Are mashups more than "high-tech tinker toys"?

Mashups are one of the greatest products of Web 2.0. Mash what, you may say? This "techy" term may be unfamiliar to the lay user. According to Business Week (2005) mashups are "home spun combinations of mainstream services." Creators of mashups take any two or more web applications and combine them together in a new way. Min Liu et. al (2008) state that "mashups acknowledge the role of the user by providing ways for data to be combined, repurposed, reorganized, and in some cases added or deleted." Mashups are designed by mixing together any number of things, and are often created by everyday Internet users. This bottom-up approach to creating new applications is what makes mashups unique. However, this led the writers of Business Week to question if many mashups are simply "high-tech tinker toys" for Internet users?

[Tinker Toys]. Retrieved July 29, 2009 from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/07380560802368090

Is this the case? While I personally have little interest in viewing the Google map of the stars mashup or want to check out where the latest crime was in Chicago, there are several mashups that may enhance both my personal and professional life as a teacher. Min Liu et. al. (2008) acknowledge that because mashups are so new, little research has been conducted on how to use mashups in an educational setting. I would have to concur with their assertion as my own search of professional journals for research conducted on mashups yielded few results. However, I was able to discover a few mashups that I think will be particularly useful in the classroom.

1. Voicethread: Voicethread is a mashup that helps users to create interactive albums. Users can download photos, drawings, video, etc. and then comment on them in a number of ways. Other people are also able to comment on your uploads, thereby, creating a collaborative community of users.

2. Map Skip: This is a mashup that is used in conjunction with Google maps. Users can mark points on maps and then add stories, images, and audio to points they have marked.

3. Ficly: This mashup allows users to collaborate when writing by using images as a starting point for their writing. Teachers and students can also offer comments on each other's work.

Min Liu et. al. (2008) extol the virtues of mashups by stating that "mashups offer new, alternative and hybridized ways of viewing and manipulating internally or externally created content". They also remark that mashups allow students to be actively engaged in the learning process and are freely available to anyone who wants to use them. Mashups offer students an opportunity to learn in a real world context and thus, this encourages higher level thinking skills.

However, Brian Lamb (2007) offers some points for consideration when using mashups for academic purposes. He contends that before mashups can be used for legitimate academic purposes, three things must occur. First, the user must have access to open and discoverable resources. As the Internet continues to expand, I would argue that this is already attainable. Second, users must have access to open and transparent licensing. In other words, you need to be able to legally use the resources that you find. This is a grey area yet with Canada's copyright laws regarding Internet resources still in limbo. Third, users must be able to produce material that is open and remixable. This means that whatever users create using mashups needs to be able to be made into forms that are easily accessible for viewers. I would argue that this is becoming less and less of a concern as many mashup sites offer free downloads to anyone who wishes to use their site, making the content on them available to anyone with a computer.

A Mashup Case Study: Digital Storytelling

While it would be impossible to examine every type of mashup available, I did want to look carefully at Voicethread, a mashup purposed toward digital storytelling. According to Daniel Meadows, educator, photographer and storyteller, digital stories are "short, personal, multi-media tales told from the heart." He goes on to describe digital stories as "multimedia sonnets for the people" in which "photographers discover the talkies, and the stories told, assemble in the ether as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, a gaggle of invisible histories which, when viewed together, tell the bigger story of our time, the story that defines who we are". Well, with that kind of picturesque description, who wouldn't want to give digital storytelling a try?

[Microphone]. Retrieved July 29, 2009 from http://www.mediabistro.com/baynewser/radio/

Having never used Voicethread before, I decided to sign up for yet another user name and password. I watched a quick tutorial on how to use Voicethread and decided to try uploading some pictures of my own. I was pleased to see that Voicethread can take pictures you have already uploaded to other sites such as Flickr and Facebook and transfer them over to Voicethread. I decided to load my Facebook pictures. In a matter of seconds, I had all of my Facebook albums at my disposal. I chose to upload a few pictures of my trip to Hawaii. Okay, the pictures were in, now, how to comment? After dragging out my microphone, I need to figure out where the comment button was. I quickly discovered in in the bottom middle of the picture. I recorded myself commenting on each of the pictures I uploaded and I was good to go. Step three was deciding how to share my new creation. One of the options was to embed the code for your voicethread in your blog, so I decided, why not? You will see my handiwork posted on my previous blog. Please, feel free to add to my conversation by commenting on my pictures. A word of caution, in my zeal to create voicethreads, I soon discovered that you are only allowed three free voicethreads before you have to start paying a monthly fee. So use your free ones wisely!

Why use Voicethread in the classroom?

Bill Ferriter (2007) describes some of the benefits to using Voicethread in the classroom. Ferriter contends that Voicethread allows teachers to seamlessly integrate technology into the classroom. This type of technology fits perfectly with many of the components of the Balanced Literacy plan being implemented in many divisions. Also, he states that there are minimal computer skills required to use Voicethread. Therefore, there is no technology barrier for students to overcome before they can effectively use the tool. Ferriter (2008) goes on to contend that Voicethread allows all students the opportunity to participate in the activity regardless of their popularity or shyness. Multiple conversations can occur simultaneously whereas in the classroom, only one stream of conversation happens at once.

Ideas for using Voicethread in the classroom

The ways in which Voicethread can be used in the classroom are endless. Here are some of my favorite ideas.

-Mark Warner, a teacher who regularly uses Voicethread, used this application to teach his primary students empathy skills. Warner had his students listen to a film, containing no speech, without viewing it. He had them note the music that was being played and the sound effects heard. Following this activity, the students brainstormed what they thought was happening in the film. Warner uploaded various pictures from the film to Voicethread and then had the students comment and give life to the characters.

-Voicethread is great for having students develop higher level thinking skills and for having them talk about their thinking. Wesley Fryer (2008) had his daughter reflect on her thinking after reading the book Charlotte's Web. He believed that this created a more meaningful experience for her than filling out worksheets did.

-Voicethread4education offers many ideas on how to use this tool in the classroom. Some ideas include having students collect comments from students and staff on a certain topic, having students collaborate on ways to live using the 100 mile diet, and using Voicethread to create class holiday greetings.

Tips

The Teachers Teaching Teachers "Revisiting Voicethread" webcast offers several tips for teachers beginning to use Voicethread.

1. Start small. You may want to begin by having students simply leave comments on other's voicethreads rather than trying to create their own.

2. Have students begin by using a script until they are well versed enough to have freer conversations.

3. Emphasize to students that they are carrying on a conversation with others and to use that "voice" when creating their voicethread.

So, are mashups more than "high-tech tinker toys"? I would have to say yes and no (It's a cop out I know!). Some mashups are nothing more than a novelty that can be used for fun. There are others, however, such as Voicethread, that have great educational potential. At the end of the day, your view of mashups will depend upon the purpose that you are using it for. As an educator, I can see great potential in using some of these applications to enhance my teaching and to enable students to actively engage with the material in a real world context that may otherwise not be possible.