This week I have explored Flickr. Since I am relatively ignorant of web technology, I am not sure how this is any better than Picasa. I am a big fan of Picasa. Of course it is not really a web 2.0 application since viewers do not have access to edit. In addition, I might not explore fully the features of Flickr and how picture sharing could be educational. Unlike documents, pictures seem to be shared in personal and relationship purpose on the web. It might be partly this society is language-based rather than image-based.
However, it could be used for group project where pictures have impacts. Team members can view and act together for work done for pictures just like team members do when they are physically together.
At this point, I have a question. Are the web 2.0 applications exclusively enough for group work? Or could it be best when it used as a part of team work? I have been feeling lonely and isolated for this class. I am not confident if I am on the track. I am curious how better I am engaged in online class than offline class. Am I feel comfortable to talk to and work with people only online? Are digital natives can work same or better online exclusively? Am I too old-fashioned?
All the applications that we have dealt in the class have wonderful features but I am not sure if these are complete for cooperative learning and problem solving. I am a counselor. In fact, there was time that I was good at computer. I thought as technology develops people would have less contact with other people, so professionals can offer humanistic touch will be crucial in the future since people need contacts with others for certain level. That’s one of the reasons that I become a counselor. I still belive human beings need to physically be in touch with others. I think web 2.0 applications cannot completely substitute for physical get-together but they would be very good tools filling up some gaps that could found in physical meetings.
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I haven't used Picasa, so I cannot comment on the differences. We chose Flickr as one picture-related tool we could all talk about, but we wouldn't say it is necessarily the best to use in your professional life - your choice.
ReplyDeleteThe web 2.0 applications can be used for individual use, but they are particularly special because of their ability to be shared with others.
How could Flickr be educational? I think the topic of poverty does show where pictures can have a lot of impact – this is especially true because many students in suburban areas are isolated in their communities and do not see the poverty that exists more frequently in cities and rural areas. Pictures can be particularly moving. I posted some pictures of the area just north of TC – an area that is said to be blighted. Pictures like the ones I posted, could for example, be used within an argument regarding what should or should not be done with the proposed Columbia expansion into this area.
I think that the web 2.0 tools are imagined as only part of what constructs a collaborative unit whether in f2f, online, or blended settings. It so happens that our class is completely online, but the majority of settings in which the course participants are educators are f2f. So we can consider the use of these tools in f2f, blended, and online settings, and the affordances and constraints that the different tools and settings provide.
Even if students are together in the same classroom, the social nature of these tools is especially useful because different students or different groups could be doing different tasks at the same time. For example, flickr can serve as a space for group members (even in the same class) to share pictures they have found from their work on different computers.