Unit V- What are the affordances and constraints of Web 2.0 communication tools in helping facilitate communication, collaboration, and/or community in various educational contexts?

Technology is human development and is the outlet for our creative process. The world without technological advancements would not be as productive as it is today. We are moving from linear, point-to-point communication patterns to a web of networked interactions, where individual two-way dialogues are linked with wider groups.

Web 2.0 is the new term for interactive user friendly websites. I am still discovering and experiencing the vastness of it and sometime it’s a bumpy ride. However, I should admit that the possibilities are endless and we all are brushed by it in some way or the other.

Gmail with a 7.2 GB storage space is one of the best free email service I have used so far. With a vast array of features and collaborative tools Google Apps stands out as one of my favorite interactive communication tool for long distant education program. It has a few unique features that make it stand out among other similar products. The spam and custom filter, the instant msg. conversations (chat and email from the same page) the single thread email, the colored labels, all makes it so efficient and useful.

The power of the Wiki brings together multiple perspectives and ideas on common themes. I was pleasantly surprised with the ability to add and embed almost anything you can imagine. I have yet to come across any restrictions in terms of the amount or types of content you can link to, embed or post on a Wikispace. Wikispace has given away over 30,000 wikis to educators in the last few years and still presents endless potential to the web community.

Flickr is a great site for sharing your photos online. What attracts me is its user-friendly interface which allows me to upload endless amounts of photos. I like the tag feature which makes photo finding an easy process. One more issue that I have with other sites is the one-to-one photo upload which is very time consuming. Flickr has great tools that make batch uploading quick and easy. It uses AJAX-technology extensively, so no page reloading occurs. Last but not the least is its ability to keep track of my friend list. Even with its basic free membership limitations, it is well worth it to have a Flickr account.

Del.icio.us (del.icio.us)
Bought by Yahoo! in 2005, Del.icio.us is the “original” social bookmarking site that has been used by many. I didn’t really used it until now and I think I like some of its features that makes it easy to have a single set of bookmarks synced between my computers. The bookmark sharing features seems very promising and I think it can be a useful tool in distant education. The Tag feature seems very useful in the long run. I am still exploring the site and is probably yet to discover its full potential.

Discussion Board being the asynchronous communication tool (like the one we use here) is definitely an effective tool to communicate and collaborate in a distant learning program. I prefer discussion board for easy communication where I can easily follow a thread of conversation focused on a particular topic. The shared experience and opinion among the group encourages all the members to think and to clearly make their points. The poverty anchors seem a bit confusing at times and visually stressing to go through the whole list with too many sub divisions in one page. However, I liked the fact that the interactions could be grouped efficiently between the multiple sub-topics which works as an well-organized reference.

I would like to suggest another interactive tool for collaborative learning. If we can see come online video of a classroom in progress or take part in a virtual classroom it will be more meaningful. Streaming video, rich media conferencing (interactive multimedia) and tele-presence make live distance learning situations interactive. The content is more dynamic when students can talk to the instructors, ask questions and offer their own insights. I think this may help create a more engaging learning environment.

In summary, Web 2.0 tools hold endless potential it for us. The information overload can sometimes be distracting as President Obama aptly reflects as “… information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment, rather than the means of emancipation.”
(http://www.dailytech.com/Obama+Hurls+Criticism+of+Xbox+360+iPad+at+College+Graduation+Ceremony/article18332.htm)

However, I feel that the only downside is that the available technology is not used enough. People talk about the Internet being convenient, but it is not the case in many parts of the world. You need to go to a cyber café or you have to dial up a telephone line or use a slow broadband connection. Whereas in the US, 150 million households have broadband access all around the clock. When you have such a situation you can do social networking, and try out as many Web 2.0 tools and get full benefit out of them but that is not happening at an acceptable pace in under developed countries.