Come Ride the Wave of Web 2.0 and Information Fluency
Cathy Nelson
cathyjonelson@gmail.com
Electronic Article from SCASL’s Media Center Messenger Back to School Issue
2.0 Changes on the Horizon
Do you handle change very well? Brace yourselves, fellow LMS’s, for a tidal wave of change is coming. Expert media specialist Alice Yucht paints this picture of information literacy today by asking this thought provoking question:
Remember when we were all talking about the Information Superhighway? It was the new mode of travel. What an interesting analogy, because a highway has definite entrances and exits and was built to go somewhere specific. Today, however, our kids are learning to swim in the information ocean. There are no entrances and exits clearly defined, with tsunamis in every direction, pools of dangerous sharks, and yet as teachers we are charged with guiding our students through it. So how do we prepare our students and teachers for their swim in the information ocean? What is the implication for us? We continue our instructional practices for information fluency while modeling the appropriate and ethical use of the new web 2.0 tools.
So what exactly is Web 2.0?
Googling “Web 2.0” returns at the top of the search an article from Tim O’Reilly titled “What is Web 2.0?” It explains the conceptual genesis of Web 2.0 and defines Web 2.0 technology/applications. Wikipedia tells us that although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to Web technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use the web as a platform. Popular terms associated with Web 2.0 include blogs, podcasts, digital video sharing, wikis, and social book
marking, just to name a few. How many of us have heard of Wikipedia, Flickr, MySpace, and other popular Web 2.0 tools? I’m positive most of our kids are familiar with, if not already using many of them. The best explanation I was given at one time was this—The Internet at its birth was 1.0. We were consumers of information from the World Wide Web. Now we are at the next level, called Web 2.0. Web 2.0 means that instead of just using the WWW to find information hopefully from the experts, suddenly we can give back to the Internet. The Internet has become a forum for users, and Web 2.0 adopters are finding that the collaborative nature of these tools can be useful in getting information as well as sharing ideas. Just as we adopted film, then instructional television and videos, and online databases and information resources, so too must we adopt and model the Web 2.0 wave of resources. Joyce Valenza compares the adoption of Web 2.0 tools to the well-known story Stone Soup. Let’s recap the story.
According to the story, some soldiers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the hungry soldiers. The soldiers fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire in the village square. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The soldiers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful, although it still needs a little bit of garnish to improve the flavor, which they are missing. The villager doesn’t mind parting with just a little bit to help them out, so it gets added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the soldiers again mention their stone soup, which hasn’t reached its full potential yet. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning to help them out. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient. Finally, a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by all. The stone may or may not be reused in the next soup, and fortunately is not eaten.
What is the implication of this little story?
We are all being bombarded with Web 2.0, whether we like it or not. Some are more reluctant than others, but most would agree, change happens, whether you are ready or not. And so too does Web 2.0. So how does that affect the school library media specialist? Are we to drop our online database subscriptions and throw out our collection development plans, now that the “information ocean” of blogs, podcasts, and wikis seem to be the first and most popular resource our students turn to? Of course not! This is not a battle that we can win. So, just like the soldiers in the story mentioned previously, we must adopt and earn buy in. One of the dominant issues involved with student-use (and yes even adult-use) of online material centers on finding information, evaluating it, and using it ethically. Web 2.0 has not changed that. We still are charged with teaching students to evaluate and use information in an ethical manner.
So how do we embrace this tidal wave called Web 2.0?
We present ourselves as lifesavers. We embrace the tools, and begin to learn about them. We model their appropriate use. Remember all those pathfinders you spent endless hours creating for appropriate web resources? How many times have you had to return and edit these same static websites? This is a great opportunity to create a wiki pathfinder. Teach your teachers and students to use the wiki, and make the creation a collaborative effort where everyone is adding information. What an awesome way to model a wiki and how it works. Begin reading blogs. Create blogs to serve your purposes. Over and over I am seeing school LMS’s create blogs for state or local book clubs. Blogs can become the 2.0 version of your traditional book clubs and literature circles. Remember the story of the Stone Soup. Just like the soldiers who couldn’t get anyone to give them resources to make a meal, it will be difficult to get some teachers (and even media specialists) to jump in and provide meat to create something. BUT if we model using the tools—just like they modeled making soup with a stone, we may pique interest and stir up buy in. You can be the catalyst for your school using Web 2.0 tools.
Some of you may very well have noticed that these tools are being modeled through our association (SCASL) at the state level. There is a SCASL Blog, and Martha Alewine, our state department of education liaison for library media programs also maintains a blog. The new tools are being modeled for you even now. Don’t turn your back on the wonderful opportunities these tools will offer. I promise, your students are not. And please don’t fret if you don’t have a comfort level in Web 2.0 yet. Most of us learn by doing, and teacher-librarian guru Joyce Valenza proclaims that she is yet to be 2.0, and hovers right around 1.8. According to her, its okay to still be in beta on this. So now I know its okay to not totally know everything.
Tools to get started!
Recipe for beginning the journey into learning about Web 2.0 for Educators
(Best done if read through an RSS aggregator like Bloglines )
1 dose daily: Read blogs from the experts in the field daily:
David Warlick’s 2cents Worth
Doug Johnson’s Blue Skunk Blog
1 dose periodically: Read professional blogs and/or listen to podcasts from fellow LMS’s in SC!
Valerie Byrd-Fort’s Blog: “Library Goddess”
Mary Haddon’s Untitled Professional Blog
Cathy Nelson’s TechnoTuesday Blog
1 dose periodically: School Library Blogs & Podcasts of interest!
Bookin’ It: DFES Podcast
Dutchfork Middle School Media Center
DFES – The Book Blog
Blogging Programs for beginners:
These programs are free and offer you a chance to begin your own blog. They are not listed in any specific order, as all seem to have a simple interface and offer easy access to your own blog. Don’t feel pressured to create one if you are not ready. Instead, enjoy reading others.
WordPress
Edublogs (by teachers, for teachers)
Citations:
Valenza, Joyce K. “Web 2.0 Meets Information Fluency.” 6 July 2007. http://informationfluency.wikispaces.com
“Web 2.0.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 6 July 2007, 18:56 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 6 July 2007 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
Yucht, Alice. [Podcast] “SIGMS Forum at NECC: Alice Yucht.” 7 July 2007. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/contents/
media/SLJ_SIGMSForum_AliceYucht.mp3?nid=3381
Hi Cathy,
Well done! Might I have our Minnesota library journal editor contact you about reprinting this?
(And thanks for the mention. I am flattered!)
Doug