5 Web 2.0

The podcast list several different web 2.0 tools, which all seem useful in their own purposes. I think using social media in conjunction with instruction in a classroom is a great idea and my favorite from the podcast. It makes the real world more relatable in a classroom setting so students can be prepared to be polite and safe on the Internet. Collaboration is an important aspect in schooling. I think my second favorite would be YouTube. It is a great tool as well since you can do things like show an educational video or a virtual field trip. Web 2.0 tools are more interesting to students since they are more interactive. One of the most important tools a classroom will need is a computer with Internet access, a keyboard, a mouse, and a screen (pgs 90-95) so that students can access the proper Web 2.0 tools. Peripherals will allow students to save, scan, and print their work and bring it home and work on it on other devices, which are also called peripherals (pg 97). Electronic whiteboards are my favorite peripherals. My mom has a smart board in her classroom and I always loved interacting with it.

I chose to go into depth into the Web 2.0 tool kidblog (http://kidblog.org/home/) since we have discussed blogging in this class frequently and we have blogs for this class. This website is easy to step up and free for teachers and students. You provide your email address, name, and a password. Once you sign up you confirm your email address. Then you are brought to the home screen where you can create classrooms with specific descriptions like "6th grade science blogs" or whatever grade or class you are teaching. You can search through blogs by name, tags, categories, and members.

The posting itself can be started by clicking new post. You can choose a header image for your post to correspond with the topic. You choose a title, a background color and texture, and the usual font settings. You can then post to the page with tags sort of like a twitter account and also you assign categories they can post their blogs posts to. When you hit post you get to choose your audience, either teacher, classmates, connections, and public. You can also choose to pin the post. Based on your settings, people can comment on your blog postings. This website is an easy way to monitor children's collaboration and teaches them real world skills.

I am an avid user of concept maps in writing. I use it to organize my thoughts before I start my first draft. I did not like the idea of using it to create study guides. It was very difficult to make it flow and fit correctly because the information was so broad topic wise. I learned that using linking words helps the chart flow better. In my future I will try to limit my topics trying to be fit onto one concept map for my students. If I make another concept map I will try to make it flow better and be more spread out.