Reader 1 - Web 2.0
Reader 1 asks us to research and gather resources about how
the web is seen and used today. I haven’t done this yet but have started to
consider how I personally use the web. So, it seems that despite not knowing
what Web 1.0, 2.0, etc are, I actually use them on a daily basis! Ironically, I
also ‘googled’ the terms after reading Reader 1 in the handbook.
What do these terms mean?
Web 1.0 – non-interactive websites. There are two very
separate roles; the creator and the user. The creator creates a website and
presents their information and the user reads/uses/absorbs what has been
presented to them.
Web 2.0 – websites/applications/programmes with a new level
of interaction. For example: blogs, wikis and social networking sites. The line
between creator and user is removed; someone who starts out as a user may decide
they can contribute something worthwhile and therefore become a creator as they
present their information for others to use.
I think the bottom line of the comparison below best
summarises the difference between the two generations of the web – 1.0 is a
lecture, whilst 2.0 is a conversation.
x
I also like the idea that Web 2.0 is a collaborative effort.
At the secondary school I work at, we encourage our students to use seven
‘habits of mind’ in their work and everyday life; one of them being
collaboration. However, writing this, I can now see the contradiction when we
then tell the very same students that sites such as Wikipedia cannot be used as
information sources for their work because of the unknown and potentially
unreliable variety of authors. In my opinion there is an important use for the
likes of Wikipedia. They can provide us with more keywords to extend our search
on a topic and countless links to other websites and sources that we may
consider more trustworthy than Wikipedia itself.
How do I use Web 2.0?
I use Web 2.0 in the form of social media sites Facebook and
Instagram. Whilst my primary reason is keeping in touch with friends and
sharing photos, I can’t deny the convenience of sharing a message/image with
several colleagues at once or the speed at which info and images can be shared
with a much wider audience to promote an event or business. I think free
platforms such as social media websites are some of the most useful tools
available to us at this time but I don’t think I utilise Web 2.0 in my
professional practice as much as I could. Working in a school environment we
are strongly advised to set our privacy settings to the highest possible so
that we cannot be found by students. Perhaps I need to find a better balance
and make specific images or information more public so that I can be found/identified
by other professionals? I may start to consider this but I also think we have
to question the quality of what we see sometimes. Do we post too frequently or
flippantly just because we can? Are we compromising the effectiveness of what
we post because our target audience is simply overwhelmed by the number of
posts they see on these sites?
I also use sharing applications WhatApp and DropBox to
quickly share information, images and music with my colleagues. I particularly
like that you can log into DropBox on any device at any time and access all of
your files.
Ethical Considerations (if I’ve understood ethical
considerations correctly??)
Consent – in any situation we must consider the legal rights
of the subject of an image and gain consent prior to taking a photo. This is
even more important when using about Web 2.0 because of the rate at which it
can spread and be seen/used/edited by people all over the world.
Privacy – working in a school environment I understand the
importance of keeping my professional and personal lives separate, to protect
myself and the children I work with. However I realise that the temptation of
searching for a teacher on Facebook can prove too much for some students. In
this situation I lose all authority as a member of staff and simply have to set
my privacy settings to the highest possible and hope that I can remain
undetected.
Deception – how do we know we are talking to who we think we
are? Facebook users are supposed to be at least 13 years old but how is this
checked? We enter a date of birth when we sign up and tick a box to say that we
agree to the terms and conditions of use (one of them stating that users must
be 13+). But there is nothing to stop us from entering false data and ticking
that box anyway. This is just one simple example of how easily we can deceive
one another online nowadays.
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