Every time I talk about using Web2.0 in education with someone, or even being a do-it-yourself EduPunk in general, I always throw in a little disclaimer at the end: “just be careful what you use, because one of those sites that you base your entire class on could be gone tomorrow.” I usually get this “yeah, right” look from them, or even a “I’ll just use Google – that will always be safe” response. Truth is, I never really believed it myself.
Oh, how the times have changed in the 4 months since I last said that. It seems like Google is actually leading the charge in cutting down sites educators might use. Google is shutting down sites? Excuse me while I check the forecast for Hades right quick.
First it was Lively, now several other minor services have been closed completely or just put on the shelf (i.e. no further development). Lively was probably the only closure to hurt education in anyway – even though that probably only applied to the bleeding edge of education. Jaiku, with the ability to create groups that micro-bloggers could post to (versus the only two options on Twitter: everyone or one person), probably had the most educational potential. Jaiku is apparently going open source, so maybe it will re-appear as something better later (but we EduGeeks thought Jaiku was so much better than Twitter… sigh). Google Notebook was probably meant to have educational potential but never really went anywhere. TechCrunch has a good summary article if you want to see if your favorite Google side project is toast.
What this means for educators is: be careful! Something that you rely on heavily for instruction could be gone tomorrow. Unfortunaelty, this also means that more instructors are probably going to go with the most popular tool for their needs, even if they find another service that is a better fit. And I can’t say I would blame them. This would just mean that there is a smaller chance we will be seeing new ideas popping up online.
Matt is currently an Instructional Designer II at Orbis Education and a Part-Time Instructor at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Previously he worked as a Learning Innovation Researcher with the UT Arlington LINK Research Lab. His work focuses on learning theory, Heutagogy, and learner agency. Matt holds a Ph.D. in Learning Technologies from the University of North Texas, a Master of Education in Educational Technology from UT Brownsville, and a Bachelors of Science in Education from Baylor University. His research interests include instructional design, learning pathways, sociocultural theory, heutagogy, virtual reality, and open networked learning. He has a background in instructional design and teaching at both the secondary and university levels and has been an active blogger and conference presenter. He also enjoys networking and collaborative efforts involving faculty, students, administration, and anyone involved in the education process.
And Google Answers was closed years ago, too.
I made a similar point to someone who argued for using wikispaces, which along with pbwiki, educators are really relying heavily on.
Even if they give you notice that they are going to shut down, how can you transfer your content out? Wikispaces for example uses their own proprietary wiki syntax.
Doug – great point. Wikispaces is a good example – they are unknown, but not hugely popular either. A few bad turns, and they they could be gone (or maybe not, I don’t know there business plan, but it is possible).
But… less popular site + non-transferable content = danger. Go for the services that play well with others, and have a disaster plan in place.