According to this article, Web 2.0 consists of web applications that help in information sharing and collaboration. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, hosted services, and web applications. 

Some of the really good examples of Web 2.0 are tools offered by Google; tools that are very useful to the individual, organizations and Internet community.

What are these tools? How can you use them effectively? How can you improve your productivity with these tools? What can you learn from and about these tools? How can these tools be effective in organizations? These are some of the questions that this project is designed to answer.

This project is based on student-centered learning where each student or student group is assigned a Web 2.0 tool to master and then required to train fellow students in that tool. This is a "learning by doing" project.

There is a second part to this project which reinforces this one. After this first part is completed, students will use all of the tools in real life in their work as students and will demonstrate how these tools have been used.

Objectives

1. Understand all components of Web 2.0 tools. What they are, what can you do with them and how they can be used to improve your daily productivity.
2. Learn and use Web 2.0 tools like an expert. These tools are effective in many disciplines such as Marketing, Research, Retail and also for group collaboration. In fact, understanding and using these tools will enhance your job skills.
3. Learn how to create a training plan. This will help in understanding courses such as project management where tasks, sub-tasks, timeline and project resources need to be identified.
4. Learn how to train rather than present. This is a valuable skill in organizations and one that can be added to a CV.
5. Enhance project management skills. The ability to create a plan, follow that plan and deliver on time is an extremely valuable skill for organizations as it keeps costs under control.

Instructions - After the first class

1. Download Google Chrome and make it your default browser. If you don't like Chrome, you are free to uninstall it after the project is finished. Make sure to download it from the link (or download the English language version)
2. Create a Google Account. If you have a gmail account, you can use that as your account. You MUST have a Google account for this project and be able to login.
3. Create a Dropbox account. Use your Google Account details (email address, etc)
4. Create an account at prezi.com. Select the "free" option.
5. Start researching your topic and understand it like an EXPERT. If you need ideas, type in "cool things to do with [your topic]" or similar as a Google Search. This will give you a start on what you need to do.
6. Start using your assigned tool using what you have learned from #5. Don't worry about making mistakes. The more you use your tool, the better you will understand it.

Instructions - During the Independent Learning periods

1. If your topic is a group topic, meet with your group immediately and regularly to discuss what you need to do.
2. Research your topic and understand it like an EXPERT. If you need ideas, type in "cool things to do with [your topic]" or similar as a Google Search. This will give you a start on what you need to do.
3. Start writing a training plan immediately including hands-on training guidelines or materials (if any). The training plan should have a detailed list of activities and approximate time for each activity. This will help you plan better.
4. Discuss your training plan and training guideline with your instructor as often as you need to.
5. You MUST discuss your complete or near-complete training plan with your instructor at least once to show that you have been working on your topic.
6. Prepare your training session. Remember, a training session is "hands-on" which means your trainees are actively participating. You may have to create training materials or Powerpoint slides but this is OPTIONAL. Your training needs to be INTERESTING and CREATIVE to get good grades!!
7. Your instructor will send you a training schedule with the dates and times. Please check this and discuss if you need changes such as time, date or length of the session.
8. If you need your trainees to be prepared for your session or to create accounts for your product before you actually train, you will have to send them emails with instructions or materials. These should be sent well before your actual training session. If you do setup type activites during your training session, it will cause you to perhaps waste time, exceed your time limit and/or do a less-than-useful training session.
9. Submit your training plan. Your instructor will let you know the date. See this section on the assessment for this item.

Guidelines for Trainers

For all trainers and training sessions:

1. Deliver your training. Total time of the session is between 20 - 25 minutes excluding set up time, breaks, and pauses unless approved by your instructor. A 5% penalty will be applied for all trainings that go overtime without approval.
2. * You must do the training session on your scheduled date and time. If you cannot do your session on the date and time you have agreed to, it is up to you to rearrange session timings with your fellow trainers during one of the scheduled training days. Failure to do this will cause you to lose marks.
3. On the day of your training, please have a printed copy of your training plan available to hand to me before your training session.
4. After your training session, you will receive a 360° performance evaluation and your training plan will be used as part of this process.
5. If you are training as a team (more than 1 trainer), make sure that everyone speaks for approximately the same time. This makes sure that everyone is participating equally for this project.

Guidelines for Trainees

1. Part of your overall grade for this project depends on your presence in class during the sessions. If you are absent for ANY reason it will affect your overall grade for this project.
2. Bring a working laptop to class as all sessions require a laptop. Otherwise, you will be considered absent for those sessions.

Suggested Training Plan Format

The thing to remember with the training plan is to keep it simple yet detailed so you and I will know the approximate length of time for your training session. Here is a suggested format:

Item # Activity Detail of Activity Time
1. What is the activity? Give full details of the activity with screenshots. The activity detail should also answer the "why" of why you are doing this activity The time that this activity will take (e.g. 45 seconds or 1.5 minutes, etc)
2.      
3.      
Total Training time
Add all the time for all your activites and enter the total time in MINUTES (e.g. 15 or 16.5; etc)

Copy and paste this table in MS Word and create your plan.

