Web 2.0

In today's classrooms you might hear the words Wiki or Blog, but what exactly does that mean? "A central difference between a wiki and a weblog (or blog) is that wikis were designed as a collaborative environment, whereas blogs were originally intended as personal diaries or journals for individuals to post their own thoughts and ideas." (Jonassen, Howland, Marra, Crismond pg. 112) So how could you use a Wiki in your classroom? One way you could use a Wiki as a class would be to collaboritley write a story allowing each student to write their own part of the story. As the teacher you are able to go in and edit their stories and suggest any changes you might be able to think of. Everyone would be able to view the work in progress and make changes according. I think it is a great way to prove that two or three brains are better then one.

Social Bookmarking is another useful tool for today's technology savvy teacher. How would you use a social book mark? It is very easy; first you create a social bookmarking website at del.icio.us and locate, classify, rank, and even share Internet resources. You can label each link by math, science, etc. It is a great way to network with other teachers and you are able to view any sites they might find useful as well. It also helps you organize any search you might have or need to have. I believe social bookmarking could be useful in the classroom because it allows the students access to any link you might find useful for their assignments. Voice Thread is something I'm not sure I would use in my classroom. It seemed a little to confusing and a little over advanced for students EC-6th grade.

This week’s activities were very interesting to me. I learned a lot more about what a Wiki was and how it could be used in the classroom. I also learned about Social networking and Voice Thread. I can definitely see myself using all of this information to organize my links in the classroom.

Resources: (Jonassen, David. Howland, Jane. Marra, Rose M. Crismond, David) Meaningful Learning with Technology. Pearson Education, Inc. 2008