My Twitter Adventure Reflections So Far

This week, I have been introduced to the world of Twitter and social media. Although I have seen various links and information shared about Twitter, I had never really felt compelled to investigate it to see how it worked. I am a complete novice when it comes to many of the various social media and Web 2.0 technology tools. In today’s society, it seems as though everywhere you look there are links to social network sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., but I have never been one to really take an interest in these tools. Although I knew of them and a bit about them, the idea of constantly updating something to tell the world about me was something that I did not find very interesting and to be quite honest, I just do not have that much time in my day.

Nonetheless, as I have begun to explore the idea of Twitter as an educational resource, I am starting to see that there are beneficial aspects to using this tool.  It does offer the ability to receive, search, and post information quickly. As one classmate pointed out, you can follow breaking news via Twitter and communicate directly with individuals that you otherwise might not be able to connect with.

Another thing that I found to be helpful about Twitter, was the fact that many people in our class shared links to resources that I would probably not have found on my own. I have been searching different topics on Twitter just to see what is out there and it is interesting to see the amount of information that is shared. Sometimes you find things that are helpful and sometimes you find things that you just really did not need to or want to know. I can see how the idea of using Twitter as a communication and research tool in a classroom could be beneficial. Some of the reservations that I would have would be in regards to appropriate content and how I could ensure that both what my students read and shared was appropriate for the subject/ topic being studied and the age group involved. I am sure that as I explore Twitter further, I might find solutions for these concerns. I know that if others are using Twitter as an educational resource, they are bound to have addressed these issues as well and hopefully developed solutions.

While I can see some of the advantages and benefits to Twitter, I find myself getting frustrated at the idea that I sometimes might have more to say at one time than the 140 characters will allow. I guess that I could simply break it up into multiple tweets, but this is hard to do if you are sharing a link for information and the link takes up the majority of the characters allowed. In addition, I sometimes find the messages a bit hard to read and follow due to the incorporation of links and hash tags. I know that this is the designed format and in time, I will get used to it.

I am enjoying learning more about Twitter and the ways that it can be used in education. Although, I am still trying to figure out if it is something that I would use in my everyday life and at this point, I do not think so. Perhaps as I explore it further, my opinion will change. I look forward to learning more about Twitter and other Web 2.0 tools for instruction.

Reflections on the article,"A Conceptual Framework for Using and Evaluating Web-Based Learning Resources in School Education"

The article assigned for reading this week is entitled “A Conceptual Framework for Using and Evaluating Web-Based Learning Resources in School Education” by Said Hadjerrouit. I must admit that I found this lengthy article difficult to follow at times, but I kept reading none the less. The goal of the article seemed to be to help establish criteria for the design and evaluation of Web-Based Learning Resources in the educational environment. It seems as though the author’s goal was to examine the use of Web-Based Learning Resources (or WBLRs as the article states) in education and develop a framework for determining whether or not these resources effective and how improvements could be made in the design of such resources to better produce desired results.

The author begins by looking at literature related to this topic. One thing that is mentioned that resonated with me is the idea that while WBLRs are beneficial because they provide the learner with “access to well-structured and easily-updateable study materials, task-based activities, online resources, and tutorial support”, they are often developed without the knowledge of “learner’s needs” in mind. Due to this factor, there are often WBLR that are hard to implement in an education setting. The author seems to indicate that many WBLRs are not as user friendly and basically “emphasize technical usability”. I interpret this to mean that the design of many WBLRs does not take into account the needs of educators and learners. Researchers suggest that “developers need to design WBLRs with suitable usability, and then tailor it more closely to meet the learner’s needs”. The authors points out that not much attention has been given to the “pedagogical usability of WBLRs” and that this is a crucial element in determining the success of implementing this technology into the classroom. There seems to be a missing link between the current design for WBLRs and the necessary elements to make their use in an educational environment successful. The article points out that the “pedagogical value of WBLRs lies in helping learners discover and explore things for themselves” and most of these resources that are available provide little support in helping learners to do so. It is also mentioned that the effective use of WBLRs within the classroom is related to the teachers’ “epistemological orientations, personal theories, and perceptions about teaching and learning processes”. In other words, teachers must consider the relationships between pedagogy, content, and technology in order to effectively be able to integrate WBLRs into their educational environment. Teachers should look at how these resources can support their pedagogical goals, as well as how the use of this technology helps to transform the content being presented.

