Introduction to Learn 2.1

Watch this video: Information R/evoloution
(Remember Michael Wesch's video The Machine is Us/ing Us ? We saw it in L2.0. Here is his blog : Digital Enthnography Blog)

Listen to this podcast: Learn 2.1

Our intent and purpose is to continue along almost as if we never stopped Learn 2.0. Of course, we realize that some people may have just joined the OCLS family or maybe missed the first course. No problem! We welcome all those that are joining us for the first time and promise to keep you in mind as we go through this experience. The beauty of the web is that we can always hyperlink back to important content to keep everyone on the same page. Look for the New Bees icon for any pre-requisite information that you may need to go forward in this course.

The theme for this course is “Information is Becoming Open Source”. We will look at technology from an information perspective and investigate how it is becoming easier to access information. We will also explore the shift from centrally controlled information to distributed sources of information; the change from big companies providing the news to the common person reporting what he/she considers news.

This change in how people access (and create) information has the potential for a huge impact on our industry. For this reason, we will spend a module investigating change. We will look at the change process, why change is important and examples of organizational change.

We will also look at how technology is impacting the health and fitness industry. Itunes and Nike have teamed up to combine music, exercise, running shoes, technology and the web. The result is a social networking community where you can log your runs, set goals, track your progress, find running mates and share your favorite music mixes. Very cool!

In between and around all of that, we will re-visit cool Web 2.0 programs and we will look at what OCLS is doing to upgrade its web services to Web 2.0 standards. We will also visit the dark side of the web – no, not the red light side, the dark side where evil lurks with phishing and fraud and viruses – oh my! Just like the last course there are a few play weeks built in to allow you to work at your own pace and hopefully, there are more than a few things that will make you smile.

So what’s in it for me you are wondering? I know, I can hear you. “Last time we got MP3 players, how about a new….” Unfortunately, the sprinkler system for the money trees is broken, and, as you may have heard, the money trees are drying up. We could spend the money on rewards, but then we would miss some of you when you were gone. Follow me? This trip relies on your intrinsic motivation for learning new things and the pride developed from a job well done! How was that?

New Bees - Welcome to the course, we are very glad that you have joined us! The first thing you need to know is that this course is designed to be a group experience! You don't have to work on this by yourself, matter of fact, it will probably be more fun if you don't! Feel free to connect with someone at your location, or even another location to work with. Feel free to ask questions, ask for help or bounce thoughts and ideas off of anyone that is taking the course. We BELIEVE in collaobration!! Each lesson in this course will offer a topic for exploration, and then two tasks to help you further explore and underrstand the topic. The eXplorer task is the baseline experience and is considered the minimum for satisfactory participation. The Adventure activity is more like an extra credit experience that will broaden your knowledge beyond the baseline. The Adventure activities are completely optional, you can do them all or just a few, whatever you are comfortable with.
You can jump into the course right now by completing the eXplorer activity below!


eXplorer – Please take a moment and complete this survey. Some of you may remember some of the questions from last year, if you don’t, no worries. The information gathered from the survey will help me tweak the course to you, the audience, so we can have the best possible learning experience. Learn 2.1 Survey


Adventurer: Internet 3.0? I thought it might be interesting to show you the future before you started the course. I have to admit, until a few seconds ago, I had never thought of Web 3.0. Turns out, there are 27.5 million returns on a Google search for the phrase “web 3.0”. Am I the last person to know about this? Just in case I am not, here are two articles that just might foreshadow a future course in some way. We haven't even started yet and now you know where we are going! Cool!

PCMag Learn 3.0

Wikipedia Web 3.0