Web 2.0: Enhancing Education Through Technology

Interesting Infographic showing levels of intimacy in communication.

Ironies and contradictions within the educational system are highlighted in this presentation by Adam S. Bellow. He has advice to school administrators about the use of digital communication tools in the classroom. He states that "We're doing kids a major disservice if we don't teach them good digital citizenship." He discusses 7 rules that should be allowed in school, but are problems.

Westside High School has extended learning after the school bell has rung. Teachers and parents encourage creativity and productivity to meet the needs of every student in a 24/7 learning environment. Technology is used to promote educational activities that meet students' unique needs. Communication is supported through podcasts, tweets, ipods, ipads, flip cameras and video technologies. Media literacy is enhanced by tech integration.

Children are being invited to a Defcon conference in Las Vega, this August 2011, to learn how to become hackers. A major emphasis of the event is the use of hacking skills for positive purposes. The children will be encouraged to put their knowledge to good use and avoid the temptations of becoming a black hat hacker. Apparently the US authorities, intelligence officials and security officers will be attending to keep an eye out for promising hackers who can be hired to help fight cybercrime. How's that for open communication! The Inquirer - Computer hardware news and downloads. Visit the download store today.

Rick Mereki uses vimeo to produce a video that reminds us just how enriching learning can be. Celebrate life and creativity with vivid images of global learning.

Found lots of interesting ideas I'll try out during the year. Some ideas are geared towards elementary but I can see many of them working in my secondary classes as well. Especially like the idea of a question chain reading blog in which the teacher posts a question and a student answers the question and posts another question. Each student would need to answer a question and post another and no question can be repeated.

The author exemplify the activities that can be used in classroom to encourage students' creative thinking.

Internet use has definitely changed the environment in terms of learning, thinking and succeeding. This article discusses many changes that researchers have noted in human learning and thinking. The author also discusses Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future: disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful and ethical. Mind qualities that have always been important but perhaps are even more important in this age of information. Teaching students to think critically is even more important than ever.

Good explanation about copyright and creative commons.

Introduces creative commons licensing and uses for education

This article tackles the biggest concern about using social media in the classroom: privacy. The article points out that Google+ is not a cure all for the privacy and security issues presented by Facebook. A good article for educators considering using social media in their classrooms.

This isn't really Web 2.0, but imagine the implications this will have on education!

Lists 10 recommendations for better media literacy skills. Also, gives results of some reports (2006 and 2009 surveys). Some really good comments posted too.

Can you trust everything you read on the Internet? Can you trust anything you read on the Internet? Teach your kids which Web sites to trust! The words you are reading now have been read -- and reread -- by several experienced editors and educators.

What a great resource. We have recently had a lot of problems at our school with students using Answer.com and trusting the information there to be fact. We have had some interesting facts come to light as a result...

I am a huge advocate of blogs as ongoing, reflective portfolios of student work. my opinion, They are the perfect container for sharing, organizing and reflecting on student learning.

I enjoyed this blog post very much and realized afterwards that I have met this woman in my staff room last year. She is a very dynamic and forward thinking teacher. The post provided practical points that I will use in my own school's portfolio program.

Education blogs are becoming a means for educators, students, administrators, and parents to interact more effectively than ever before on the internet. The number of blogs available is overwhelming. This website seems to hits and filtering tools to showcase some of the top education bloggers.

In my opinion, participating in the webinar discourages students from surfing the Internet, playing games and Facebooking, which is rampant and distracting in regular classes."

Brief article on Jackie Gerstein's wiki developed to bring TED talks, Ken Robinson's among them, into K-12 classrooms.