Monday, July 14, 2008
Web 2.0 New Tools New Schools Chapter 10
Chapter 10 Tutorials is a great way to conclude the book with some specific tutorials from Web 2.0 tools that had been introduced in chapter 3. I like how they covered basic applications like word processing, presentations, spreadsheets and communication tools like blogs and wikis as well as some creative tools such as photo editing and audio editing and drawing. I think these tutorials are a great introduction to the tool and would get some people to try them that normally wouldn't by just seeing them online or something like that. I took a look at some of the ones I had not used before and checked them out. I even followed the tutorial on one of them which is always hard for me. I just like to try them out and see what they can do. I think this will be a helpful chapter for many who are new at these web 2.0 tools.
Web 2.0 New Tools New Schools Chapter 9
New Schools Chapter 9 wow we aren't kidding when we say that things are changing so fast, what is here today may be gone tomorrow. I have trouble seeing the vision presented in this chapter. I can see the positive impacts of utilizing Web 2.0 tools in the classroom to help bridge the gap in the students learning styles. Trying to use the same tools in the classroom that students use at home on a daily basis trying to utilize social networking in an educational setting.
This concept of "harnessing the collective intelligence of educational data" Solomon pg 178, is a good one and many of these tools could assist teachers and students to create educational tracks that would meet their needs. Web-based software used to provide feedback and suggest direction and resources based on what has worked with other students does make sense.
David Warlick vision of a middle school using blogs where they write everything from homework assignments to reflections on course topics posted each Monday, with the principal posting week at a glance and the district administrator viewing and posting as well. Students utilizing team wikis to communicate and post their work all seems like a good vision but logistics need some work.
Using open source software provides lots of opportunities and challenges but it seems like a viable option for many teachers to enhance their classrooms. Utilizing wikis for collaborative classroom writing provides another tool for teachers and students to communicate quickly and effectively and provide immediate feedback.
The idea of open-source educational applications is interesting, Bob Tinkier (2006) believes that we can change the paradigm used for software development to open-source. If this is going to work these applications need to be embedded in an educational platform that can deliver complete learning activities online and then assess student progress as the students work through these activities. With teachers and educators able to adjust the curriculum and customize activities and assessments. I don't know how this would work as an open-source broad based community application but it is interesting to think about. Having students work on projects that interest them and are available to other students and parents and teachers to view presents other interesting applications.
I think the weakness with all of the web 2.0 applications is the majority of our teachers fear technology and the loss of control of their direction of the education. We must continue to educated and train and communicate with each other to provide assistance to teachers technology needs. Another problem is access to the computer to be able to complete the assigned online work. Many students lack internet access at home or even a computer. Schools are also limited with computer access an availability for classroom use. I see this as a major obstacle in implementing more use of the web 2.0 tools in the classroom.
To increase the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom, communication is key here to communicate what works and what doesn't, share good lessons and good techniques and practices. Continue to move forward and help each other along the way.
This concept of "harnessing the collective intelligence of educational data" Solomon pg 178, is a good one and many of these tools could assist teachers and students to create educational tracks that would meet their needs. Web-based software used to provide feedback and suggest direction and resources based on what has worked with other students does make sense.
David Warlick vision of a middle school using blogs where they write everything from homework assignments to reflections on course topics posted each Monday, with the principal posting week at a glance and the district administrator viewing and posting as well. Students utilizing team wikis to communicate and post their work all seems like a good vision but logistics need some work.
Using open source software provides lots of opportunities and challenges but it seems like a viable option for many teachers to enhance their classrooms. Utilizing wikis for collaborative classroom writing provides another tool for teachers and students to communicate quickly and effectively and provide immediate feedback.
The idea of open-source educational applications is interesting, Bob Tinkier (2006) believes that we can change the paradigm used for software development to open-source. If this is going to work these applications need to be embedded in an educational platform that can deliver complete learning activities online and then assess student progress as the students work through these activities. With teachers and educators able to adjust the curriculum and customize activities and assessments. I don't know how this would work as an open-source broad based community application but it is interesting to think about. Having students work on projects that interest them and are available to other students and parents and teachers to view presents other interesting applications.
I think the weakness with all of the web 2.0 applications is the majority of our teachers fear technology and the loss of control of their direction of the education. We must continue to educated and train and communicate with each other to provide assistance to teachers technology needs. Another problem is access to the computer to be able to complete the assigned online work. Many students lack internet access at home or even a computer. Schools are also limited with computer access an availability for classroom use. I see this as a major obstacle in implementing more use of the web 2.0 tools in the classroom.
To increase the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom, communication is key here to communicate what works and what doesn't, share good lessons and good techniques and practices. Continue to move forward and help each other along the way.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Week 8 Thing 19
The LibraryThing is way too much fun. I think it would be a good addition to my library website. I like how easy it is to post the books and read the reviews and gather any information that might be interesting. I spent way too much time looking at books I have read and ones I want to read. I will definitely have to spend more time using it to figure out more of how it could be utilized. But I like it and plan on utilizing it. The book reviews were fun to look at and see how it had been rated.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Week 8 Thing 18
I used Zoho Writer and created a document which I posted to my blog: http://writer.zoho.com/ It was an interesting experience much like using a normal word document changing fonts colors adding things was pretty easy. It was also a breeze to post it to my blog. I have used googledocs before with some interactive writing which was interesting. I would have to spend more time with Zoho Writer to become proficient in all it can do.
Web 2.0
Welcome to the world of Web 2.0 where with the click of a button you can be famous on the web or infamous whatever the case may be! All you have to do is get out there and share. Here are a few places you can go to explore some Web 2.0 Tools:
- http://www.flickr.com
- http://www.biblio.com/
- http://del.icio.us/
- http://www.lulu.com/
- http://www.librarything.com/
- http://www.worldcat.org/
- http://www.vufind.org/
- http://docs.google.com/?pli=1
- http://www.writeboard.com/
- http://www.thinkfree.com/
- http://wufoo.com/
- http://www.mangolanguages.com/
Week 7 Thing 17 Sandbox Wiki
My idea here is to use a Web 2.0 tool for a student project Scrapblog http://www.scrapblog.com/. Have students use Scrapblog to create their project on a project that they would normally use PowerPoint. It would be fun to see how creative they could be with the Scrapblog. It is a fun tool to use. I have added this idea to the wiki.
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