Web+2.0

When I began my research of Web 2.0 tools I was skeptical of how these tools would help me be a better educator. Based on my experience I feel that technology in the form of smartphones and computers only serve to isolate individuals rather than bring them together. This phenomenon is particularly prevalant at Auraria campus; as I walk around campus I notice that people are spending more and more time on their electronic gadgets and less time in face to face interactions. I am also aware of the increased use of computers and internet devices in schools and in some cases technology has been praised as a cure all to educational ills. I believe that it is important to strike a balance between spending all day staring at a computer screen and traditional methods of teaching. However this course has taught me to see the world differently. As the evolution of technology takes hold, more students and schools are using technologies such as Web 2.0 to expand the learning process. Technology will inevitably be a part of the learning process and will have significant impact on the lives of the students that I will be teaching. Therefore I must embrace the new technologies that are available and be able to help my students navigate the digital world. As I changed my outlook I found that a lot of Web 2.0 tools can be very useful. The first tool that I have embraced is Prezi. Prezi is an advanced form of MS Power Point. Rather than having slides remain static, prezi allows the user to create interactive presentations that incorporate the elements of a slideshow but are more alluring to the viewer. For example in a traditional slide show, the use of icons is common, prezi makes it possible to zoom in on those icons and explore their relationship to the information more clearly. Prezi will be useful in my educational career because students will be drawn into the material and may help them stay focused on a lecture for a longer period of time. Prezi also allows the user to add music and other multimedia components to draw the viewer closer to the material. While Prezi is an advanced form of the slide presentation, Google Docs is another useful tool that is a scaled down version of the word processing program. Google docs is free and that is the most desirable of its characterstics. Students will be able to compose papers using Google docs from any computer. This will allow students to work on projects if they do not have a computer at home. Google docs also allows collaborative work on the same document from remote locations. This will be a very useful tool for classroom discussion and group projects. A student will be able to work on a set of problems or ideas and fellow classmates can edit or make changes as they see fit. Once the group returns to class they will be able to see all of the information they have exchanged and discuss their ideas. Another Web 2.0 tool that I found will be helpful is PBworks, this is a collaborative learning environment that involves individual classrooms as well as the larger community, including parents, administrators and friends. PBworks encourages parents to be involved in their students learning by inviting them to see what their student is learning and how the teacher conducts class. PB works allows students to upload photos embed information and create their own interpretation of the material they are learning. Students can work on PBworks at home with their families and at school. PBworks also allows the teacher to post classroom resources such as power point slides, class notes, announcements and other pertinent information. If a student is sick there is no longer an excuse for not competing homework because they will be able to access the information they missed through PBworks. For the visual learner, I came upon cosketch which is a multi-user online whiteboard that allows users to share their ideas as pictures. Cosketch shows the changes to any sketch in real time and can be viewed from any computer. Students who benefit from seeing a concept or theory mapped on a white board would greatly benefit from this technology because they can share their sketches with the class and with the teacher. For the linguistically diverse learner, I found the text to speech translator that will read typewritten words in any language. If a student is an English language learner this tool will be very helpful because they can type words in English as they see them and that information will be read back to them in their native tongue. This will imporve their speaking skills as well as their handwritten english because they will hear the words in their native tongue they will be able to read the information and understand what it means. I believe that technology is not the answer to our problems in education, however through the medium of technology we as educators can be more creative in teaching students with various learning styles.