Web 2.0

In this weeks lesson we were exposed to Web 2.0, or social forms of technology. I must admit that each week I am very intrigued by what we learn about and what I didn't realize technology was capable of providing to us as future educators. I think blogs and wikis will be an amazing supplement to my classroom someday. I currently work for the training department of a corporate organization and we have recently spent time researching social networking and what it offers. My director actually sent me the link to the videos on wikis and social bookmarking that were provided in the lecture. They were the first thing I recalled when I entered this weeks lesson, and I thought it was interesting that they were being used here as well. I want to teach math someday and I thing that both wikis and blogs would be great tools to not only reason through math, but also allow students to communicate and come to solutions regarding math problems. I also think that blogs would be an excellent way to allow students to journal about the class and how they are doing in certain areas.

I was very intersted in social bookmarking. In this class alone I have already bookmarked a ton of sites, and I know this is probably a minimal amount in comparison to what is avaialble to me. I also think it's great that it is public. This would allow someone to predetermine accurate sites to use in their classroom. Students could be directed to use the links on the bookmarking site, or add relevant sites. Voicethread was actually something I had never heard of prior to this lesson. I was really interested in how it worked. I felt like it was a great tool. I think blogs and wikis are very interesting, but there is no voice behind it. It was intersting to see a way in which you can still have discussion online without eliminating the voice factor.

Tapped In is also a new topic to me. I felt that it is probably a tool that could end up being very useful to me. What I liked about it was that it is a community of people from all over the world. This allows someone to not limit their communication to only educators in their school or district. If I am struggling in the classroom, I could find out information from educators all over. I also like the way that even though it is public, you do have the ability to have a private conversation. I remember reading this section of the chapter and wondering why any teacher would not want to open up to what technology allows to offer.

References

Jonassen, David, Howland, Jane, Marra, Rose, and Crismond, David. (2008). Meaningful Learning with Technology. 99-135. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall

LeFever, Lee. (2007) "Social Bookmarking in Plain English." Dailymotion. Retrieved on October 15, 2010. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2rqw9_social-bookmarking-in-plain-english_school

VoiceThread. (2007). Retrieved on October 16, 2010. http://voicethread.com/