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Blog:  (noun) a weblog.  intr.verb. blogged, blog·ging, blogs To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.

Browser:  software capable of rendering HTML pages and allowing for navigation of HTML links, for example on the Internet.

Browser extensions:  a computer program that extends the functionality of a web browser in some way.

Cross-Platform:  Software designed to work on various operating systems.  Software that runs on an Apple and on a Windows XP machine would be called "cross-platform."

E-Reading: Electronic books and articles that are read on the internet/computer or any electronic device.

flash drive:  adigital data storage device, designed to fit in the USB port on a computer, usually small enough to attach to a keychain.

forum:  an online space provided for discussion by the public, often with moderation by an expert.  Software, technology, and web-based applications often provide forums for the discussion of problems, tips, and tricks. 

Globalization:  Its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones. It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together.  Informational - increase in information flows between geographically remote locations. Arguably this is a technological change with the advent of fibre optic communications, satellites, and increased availability of telephone and Internet.  Source:  Wikipedia

HTML:   HyperText Markup Language; a set of tags and rules used in making web pages.  HTML allows text, graphics, sound, video, and hyperlinks. Internet browsers read HTML to know what they should display.

Instant Web:  the part of the web that can be changed or updated in just a few moments.  Also refers to the tools (embeddable HTML, microblogging, etc.) that make the "instant web" possible.

Integration:  combining subject area content with technology, either as part of instruction, or as part of student projects. 

ISTE: The International Society for Technology in Education; a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting the use of information technology to aid in learning, teaching of K-12 students and teachers.  ISTE publishes the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS)

listserv: an electronic mailing list; subscribers get copies of all e-mails sent to the 'list."  LISTSERV is actually a trademarked word, so don't use it!

Microblog: a form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user. These messages can be submitted by a variety of means, including text messaging, instant messaging, email, MP3 or the web.  Twitter is a prime example.

Millennials: a person from the generation which grew up in the 90s and 2000s, who have always had the computer and internet as part of their lives.

Multimedia:  the use of different media to convey information; text is put together with audio, graphics and animation, often with links to the Internet

Network:  1. connected computer resources--like our campus network.  2.  A group of people connected by computer resources.  See PLN.

Open Source:  The principles and practices are commonly applied to the development of source code for software that is made available for public collaboration, and it is usually released as open-source software.

PLN:  Personal Learning Network.  A group of people who are connected online through various social media tools to share resources and help one another learn.

Podcast:  a web-based audio recording.  A combination of the words "iPod" and "broadcast." 

Portable apps: A portable application, or portable app for short, is a computer software program that does not need to be installed or copied onto a computer's mass storage device to be executed, running instead from a removable storage device such as a CD-ROM drive, USB flash drive, flash card, or floppy disk. Portable applications can be run on any computer system with which they are compatible; they usually require a certain type of operating system (e.g., Microsoft Windows XP or above, any Linux, etc).

Realtime: 1. Events the user sees, hears, or reads using interactive media are occurring at that moment.  A good example is the 2009 Presidential Inauguration--millions of viewers watched video streaming of the actual event as it happened.  2. within the media, "real-time"is a method of narratology within a film, TV-show, radio program, computer game, comic book, or comic strip wherein events being represented or portrayed exactly as it occurs. The exact time of the story action would be equal to the time it takes to view that action.

Read-Write Web:  Websites that are interactive, collaborative, can be customized and personalized.  Instead of paying for software, everything is online, and often free! Examples include podcasting, blogging, wikis, social bookmarking, RSS feeds, interactive maps, picture sharing, surveys...and more.  There are literally thousands of examples now.

RSS feed: (Really Simple Syndication)  A syndication format that was developed by Netscape in 1999 and which has become very popular for collecting updates to blogs blah blah blah.  It's a way of subscribing to stuff online.  You are notified when pages are updated, instead of having to visit the page to see all the new stuff. 

Semantic Web: Humans are capable of using the Web to carry out tasks such as finding the Finnish word for "monkey", reserving a library book, and searching for a low price on a DVD. However, a computer cannot accomplish the same tasks without human direction because web pages are designed to be read by people, not machines. The semantic web is a vision of information that is understandable by computers, so that they can perform more of the tedious work involved in finding, sharing and combining information on the web.

Social Software:  a range of software systems that allow users to interact and share data. Popular examples would be social sites like MySpace and Facebook, media sites like Flickr and YouTube, and commercial sites like Amazon.com and eBay.

tag: a keyword or term assigned to a piece of information that helps you find it again, like a subject heading for a book in an old-fashioned catalog.  A tag gives you multiple ways to find the same information.  For example, a user might "tag" one photo as "Field Trips," "January," and "Mendon Ponds."  Any of those tags will help the user find the photo.

TV-Viewer / Video Streaming:  web-based video-on-demand.

Virtual Worlds / Virtual Reality  is a technology and/or software which allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment, be it a real or imagined one.

Web 1.0:  The first generation of the World Wide Web, Static pages instead of dynamic user-generated content. 

Web 2.0:  The second generation of the World Wide Web, especially the movement away from static, unchanging pages to dynamic pages with shareable content.

Web 3.0:  Web 3.0, a phrase coined by John Markoff of the New York Times in 2006, refers to a supposed third generation of Internet-based services that collectively comprise what might be called 'the intelligent Web'—such as those using semantic web, microformats, natural language search, data mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies—which emphasize machine-facilitated understanding of information in order to provide a more productive and intuitive user experience.  Like that in English?  See "Semantic Web."

Widget: computer code that lets you pull information from one place on the web to another.  For example, a teacher might have a widget for pulling New York Times headlines onto a classroom website; the headlines would appear in a box on the teacher's website.

Wiki:   A collaborative website whose content can be edited by anyone who has access to it.  From the Hawaiian wiki, meaning to hurry, to be swift.        

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