More Than Cool Tools

Keynote #2 Alan Levine, Brian Lamb & D’Arcy Norman

This is a great presentation by Alan, Brian & D’arcy. “More than Cool Tools” highlights numerous applications available from the internet. Most of this software is free of charge. They talked about the evolution of trends in how educators are socializing, collaborating, sharing information along with filtering and disruptions. Using Web 2.0 tools can be liberating and also disruptive. A person’s work is never finished because with Web 2.0 tools there will always be opportunities change.

I’d like to speak on the collaboration portion of the presentation. To begin with, even with the collaboration tools available on the internet, the first challenge in collaboration involves shared activities and responsibilities between partners working toward their shared goal. Next with any type of collaboration, it requires assembling the appropriate set of resources and maintaining a shared flexible process.

Collaboration is becoming a networked organizational form that provides an electronic workspace. It is becoming a laboratory without walls that allow for a virtual organization. With this virtual network the possibilities expand and move outside of the building or district boundaries. Technology has relaxed the constraints of distance and time allowing for colorations to take place in new and exciting ways. The use of blogs, wikis, RSS feed and other free web based applications have become collaborative spaces to share experiences along with practical application ideas. Some other applications mentioned for collaboration were Google.docs, Zoho, Del.icio.us, Twitter to name a few.

Using Web 2.0 tools for collaboration offers current, exciting, online continuing-education programs for all involved. Opportunities for collaboration will continue to change with new technologies to our learning environments.