Web 2.0 is changing how I look at teaching. There are specific programs that I really enjoy, animoto, zoho, and engrade to name a few. What I really like about Web 2.0 is the cost. There are amazing applications that can be used and all of the ones that I have mentioned and used are free. This makes for great assets for teachers in less fortunate school districts.
The strengths of Web 2.0 applications are that they are easy to use, easy to adapt and are geared to specific jobs. There are teaching applications, business applications, music applications, and many more. They are based on the web so they are accessible from any computer. This is great for people like me who tend to forget things.
The only weaknesses that I could find were accessibility and the ever present down Internet. Not all students will have access to the Internet. This can limit the use of Web 2.0 applications. There is also the chance that the Internet will be down or the computer being used is down. Using classroom time to go to labs can also be hard to do.
I plan on using Ning.com for several purposes in my classroom. Students will have weekly blog posts, pictures postings and videos uploaded to the site. I will use engrade.com to keep parents informed of what we are doing and to make homework available for download in case they miss class. Zoho is a great way for students to post papers and work on them at school and home. It can also save paper because they do not need to print out the rough drafts or even the final paper. Animoto is a great tool for developing visual presentations to reinforce the topics being discussed in the classroom.
There are so many features about Web 2.0 that can have a great effect on education. Allowing the students to creatively and critically think will help them after high school. I am already passing on what I have learned to other teachers and cannot wait for what lies ahead.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment