2.0 Wrap-Up

It has been evident since the 1960's when the first pioneers on campus had determined the strengths and usefulness of emerging technologies. Through all of the skepticism they marched on, knowing that someday these tools would be embraced as commonplace and common ground for social and workplace networking. Language is no longer a barrier.

It has been a privilege to be introduced to Learning 2.0 and the 21st century.

WEEK 11 - BROWSER TOOLS

I use Firefox exclusively for my search engine and the same company, Mozilla's , Thunderbird as my e-mail portal. The main reason I like Firefox is that you don't get the pop up advertising like you do with AOL and IE. In fact I get zero pop ups when using Firefox. The cookies AOL and IE permit or leave behind can be a nightmare. In AOL and IE even if you use blockers, the blocking feature really slows down the speed of your browsing. Firefox now permits fast, multiple search pages, each of which shows up on a tab at the top of your screen. The add ons are extensive and are kept organized when you connect. Your search pages can be easily customized and I have not found any incoming viruses with the add ons. Firefox was really slow to take off but is now widely used by anyone who refuses to have any irritating pop-ups show up unexpectedly. Firefox is set up to allow anyone ease in tracing where an e-mail originates, what its passed through as far as filters, and how it ended up in your e-bucket. I use this feature for tracing international inquiries where it is not apparent who sent it or where it originated from. The security features in Firefox fully satisfy government offices where IE is often filtered like crazy. Once in Firefox I can access my e-mail even where high security is in effect. This at least allows me to use a different add-on to access my e-mails when Thunderbird, AOL,Hotmail, etc. are fully blocked.

Mozilla's Thunderbird is equally as powerful and resistant to widespread spams, advertising and so on. They have simple features to block unwanted material. Setting up Thunderbird is easy and easily customized to suit anyone. If their filters are suspicious of anything they block anything that moves or would like to move on your screen (flash stuff for example embedded in an e-mail).

Week 10 Gaming and Virtual Environments

Gaming and virtual environments are ingenious ways to promote dialogues about common global issues, a fabulous teaching tool and just plain fun.

It is no longer necessary to be in the same room to participate. Encouraging role playing, social networking and relaxation are all benefits of the virtual environment and should most definitely be embraced.

Don't be surprised if the next time you walk into a boardroom you find yourself in the middle of a virtual experience!

Week 9

I know that Facebook and MySpace is all the rage right now and I did post on Facebook, however, I am still very hesitant to put any personal information on the web. My feeling is, that all of this technology is still in its infancy and privacy is a huge issue on anything within the public domain.

The upside is, if you were looking to contact someone you had lost touch with, it certainly is a good tool to use.

http://www.facebook.com/c.php?id=t23603958&code=598125268&rt=2&email=crevier%40mcmaster.ca

WEEK 8

Google Docs and Spreadsheets are great for small businesses and homework.

It's a simple alternative to having to carry around your laptop or worry about losing a CD with all of your information on it.

I quite enjoyed Snipshot, you can be really creative with this.

Weeks 4 and 5

Just a post to say that weeks 4 and 5 are complete.

Wikis and tags should only be brought out at Hallowe'en!!!!!!

Week 3 on feeds

There are a lot of feeds to choose from on Bloglines and adding feeds appears to be simple.