Hey guys, since there wasn’t a reading assigned for the week, we found some intresting articles that look at some pros and cons of web 2.0. We hope you enjoy the readings!
Here’s the article for question 1
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6653119.stm
1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
And here’s the article for questions 2 and 3.
3. On page 3 of the article “District Administrators see Advantages of Web 2.0 in School” David Nagel lists seven different challenges of Web 2.0. As a teacher, how would you deal with some of these challenges in your classroom? Discuss one or two. Can you possibly think of any additional challenges of Web 2.0 that may pose a problem in your future classroom?
We look forward to reading your responses -John, Kyle, Sarah, Katy, and Krista
ReplyDelete1. 1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteThe only useless website is one that you click on, and it does not work. I do not think that any informtaion is useless. Someone out there may need the information even if I do not. Also wikepedia is a highly controversal site. Yet, I still go there sometimes to start research. Even though some stuff wikepedia has is bolognea, it is a good starting point. I have not found websites that were "'glossy but useless' sites." Hmm... Maybe I should look harder. I do believe, as a future teacher, I need to keep my websites looking professional because teachers are role models. If students see teachers can be sloppy then they will turn in sloppy work to me. :(
1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jen that no information is useless because there is always someone who may need that information. While I have not found a website that was just “glossy but useless”, I have found sites that are hard to navigate. This can be extremely frustrating when you just want to get the necessary information and move on. As a teacher I feel it is important to have a neat and easy website to navigate. If it becomes to hard for students to find what they need they may not even try.
1. 1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteJen makes a very good point when she says that no information is useless.I almost completely agree with this. The exception I have is that, in my experience, I have come across some sights that are very complicated to read (or as Zan says, is not "people talk"). Although this certainly does not make the information useless, many people (including myself) will not want to have to decode what the author is attempting to say. In my opinion, these authors could attempt to "dumb down" their article (or whatever it is) so the majority of people can understand the material. When I come across such an article, I generally give up on the article and try to find another article on the same subject that is easier to understand and read. As for if there are poorly designed websites, I do agree that some are rather unorganized and could use a little work. I have looked at some websites that have lesson plans on them and some of them are extremely plain and boring looking, and have quite a few grammar mistakes. As a teacher, I feel that it is important to make a website look as professional as possible because many people will look at a website and if it does not look appealing right away, they will not even glance at the content on the page. It is also highly important to make sure the grammar is correct. Many people will not take a website seriously if there are a lot of grammar mistakes.
1. 1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI think that there are websites out there that are unrealiable and poorly made. I know many people, including myself, rely on websites like wikipedia for information. A lot of the information on this website could be incorrect. A student who is researching something probably wouldn't know the difference between a realiable and unreliable source. I also believe that some websites are poorly made and unorganized. Students, as well as those who are unfamiliar with the internet, need an easy to navigate website to gather information. As future teachers, it is very helpful that we are learning how to create our own wikis, blogs, and websites. We should know how to make a reliable, well-organized, and professional site so that our students and their parents can get the information they need. When my students in my practicum class go to the computer lab, my host teacher only uses programs and websites that are helpful and easy to navigate. This makes going to the computer lab easier for everyone because they know how to use the program and can get started right away without wasting time on starting the program.
2. In the article “District Administrators see Advantages of Web 2.0 in School” Nagel discusses both positive and negative aspects of using Web 2.0. Do you feel that the positive aspects of using Web 2.0 outweigh the negative challenges? Explain your reasoning.
