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"Wenn man sieht, dass die Schüler sich auch gegenseitig etwas erklären können, sich etwas herleiten, selbständig Zugang zu Texten finden können, dann schätzt man sie einfach höher ein." Erst knapp zwei Wochen ist das Blog online - doch schon voll mit Rechercheaufträgen, Schülerporträts, grafisch aufgearbeiteten Wortfeldern. Und das an einer Schule, in der die Hälfte der Schüler Migrationshintergrund hat und einige mit Sprachproblemen kämpfen.

Erfolgsgeschichten wie diese zeigen, dass die Möglichkeiten des Web 2.0 den Unterricht verändern können. Es entstehen neue Lehrformen, welche die Eigenverantwortlichkeit und Selbständigkeit der Schüler fördern. Gerade Blogs sind so einfach zu handhaben, dass weder das Einrichten mithilfe von Webhostern noch das Bloggen selbst viel Einarbeitungszeit beansprucht. Das Lernen 2.0 steht vor der Tür - wenn auch oft eher zufällig.

Tony Wagner, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, lists assessing and analyzing information as one of the seven survival skills in the new world of work. I think the ability to create a PLN is a fundamental information-management skill that will help my students succeed in the future.

An RSS reader is a Web site that puts together all this information in an easy-to-read format. Google Reader, netvibes, Pageflakes, Bloglines, and my preferred reader, iGoogle, are all examples of sites providing RSS readers. The RSS reader is the raw material for building a PLN.

With PLNs, we can now empower the personalized learning we've been longing to bring to education. I'm thrilled that my students know how to connect efficiently to great sources of information and can now construct an environment that will make them lifelong learners. And, truly, creating a self-directed learner is the pinnacle of educational achievement.

There is an explosive growth in these tools and this page aims to provide an overview of some of the most interesting examples that are relevant to education.

As part of Social Actions' Change the Web Challenge we were excited to host the "Change the Web Conversation Series," open online chats to discuss how to use specific technology platforms for good. We invited a number of 'rock star' featured guests & moderators and our amazing community to ask questions, share examples & ideas, and in general rock the the discussions! Most all the chats occurred in the chat client Meebo (except for the Twitter chat - which was held on Twitter!) - and you can find the transcripts below!

You fight with your employees: In some businesses, management and employees are constantly at odds. (An example was given of a unionized workforce where management-labor strife was common). This is also not the type of company that should encourage employees to communicate directly with customers via social media. Management skepticism: If management doesn't believe in social media, then employees who have been told for years that public communication needs to be filtered will be hesitant to try out a new medium which requires them to speak openly. In this scenario, management needs to encourage and reward participation to make social media work. If they don't, it will fail. Strategic Vacuum: Don't do social media just to do social media. If a company doesn't know what they're trying to accomplish, then there will be nothing to measure and no way to determine success. Just as with any other initiative a company takes on, there needs to be an objective...and that objective shouldn't be to distribute a press release.

only 2% of businesses are using Twitter as a marketing tool. Only 2% - can you believe that?

Leapfroggingmeans to jump over obstacles to achieve goals.

This process marks an extension of Vygotsky’s and Dewey’s work, while ever looking toward the future.

One example of Leapfrogging is Finland’s jump to wireless phones, saving that country the cost of deploying an expensive copper wire system.

my nine year old daughter

It was hard to keep away my oldest daughter, who is 12, so we could finish.

It was hard to keep away my oldest daughter, who is 12, so we could finish.   Taylor told her teacher what she did and asked if I could bring in my Lap Top to show her. She asked if I would show the whole class as well.

A little known fact about Einstein is that when he was young he did extremely poor in school. His grade school teachers told his parents to take him out of school because he was "too stupid to learn" and it would be a waste of resources for the school to invest time and energy in his education. The school suggested that his parents get Albert an easy, manual labor job as soon as they could.

Instead of following the school's advice, Albert's parents bought him a violin. Albert became good at the violin. Music was the key that helped Albert Einstein become one of the smartest men who has ever lived. Einstein himself says that the reason he was so smart is because he played the violin. He loved the music of Mozart and Bach the most. A friend of Einstein, G.J. Withrow, said that the way Einstein figured out his problems and equations was by improvising on the violin.

Another example of how rhythm orders movement is an autistic boy who could not tie his shoes. He learned how on the second try when the task of tying his shoes was put to a song. The rhythm helped organize his physical movements in time.

“Let them know there are rules. There comes a time when parents have to be parents.”

One suggestion, she said, is putting a basket out where children place their phones upon arriving home.