Thing #5

School 2.0 basically means Web 2.0 technology is going to be part of educating our students. The articles that I read were informative. I did think Web 2.0 a Guide for Educators was probably the more user friendly out of the ones listed. Michael Wesch's video that he put together was an eye opener just like the video that we watched in class at the beginning of the semester "Did You Know".  I think it is critical that we learn how to implement these tools into the classroom. Students are definitely able to operate technological devices better than most adults.  However, I will say I think as teachers we need to be well aware of the availability of technology outside of the classroom. What do I mean by this? Simply put some students do not have access in their homes to either a computer or Internet access. I think we as teachers need to be sensitive to this fact. I know technology is expanding, but some families today still can not afford to by their children school supplies or pay full price for lunch. (I'm not putting this in here to make anyone feel bad or to show elitism, but to just remind some that not everyone is as fortunate as others.)  Another factor might just be geography, my in-laws live in a little valley in the country where they can't even get Internet service. All this to say I'm not against using technology in the class room, but I think it needs to be just that in the classroom. Even though I'm still a "newbie" to blogging, I could see how fun this could be for students. They could discover information for themselves out on the Internet and then share it and their opinions with others. As a teacher I could easily post topics and have allotted time for responses. I believe people do feel a little more comfortable posting their responses than speaking out loud amongst their peers.