Web 2.0 post!!!!!!!!

Web 2.0 in a nutshell is a collection of applications and services that a person can link up to on any computer with an internet connection. In todays increasingly technological based education, having sources that are available anywhere is invaluable, so one can create something on one computer and access it on another without having to email documents to oneself or use a zip disc that can easily get lost or broken. Having access to these tools is also on the whole free, which is incredibly important for educators as our funds aren’t unlimited, especially when it comes to technology. Though there are a ton of resources we can use, I’d like to go into depth for a couple of these applications below and how we could use it in a classroom…

Skype – this application is sort of a web-based phone messaging system. Currently my younger sister has been using this program a ton due to her being in England for the next six months. It’s free, and just like talking to someone across the room, but instead you’re talking to your computer and watching a video of the person on the other computer. In regards to using it in the classroom, I think this could be a great tool to use if someone has been sick and out of the classroom for a bit. The class could call upon the ill student and talk about things that have been going on in class. It could also be used to do conferences with parents who aren’t able to make it into the classroom with concerns about their student.

Delicious.com – This application is a web based social bookmarking site. One could use this website to show students particular sites that are of interest that correlate to what’s been taught in class. Using this site I could bookmark certain sites that are of interest that the student could show to their parents to facilitate learning at home as well as in the classroom. This would also work well when working on a research paper to show students good resources to start their papers from.

OTEN Conference

Here's my yodio about what I thought about the September 26th conference in Forest Grove.

classrooms + blogs = a great tool!

I was lucky enough today to have the opportunity to shadow and observe some classes at Dallas high school. One of the first things that struck me was the prevalence of cell phones everywhere. Of course it sounds cliche since we've been saying that since classes started, but to see it in action is kind of a trip. It's also cliche yet true to reflect on how technologies have changed since I was in high school. At the time I was competent to what was available, and had a email address, but didn't have a cell phone until the 2nd year of my undergrad. I can definitely see how working with yodio in a high school setting for projects and presentations could be incredibly beneficial with class blogs. It may also help (we can only hope) to utilize the students phones in a less disruptive manner while in their classes. I plan to work with younger students, but think that blogs with younger kids could be just as helpful to everyone involved in the process.

After attending the OTEN conference (that update shall be added soon, as I am finally back home where there is such thing as the internet) and watching students & teachers alike interact with one another, I think using a blog would be incredibly advantageous. I was struck by how often a student would ask about their requirements and what was due. Having a classroom blog I think would help this out tremendously, giving students and teachers another way to communicate in writing what is expected of them, as well as a concrete representation of what is going on in the classroom for curious parents and family members.