Web 2.0

Web 2.0 Support

If you had to describe Web 2.0 in just a few words, you might include collaborative and interactive.

When the World Wide Web first began gaining popularity, we saw individuals create their own websites. The information was usually static and communication flowed in just one direction. Web 2.0 takes everything a step further, introducing two-way communication that is fairly fluid. Web 2.0 is social, and it's creative.

Some of the more common examples of Web 2.0 in action?

Book reviews on Amazon
Wall posts on Facebook
Encyclopedia entries on Wikipedia

In each example, we see people from all over the world contributing to what a web page includes.

How does this impact the academic community?

Instructors can incorporate Web 2.0 applications into their courses to make them much more dynamic.
Students work together to explore content and learn.

View these brief, informative videos prepared by The Common Craft Show to learn more. Simply go to the link, then click the Play triangle in the middle of the video screen.

Wikis in Plain English
Blogs in Plain English
Podcasting in Plain English

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Campus Pack Support

NNU licenses the Campus Pack suite of Web 2.0 tools from the Learning Objects company. These tools provide a way to incorporate wikis, blogs and/or podcasts into the learning process, to conduct committee work, and lots more.

The Campus Pack tool consists of two major components:

Your Personal Learning Space (PLS), or home page, where you can build folders for blogs, wikis and podcasts and also set up portlets for the folder spaces, a calendar, a clock, Twitter feeds and more (think iGoogle)
A Directory that contains the majority of NNU's course offerings and their enrollments, plus listings for people and groups (such as committees or clubs)

Campus Pack Access

Campus Pack works with these browsers:

Firefox 3
Internet Explorer 7 or 8
Safari 4 or 5

Permanent username = Your NNU username used for most everything else
Initial password = Your NNU ID number

Upon logging in, please change your password to something more secure. If you have trouble logging in or do not have an account, please contact the NNU help desk, Technology and Media Resources, at http://help.nnu.edu or (208) 467-8111.

Campus Pack Resources

Video Tutorials
Getting Started (5 mins.)
Adding and Managing a Blog (5 mins.)
Adding and Managing a Wiki (5 mins.)
Adding a Podcast (5 mins.)

General
QuickStart Guide: Personal Learning Space

Customizing Your Individual Settings
Settings include your profile image, color theme, password, etc.

Adding a Portlet to Your Personal Learning Space
Portlets include a folder, an HTML box, a calendar, clock, etc.

Adding a Site to a Folder
A site is a blog, blog journal, wiki or podcast

Using the Text Editor
The text editor lets you choose the font, create links, upload files, etc.

Using Tips and Tricks with the Text Editor
Hints to eliminate extra space, copy and paste, use a table, and more

Adding Widgets to a Site
Widgets are extras like a star-rating feature that you can add to blogs, wikis, etc.

Blogs
Adding a Blog
Managing Permissions for a Blog
Contributing to a Blog
Making a Comment on a Blog
Subscribing to a Blog
Seeing the History for a Blog

Blog Journals
Adding a Blog Journal
Managing Permissions for a Blog Journal

Wikis
Adding a Wiki
Managing Permissions for a Wiki
Contributing to a Wiki
Making a Comment on a Wiki
Monitoring Participation in a Wiki
Seeing the History for a Wiki

Podcasts
Creating a Podcast
Accessing iTunes

A Word About Roles

Campus Pack offers varying Roles so that you can control who has access:

Viewers can read a blog or wiki but only make comments. This is more of a limited role, to put something in a lockdown mode.
Authors can make new entries and edit content (as well as make comments). This is the main, default role.
Owners have complete control over the blog or wiki (they can delete it, set Permissions, etc.)

Default Settings

Everyone in the course or group is a Viewer in the sense that each can read the blog or wiki.
Those with a Student role in the course or group are granted Author permissions, to make new entries or pages and edit content.
Those with an Instructor role in the course or group are granted Owner permissions, to have complete control over the blog or wiki.

When you invite outsiders to participate in the blog or wiki, via the Permissions/Invite a Person via Email tool, Campus Pack grants them an Author role by default. Campus Pack is assuming that you want outsiders to make new entries, edit content, and make comments. If you do NOT want this, then you would downgrade outsiders (or anyone else) to the Viewer role, so they can only read the blog or wiki and make comments.

SO... most of the time, you will not need to touch the Permissions of an individual blog or wiki, if you want the default settings above. The only reason why you would ever need to change the Permissions is if you want to change the default permissions and roles.

Assistance

Instructors may want to review these case studies to see how other institutions are using blogs and wikis. If you would like a consultation with E-Learning Services, please contact us by filling out a new help request at help.nnu.edu or (208) 467-8034.

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