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I think I have managed to explain Web 3.0 quite nicely, so without further ado. Definition: Highly specialized information silos, moderated by a cult of personality, validated by the community, and put into context with the inclusion of meta-data through widgets.

Web 3.0 will take this one step further. If you are searching for information on Cars, for example, you would use the search engine as you normally would, but your results would be more specialized subengines.

Web 2.0 brought us a change in the basic way that we search, tagging.

HOW TO CREATE A ONE-MINUTE LECTURE Professors spend a lot of time crafting hourlong lectures. The prospect of boiling them down to 60 seconds — or even five minutes — may seem daunting. David Penrose, a course designer for SunGard Higher Education who developed San Juan College's microlectures, suggests that it can be done in five steps: 1. List the key concepts you are trying to convey in the 60-minute lecture. That series of phrases will form the core of your microlecture. 2. Write a 15 to 30-second introduction and conclusion. They will provide context for your key concepts. 3. Record these three elements using a microphone and Web camera. (The college information-technology department can provide advice and facilities.) If you want to produce an audio-only lecture, no Webcam is necessary. The finished product should be 60 seconds to three minutes long. 4. Design an assignment to follow the lecture that will direct students to readings or activities that allow them to explore the key concepts. Combined with a written assignment, that should allow students to learn the material. 5. Upload the video and assignment to your course-management software.   http://chronicle.com Section: Information Technology Volume 55, Issue 26, Page A13

I rarely grade alone. The students rarely do their homework in isolation. The same chatting software that, when mismanaged, give us fits in our classrooms, enables us to collaborate in dynamic ways. Students now continue fiery classroom debates when they get home from school. They now walk each other through difficult readings of “The Odyssey” and “Hamlet” and return to class with stronger understandings

it is more crucial that they learn how to sift thoughtfully through increasing amounts of information.

The issue now is distinguishing between rich resources and the online collection of surface facts, misinformation, and inexcusable lies that masquerade as the truth. It will be hard for our students to be thoughtful citizens without this ability to discern the useful from the irrelevant. This is especially clear during this election season. If they are never asked to practice dealing with this new onslaught of information, they will have to practice when the stakes are much higher.

While reading OECD’s publication Education Today, I noticed a StatLink option under each of the tables/charts. StatLink is part of OECD’s ongoing initiative to make data available in original form. A simple click and data is downloaded into a spreadsheet for happy manipulation by the user. A simple, but important idea. OECD also offers a tool to visualize data. The data is somewhat limited (employment, productivity, educational attainment, GDP, etc) in scope, but the willingness to share not only original data but also software to assist in making sense of data is a welcomed gesture!