ReplyDeleteEven after reading the article and the statistics of using Web 2.0 in schools, I believe that the positive aspects outweigh the negative challenges. We discussed in another blog the reasons for having websites blocked while at school and in certain situations I still believe this is necessary however, I do not think things like blogs, wikis, or certain websites should be blocked. Filtering certain things is necessary but using Web 2.0 can be very safe and easy. Although the article listed several negative aspects of of Web 2.0 there are too many positive aspects mentioned in the article to agree with the negative ones. Teachers being "too unfamiliar with the technology" is not a good excuse in my opinion because teachers may easily attend workshops or seminars to learn how to use Web 2.0 in their classrooms. What will be the excuse when we are teachers in the classroom and we all know how to use the technology? The pros listed in the article such as, increased peer relationships, better homework habits, better self direction and regulation, and a better sense of community or culture completely outweigh the few negative aspects. In my opinion, all of the positive aspects of Web 2.0 create a more well rounded student and increasing all of pros listed in the article would promote better success in the classroom. Overall, I think that Web 2.0 creates a positive learning environment with endless opportunity for improvement. Technology is growing rapidly and not using it or expanding it in the classroom/school holds the students back.
Good work so far! I enjoyed reading your responses thus far. I really enjoyed Jen's take on Wikipedia. I agree completely it is controversial but I still find myself using it. Rikki I loved how you compared this question to a question from a former blog, it should create some good discussion. Keep up the good work
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete3. On page 3 of the article “District Administrators see Advantages of Web 2.0 in School” David Nagel lists seven different challenges of Web 2.0. As a teacher, how would you deal with some of these challenges in your classroom? Discuss one or two. Can you possibly think of any additional challenges of Web 2.0 that may pose a problem in your future classroom?
ReplyDeleteIn the article “District Administrators Advantages of Web 2.0 in School” by David Nagel, he lists several different challenges that Web 2.0 can pose. Two challenges that Nagel addresses in this article are cyber bullying and inappropriate online interactions. I believe that these two items have been and are continuing to be ongoing issues amongst children in both the home and the classroom. Many people and including our class are well aware of the benefits of social media networks, such as Web 2.0. Although, we must take note of some of the negative aspects that may emerge while using these online networks. As I previously mentioned, two of these negative issues that may surface amongst children while using the internet is cyber bullying and inappropriate online behavior. As a future teacher, if these specific conflicts arise, I have to be ready to properly govern the situation. I think it is extremely important to be constantly monitoring the students while they are using the computer and specifically the web. Another way to handle these situations is to have blockers on inappropriate or mature website within the schools and classrooms. Also, another way to aid teachers monitoring and catching these negative activities occurring within the classroom is for the teachers to create a sign- up sheet for the computers. This way it will limit the amount of students who are accessing the internet and make it easier for the teachers to watch over a minimal number of students versus a whole class.
I think David Nagel’s article touched base on all the main challenges that web 2.0 poses to students. Although web 2.0 positive attributes for the most part outweighs the negative but as teachers, we do need to make ourselves aware that there are negative aspects to the internet and we need to familiarize ourselves with these possibly dangerous issues. The internet does offer a lot for both teachers and students on how we learn and teach but our main as teachers our main goal is to care for and protect our students.
3. On page 3 of the article “District Administrators see Advantages of Web 2.0 in School” David Nagel lists seven different challenges of Web 2.0. As a teacher, how would you deal with some of these challenges in your classroom? Discuss one or two. Can you possibly think of any additional challenges of Web 2.0 that may pose a problem in your future classroom?
ReplyDeleteOut of the seven challenges of web 2.0, I feel that the first one listed poses the biggest problem. The first challenge is the use of non-authoritative or biased sources. I feel that this is a challenge not just for children but for everyone who uses 2.0. There are so many sources on the internet, and most of the time anyone can post whatever they want. Therefore, we never really know if we are getting reliable information. I do believe, however, that there are certain sites and search engines that are reliable. For example, online encyclopedias that include the publishers are typically reliable. Therefore, I think a good way to combat this challenge is to provide our students with a list of certain websites that are the most factual and dependable. Therefore, the students and teachers will not have to worry about non-authoritative information. Another challenge listed in the article is inappropriate online interactions. I feel that the only way to truly combat this challenge is to monitor our students’ use of the internet. Most schools generally have blocks on certain websites. However, I believe that it is still important that we are always involved in what each of our students is doing on the internet.
