Final+Question+3

What Web 2.0 technologies do you find most intriguing for education?
Karen- Question 3 Response

Alexandra Pineda- I find Blogging to be a useful Web 2.0 technology to both the teachers and students. Blogging consists of postings which are updated daily. The blogs can include images, photos, links, video, audio, or simple text. This helps in shaping how students approach learning and how teachers approach teaching. This enables teachers to learn from each other and interact. The use of blogs enables communication; gather instructional resources and collaborative tools for projects. Media Sharing has also been important in education. Students and teachers use it for presentations, learning materials, or coursework.

Misha Bae- My students always have many questions. We discuss many real life math problems in my class, and we run into random questions that are not related to math. Last week, one of the problems included the word Wi-Fi. Naturally, students asked me what does "wi-fi" stand for and I did not have the answer. Whenever this happens, we do not hesitate to look up answers from on-line. When I am preparing for a lesson, I always prepare for the question, "why do we learn this?". It is not hard to find the answers. I like how we can find answers to all kinds of questions on-line. I guess I find the ability to post questions as the most intriguing technology for education.

Vanessa Rivas - From my point of view, the World Wide Web has changed drastically and it continues to evolve. I feel like Web 2.0 has so many resources for the field of education not only for teachers but for students as well. There are many sites, blogs, wikis, and so forth that lend themselves for educational purposes. I think that teachers need to do research on the various resources available and then show their students how to navigate the World Wide Web and the different sites. I really like the different blogs and wikis available because they provide a wealth of information that can be used in classrooms.

What I find most intriguing about Web 2.0 for students is how interacting with the internet levels the "playing field." Students can say that they are a part of the learning process in a more concrete way and the results are there for the entire world to see. I can see middle school students taking their work more seriously, knowing that their peers will be responding to their work and not just their teacher. I plan on utilizing some aspect of Web 2.0 into my regular teaching routines in the form of a wiki or perhaps a site like wall-wisher. I can see students journaling on these sites a lot, or they can write about their reading. I really believe writing about the books they read in my class will open up a whole new way to discuss and learn. I am really excited about exploring the ways in which using Web 2.0 for that purpose can help them become more critical readers.
 * Abi Marlowe- Middle School Group 6-8**

The benefits of Web 2.0 for my classroom would include online communication between myself and my students through a website such as Wall Wisher. Furthermore, the ability to blog with other teachers through Education Nings, etc. would allow me to share my wisdom as well as receive advice from non-biased sources. Creating a classroom website that posted assignments for the week, links to interesting websites that connect to the concepts we are studying, and a way for students to interact with each other outside of the classroom are also benefits to Web 2.0. For example, many of my honors students are always eliciting questions, regarding their homework assignments, from each other. They wouldn't have to wait until the next day to discuss their issues. They could also act as a tutoring/support group for each other if this website catches on. Mentally stability is necessary for academic success, and my students would benefit from both ends as a result of this.
 * Brad Reid - High School group**

Blogging is a great tool to use in the educational field plus it is free. The benefits are immeasurable because it has different functions that helps students and teachers communicate for different purposes such a as assignments in addition, it gives the students and teachers a way to keep track of projects and assignments and quick accessibility to find help when they need it after school hours either from the teacher or other students. The use of blogs enables teachers to also share resources and gain knowledge from other teachers that are part of the community. What I find intriguing about blogging is that the communication does not have to stop only with one group of people I can also communicate with other people all over the world because your voice can be heard all over and help can come in quick. Another tool that works great is the use of the Wallwisher.com it is easy to set up an account and it is free. The Wallwisher is like a blog because students and teachers can use it as form of communication. On the site you can post notes, ideas, pictures and links to complete a project or simply communicate with others.
 * Bany Marlowe - Primary K-2**

I believe that educational blogs and wikis are extremely intriguing because they allow students to read and join in on conversations that help them be active learners. Reading an educational blog is wonderful because it gets students to learn more about a topic that they might not have cared about beforehand. Many blogs are fun for students because they are written in a way that makes it interesting to read. While students may feel that reading a newspaper article might be boring, they may enjoy reading a blog on the same subject. Wikis are great because students can be a part of the discussion and those that might be shy in class can really flourish in an online setting. Teachers can have open discussions on a wiki and come to find that the students that do poorly in class are actually very knowledgeable when they aren't being made to talk in front of a classroom. **
 * Anya Zaremba -

I have to agree with Anya that educational blogs, wikis, and nings are essential especially for physical educational students to share ideas about how to stay physically active. Physical education teachers have to be extremely efficient with their time because they have 1/3 less the time to get their message across and give students enough time to practice the skills that they are being taught. A wiki for instance, would give students a chance to preview the lesson at home prior to coming to class and they could even discuss and share ideas in a blog. They can also learn from experts in the field by reading or joining a ning. These tools not only enhance student learning, but make teaching more efficient.
 * Miguel Parra - High School 9-12**


 * Ammara Ali**- I find educational blogs/nings and wikis to be very useful tools for education. I can find myself using a wiki as my classroom website one day, where students can write responses to journals, complete Webquests, and find resources on the Internet that are relevant to topics that we're studying in class. I think that would help students learn to use the internet to their advantage, while building knowledge at the same time whether that is inside or outside the classroom walls. I find educational blogs and nings to be very important for teachers because they contain a vast amount of resources and allow teachers to interact and share knowledge with one another, which I find an essential tool for new and experienced teachers.

I think there is many things out there I still have to discover and use, and new websites are popping up each day. I do think blogging and posting on Wikipages and Nings are very helpful for students, especially the ones who do not like to speak up in class. However, I'm a huge fan of face to face discussion as a group, also, and I don't think anything can replace the benefits and necessity of group talks. Over the past couple years, I have found some great interactive websites for learning. A few are put out there by school districts in the U.S., and other countries. Some of the best, though, are presented by the publishers of various textbooks we use in schools. Many of the sites save the work students do, as they create accounts for themselves. I think the key is for us to keep searching and sharing what we find with each other.
 * Lliane Blons- High School 9-12**