Web 2.0: Enhancing Education Through Technology

How schools and families can partner to set boundaries with digital communication and make children conscience of how they use technology. 

Interesting view that schools have a powerful role to play..."Schools have taken on a more significant, all-consuming role in helping parents find the right language to communicate with children, especially in the digital realm." It is easy to forget that parents are looking for guidance about their children and effective technology use.

A good start to developing assessment tools for Web 2.0 student work. 

Not Bad as a Simple Staring point for a rubric to evaluate a Prezi presentation. Needs Modification, though. I set my 'expectation bar' quite a bit higher. 

Good way to start in grading a Prezi presentation. I found when my students used Prezi (learned from another class) that I wished I had a different rubric from a general or powerpoint presentation rubric. There is a creative and design piece that was unique.

A great resource site full of rubrics to evaluate web 2.0 tools including cooperative learning ,mind maps, online discussion boards, multimedia presentations etc.

Nice blog on how to get students to communicate more efficiently in class discussions,as well as in the classroom. Getting the students to become more active and enjoy being a part of the class activity.

There is lots going on in regards to the offering in of online learning in post secondary education.  A new organization Coursera offers college level courses using new technology with well known professors.  How will this effect the world of education going forward?

Very interesting summary of MOOCs. They just downplayed the low percentage of students who complete the courses. (Though Thrunn's Artificial Intelligence graduated 23,000 students!)

Free courses that are available online allow for students of all backgrounds to have the opportunity to get higher education. Some programs allow students to receive a certificate that courses have been completed. Does this stunt a students social growth and/or ability to develop effective communication?

A great summary of how and why web2.0 technology supports 21st century skills and  and the future of learning.

This truly is a great summary of 21st century direction. Teaching and learning will consist of digital delivery, it will be interest driven, and Web 2.0 skills will be the focus. I believe that this trend is very accurate and that this shift will, ultimately, improve the motivation for learning of our students. I think the drawback is the teachers who do not wish or are not willing to make the shift. I believe the future of education is exhilarating!

Kae, Key points: --"reliable, valuable, and up-to-the-minute information."(web 1.0) --"content-creating process". (Web 2.0) --"the idea of K-12 education being tailored to students' own interests is becoming more commonplace."An old idea whose time may have come due to access to information through technology. --"Democratizing education." Huge implications for poorer school districts. The focus moves away from bricks and mortar to learning and access to information. The big question becomes,"As the culture of the school diminishes in the role of traditional learning, will the culture of the home be equipped to encourage the child? Will underperforming students start to perform better by providing equal access to all information? Tom

I found this article quite informative and wrote a blog entry about it. That can be located at http://alwaysjan.edublogs.org/2013/02/17/if-we-teach-today-as-we-taught-yesterday-we-rob-out-children-of-tomorrow-john-dewey/ . I hope you take the time to read my blog post.

Quick Facts About HOT No one thinks perfectly or poorly all the time. Memorizing something is not the same as thinking about it. You can memorize something without understanding it. Thinking is done in both words and pictures. These are just a few of the HOT qualities identified in this article

Thanks, Tom. I went back to the article after reading your comment. The address is: http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/highorderthinking.php As I was exploring the site I must have copied an incorrect address. Sister

Sister Jacqueline, The article was well worth reading. It does a nice job of explaining the importance of higher order thinking and how it relates to problem solving and its importance in a school setting. Tom

Gregory Ferenstein posts in Tech Crunch: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/11/a-huge-month-online-education-is-replacing-physical-colleges-at-a-crazy-fast-pace/ GREGORY FERENSTEIN Monday, February 11th, 2013 The rate at which online education is becoming part of the fabric of higher education is experiencing exponential growth. Over 1800 accredited Universities including M.I.T, Duke, UPenn, University of Wisconsin are actively embracing the new technologies. Many of the new courses are rigorous science based courses now being offered at vey low tuition rates. Studies are showing that test scores are rising in an online environment. A word of caution must be added. Initial experiments in education usually recruit the best and brightest on both sides of the equation. As these programs expand, close attention should be paid to the results.

Practical tips for teachers who are looking to become bloggers. 

Thanks, Jen. As a new blogger, I found this article to have some good thoughts about the subject matter of a blog. I like his "to-the-point" suggestions. Sister J.

Schools of the future promote learning by embracing individual diversity, promoting passion-based learning and allowing for choice and flexibility in terms of content. 

As we are creating new opportunities for students to develop their 21st century skills, it is important to stay current wit rigorous and relevant assessments for real world work.  This blog speaks to this issue

Because today's students use so many digital devices that use up bandwidth that colleges have had to block students from using online services like Naptser, Netflix and Youtube during severe storms when students are forced to stay indoors for days at a time.

Teaching students and faculty to produce videos to enhance education and schools are also using videos on their web sites to keep parents informed about school events.

This is an awesome example of how to use a wiki for professional development. Thank you Neal.