Tuesday 24 March 2009

TESOL Web 2 Intro

Hi—I’m Donna from Nonthaburi, Thailand, HS teacher (ToK & ESL) at Inter’l School Bangkok. I’m in my 19th year there already! Came to this workshop today to hone in some of my newly-found skills on Web 2.0. In fact, presenting a demo on Thursday on using a Ning for HS ELL students.

Web 2.0 seems to be a generic term for new capabilities on the web, like social networking—Facebook, Ning, Wiki and interactive programs like Second Life. New options for word processing documents like sharing on Google Docs, RSS feeds whereby you select to create nd participate in various blogs, etc., using camera, storing/ using photos, VDO in new ways.

Advantages: new angles at old ideas—like developing reading/ writing skills for students. Better/ faster communications, both social and academic.

Disadvantages: One big one is time. Time seems to disappear when in front of the box. You’re engaged, but sometimes at the expense of f2f interactions with real people!

Qs—how to be an efficient user. Shortcuts to take to accomplish things.

8 comments:

Damon said...

Donna, you seem to be very up-to-date on all these new features. I hope to be able to learn from your experiences. In Thailand, is bandwidth an issue for using Web 2.0 features?

Denise said...

Hi Donna,
After reading your description of web2.0, I discovered that I do know what it is because I have been slowly catching on by attending training sessions about RSS feeds or practicing with cameras, videos, mp3's posts, etc. I just called it using the new tools on the web!

Maureen Dooley said...

Donna-
This is almost magic!
But, please tell me, what is a NING?
On another topic, my husband and I have very good friends who have lived in Bangkok for many years. Do you Jeff Race? ( I know that Bangkok is gigantic; however, I wonder if non-natives are connected.)

ALIRI said...

Hi Donna,
I'm just learning about RSS feeds, but haven't explored them There really seems to be a sensory overload explosion happening. How can we learn how to narrow our choices so that we don't spend all of our time online?

Donna Hurst said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maureen Dooley said...

Several years ago I was presenting at a UNESCO conference in Beijing. A slide in my powerpoint showed one of the ramshackle houses with a rusted and broken bicycle in front. When it flashed on the screen, appreciative oohs and ahs could be heard about the lavish accommodation!

Ronda said...

You sound comfortable with web 2.0! I hope to learn a lot today.

Damon said...

Donna, have you done much with Web Chats, or is that now old fashioned and you find it better to use the social networking tools like You Tube and Facebook?