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Published: Nov. 11, 2006, 5:33 p.m.

Flat Word Strategies:\nNew Technologies Create Interactive Learning

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Introduction

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In\n"The World is Flat," Thomas Friedman makes the case that a number of\nforces have converged to flatten and restructure the global competitive\nlandscape, and that this process is continuing and accelerating.\xa0 This\nflattening has empowered individuals to compete and collaborate on a global\nscale like never before.\xa0 As educators, we must understand the\nimplications for us, our students and our institutions and more globally on education\nand learning.\xa0 Key flatteners that are already impacting education include\nthe Internet, open source software, search, wireless/mobility, VoIP,\ndigitalization, personalization and virtualization. One of the key observations\nof this less predictable, less hierarchical flattened world is that knowledge\nis widely distributed and rapidly changing leaving traditional course-based\nlearning increasingly unable to meet the needs of students.\xa0 Bridging this\ndivide requires new paradigms in education that incorporate "flat' world\nstrategies such as informal learner-driven knowledge transfer and new\ntechnologies and forms of learning.

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

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

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• Search,
• Instant Messaging,
• Blogging/Podcasting,
• Wikis,
• RSS/Subscription, and
• Wireless/Mobility.

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

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These new\ntools are part of the dynamic, interactive new Internet many are calling Web\n2.0. According to techtarget.com, the term Web 2.0 was first used by O'Reilly\nMedia and MediaLive International in 2004 during a next generation web\nconference. Web 2.0 based technological advances have continued over the last\ntwo years and new applications are coming out daily that allow faculty and\ntheir students to experience new ways of interacting and learning. Much of this\nnew technology is built around two fundamental technologies, AJAX and RSS.

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Question from Gordon: AJAX \xe2\ufffd\ufffd that\xe2\ufffd\ufffds soap, right Mike?
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\nJesse James Garrett of Adaptive Path (www.adaptivepath.com)\nis responsible for coining the acronym AJAX\nin a February 2005 article. In the article, Garrett describes AJAX or Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, as a\nnew approach to web applications. In terms of user interaction, what makes AJAX stand out is that it\nallows developers to create web applications that start to approach the\nrichness and responsiveness of desktop applications. AJAX is not a technology, nor is it code or an\napplication that can be downloaded. Instead, it is a collection of technologies\nthat have all matured and when combined together provide for a new paradigm for\nthe architecture of web applications.\xa0 More precisely, AJAX includes XHTML and CSS; DOM or the\nDocument Object Model; XML and XSLT; XMLHttpRequest; and JavaScript.

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Technologies

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Role

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XHTML + CSS

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Standards-based presentation

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Document Object Model (DOM)

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Dynamic display and interaction

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XML + XSLT

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data exchange and manipulation

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XMLHttpRequest

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Asynchronous data retrieval

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JavaScript

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Binds everything together

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To understand how AJAX\nworks, we first have to understand the classic or traditional client-server web\napplication model.\xa0 In this model, user actions (typically through a web\nbrowser interface) trigger an HTTP request back to the web server, which\nprocesses the request (retrieving data, performing calculations, etc) and\nresponds to the client (user) with an HTML page.\xa0 While this model has\nbeen extremely successful at building out the Internet, it breaks down when\ndevelopers try to replicate the user experience of desktop applications.\xa0 That\xe2\ufffd\ufffds\nwhere AJAX\ncomes in.\xa0 AJAX\nrepresents a fundamental shift in what's possible on the Web.\xa0 To provide\nthis functionality, we introduce an AJAX\nengine as an intermediary into the traditional client-server model. Simply put,\ninstead of loading a web page at the start of the session, the browser loads\nthe AJAX engine\non the client side of the relationship.\xa0 This engine is JavaScript code\nthat coexists with the browser, usually in a hidden frame, and is responsible\nfor rendering the web interface and communicating with the web server on the\nuser's behalf.\xa0 Practically speaking, what this does is ensures that the\nuser is never looking at an empty browser window waiting for the server to\nrespond and the page to refresh.\xa0 With first generation web technology,\nuser actions would generate an HTTP request; with AJAX\nthese requests are JavaScript calls to the AJAX engine.\xa0 Many user actions don't\nrequire communication with the server and can be handled by the engine.\xa0\nIf the server is needed, the engine makes the request asynchronously using XML,\nwith no interruption of the user-application interaction.

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

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RSS (RDF Site\nSummary and also referred to as Really Simple Syndication) is a technology used\nto push content out to subscribers using an aggregator application like\nMy.Yahoo or Google Reader. In addition web browsers like FireFox and Internet\nExplorer 7.0, along with Mac OS X and Microsoft's upcoming Vista\noperating system, have built in aggregator functionality. These applications\nallow the user to subscribe to different feeds and have content pushed out to\nthe aggregator. Here's an example of how you can use this technology \xe2\ufffd\ufffd if you\nhave a free Yahoo account, you can configure your account to aggregate, or\ncollect, different types of content. Once setup, you can go to any computer\nwith a browser and an Internet connection, go to My.Yahoo.com, log in with your\nusername and password and have your custom page come up with all of your\nsubscribed feeds listed. Your feeds are selected by you and you can add and\nremove as you see fit. Here are some the feeds we like and subscribe to: Gizmodo\nfor breaking gadget news, Broadband Reports for news on delivery technology and\nInformation Week for breaking IT news. Let's look at how it works \xe2\ufffd\ufffd let's say Information\nWeek publishes an article on a IT workforce needs \xe2\ufffd\ufffd if you are logged in to\nyour aggregator and subscribed to the Information Week feed, you see the title,\na brief summary of the article and how long ago it was published (minutes,\nhours, days, weeks, etc) on your aggregator page. If the article looks\ninteresting you can click the link and then read the entire article. This\ntechnology has allowed many to cut back considerably on hard copy technology\njournal reading and email subscriptions \xe2\ufffd\ufffd most common journals and periodicals\nare now publishing content with RSS feeds, allowing readers to subscribe and\nrapidly scan and review content.

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

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

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

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The \xe2\ufffd\ufffdkiller\napp\xe2\ufffd\ufffd or application that demonstrated the potential and viability of AJAX is Google\xe2\ufffd\ufffds gmail\nservice. The use of AJAX\nhas since exploded. Examples include the aggregators we mentioned earlier, which\nall leverage AJAX technology to provide for a more pleasing user experience, as\nwell as a whole class of \xe2\ufffd\ufffdwebware\xe2\ufffd\ufffd \xe2\ufffd\ufffd web-based applications that attempt to\nreplicate desktop applications, including Writely, ZohoWriter, ZohoShow, Google\nSpreadsheets, and DabbleDB. With these applications, you and your students have\naccess to a virtual office suite, allowing students to interact and collaborate\nonline. This new class of tools and technologies provide faculty with an\nopportunity to engage their students inside and outside of the classroom.

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

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You can find\nthe content of this podcast in the Oct/Nov 2006 edition of Community College\nJournal, at nctt.org/blog and at nctt.org/podcast. \xa0In addition you will find a maintained list of\nseveral interesting links that further demonstrate these technologies. You can\nreach the authors at gsnyder@stcc.edu\nand mqaissaunee@brookdale.edu\nand at their National Science Foundation center and project websites at\nwww.nctt.org and www.maitt.org

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