week. i didn’t address it initially because i’ve been busy, but i don’t want to let it slide. while i think it’s great that there are folks who are looking to get technology into the hands of kids all over the world, i also hold out hope that a project finding laptops this affordable will translate into solutions for kids here in the United States who still have no computer at home.

but, rather than focus on the whole program, i wanted to point out a little nugget i found buried in the article. and, even before i get into that (something geeky), the article is on a subscription page as you may have noticed. the first page is accessible, but the second and third pages are not without registering . . . that is, unless you click on the “print” the article link near the top. this will give you the whole article. ;~)

anyway, embedded in the second page is an explanation of how these laptops are being built to act as their own bridges for wireless connectivity. so, if one laptop can reach the wireless signal source then that laptop can use the wireless signal, but it will also send the wireless signal on to all laptops within range. what a great way to develop a wireless model on the very cheap. kudos to these developers.

i also notice that my link no longer works for me without registering. i should probably have found another link. oh well.