According to the author, Web-Based Learning Resources can be defined as “a technology with four major features: (a) it is delivered through the Web; (b) it teaches content that meets specific learning objectives aligned with the curriculum; (c) it is designed on the basis of a learning theory; (d) it contains reusable elements”. Some examples of WBLRs can include Web 2.0 technologies like Wikis and Blogs. The article states that the design of WBLRs is embedded in learning theories like “instructionism, behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, collaborative learning, or a combination”. Thus, it makes sense that WBLRs should be used in an environment that combines classroom and Web-based learning. While this part of the article is understandable, I found it a bit confusing in relation to the first part of the article where it seemed to indicate that WBLRs are not sufficiently designed with the needs of the learner in mind. Perhaps the author means that although they are rooted in learning theories, improvements could be made to better tailor their design to the needs of the learner/user.

In the part of the article that discusses usability criteria, I developed a better understanding of the differences in usability that should be considered when evaluating a WBLR. Technical usability assesses the users’ ability to interact with the software without difficulty. When considering technical usability of WBLRs, there are three different factors to be considered, content design, page design, and site design. The content design refers to how easily the content can be read. Page design deals with the ability of the user to easily use the pages of the WBLR, while the site design indicates the ease in navigating the site. All three elements are important in the evaluation of technical usability. Pedagogical usability refers to the ability of the resource to support the desired learning process. I can see the importance of these elements in the design and successful implementation of WBLRs. In order for any technology based tool to be beneficial in a classroom, I feel that it is imperative that it is easy for both the teacher and students to use and helps to support the desired learning outcome.

In order to see true learning benefits from the use of WBLRs, it is suggested that teachers realize that these resources take a learner-centered approach to learning, rather than a teacher-centered approach. As a result, “designing learner-centered WBLRs requires a constructivist approach to learning”. Some of the key criteria involved in evaluating the pedagogical usability of WBLRs are: understandability, added value, goal-orientation, time, interactivity, multimedia, motivation, differentiation, flexibility, autonomy, collaboration, and variation. All of these elements are understandably important when looking at the effective use of WBLRs.

The next part of the article looks at the context of use and evaluation for WBLRs. It is in this section that I came across a term I had never seen, “milieu”. According to Brousseau’s definition, “learning is described as emerging from exchanges between the students and the milieu organized with teaching intentions”. The article states that the milieu “forms the very basis for the process underlying the design, development, use and evaluation of WBLRs”. The resulting interaction between the users and these resources “is dependent upon the instructional approach and epistemological orientation adopted by the teacher”.

Taking all of these elements into consideration, that author developed a conceptual framework for evaluating WBLRs. The first of the key features to be examined are the features of the WBLRs, including pedagogy, technology, and content. One of the next points to look at involves usability criteria, both technical usability and pedagogical usability. Finally, the context of use/evaluation is the final point to be considered and should include both non material milieu and material milieu. The rest of the article examines a case study involving this information, as well as students’ and teachers’ perceptions of WBLRs.

I have to say that while I understood the concept behind this article, there were areas where I had difficulty following what the author was attempting to say. Overall it contained very interesting and informative information that I feel is relevant to the purpose of the article and to the technology that we will be learning about in this class. As educators, as we learn about and consider using various new technologies (including WBLRs) in the classroom, it is important that we learn to properly evaluate the effective use of these new technologies. 

Source:

Journal of Information Technology Education Volume 9, 2010

A Conceptual Framework for Using and Evaluating Web-Based Learning Resources in School Education Said Hadjerrouit University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway

http://www.jite.org/documents/Vol9/JITEv9p053-079Hadjerrouit743.pdf

Evaluating Technology for Use in Education

Due to the fact that, at the moment, I am not a full-time classroom teacher I searched for articles on technology evaluation rubrics that could be applied to different fields or subjects. I hope to be able to transition into a traditional classroom teaching position next year, but I am unsure as to what field I might be teaching and felt as though the general evaluation ideas that I found in this article would be beneficial in helping me to assess the benefit of integrating specific technology into my future classroom.

