Stephanie+Murray

Activity 1: "The Object of Education is Learning Not Teaching" Memorization is not learning! Facts that are memorized are forgotten quickly! Students should be offered a variety of ways to learn. When students have to explain a concept, they have a better understanding of it than if they just listened to a teacher tell them about it. Learning through explanation is a powerful way to learn. We need to focus on student learning and the ways in which they learn the best. Focus on learning instead of just teaching! Sometimes teachers should be the facilitators in a classroom and let the students teach each other. This is outside of many teacher's comfort zone. Just because teachers are teaching a lesson in their classroom, doesn't mean that students are learning. We need to teach students how to learn!!

Web 2.0 offers many exciting and engaging ways for students to learn. Students will not just be memorizing facts, but interacting with their new knowlege and sharing it with others in their classroom and in other schools.

"Moving Toward Web 2.0 in K-12 Education" Most students are involved in Web 2.0 technologies. We need to meet our students where they are and incorporate Web 2.0 sites into our teaching. There are many benefits of Web 2.0 technology. It promotes student engagement. Students are involved in learning and discussions (using blogs and wikis, etc.) and it gives them an authentic audience with which to communicate. All students participate instead of a select few who are the first to raise their hands and be called on. Students can collaborate and work in groups and have thoughtful discussions. Web 2.0 is changing teachers and they way they teach and learn and grow professionally. Teachers will need time and training to use the Web 2.0 tools and learn to go outside of their comfort zone and rely on students' knowledge. This is an exciting time in education and we need to embrace new technologies instead of being afraid!!

"Web 2.0 is the Future of Education" Web 2.0 allows for great creativity and collaboration by students. Because of the overwhelming amount of information on the web, we must teach our students to critically evaluate content for accuracy and to find what best suits their needs (not just the first result in their search). Web 2.0 has changed learning from passive to active. It is overwhelming for teachers, but they just need to take the plunge and try it! You can do it all at once. Pick something and give it a try. Students need to be responsible users of technology and respect copyright. Teach them about Creative Commons. They need to know how to create appropriate content and the rules of "netiquette".

"Web 2.0 Not for Everyone ?"

Are web 2.0 technologies aimed at people with certain groups of abilities or intelligences? Does blogging cater to those who can write well and feel confident expressing themselves?

Stephanie - the article I spoke of last night: [|Given Tablets But No Teachers, Ethiopian Kids Teach Themselves]:for [|MIT Technology Review]. David Talbot. October 29, 2012

Activity 2: These are the sites I explored:

Slide.ly

TED.ed

QikPad

Wallwisher

Glogster

Tagxedo

Fakebook

Todaysmeet

VocabGrabber

Blabberize

Tagul

Kwiq Poll

Projeqt

Mixedink



Insights from Class:

Web 2.0 offers teachers and students exciting tools to use. However, the number of choices are overwhelming. It is very time consuming doing research to find sites that will work for you and your students. The key is to find sites that will work for you and your students and become familiar with them. Newtorking with other teachers is a great way to see what works (and doesn't) work for others. I hope to use some of the sites I found in class this weekend with my staff members. I hope that they are not blocked by the district filter. If they are, I will have to jump through some hoops to get them unblocked. I will continue to look for new sites to use with my teachers and staff. I appreciate the time in class to explore different sites.