I feel that most of the major challenges are already listed in the article. However, another challenge could possibly be that students will come to rely too much on web 2.0. While I think that technology and the internet are very important in our classrooms today, I do not believe that they should take over education.
Great posts so far, you all have some really great points! Ashley and Lori, I agree with you that there are many advantages of using Web 2.0 but as teachers, we must monitor the students to eliminate potential problems. Ashley, I liked your idea of having a sign-up sheets for the students that are using the computer and limiting the number of students to use the computers at a time to make it easier to monitor them. Excellent job and I enjoyed reading everyone's posts!
ReplyDeleteExcellent posts so far everyone! Anna, I really like the way you compared the pros and cons and explained your reasoning as to why you feel that the pros of using web 2.0 outweigh the cons, you made some really good points! Lori, I also really liked your idea of giving students a list of websites that are more reliable for them to use. I agree with you that it would be good for both the students and the teachers. Great job with all the posts so far!
ReplyDelete2. In the article “District Administrators see Advantages of Web 2.0 in School” Nagel discusses both positive and negative aspects of using Web 2.0. Do you feel that the positive aspects of using Web 2.0 outweigh the negative challenges? Explain your reasoning.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anna in saying that the benefits of using Web 2.0 in the classroom outweigh the negitive challenges. The article lists challenges that I previously did not think of but truthfully out of the challenges it list such as inappropriate online interactions, accessing inappropriate materials, giving out personal information, posting inappropriate materials, cheating or plagiarism and
cyber bullying can happen with any internet usage by the student. I think as future teachers we should embrace Web 2.0 as a way to show students a safe, resourceful website and internet experience but also educate them about the dangers it can have so that they are aware of proper internet behavior. I think that with all technology there are benefits and challenges. I see it as just another reason for future teachers to show our children a safe way to interact with each other inside and outside the classroom, because as we have seen wiki's, blogs, webquests and voicethreads can be very informative, engaging and fun for the students so they should not have these Web 2.0 tools taken away from them.
1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI don't agree that just because a website is easy to create that people will misuse it or create meaningless sites. I agree with Jen in that if a website is created, the purpose lies with the author and there is no fair way to judge whether or not it is useful or useless. However, I do agree that there are many sites that are poorly designed. Neilsen wrote "They should get the basics right first...Sadly most websites do not have those primary things right." I think there is a possibility that because the Internet is so popular, some groups may decide to create a website that is almost detrimental to their cause. Frustration with the Internet can lead to the avoidance of using it. Personally, I think that any website I will create will be professional in appearance. As a role model for my students, I refuse to set a bad example. Any kind of project that I create will represent me and I would be embarassed if it was unprofessional.
Q1-I agree with Jakob Nielson that there are many sites with poor design but I do not necessarily think that all of them contain useless information. Chances are someone out there will find something that is useful in these poorly designed sites. Many sites may just be designed poorly by the creator due to lack of computer skills because they may be a new user. These sites may still contain useful information but just not designed and organized to catch the viewer. Though I do feel there are many sites that are poorly designed I think everyone is entitled to make and create their website as they wish. I feel myself as a future educator though, it is part of my job to keep a professional reputation and appearance, so therefore designing websites that are professional looking as well as engaging for my students is crucial!
ReplyDeleteNice posts 603! Danielle, I really like what you said about using the challenges of Web 2.0 as an opportunity to teach students about appropriate and inappropriate behavior. I couldn't agree with you more!
ReplyDelete1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jakob Nielson, I do feel as if anyone out there can make a website, and this website may not be made correctly or have valuable information. I feel like these websites could steer you in the wrong direction or better yet leave you more confused then you were before. I personally didn't hear about Web 2.0 until this class. But I can see where this could be a problem. The web is an information tool, it should contain the right research.
