Web 2.0 Teaching Tools

Advantages for educators to incorporate ‘web 2.0 teaching tools’ in their classrooms are for students to professionally develop their use of web communication and for them to be able to use these technological tools effectively. Most of your students are using web 2.0 tools on a daily basis, Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace, though they may not know what a web 2.0 tool is. Students need to learn how to communicate with their peers in an appropriate manner using web 2.0 communication tools. If students learn to communicate effectively with their peers hopefully this will carry on when they enter college, the military, or the work force. The more familiar students are with the web 2.0 tools that are available the more likely they will be able to use those tools effectively. For example, I had not used wiki or brainshark before W200 and that made the assignment more difficult because I hadn't been exposed to it before. If we teach our students how to use these tools while they are in middle/ high school students will be able to use what they learned later on in their careers.  

Students might prefer to use ‘web 2.0 teaching tools’ in their formal assignments in school because they are acclimated with devices like the computer and/or ipads to communicate written messages to others, for example making a post on Facebook. I believe students are going to be more engaged with the lesson if technology is involved. Though students may be more accustomed to using computers and ipads teachers need to make sure students understand that the assignment is to be done in a formal manner. ‘Web 2.0 teaching tools’ can be used to have students learn how to research a topic and report on that topic, like the brainshark presentation I completed for W200.

I think the overall impact ‘web 2.0 teaching tools’ have had for both teachers and students is positive when used effectively. When I graduated from high school in 2011 I hadn't used web 2.0 teaching tools in any of my classes, because of this I felt unprepared for college. I don’t think many teachers are integrating technology into their classrooms, but I think that will change as more college students graduate as teachers because they were taught how to use these technologies. Teachers can engage their students more effectively and students are more likely to participate in the lesson when teachers use technology like ‘web 2.0 teaching tools.’ 

Digital Technology in My Classroom

     Technology is essential to use with students in the twenty-first century. Watching the Edutopia videos and reading chapter six of our text gave me some insights on how to incorporate digital technology into the classroom. In the "Secondary" video under module 5 the physics teacher mentioned how time consuming it was to plan a lesson that integrated technology into the unit. I think all purposeful teaching takes time to create. Purposeful teaching also takes a lot of reflecting on one's teaching plans. Five digital technologies I would use in my classroom are digital cameras, mini-laptops, tablets, a data projector and a scantron.
     I am leaning towards teaching sixth grade and would like to help my students create a sixth grade newsletter. I would have the students submit pictures and articles to go with the picture to the newsletter for editing. I would have members of the newsletter team edit the articles because good writers are made by good editing. If students learn how the editing process works they learn to do that with their own writing. A grade level newsletter builds a since of community. I would have a digital camera available for students to check out throughout the school day. I would also use the digital camera for taking pictures of the happenings in the classroom so I could send home information about the students and their week to their families. I believe it is important to have many options available for parents to communicate with me. One way parents can see what is going on is through a class website. On the website I would upload pictures from the camera to the website for an insiders look into my classroom for the families of my students.
     Mini-laptops are a great resource for students to use technology if it is available in the school I work for. If this technology was not available I would work towards getting a grant to purchase mini-laptops for my class. Mini-laptops would be great for workstations. There are math, science, language arts programs available for computers. Students would learn the basics of how to operate a computer through mini-laptops in my classroom if they didn't already. I would also have projects for my students to do on the laptops for instance, data entry of a science experiment, a book review PowerPoint, and/ or a podcast of a research project.
     I would like to have tablets in my classroom so students could read on them during reading or free time. Many schools are adopting e-books because they are cheaper. If a school district had an e-book I think they should make tablets available to students so they can access their e-book easily. Students who don't like to read may get excited when they can use a tablet to read. The use of technology may be what the student needed to get excited about a book.
    For when I am introducing a new topic to my students I would prefer to use a data projector rather than write on the board. Having a data projector would allow me to show a colorful PowerPoint that keeps students attention rather than have my back to them when I am writing on the board. Students could also present their projects that they completed using digital media to the class by projecting it in front of the class.
     I would prefer to have my students take tests via scantron because I could have it graded for them instantly and they would know they results of their test quickly. I do not think sixth grade is too young to have scantron tests when appropriate because they will need to learn how to use it in when they are upperclassmen. Digital technologies are essential when teaching today's student.