Death by Powerpoint

Robin Harris's article "Death by Powerpoint" is worth a read, especially if you've ever sat through an uninspiring meeting full of endless slides and bulleted points. Aside from blaming the software for everything from vague military initiatives in Iraq to space shuttle disasters, Harris briefly hits on (well, glazes over...) an important, lousy feature of presentation software: it is for presenting.

Powerpoint (and all like brands of presentation software) is designed for the one-way flow (from the top down) of highly condensed & structured information: it is about hirearchy & control, not about feedback & free exchange of ideas. Presentation software is all about the presenter, not the audience. While there may be times when this format is warranted, presentation software is, generally, overused -- or, rather, used in contexts where another, more interactive method of relaying information would be more productive in terms of audience reception.

Powerpoint is a lot like Web 1.0: all about the one-way flow of information. While that may have been sufficient (Harris would say "No!") when technology offered no alternatives, we now live in a Web 2.0 world. Today's audience (rightfully) expects to be able to discuss & give feedback on information as it is being presented to them; they need to mash it up and make it their own, and this is to the benefit of presenter and audience alike. There are many better ways to present these days than presentation software: even the mere creation of a web site (that can be dynamically marked up and shared) instead of a set of Powerpoint slides is favourable.

The next time you sit down to use traditional presentation software, consider your Web 2.0 options, and the comparative benefits they yield.

Googe Apps for Education: "The Catch"

As a recent Mashable article notes, more and more schools (and school boards) are turning to Google Apps, and saving -- in some cases -- tens of thousands of dollars by doing so. Google offers a lot of great Web 2.0 stuff, but Henry Thiele, IT director for Education District 207 in Oregon may be a little off the mark when he says that “There is no catch.”

Potential problems in making Google your suite for all apps in an educational setting range from potential informational privacy issues to lack of cloud-based computing data control & backup. Then there's the ethical issue of forcing staff and students to use a service that data mines all of their everything, and mandating that they be subjected to targeted advertising.

Many people (myself included) happily & willingly use a lot of Google services, but not all do so from an informed perspective; I hope that the teachers and learners in mandated "Google School Districts" are informed.

What Thiele (and everyone) needs to know is that "the catch" is a trade-off between costly software licenses and privacy/security. I'm not saying that Google Apps should not be used, but rather that all users should be aware of what Google is doing with their information before they use the Apps. Schools & boards need to teach the big picture, and carefully consider the catch, before they mandate use of Google apps for all students & staff.

Mashups Explained (sort of)

"Always put yourself out there, and do your own adventure."

--Sue Teller

Weighing in on Wikipedia

As a high school teacher-librarian, teachers often ask me to give "the research talk" to their students at the start of a class project. They often add, at the end of this request, that I should "tell the kids about Wikipedia." By this, of course, most of them mean "tell the kids to not use Wikipedia." Some want it to be forbidden or ignored.

My research talk includes Wikipedia: it is often a valuable starting point for understanding, and often contains valuable references to primary information sources that it may have taken me longer to find in another way. Would I advise students to use a Wikipedia article itself as an authoritative source in academic research? Likely not. Would I tell them to not use the Wikipedia site at all? No.

Pat Jermy's short article, Weighing in on Wikipedia, is a good reminder of the basics regarding Web 2.0 research: check sources for bias and authority, be aware of editing threads and process, track down information origin, etc.

Bearing these basics in mind, I think that kids should actually be encouraged to use Wikipedia in school in order to develop and hone these crucial Web 2.0 skills. Teaching, instead of forbidding or ignoring, is what we're supposed to be all about...

"Bonded Design"

In reading Andrew Large's "Finding Information on the Web -- Children as Portal Users and Designers," I was struck by the idea of "bonded design" for internet portal creation. Large asserts that a two-way dialogue between the students for whom the portals were being designed and the designers themselves was essential in developing an easily usable and well used end-product.

While "stakeholder input" is often sought at the outset of a web-based project, it is the continuous bond between user and designer, throughout the design process, that ultimately led to success in this case.

I see this as a (literally) wise project development strategy, but also as metaphor for the potential for Web 2.0 in education: if continual collaboration and real-time consultation are available to today's students via Web 2.0, then the development of their educational projects can only benefit. Here's to social media making for better educational outcomes!

Social Media Webinar Recording

Today I hosted a short 15 minute webinar on educational uses of some web 2.0 applications; thanks to those who could attend. The full session recording is available here, for those who were interested but couldn't join in live.

On-line Reputation Management

Here's another good reason Web 2.0 needs to be taught to students today: on-line reputation management. As Will Richardson and others have often argued, kids need to know that what they do online leaves a permanent footprint that will follow them into their adult lives.

As teachers, we often assume that today's students are social software saavy: they all know how to Facebook and MSN, right? What they may not know, however, it just how permanent each casual LOL and WTF really are.

If we, as teachers, are to help students best prepare for their futures, then we cannot ignore student interactions with social media, or assume that they know it all and can manage it on their own. We must teach online reputation management so that todays kids have the best chance for success in tomorrow's world.