More Web 2.0 Fun

Over the last week, I have seen a drastic increase in the number of technophile friends dropping me messages with links to hip new Web 2.0 services. I cannot decide if this is a fluke thing, that with the warm spring air comes not only blossoms on trees but also the flurry of new pristine, suave web based applications (as if the programmers spent all winter locked indoors coding away). In any case, it is apparent to me, now more than ever, that this is where things are headed. I thought I would share a couple of these cool things with my fellow classmates for your enjoyment as well. Perhaps one of these new applications is your very own missing link to internet perfection.

The first service was shown to me by offering me as an unwilling participant. Jott lets you make contact groups of email and cellphone addresses (for text messaging), and upon calling the service, your voice recorded message will be distributed to your group in text. The implications for my realm of education seem few, but I can envision some pretty cool field uses of sharing experiences with others. I might try to write my next paper this way (kidding).

More relevant to learning is Quizlet which appears to be Myspace meets the common flash card. Social networking tools applied specifically to reinforcing study groups is such a great idea and a service that I very needed. In my time in the ETL program, I have used a number of tools ranging from simply email to wikis to supplement the course environment to allow me and my fellow students to easily collaborate. And while Quizlet itself is more geared towards learning in a drill and practice manner, it certainly got me thinking about the possibilities such tools.

And one last to share. Actually, this isn't an application, but the best resource for information on applications, if, like me, you are a bit of a junkie for them. eHub claims to be "a constantly updated resource of web applications, services or sites with a focus on next generation web (web 2.0), social software, blogging, Ajax, Ruby on Rails, location mapping, open source, folksonomy, design and digital media sharing." It kept me busy for hours, and by sharing this link, I force myself to find new things to blog about other than sharing the cool tools I tested this week.