Flat Word Strategies:
New Technologies Create Interactive Learning


 


Introduction


In
"The World is Flat," Thomas Friedman makes the case that a number of
forces have converged to flatten and restructure the global competitive
landscape, and that this process is continuing and accelerating.  This
flattening has empowered individuals to compete and collaborate on a global
scale like never before.  As educators, we must understand the
implications for us, our students and our institutions and more globally on education
and learning.  Key flatteners that are already impacting education include
the Internet, open source software, search, wireless/mobility, VoIP,
digitalization, personalization and virtualization. One of the key observations
of this less predictable, less hierarchical flattened world is that knowledge
is widely distributed and rapidly changing leaving traditional course-based
learning increasingly unable to meet the needs of students.  Bridging this
divide requires new paradigms in education that incorporate "flat' world
strategies such as informal learner-driven knowledge transfer and new
technologies and forms of learning.


Question from Mike: Gordon, can you give us
a little background on some of the new tools being used?


In the 1990's
many of us first started to use the Internet to deliver and supplement content
for our courses. We developed relatively static web pages that included text
and pictures in similar format to traditional textbooks. Today with the
combination of high bandwidth access and new development tools, fresh web
content looks and feels much different. With "Web 2.0" tools and
delivery methods, instructors are discovering new ways to develop and deliver
content to and engage their students. Among the new tools finding their way into
business and into the hands of our students are:


Search,Instant Messaging, Blogging/Podcasting,Wikis,RSS/Subscription, andWireless/Mobility.


While many faculty
are well-versed at using websites, email, and course management systems to
interact and engage with their students, most have been slow to adopt some of
these "new" technologies into and outside of their classroom.


These new
tools are part of the dynamic, interactive new Internet many are calling Web
2.0. According to techtarget.com, the term Web 2.0 was first used by O'Reilly
Media and MediaLive International in 2004 during a next generation web
conference. Web 2.0 based technological advances have continued over the last
two years and new applications are coming out daily that allow faculty and
their students to experience new ways of interacting and learning. Much of this
new technology is built around two fundamental technologies, AJAX and RSS.


Question from Gordon: AJAX � that�s soap, right Mike?

Jesse James Garrett of Adaptive Path (www.adaptivepath.com)
is responsible for coining the acronym AJAX
in a February 2005 article. In the article, Garrett describes AJAX or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, as a
new approach to web applications. In terms of user interaction, what makes AJAX stand out is that it
allows developers to create web applications that start to approach the
richness and responsiveness of desktop applications. AJAX is not a technology, nor is it code or an
application that can be downloaded. Instead, it is a collection of technologies
that have all matured and when combined together provide for a new paradigm for
the architecture of web applications.  More precisely, AJAX includes XHTML and CSS; DOM or the
Document Object Model; XML and XSLT; XMLHttpRequest; and JavaScript.


 





Technologies



Role





XHTML + CSS



Standards-based presentation





Document Object Model (DOM)



Dynamic display and interaction





XML + XSLT



data exchange and manipulation





XMLHttpRequest



Asynchronous data retrieval





JavaScript



Binds everything together







 


To understand how AJAX
works, we first have to understand the classic or traditional client-server web
application model.  In this model, user actions (typically through a web
browser interface) trigger an HTTP request back to the web server, which
processes the request (retrieving data, performing calculations, etc) and
responds to the client (user) with an HTML page.  While this model has
been extremely successful at building out the Internet, it breaks down when
developers try to replicate the user experience of desktop applications.  Thatâ��s
where AJAX
comes in.  AJAX
represents a fundamental shift in what's possible on the Web.  To provide
this functionality, we introduce an AJAX
engine as an intermediary into the traditional client-server model. Simply put,
instead of loading a web page at the start of the session, the browser loads
the AJAX engine
on the client side of the relationship.  This engine is JavaScript code
that coexists with the browser, usually in a hidden frame, and is responsible
for rendering the web interface and communicating with the web server on the
user's behalf.  Practically speaking, what this does is ensures that the
user is never looking at an empty browser window waiting for the server to
respond and the page to refresh.  With first generation web technology,
user actions would generate an HTTP request; with AJAX
these requests are JavaScript calls to the AJAX engine.  Many user actions don't
require communication with the server and can be handled by the engine. 
If the server is needed, the engine makes the request asynchronously using XML,
with no interruption of the user-application interaction.


