Web 2.0: Enhancing Education Through Technology

Describes how a teacher with little technology experience used an interactive White Board to communicate and inspire her science class in a new way.

Group work is regarded by most students as challenging. However in real life context, they have to work in teams in many situations. Collaboration is considered in this video to be an authentic approach to learning and this resource suggests strategies on how internet technology can make group work effective, less time consuming and transparent.

A blog post about Edistorm. It is a free, Post-It Note style brainstorming tool. An alternative to Wallwisher, but probably geared more towards a corporate setting. There is a limited Free account, as well as, an inexpensive Educator account. A neat collaboration and communication tool worth checking out.

Discusses why prof development is hard to use . Give 5 Js approach for teachers to use tech

Live blogging and active commenting helps to make real-time reporting of fast-changing events available to all. This is a communication super-highway!

A great article that discusses some of the potential uses for technology and communication beyond the walls of the classroom. Through the use of the internet, online programs, and direct communications like Skype, Edmodo, and other instant messaging, students can attend the classroom, even if they can't get to the school on days of weather inconvenience. Snow, Water damage, bomb scares, you name it. Provided that the students could access the internet and had power, the school could exist for that day. Part of the issue is getting kids to realize that the learning can occur outside of the classroom. Another part is that sometimes snow days occur at very inopportune time, like right before benchmark/standardized tests. But, it appears that for the most part the article discusses saving money and keeping the schooling going, when the weather won't allow it. Not sure how many snow days your school has but... not the biggest issue for me. But then there is the other side of this issue. Some parents, and myself included, agree that there just isn't enough time off in the winter. Go to school in the dark, leave in the dark, creates no time for play, no time for a mental break from the classroom. And in a world where students have been accused of not spending enough time outside being kids, I would have a difficult time as a teacher expecting to see them sign in to my classroom, when I was also outside playing on one of those mythical "Snow Days."

A great perspective on the similarities between the initial transformation from folk culture to commercial culture and the same transformation back from commercial culture to folk culture. Everyone can produce, but, at the same time, it requires that we be more critical of what we consume. It discusses the transformation from high schools of the past to the present.

This article, from eSchool News, summarizes the features of two free social networking sites, Wiggio and Sophia. In Wiggio online groups can be formed and then users can communicate through email, voice, and text messages, and can share links and files. Teachers can use Wiggio to "set up chat rooms for after-school help" and for "peer-to-peer collaboration within group projects." Sophia "has been described as a mashup of Facebook, Wikipedia, and YouTube focused solely on education." It consists of user created "learning packets" on various subjects that use Web 2.0 tools. Each packet can also be rated on a five star system by the users as well as be given a "green checkmark" to be considered academically sound by experts in the appropriate field.

This brief article discusses how 1/3 of students are now using social networking to cheat. Although this is at the college level, educators need to be aware of this trend but also to instruct students on how to use social networking appropriately. Collaboration is an excellent means of learning but it needs to be done in an appropriate way.

This was a really interesting article about some of the security issues related to mobile devices. Since some mobile devices are used in the classroom, it is important for educators and students are aware of some of the safety issues and how to avoid potential problems associated with them.

This article explains MobiSocial's collaborative look at the future of mobile social networking. It offers some info on new apps created to aid in its uses, safety and ethics.

This focus of this article is the Torrence Test which measure a persons creativity level. Scores show creativity levels in US students declining, most likely do to the lack of creative development in the schools and at home.

This article presents proof, by a special ed teacher, that the iPad is a successful tool for boosting IEP progress

This website is a great resource for speech/language pathology and special education.

Google+, another social networking app, is more for professionals as depicted in the article. People can share and connect through G+ just like the way they do in Facebook. Also, it provides features that Facebook does not have, such as "Hangouts" and "Sparks",etc. It's about connectedness and a good platform to practice our media skills.

This article showcases some Web 2.0 creative media tools. Students should have the ability to create new media. The tools outlined in this Edutopia article are great suggestions to assist in creativity and student participation, as well as provide a showcase for their critical thinking. Also includes links to Parts 1 - 3 of Eric Brunsell's series.

Donald Clark, Blogger, has quite the following of online community which he is respected and supported. I can agree with some on his comments yet wonder where he stands on how connectivist, constructivist theories and what role making meaning from the information one is learning and making connections to current knowledge base plays when using these tips. Donald Clark reviews Salman Khan's work with Flipped classrooms. "He understands the difference between learning and teaching, between classrooms and self-paced environments between formative and summative assessment, between scalable and non-scalable components in education. Most of all he is not encumbered with traditional methods and thoughts about what education needs to be."

This article is designed to help the student retain what is read. Brown and Taylor refer to blogging in that the review of information absorbed will be put into memory by the act of blogging and other methods. The authors start with a few 'learner' tips, then a few 'teacher/trainer' practices and end on some technical techniques.

The article states that e-learning should be engaging, effective...but not funny.

This post goes into more reasons for blogging in class. The 3 highlighted heare are distributing, discussing, and demonstrating. Each of these activities are done daily in the classroom. When and if Web 2.0 tools are available to assist the teacher and the learners they should be used to their fullest. The blog (web-log) is an easy tool to use in performing these activities.