Jason Ohler must be a fan of 2001 a space odyssey. I say this because I was put into such a frame of mind when I read his article "The Power and Peril of Web 3.0; Its more than just Semantics." I felt like at any moment HAL 9000 was going to ask me "what I was doing." This may be an acute sense of awareness aka paranoia but I believe this coincides with what Ohler discusses. The use of intelligent tagging for the purposes of quicker access to the infinite amount of data out there will cross the borders of personal and private. The concepts of intelligent & group tagging are pure genius but, I am a bit disturbed at the audacity of such networking. Not because it has been brought forth but because I know its already here. Privacy is a very sacred thing for me. I do not want to consider the indexes and indexes of products that are sent my way because they meet a certain set of criteria or match via intelligent tagging.
When we contemplate education and its processes the tagging insures that we have a considerable amount of information at our disposal. Of course the information and its retrieval will be the subject of inquiry. Will this be a super search engine that is "funded" by products much like the monster Google is today? Will the first 10,000 hits received be because of some type of monetary transaction behind the scenes? What kind of censorship and or standards will be available to children through such a medium? Who will determine the standards? Will they be specific to the US or will there be an international body governing this effort? I want my PLN (Personal Learning Network)!! As Dire Straits plays in the background)
The Personal Learning Network that Ohler discusses is a true treasure trove of opportunity for the learner. I can only imagine being able to receive not merely hits but pod casts, video feeds, charts & graphs or the latest headline news about subject "X." As a future educator i would salivate at giving my students keys to such a vehicle. But until we see some standardization, and some type of hierarchy of information dominance (presumably by educators) i shudder to consider such wide open access to my students. Ultimately it comes down to a question we are still asking even without the net, who determines what is valuable data or knowledge?
As an educator I would like to believe that I have a say in such an inquiry, but with Web 3.0 on its way there is no guarantee that this will be the case! After reading this article i know that i need to be an active member in technology and how it will be applied in the name of the student. Even if the effort is outside of my classroom, my attention is STILL required. I suggest to all my fellow educators to not watch this happen but to make Web 3.0 happen (for the student).
Ohler, J. (2010). The Power and Peril of Web 3.0 its more than just Semantics. Learning and Leading with Technology , 15-17.
Monday, February 14, 2011
to the CLOUD.......Mr. Johnson says!
Wow, I have to admit I was genuinely impressed with this article. In my field of expertise, security is an absolute REQUIREMENT for any medium used to communicate or exchange ideas on. And because of this small (yes i am being facetious) concern, I have shied away from using the cloud. Doug however has challenged my held paradigm. And because of this I will attempt to migrate some of my work habits to "the silver lining." I can appreciate that Mr. Johnson provided the pros and cons to working within the cloud.
I already mentioned one of the cons (security) but I am also concerned with power and bandwidth issues. Power to the gateway that you are utilizing for Internet access and bandwidth being provided to the school. Bandwidth is not CHEAP especially when you are talking DS3s and not just T1 trunks. Ultimately its a numbers crunch for the bandwidth. This brings a unique twist to things.
Will the school have an on-site staff for IT issues much like you have facilities engineers for the maintenance of the school? Will the parents have to support the notebooks used? Will the child be able to take the notebooks home? The last questions are more policy related but must be addressed especially when you consider that all children don't learn the same.
I think the actions and ideas that Mr. Johnson discussed are quite relevant to everyday classroom use not only for the student and teacher but also the parent. Online grade books and posted rubric can be of great benefit. In fact as a parent to a middle school student, I utilize technology to determine how my child is progressing through her courses. As a teacher this would help me to stay on task as well as find a medium to work with parents in -that isn't subject to a schedule or distance.
Mr. Johnson's overall assessment has me leaning towards the cloud and its many possibly applications in the classroom. Of course this ties in nicely with the ISTE.NETS standards of Digital citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts. The children can be engaged early and often on NET protocols, surfing policies and the use of multiple web based applications. And we as a nation will address the needs of the corporate mongers who profess the need for additional education, not to better the world but to pay homage to the almighty god....PROFIT!!
((Sorry, last statement is a little over the top. But i do feel quite passionate about educating for a better world not necessarily a more convenient one))
I already mentioned one of the cons (security) but I am also concerned with power and bandwidth issues. Power to the gateway that you are utilizing for Internet access and bandwidth being provided to the school. Bandwidth is not CHEAP especially when you are talking DS3s and not just T1 trunks. Ultimately its a numbers crunch for the bandwidth. This brings a unique twist to things.
Will the school have an on-site staff for IT issues much like you have facilities engineers for the maintenance of the school? Will the parents have to support the notebooks used? Will the child be able to take the notebooks home? The last questions are more policy related but must be addressed especially when you consider that all children don't learn the same.
I think the actions and ideas that Mr. Johnson discussed are quite relevant to everyday classroom use not only for the student and teacher but also the parent. Online grade books and posted rubric can be of great benefit. In fact as a parent to a middle school student, I utilize technology to determine how my child is progressing through her courses. As a teacher this would help me to stay on task as well as find a medium to work with parents in -that isn't subject to a schedule or distance.
Mr. Johnson's overall assessment has me leaning towards the cloud and its many possibly applications in the classroom. Of course this ties in nicely with the ISTE.NETS standards of Digital citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts. The children can be engaged early and often on NET protocols, surfing policies and the use of multiple web based applications. And we as a nation will address the needs of the corporate mongers who profess the need for additional education, not to better the world but to pay homage to the almighty god....PROFIT!!
((Sorry, last statement is a little over the top. But i do feel quite passionate about educating for a better world not necessarily a more convenient one))
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