PatSine

The Sept./Oct. 2007 issue of the Educause Review has an interesting article called Wikis and Podcasts and Blogs! Oh, My! What Is a Faculty Member Supposed to Do? by Patricia McGee and Veronica Diaz. What particulary caught my eye was a chart which relates the new "web 2.0" applications to the kinds of work that goes on in every class, the function or purpose for the task and the tools to get the job done.

Web 2.0 Applications

from the article

Type	Function	Tools
Communicative	To share ideas, information, and creations	Blogs Audioblogs Videoblogs IM-type tools Podcasts Webcams
Collaborative	To work with others for a specific purpose in a shared work area	Editing/writing tools Virtual communities of practice (VCOPs) Wikis
Documentative	To collect and/or present evidence of experiences, thinking over time, productions, etc.	Blogs Videoblogs E-portfolios
Generative	To create something new that can be seen and/or used by others	Mashups VCOPs Virtual Learning Worlds (VLWs)
Interactive	To exchange information, ideas, resources, materials	Learning objectives Social bookmarking VCOPs VLWs

In working with schools and teachers, we get such a limited amount of time and so few opportunities to do professional development that we fall into the trap of talking about the tools and training on the skills for those skills. What we really need to do is to focus on the problem to be solved and then apply the appropriate tool. Of course, the ideal would then be to have the teachers be able to get support in using the software as they need it...