Most people know
the feeling of being part of a conversation at work or in class where someone
suddenly brings up a new and unfamiliar concept that everybody else seems to
know about but you. So your instant thought is “please don’t ask me about this”
and “get me online so I can look it up on Wikipedia” before I look like a total
dummy. Recently I came across the concept of Web 2.0 in a similar manor. So I went on to use
Wikipedia (as I always do) without even knowing that I was actually already
using a Web 2.0 tool.
Here is what I´ve
found:
“Web 2.0 is in short social software that
enables people to interact in knowledge sharing using different types of tools
through the web”
So far so good. But
what are these main tools, how do they work and how can I use these? Through my
searching I found that not all the web 2.0 tools were as unfamiliar as I first
imagined. Wikipedia
is, as mentioned, a well-known tool to most people as well as Facebook and Twitter. To me some of
the new tools included blogs, podcasts, rss and general use of wikis. Getting
to know all these new tools and the ideas behind them might, to some (including
myself), seem overwhelming but as it turns out pedagogical and visual introduction to these tools is luckily also available. In example explaining the concept of an rss-feeder,
as a common Web 2.0 tool, is introduced here.
Haven gone over the
video clips the tools of web 2.0 suddenly do not seem so distant and unfamiliar.
So I continued my search in relation to how
the web 2.0 tools can assist my personal productivity and found even more
tools that I am positive will come in handy through my future studies and
hopefully to you too. In example:
Google.docs - (as part of goggle.drive) just started using this tool and really think it's a nice alternative to dropbox as more people canwork in the same document at the same time
Glogster.com - a place to use your imagination and design your own posters using, music, video, speak, pictures, animations and more. A fun and visual alternative to ordinary blogging.
Popplet.com – an easy to use, collaborative tool for creating mind maps for school or professional work.
To me the only
downside to these tools is that I didn’t know about them until now ;) In general Web 2.0 has contributed to my personal productivity in terms of providing important knowledge that is essential to my specific interests. Also it has reinforced my own engagement and contribution of knowledge sharing through my personal online networks.
As it
turns out the more I look the more I notice that web 2.0 is all around and even
though some aspects are new some are definitely also familiar and to me that is
a nice starting point. I guess I am also not a total dummy any longer if
someone asks me of my opinion on the new trends in Web 2.0 – so mission
complete!
Again, please feel
free to comment as I am sure I can still learn a lot, whether you are a know-it-all-IT-geniuses
or just a rookie - like me.
Well that’s it for
my blog post this week and enough of all this Web 2.0 stuff….now it´s time for
Facebook!!! ;-)
Web 2.0
Wikipedia
Common craft
Google.docs
dropbox
Glogster.com
Popplet.com
