That was my reply as well. If they can't read it, it is worthless!

I definitely believe in promoting more of the arts. Cool website!

The two Web 2.0 sites I would like to try are Google Documents & Presentations and Wikispaces. First impressions are that they may be easy to use, are easily accessible, protect the users privace adequately, and can help to increase student creativity and participation. I am working on creating a Wikispaces homepage,then will work on using the Google Presentations, and will post my examples shortly. I will then be able to let you know how easy they actually are to incorporate into a class.

O.K., so I created a homepage for my class wiki. Although it is very simple in design (as I will be adding to it as I learn how), it seems quite simple to set up. Hopefully I will open it to my classes as soon as I get a more finished product. I believe the 21st Century Skill that this can be used for is Communication & Collaboration. I accessed Wikispaces through Windows, but am pretty sure it can be supported by Mac. Luckily it is free in its basic platform, but I did have to set up an account. I am finding that the Help section is quite useful, as well. What is nice is that I am in complete control of this space, and I can allow private or public comments. It also allows multiple types of interaction, increases connectedness, and encourages individuality and collaboration. I think it will be fun to use, if I can get my classes to use it correctly and seriously.

The other Web 2.0 tool I used was Google Docs. This tool offers documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and forms. After creating the account, I chose the presentation aspect to practice with. This is very similar to powerpoint,but in some ways is a little easier to use. For instance, you can use the google photos to instantly add an image to the presentaion without having to open another window, then copy and paste what you want to add. It also has some different themes that what powerpoint offers, which is a nice change. I will be experimenting with some of the other capabilities of this tool at a later time.

Our ability to teach a lot of 21st skills is definitely obstructed by "teaching to the test." One day we will actually be able to measure how the students can use the skills, instead of how much information they can regurgitate. I only hope that that time is sooner than later. It will also be interesting to see how our funding problems will be handled. Our county's motto has always been "Do more for less." It should not continue to be "Do more and more and more for less and less and less."

This is the site for a blog that allows people to voice their opinions. Take a look. There are some good responses.

http://blog.learnlets.com/?p=559