With my grad class coming to an end on Dec. 15th I’d like to reflect back on what I’ve learned, and wow was there a lot! After I didn’t allow myself to get  bogged down with terms like podcasts, mashups, RSS, and social bookmarking it was interesting to see just how much there is out there on the web. Before this class I didnt use the web much except for email, MySpace, and Facebook applying to jobs and just playing games By week 6 I realized that all of these tools came together to form what I now know is Web 2.0.

Everything about Web 2.0 is really cool! (Web 2.0 is a two way internet where people are reading and writing – collaboration!) I love how there is so much interaction, collaboration, and personalization available – for free! If I had my own classroom right now, (I’m a paraprofessional) I would be using so much of this technology. Technology is what the kids love and if the teachers know how to teach using it, it can be a great thing.

I found a great article entitiled Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0 http://www.solutionwatch.com/512/back-to-school-with-the-class-of-web-20-part-1/
Part 1 lists a bunch of great tools for students and teachers to use.

Part 2 is all about office applications  and Part 3 talks about educational blogging, photosharing, and almost everything my grad class discussed. There are a ton of great links to the programs. I chedked some of the programs out and they were really neat. If  you have some extra time please see what’s out there, you would be surprised

Web 2.0 tools can easily be used in the classroom: photo sharing (Flickr) video sharing (YouTube,TeacherTube, Podomatic), blogs, and wikis can all be used by the students.
Examples of some uses:
Flickr
Photos can be shown of pictures around the world in social studies. Animal photos for science class and any type of photos can be used to start a writing prompt in English.

PodoMatic
Students can create audiocasts and post to the internet about what is happening in the classroom (morning announcement style), read plays and stories. If students can not create the matieral there are  plenty of podcasts they can listen to online

Blogs and Wikis
A teacher can create a classroom blog where students and parents can find information about homework and tests and whats happening in the classroom. Or students could have individual blogs to do out of class writing assignments. Students can read classmates’ blogs and other professionals to gain a better understanding of collaboration.

Once you become familiar with Web 2.0 the ideas will begin to flow and your kids will thank you for learning how to use these tools!