Time Frame

Please check the Semester Calendar for dates and deadlines but here is a rough outline of what you need to do with your time:

Calendar Week Activity
2. Topics are assigned and your research starts. You may have an informal meeting with your intructor to share your ideas on the training content. By the end of the week, you have an excellent idea about your topic. You have also started to write down some activities in your training plan.
3. By the end of this week, you will have finalized and prepared your hands-on activities and any other materials and be ready to deliver your training. You will hand in your completed training plan and any materials you have developed.
4-5. Training starts, wrap-up, and reflection

Deliverables

1. Training plan of what each person/group will cover during the training including materials for hands on activities. Upload softcopy
2. Powerpoint presentation of lesson if needed. Since this is a training session, a Powerpoint is generally not needed. Upload softcopy
3. Training plan printed and handed to me Hardcopy in class
4. Training session  
5. Presence during training sessions  

Resources

The main resources for this project will come from Google.com. Other secondary resources are your instructor and the internet. In addition, please read the following required articles on Web 2.0 terms and technology:

1. Background on the Web 2.0 Project Textbook, p. 300-304
2. On Google Textbook, p. 184-186; 317-319
3. On Blogs Textbook, p. 420-422
4. Article on Web 2.0 Wikipedia
5. Tracking the business benefits of Web 2.0. Please register for free on the site McKinsey Article
6. Interactive Survey on Web 2.0 McKinsey Survey

Assessments and deductions

1. Failure to train on the assigned date/time -20%
2. Absence during training sessions. The 20% is the maximum which means that if you miss ALL training sessions, you will lose 20% of your overall grades. Failure to bring a working laptop to the training session will count as an absence regardless of excuse. -20%
3. Training plan not submitted. -10%
4. Training time is below the minimum -10%
5. Training plan submitted late. -5%
6. Failure to print out training plan on the day of your training session -5%
7. Exceeding training time limit without approval -5%

This training sessions will be assessed in the following manner:

Grade Training Assessment Criteria
A Training has all of the required elements – training was fun, interesting and creative with excellent activities and kept the attention of every student. Students learned from training. Individual trainers were superbly well prepared and knew their material. It should look like you spent a great deal of time in preparing/delivering your training. There were no equipment problems or malfunctions and the training was perfect and met and exceeded expectations. This is a "wow" training session. No absences during other training sessions.
B Training has all of the required elements but training is weak. Activities are not interesting, somewhat interesting or not very well thought out. Trainers can demonstrate expertise in their subject matter but not beyond expectations. Trainings that do not meet the time criteria for speaking time will only be eligible for a "B" as the highest grade! Trainings that go over the allotted time without prior discussion with your instructor will fall in this category.
C Training is structured more like a presentation. Training lacks a few of the required elements but it looks like some effort has been made. Trainers are not well-prepared and cannot demonstrate expertise. Any training session that is 18 minutes or less. Major equipment malfunction.
D Training lacks a few of the required elements and it looks like little effort has been made. Trainers are not well-prepared and do not show expertise. Training plan is not complete. Major equipment malfunction that takes up a large percentage of training time.
F Training does not meet criteria or student was absent. Training plan also does not meet criteria and/or was not submitted.

Absences or late entries to the training will be assessed in the same percentages as the attendeance policy percentages. The percentages below refer to the 20% overall project grade in case of any absence from any of the training sessions.

Grade Absence Criteria
100% 0% - absences
80% 0.9 % - 2.9% absences
60% 3.0%-3.9% absences
40% 4.0%-4.9% absences
20% 5.0% -9.9% absences
0% 10% and over absences

Web 2.0 Tools

This is an approximate list and topics within your subject. That means that I've given you some (but not ALL) of the things you could use in your training. It's up to you to work on your assigned subject to find out more things you could use during your training. If you just use what I have given you below, you will get a lower grade than if you expand on my suggestions.

Hint - Makes sure to click on the links below for your topic! For the training dates and times, please see the group and topic assignment list.

  Tool # of students
1. Google Chrome *, add-ons, themes, icognito page, customizing, adding extensions or apps for all of the apps for this project 1
2. Blogs *(creating, setting up, themes, embedding video, customizing, making private, etc) 2
3. Google Sites * (creating, setting up, themes creating, setting up, themes, embedding video, customizing, making private, horizontal and vertical nav bars, adding, deleting and reordering pages, etc). Check out this Google Sites tutorial. 2
4. Google+ * (google's social media platform; start a hangout, videochat, voicechat, circles, +1, upload photos, update your stream, start a debate, share content, write an About page) 2
5. Google Docs * (using Google Drive, creating surveys, creating quizzes, linking with Google Drive; documents and revision history; collaborators vs viewers... 2
6. Prezi.com 2
7. Diigo.com (social bookmarking) 2
8. Google Calendar (synchronizing with smartphones, group calendars, events, recurring events, appointments...) * 2

*- Essential topics