The first article that I found is entitled “Evaluating Technology Uses for the Classroom” by Elaine Plybon , written for Examiner at www.examiner.com on June 17, 2012. The link to this article is as follows: http://www.examiner.com/article/evaluating-technology-resources-for-the-classroom

Although this article is relatively short compared to other article that I have read so far this semester, I found the information to be quite helpful. At the beginning of this article, the author discusses the idea that the use of technology in the classroom is sometimes viewed as a negative thing because the technology is not being used in a productive and beneficial way. She suggests that technology should only be used in the classroom in “one of two ways”. One of the first ways that technology should be used is to help “streamline the learning process”. Another way, is to “increase depth and complexity” of learning activities. The author goes on to mention how the acronym R.I.C.E. can be used to evaluate the use of technology in the classroom. The R stands for relevance because it is important for instructors to determine whether or not the technology is relevant to their learning objective. Implementation is the meaning behind the I in this acronym. This is where teachers have to look at how easy the technology is to use and how much training might be involved in order for them to implement it into their lesson. The C stands essentially stands for the cost involved in using the technology. Cost is a big factor for many teachers, as budgets are often limited. The author does point out that there are “almost always free alternatives” if educators are willing to search for them. Finally, the E in this acronym stands for effectiveness. The use of the technology must have the desired effect or it has not been a successful addition to the learning environment. I feel that this acronym could be very beneficial for teachers to use when evaluating technology because it is easy to remember and addresses several important points of consideration.

In my search for a second article pertaining to technology evaluation, I came across an interesting article that uses pedagogy as a guide in determining what kinds of digital tools would be most beneficial. The article is entitled “A Pedagogical Framework for Digital Tools” by Niels Jakob, written for Edudemic at www.edudemic.com on December 20, 2012. The link to the article is as follows: http://www.edudemic.com/a-pedagogical-framework-for-digital-tools/.

I found this article to be an interesting take on evaluation of the potential use of technology (digital resources) in education. Instead of what I considered a more traditional format of examining whether or not the use of various technology or tools “fit” into the desired learning objectives, this evaluation uses a pedagogical framework to help determine if the tools “fit” into the instructor’s form of teaching or pedagogy. The article discusses three different forms of pedagogy and the types of tools that could be most effective to accompany each teaching style. Monological teaching is based on an idea by L. Wittgenstein where the teacher is essentially the holder of the knowledge and teaching takes place when the teacher communicates that knowledge to the student.  The article states that “distributing and intermediary” tools are the best digital tools for this type of pedagogy. Dialogical teaching is based on a concept developed by J. Dewey, where the student has “an inherent basis of knowledge, which can be developed through interaction with the outside world and solving problems”. For this type of teaching style, the article suggests that the use of tools that support “problem oriented work”, as well as advanced learning games and simulations would be the most beneficial. The third pedagogy is the Polyphonic form of teaching, based on the idea by K.E. Logstrup. With this style of teaching , it is believed that knowledge is “created through an equal exchange of many different individuals’ perceptions” and learning occurs through the exchange of information among students and the teacher. For this teaching style, the article recommends tools that “support equal collaboration and the production of common knowledge”.  Overall, I found the idea that teachers should look at their desired teaching style in order to evaluate the use of digital tools in their classrooms an interesting take on evaluating technology for use in the classroom. While I do not think that this is the most practical approach to technology evaluation, it is certainly something to consider.

"Web 2.0 Tool Evaluation Criteria" Video Reflections

The video assignment for this week was to view the video entitled “Web 2.0 Tool Evaluation Criteria”. I believe that this video highlights several important factors in determining whether or not the use of a Web 2.0 tool can be beneficial in an educational environment. The most important factor that the video mentions when evaluating a Web 2.0 tool is to determine whether or not the tool allows for meaningful or authentic learning to take place. I think that this is a necessary first step because the goal of incorporating the use of any additional materials into the classroom learning environment should be to help the students learn.

