Blog Posting #1 - Web 2.

I've always been a fan of technology, and I love seeing what the future holds. The term Web 2.0 is definitely a misleading one when you first hear it. A few years ago, when I first heard the term used, I thought it was going to be a massive software update for the internet. It reminded me of the mid nineties when AOL had several releases: AOL 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, etc. I was very confused on how the internet could be 'updated' because it is not a piece of software like AOL is. Now I understand that it means a change in the way interact with the internet. I've been using FaceBook, Flickr, YouTube, blogs and so forth for years now, not realizing that I had already been exposed to web 2.0.

One great new web 2.0 tool that I just learned about is Moodle. Moodle is an open-source community-based tool for learning. If you have ever used BlackBoard or WebCT, it is just like those, but it's free and open source. Moodle is all about community and sharing, which is at the heart of Web 2.0. On moodle you can search for courses that teachers have posted and you can download that course to use in your class. There are tons of premade courses with activities, discussion boards, power points, etc.

From the Web 2.0 phenomenon, I think the phrase open-source is an even better buzz word. Open source is different from the standard business model of software in that anyone can contribute to the development of the software. The best example of this would be to compare Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice. Both packages include software for creating documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and such. MS Office costs $100 - $800 (depending on which model you purchase), OpenOffice is free. Microsoft has a limited number of employees that can develop, and update the software. With OpenOffice, anyone in the world can join the community and contribute to making the software the best it can be.

References:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9XfwBzt1mY

http://sourceforge.net/

http://www.opensource.org/