I was out shopping today for my classroom and came across a bulletin board set for technology. I was all set to buy it until I realized it was showing 3.5” floppy disks and on the vocabulary part of the set it even discussed what a 3.5” floppy disk is. My colleague and I had a good chuckle over this. I find it amazing that the tools I used just a few years ago are almost now unheard of by my students. Now if this bulletin board set spoke about flash drives perhaps I would have been a little more inclined to buy it. However, with Web 2.0 and applications like Google Docs or Zoho, even flash drives are almost obsolete.
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about Web 2.0. However, it is the first time I’ve realized what exactly it means. I think it’s amazing that there are all these tools available online now for free. I agree with Solomon and Schrum (2007) that an “exciting aspect of Web 2.0 tools is that they are free programs that could replace the traditional application suites for which schools ordinarily must pay.”
Even I in the past couple of weeks have stumbled across multiple free tools online that would be perfect to use in the classroom. Programs such as Toondoo which allows students to create their own comics, Wordle for fun with words and writing and Edmodo which like one classmate put it – possibly Facebook for the classroom. The possibilities to using Web 2.0 in the classroom seem endless and almost a bit daunting!
It’s hard to know which tools to use or even to know about all of the ones that are available. It helps to come across websites that list some tools with information on how they can be utilized in the classroom. For example, Brian Benzinger posted a blog about tools he researched and put them in an easy to understand list. His blog post titled “Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0” has an amazing wealth of information for any teacher looking to add Web 2.0 into their classroom. I can’t wait to go through his list myself!
Schrum, L., & Solomon, G.(2007). Web 2.0 new tools, new schools. International
Society for Technology in Education.
Benzinger, B. (2006). Solution Watch. Retrieved August 8, 2009,
from http://www.solutionwatch.com/512/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-
20-part-1/
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This blog will serve as a place where I document the happenings of our world on a weekly basis. This "world" in which I shall write about has drama and excitement unfoldoing daily, a place where what's for lunch matters, and what happened at recess is just as important as what we are learning everyday - it's our FIFTH GRADE CLASS!!!
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