As far as being a teacher and keeping our websites and wiki's looking professional, I think that's a must. We are teachers and should always have a professional attitude. The school, parents, and students will have access to your site, if it isn't professional I feel like it would come back to haunt you. You don't need something as small as that to ruin the respect that you built among the community.
Great information in your posts everyone! Roberta,I agree with your post that anyone out there can just create websites and put up any information they want. Is there any ways that you can think of to help prevent your future students from getting information that may be misleading or incorrect?
ReplyDelete1. 1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rikki that although website information is never useless, there are times when websites do not contain information that is helpful. There have been times where I have come across a website and thought, "Wow, this is impossible to understand, read, etc." Because of this, I would immediately leave the website and not even give it a chance. For this reason, I definitely believe that it is important to keep my own wikis or websites professional and understandable. I would not want someone to leave my website without giving it a chance just because of the layout or wording. In my practicum, I have seen my teacher give up on her grading website because she did not understand how to use it. However, since the website is required by the school district, she had to figure out how to use it in a correct way. Although it took her a while, she did eventually figure it out, yet she definitely was not happy to use the site. As a future teacher, I hope that the websites I come across are useful as well as meaningful. I do believe information is always important, but useless and difficult information on websites is not something I enjoy.
Great point Myriah and I agree with what you said. I come across websites all the time where I cannot understand them because they are impossible to read and follow. I get very frustrated when trying to look up certain things because I sometimes have trouble finding a good, reliable website. I will click on the website link and if I cannot understand it, I move on and do not even bother reading along. I also liked how you included your practicum experience in your post. And yes, information is always important, but useless and difficult information on websites is something I do not enjoy either.
ReplyDeleteKeep it going everyone, you still have a lot of time!
1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteEveryone has been making some great points regarding question number one. I agree with everyone who said that no information is useless. There is a reason that someone created that blog, or website, and it is useful to the author and their followers. While some information is useless to us, it may be very helpful or important to others. I do think that there are a lot of sites that are poorly designed. This could be due to lack of knowledge, or just because it doesn't really matter to the author, so they don't bother making it look professional. I just don't choose to use websites that I feel are not reliable or easy to use. I think that web 2.0 has created opportunity for people to be creative and expressive with being able to create their own sites. I think that as a teacher however, that it is important to keep all sites very professional looking, and easy to navigate. Parents, students, co-workers, ect. will be viewing your sites, and they are a reflection of you. You want the sites to be useful for your students and for their parents.
3. On page 3 of the article “District Administrators see Advantages of Web 2.0 in School” David Nagel lists seven different challenges of Web 2.0. As a teacher, how would you deal with some of these challenges in your classroom? Discuss one or two. Can you possibly think of any additional challenges of Web 2.0 that may pose a problem in your future classroom?
ReplyDeleteTwo challenges that David Nagel discusses in his article that I think are critical are cyber bullying and giving out personal information. With the advance in technology, cyber bullying is an issue that is becoming more and more serious and common throughout the years. A lot more children now days have computers at home and especially the older ones have easy access to sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Juicy Campus. It is important for schools to keep filters on these kind of sites to keep the children off. Also, it would not be a bad idea to send home information to parents notifying them about these kinds of sites and to warn them of the dangers that could occur if their children are using them. These sites not only are easy for cyber bullying but also are easy for strangers to get a hold of personal information about the children and talk to them. I think it would be a neat idea for schools to also have some kind of tracking system allowing teachers to track down what sites the children are on and how they are using them. Also, if each child has their own log in at school, they can track down who is going on inappropriate sites. I like Ashley's idea about the sign- up sheets for the computer, but I wonder how reliable this will be for the older kids. Would some children fill out the sign-up sheets correctly or at all if they want to use the computer for non-educational purposes?
A lot of the most serious challenges with Web 2.0 were listed in David Nagel's article. Another one that could be a huge challenge, especially for older teachers is the training process. Web 2.0 is a new application for many people and it is going to take time and patience for them to receive the best training on how to use it and be comfortable with it.
