Metamurphism

This page focusses on the ways to apply the 10 basic skills and concepts to create a web 2.0 experience and what the future of web 2.0 might look like.

Key Ideas From the Video

Its all about media so……. be the media…… be the box!!

This first idea is all about understanding the nature of the online medium. As educators we often make the assumption that classroom methods can, with some adjustments, be transferred to the online environment. Its a natural assumption as teachers attempt to make transitions to the online world. But it overlooks some basic realities of the online medium. One key reality is that the size of the screen and the layered windows and boxes within it dictate the way the best content is presented. This “layered box” reality coupled fact that a vast world of other content is always just a click away creates certain conditions for what will actually succeed as effective online learning environments. Essentially, what succeeds in this environment is content that looks less like it comes from a classroom and more like a media source. In other words, educational content that has an underlying purpose to inform (news), tell a story (characters, plot, setting..), imply a game , involve a simulation, etc will tend to be fit more naturally within the online setting. So the mantra is…. be the box or…. be the media that the box requires.

Content is cool but……its all about the community conversations!

This idea refers to the deeper value of web 2.0 for teachers and students. Often the initial attraction to the web involves the ability to self publish, use images, slideshow, video etc. And teachers and students take the self publishing processes as the primary participation in the web 2.0 experience. What these participants soon discover, however, is that the value of content is not in making and presenting it, but in having it viewed and commented on and the ensuing conversations that come out of the content presentation process. Making content without audience is a process that ends right when it should be growing. The online world lets the conversation continue and gives the content making process more value and meaning.

The Future: Be a community or else…

This notion refers to the fact that the web is showing us that it does certain things extremely well. One of the primary abilities of the web is to connect people together and facilitate their communication. And as we see in MySpace and FaceBook this can be done in a huge variety of ways using media of all sorts. For students, educational content that merely delivers information or is a platform for online assignments and projects feels like a dickensian public school in relation to these dynamic community settings they engage in everyday on their own. As educators, we will risk being basically ignored by or students and seen as “Schoolmasters ” if we can’t create a sense of online community within our classes.

Th Future: Things will get closer…. its all about Proximity

Proximity is at the heart of what is happening on the web. Proximity refers to bringing things nearer, and it is this process of increasing nearness that explains the web 2.0 process. Think about it. All the self publishing tools and the social networking tools being used now are really all about bringing information, ideas and people closer and closer together. This process of proximity is both spacial and temporal. At every level its a process of proximity distillation where blogs bring your words closer to millions, photo sites give you access anywhere to yours and millions of other peoples images. Wikis allow users to collaborate more closely. We can go on and on. What this means is that when we look at our approach to online learning and teaching, we should be thinking in the same terms: “How can I bring my students, their ideas, their conversation closer to me and themselves…. When you achieve closer proximity, you are always on the right track towards exploiting the essential value of the web 2.0 experience.

The Future: The move to virtual….. its real!

The word “virtual” is losing its meaning in the online world. What was once a virtual identity in a game or a social site is no longer seen that way. Our online interactions are so rich and meaningful that calling them virtual belittles the value they have for us. The web is allowing us to expand our sense of self and express ourselves in ways that are impossible in real time settings. As educators we need to understand this and use it both in expressing other aspects of ourselves as teachers (ie: taking on online characters) and in letting students do the same. By recognizing that the online world is place to express yourself and that this expression is a real part of you, we can allow our other talents and facets of our personalities to come out. And this can only enrich the teaching and learning experience.