Question from Mike: Gordon could you tell
us a little bit about RSS?


RSS (RDF Site
Summary and also referred to as Really Simple Syndication) is a technology used
to push content out to subscribers using an aggregator application like
My.Yahoo or Google Reader. In addition web browsers like FireFox and Internet
Explorer 7.0, along with Mac OS X and Microsoft's upcoming Vista
operating system, have built in aggregator functionality. These applications
allow the user to subscribe to different feeds and have content pushed out to
the aggregator. Here's an example of how you can use this technology � if you
have a free Yahoo account, you can configure your account to aggregate, or
collect, different types of content. Once setup, you can go to any computer
with a browser and an Internet connection, go to My.Yahoo.com, log in with your
username and password and have your custom page come up with all of your
subscribed feeds listed. Your feeds are selected by you and you can add and
remove as you see fit. Here are some the feeds we like and subscribe to: Gizmodo
for breaking gadget news, Broadband Reports for news on delivery technology and
Information Week for breaking IT news. Let's look at how it works � let's say Information
Week publishes an article on a IT workforce needs � if you are logged in to
your aggregator and subscribed to the Information Week feed, you see the title,
a brief summary of the article and how long ago it was published (minutes,
hours, days, weeks, etc) on your aggregator page. If the article looks
interesting you can click the link and then read the entire article. This
technology has allowed many to cut back considerably on hard copy technology
journal reading and email subscriptions � most common journals and periodicals
are now publishing content with RSS feeds, allowing readers to subscribe and
rapidly scan and review content.


RSS developers
create an XML file that describes content as it is posted on websites. The blog
at nctt.org/blog is a good example if you want to take a look at an XML file. The
blog is written using a word processor and then the content is typically copied
and pasted into a blog editor with the XML file automatically updated with the
latest content. If you are a subscriber to nctt.org/blog your aggregator checks
the NCTT blog site periodically for updates and, if it finds one, it lists the
content on the aggregator screen. You can see a brief summary on the aggregator
and, if you wish to read further, you can click the link and read the entire
blog.


Your current
students are using this technology on, in some cases, a minute by minute basis.
Let's take a look at how it can be used. Let's say you wake up one morning not
feeling well and have to cancel your classes. When and how do your students
find out you are out sick? Maybe you send out an email which requires students
check their campus email account or (worst case) you call in and a note goes on
the door or board. In both cases many, if not all, of your students will show
up for class and be disappointed to find out you will not be there. Using a
simple RSS feed, you could give your students the option of subscribing and
actually push the message out to their cell phone or other connected device.
Students get the message and do not end up showing up for a class that has been
cancelled.


Question from Gordon: Mike, What are some
of the popular apps out there now that people are using?


The �killer
app� or application that demonstrated the potential and viability of AJAX is Google�s gmail
service. The use of AJAX
has since exploded. Examples include the aggregators we mentioned earlier, which
all leverage AJAX technology to provide for a more pleasing user experience, as
well as a whole class of �webware� � web-based applications that attempt to
replicate desktop applications, including Writely, ZohoWriter, ZohoShow, Google
Spreadsheets, and DabbleDB. With these applications, you and your students have
access to a virtual office suite, allowing students to interact and collaborate
online. This new class of tools and technologies provide faculty with an
opportunity to engage their students inside and outside of the classroom.


Question: Gordon: Where can people find the
content of this article?


You can find
the content of this podcast in the Oct/Nov 2006 edition of Community College
Journal, at nctt.org/blog and at nctt.org/podcast.  In addition you will find a maintained list of
several interesting links that further demonstrate these technologies. You can
reach the authors at [email protected]
and [email protected]
and at their National Science Foundation center and project websites at
www.nctt.org and www.maitt.org


 


 

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