Part 2 of the tour features technologies that are more experimental or user-driven than those in Part 1 of the tour.
A "web log," usually maintained by a single person, in which postings are made regularly and are displayed in a reverse chronological order. Blogs can include links, images, and video or audio clips.
Example: Adventures on the Ice by Liz Miller
More Information: 7 Things You Should Know About Blogs (PDF)
Liz Miller, an Ohio State undergrad, blogged about her research visit to Antarctica on Blogger, a free blog service.
An online collection of files assembled and managed by a user to demonstrate abilities and, often, self-reflection on learning.
More Information:
ePortfolios can be used by individual students as well as academic programs to demonstrate attainment of learning outcomes. (IMAGE SOURCE: An Overview of E-Portfolios)
A Google service that includes several web-based tools, including email, calendar, online chat, and word processing.
Example: Students Get Google Plan for USC E-mail
More Information:
Google Apps provide a simple, web-based solution to collaboration and sharing.
Technologies for creating graphics that provide deeper appreciation and understanding for information. Outcomes include concept maps, illustrations, and dynamic graphs.
Examples:
More Information: 7 Things You Should Know About Data Visualization (PDF)
Data visualization tools include desktop software and web-based services for a wide range of purposes. What links them together is how they are used to represent abstract data or concepts graphically. (IMAGE SOURCE: CmapTools homepage)
Allows users to share original video content with a worldwide audience.
Examples:
More Information: 7 Things You Should Know About YouTube (PDF)
Susan Fisher, Department of Biology, created a YouTube channel for Ohio State's Center for Life Sciences Education.
A website or application that combines content from multiple services into some integrated user experience. The result is a derivative work that presents existing information in a new way.
Examples:
More information: 7 Things You Should Know About Mapping Mashups (PDF)
Students in the American Language Program practiced their English skills by recording movies about places at Ohio State and around Columbus, which were then linked to a Google map.
Many games are designed to achieve specific learning outcomes. Examples include simulations, role-playing games, and rule-based games for teaching domain specific knowledge.
Examples:
The Education Arcade, sponsored by MIT's Comparative Media Studies program, focuses on the educational value of commercial games as well as on development of original games.
A broad class of web sites and services that allow people to connect with others based on common interests.
Examples:
Facebook:
Set status messages, send messages, and join interest groups. More Information: 7 Things You Should Know About Facebook, Part 1 and Part 2 (PDF)
Ning:
Create websites and social networks. More Information: 7 Things You Should Know About Ning (PDF)
Elgg:
A platform for blogging, social networking, and RSS aggregation. Assets can be tagged and shared. More Information: elgg.org
Services such as Ning help users organize their own social networks and build online interest groups.
A relatively recent concept describing systems that help learners fluidly manage their own personal learning tools. Central components are identity management and interoperability of both data and social networks.
For example, students may use a PLE to combine existing web-based tools and social networks to coordinate interlocking social and course needs for note-taking, assignments, study groups, and group projects.
Examples:
The concept of a Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is more learner-centered than the course-centric framework of most current Learning Management Systems (LMS). (IMAGE SOURCE: The Open University)
Part 1 of this tour features technologies that are supported either centrally or within colleges and departments at Ohio State. These technologies tend to be more instructor-managed, such as methods of delivering content, than the technologies featured in Part 2.
Continue to Part 1 of this tour.
The first half of the tour includes learning management systems (LMS), podcasting, interactive displays, and Second Life
