Reader 1. Task 1B

Task 1B – Reader 1.

“WHAT?! Oliver, what on earth are you doing? You have no idea what this is all about so stop it right now”…… is what the little voices in my head were saying after reading through Reader 1 for the first time.

This really was a challenge as I have never done any form of written Uni work before and I didn’t know where to start. I remember a conversation with Paula going something like “you can all learn from each other”, so let’s see how the others are getting on. WOW guys, after reading your blogs you really did put me at ease; it wasn’t just me that was blown away with Reader 1. Taking my time to re-analyse Reader 1, watching recommended YouTube videos and making a mind map of my Web2.0 usage was where I needed to start.

So my day begins with a regular visit to Twitter or Facebook. These sites are ‘a must’ for me in the morning, as I don’t get time to really watch/listen to the news much. I like to check these sites for ‘what’s going on’ in the world, as well as celebrity gossip and also ‘what did my sister/friends/colleagues get up to last night?’  On seeing a status or tweet from a fellow Web2.0 user, I will comment, like or even re-tweet, letting all my Web2.0 followers know that I have interacted with someone whom I would otherwise not communicate with at such an unearthly hour in the morning. After my morning exercise (consisting of a dog walk, cup of coffee and several cigarettes) I will normally post/tweet something about my day ahead/the weather/the news or what antics Frankie (that’s the dog) got up to on our ‘walkies’, thus again interacting with a few hundred followers from not only the UK, but worldwide, and again with whom I would not normally call/text/email or write to daily, telling them that my dog has just found the world’s biggest stick! Is such Web2.0 usage normal? And what on earth did we do pre-2007? Where would I be now without Web2.0? Would I still be in touch with past friends who no longer reside in the same country as me? Who knows – the answers are entirely based on ‘what is’.

Next comes my best buddy ‘Google’. (As I am writing this I am asking myself, ‘Oliver, where would you be without Web 2.0’?) On setting up my classroom for the day, I will log onto my school laptop and ponder for a moment what I should do with the kiddywinks in registration time. Will I google a ‘talking’ topic/discussion question, find some interesting pictures/sayings/phrases/questions for us to talk/write about. Google helps me have these resources at my fingertips, but more importantly, other Web2.0 users have left their comments on how well the session/registration/discussion or quick write went for them. AWESOME! I can use Web2.0 to actually help me decide on what to select.

Now I can see just how I use Web2.0, it might be easier to explain my new found ‘knowledge’ of what I know about Web2.0.

On a daily basis I use Web2.0 to communicate with others that I would not usually communicate with. I would not send a text to my entire phone book to tell them that I have just read a newspaper article about some teaching idea and I think that they might be interested in reading it too. This is not the way in which the world works anymore, instead I ‘share’ or ‘retweet’ the link, in the hope that someone who follows me will find it interesting. I also find that the discussions around things shared/liked by using Web2.0 can bring up fantastic and stimulating conversations with colleagues/family and friends. It can open up a whole new adventure, ‘let’s try eating there’ or ‘‘let’s try making/doing this’ places that you would not normally think of eating at or things that you would not normally make/do. It’s just reminded me of a quote from one of my favourite authors,

“Oh the more that you read, the more things you will know. Oh the more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!(1978)

Work and Web 2.0

On a daily basis, be it morning or evening, I will use Web2.0 to access the views of others for their ideas and feedback on what they think is good/bad/ugly about a certain ‘thing’ been used for a lesson. In this example I will use a discussion based registration class of Year 3 and 4 students. On searching the WWW on what is a good/relevant discussion to have on this particularly cold February morning. I will, without knowing, enlist the help of other Web2:0 users. Selecting google as my search engine, I type in “Discussions for year KS2 about ‘is telling a white lie always OK?”.  First I glance through the top few results, glancing over what other Web2.0 users have written, select the one I wish to read further into, and there you have it. A whole discussion on what worked, what went well/not so well. What they would do differently, or how they would enhance the discussion.

I guess that the title Web2.0 did make my heart sink a little as I really did not have a clue what Web2.0 was, however look at me now…… without even knowing it, I am a frequent and somewhat knowledgeable (if I do say so myself) user of Web2.0 , ‘Oh the places you’ll go’……..!

Until next time,

Adios Amigos

x

I have to go update my status about my blog!!!!!!!