Web 2.0: Enhancing Education Through Technology

The Dublin City University of Ireland site popped out at me. As I got into exploring the site, it reminded me of all the things we have discussed on "communication" and online education. The President of the university, Professor Brian MacCraith said of the learning experience at DCU "Online platforms are changing the traditional teaching and learning paradigms. Technology is providing an enhancement of choices and flexibility. Learning happens any time, any place." The website also displayed specific and detailed regulations for students to be good digital citizens! Along with lots of other great stuff!

A great article to read at this time of year when we are finished with school for the summer. The six questions are powerful and reflective. Though it is recommended that the questions are asked and answered between a colleague or two, I found them helpful for me as I look back on my teaching and the different age groups of students who came to class every day.

This site overviews the importance of using media in instruction and provides some Web 2.0 tools to achieve animation for teaching.

This is a very cool article. I loved the comparison of a teachers introduction of education background is compared to a computer " It's like going to Dell's website to shop for a computer and getting nothing but photos of the factories and descriptions of how the computers were built." Use a video to introduce ourselves and explain all we can do in the classroom. We should be making them look forward to what they can do during the year with me. Very Cool.

This is a very cool article. I loved the comparison of a teachers introduction of education background is compared to a computer " It's like going to Dell's website to shop for a computer and getting nothing but photos of the factories and descriptions of how the computers were built." Use a video to introduce ourselves and explain all we can do in the classroom. We should be making them look forward to what they can do during the year with me. Very Cool.

This site overviews some AV products designed to help students, educators, and other professionals work together on projects and easily share information. The systems allow for two-way collaboration between teachers and students using any device.

..."unlock or create layers of digital information on top of the physical world that can be viewed through an Android or iOS device." Through augmented reality, you can hold your device up to an image and watch it come alive. With tools like Aurasma, students can create their own virtual reality.

It is usually difficult for a student to concentrate on writing their academic paper because there are so many things to do online, including social media, online music, movies, chatting with friends... A perfect reason of procrastination! This tool will make a student write in a clean space with no distractions around, helping them concentrate and make writing quicker.

Good article on teaching students how to be decent digital citizens. Emphasis on parental involvement too. I found this interesting as we struggle with the admin's decision to ban mobile devices in the middle school. This article gives helpful advice on communicating with students on how to monitor and use the devices appropriately and safely.

I really thought I had bookmarked this the other day - but I guess I didn't. Maybe I blogged about it instead. Really insightful and interesting view of all stakeholders in the classroom being responsible for making it a safe and dynamic workplace.

The article speaks of how our students' learning styles are changing and developing as technology becomes more and more a part of our daily lives. The article identifies how collaborative learning is useful now, more than ever, and leads to the development of responsibility and creativity.

This article includes a Mindmap that visually shows differences between the social media or personal side of learning vs the collaborative side of learning. As stated in the article education is now using 21st century tools for teaching and learning internet-based tools for use in teaching and learning.

Collaboration is key to establishing an effective learning environment. The teacher and the students share the responsibility of creating an environment where optimal learning can take place. Students are often unaware how their behaviors do or don't contribute to learning. Teachers may not be aware how they need to modify their own behavior to meet their students' needs. Teachers and students need to work together in identifying the characteristics of an effective learning environment and then in making their shared vision of the classroom a reality.

The author points out the importance of bringing creativity into the classroom and into the curriculum to help engage the learner. The author recommends several Web 2.0 applications that can be used at any school which include Glogster, Storybird, Animoto, and Voki to name a few.

This article was great! It was to the point and explained the importance of creativity in the classroom. The integration of that creativity helps students become producers of their own curriculum and makes them responsible for their own education. The article lists useful tools to bring that creativity alive.

The article from the Discovery Education website is relatively new and it points out how Web 2.0 tools are about revolutionary new ways of creating, collaborating, editing and sharing ... and more, these clever apps turn cell phones into smart teaching tools.

Check out these great, brief videos that offer quick introductions to getting started with numerous different tech tools and resources for teaching and learning. Be sure to share these great resources with your friends and colleagues! To access all of these videos directly in YouTube, just click on this YouTube Playlist.

Schools and libraries hungry for faster and more reliably funded Wi-Fi connections will be watching the July 11 open meeting of the Federal Communications Commission closely. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's long-awaited E-rate modernization plan, which he released in outline form on June 20, will be discussed by commissioners and presumably voted on during the meeting. This article is so on topic right now. As we move forward and learn to incorporate the new technologies and collaborative tools for our students, isn't it sad that some school districts have to worry about how they will pay for access. Since this article has been posted, the FCC did vote to modernize the school and libraries E-rate. Unfortunately, this problem will continue to be present for the foreseeable future. Linda