1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone's previous posts when they stated that they agreed with Jen when she said that no information is useless. However, if the information is wrong, it is useless! Also we have to consider who created the website, where they get their information from, and what their opinions are on the subject, which could cause them to include certain information and leave out other viable information! I agree with Evelyn when she stated that there are a lot of sites that are poorly designed. I have been to numerous sites when I am researching and all the information is in a huge condensed paragraph, which makes it hard to organize my own information. Jen makes a good point about Wikipedia, because most teachers discourage use of Wikipedia. However, for the majority of things you search for, Wikipedia is the first website that comes up. While Wikiepedia might have information that is not correct, if the researcher is concerned about correctness, Wikipedia has a References section for each article, so it can be easily verified. For an example, on Wikipedia George W. Bush has 350 references. At one time I was researching a specific topic and one of the references listed was one of the books I had gotten from the library. Also Wikipedia is very well organized with main titles for easy research. While it is important for a teacher to keep their designed wikis and websites professional, it is also important to have the information laid out so it is easy to navigate through. Nielson writes in the article that the web is "a tool", and that people want to get in and then out. So as a teacher that is what I would want my sites to be, informative, organized, and easy to navigate.
Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous post referring back to Jens about how no information is useless and then to Beckys when she said if the information is wrong, then indeed it is useless. Sometimes the information on these websites is not wrong, it is just an opinion of the person who created the website. There are many things one needs to take into account when getting information off the web. Since there are so many websites out there nowadays and almost anyone can create a website, you need to pay close attention to what you are reading. There are many ways to tell if the information on the websites is useless or untrue or an authors opinion. There are also tons of websites out there that contain the truth and are helpful to your research. It is important that you are able to distinguish between the two.
As a teacher, I feel that it is important to keep your class websites looking professional for the fact that you never know who may or may not be looking at it. Also make sure that the spelling is correct, the pictures are appropriate and contact information remains private. You don't want someone looking at the website and judging you off the information presented and what they have access to. A teacher needs to be a professional at all times of the day no matter what they are doing. It is extremely important to make sure your websites are professional since the entire world has access to your information.
Great posts class! Becky and Ashley, I like what both of you said about no information being useless unless it is incorrect information. What are some of the things you will do in your future classroom to help your students distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources?
ReplyDeleteEXCELLENT discussions everyone!
ReplyDelete1. Jakob Nielson feels as if web2.0 has caused too many sites with poor design. He feels as if a website should “include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written.” Web2.0 makes it very easy for anyone to create a website, blog, or wiki. Do you think that a lot of sites out there are poorly designed and contain useless information? If so, as a teacher do you feel like it’s important to keep your designed websites and wikis looking professional?
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with Liz and believe that there are many sites on the web that are useless and at times, inaccurate. While this may be true, I also feel that Jen and Andrea make valid points to say that what might be useful to the person creating the website, might not be useful to me. This does not mean that a site should not be allowed to be posted. I believe that everyone should be allowed to create their websites with whatever information they would like on it whether it be accurate or not because when doing a research paper, you are likely to check more than that one source. The important thing to take into consideration is that if you are going to create a website for the world to view, you have to be prepared for positive and negative feedback. As a future teacher, because of the publicness of the information I would be posting on class blogs and websites, I would make every effort to have professional looking sites. When you are creating something that can be accessed by millions of people, you need to be aware that you will be judged.
I was very impressed with this group's presentation of their blog. I especially enjoyed the fact that there was a gadget attached to the blog introduction that allowed people to vote for their favorite article. When they were in front of the class, they looked very professional and had great explanations as to why they chose each person's blog. I liked the fact that they asked the students in the class why we thought the blogs were of good quality. Overall, they did a great job at including everyone's opinion in their presentation. I am fond of being given the chance to voice my point of view. Such open communication is a quality way to run a classroom. Interaction between the teacher and the students is a key to a well functioning environment. Great job gang. Great job...
ReplyDelete