 The video points out the fact that the tool should engage the students in the learning process. If a teacher fails to keep the students engaged in classroom activities and the students fail to associate the relevance of the information presented, it is likely that the students will fail to learn the information. In much the same way, if a tool fails to keep the students engaged, it will most certainly fail in helping them to learn. The Web 2.0 tools should also help to promote critical thinking among the students in order to aid in the retention of the information that they are working to learn. The second criterion that the video addresses is the idea that the tool should be easy to use. If a Web 2.0 tool is too complicated for students to learn to use, they will most likely either : spend too much class time simply trying to figure out how it works and miss out on what they are supposed to be learning, or they will become frustrated and give up. Therefore, I believe that this is a very important factor to consider when evaluating Web 2.0 tools. The fact that a tool can be generalizable is the third area mentioned in the evaluation criteria. In other words, it is necessary to determine if it is possible that the tool could be used for different subjects and is not limited in its use. I would imagine that Web 2.0 tools that can be applied to various subjects would be of greater benefit in a learning environment because there would be less time required for students to learn the proper use of the tool and more time could be spent actually using the tool for its intended learning purpose. The fourth item mentioned in the criteria for evaluating Web 2.0 tools is the notion that the tool is learner controlled, thus providing the student with greater ability to utilize their creativity. A fifth criterion discussed in the video is that the use of the tool allows for a finished product to be completed. After using the Web 2.0 tool, students should have something that they can show that illustrates their work. I think that this factor is important for both the students and the teachers because the fact that the student can produce a final product offers  a good way to evaluate the student’s understanding of the tool, as well as the information they have learned as a result of using that tool. The final area that should be considered when evaluating Web 2.0 tools is the appropriateness of content. It is my belief that, especially when working with students in grades K-12, this is something that must be a priority for teachers to consider before introducing a tool to their students. Instructors need to determine if the tool contains material or links to materials that are appropriate for the students who will be using that tool. In addition, I feel it is important to evaluate whether or not the information presented within the tool remains centered on the topic or ideas that are the focus of the desired lesson.

Overall, I thought that this video did a good job of addressing or highlighting very important points that should be considered when evaluating Web 2.0 tools for instructional use. As a teacher, if I introduce the use of a Web 2.0 tool in my classroom, I want to do my best to ensure that it will meet these criteria so that my students can benefit from its use. While I am still learning more about the various Web 2.0 tools available, this video has given me a good indication of the things that I need to examine when trying to decide if a tool will indeed be beneficial in my classroom. 

Reflections on "Use of Web 2.0 Technologies in K-12 and Higher Education: The Search for Evidence-Based Practice" by Khe Foon Hew, Wing Sum Cheung

The second article that I read was entitled “Use of Web 2.0 technologies in K-12 and higher education: The search for evidence-based practice” by Khe Foon Hew, Wing Sum Cheung. Due to the fact that I have limited knowledge about Web 2.0 technologies, I found this article to be very helpful in highlighting the different tools available, as well as ways that they could be used in an educational setting. According to the article, the basic idea behind Web 2.0 is that it “allows individuals to collaborate with one another and contribute to the authorship of content, customize web sites for their use, and instantaneously publish their thoughts”. My interpretation of this definition is that Web 2.0 technologies make it possible for individual learners to collaborate in the education process and as a result, learn from the contributions and work of other learners. Thanks to advancements in technology, individuals that use Web 2.0 technologies do not have to have a great deal of technical knowledge in order to contribute and that is perhaps what has made the use of Web 2.0 technologies increasingly popular. This article explores evidence on the use of Web 2.0 technologies in higher education.

Of the information examined for this article, I found it interesting that only nine out of twenty- seven studies looked at the use if Web 2.0 technologies in K-12 education. The majority of the studies focused on the use of these tools in higher education like undergraduate studies. I can somewhat understand this, because I would imagine that there are not as many elements that have to be considered when using Web 2.0 technologies at the college level. When you consider using many of these tools with younger students, teachers have to be more mindful and careful about monitoring content. The authors of the article attempted to look at this information in order to help determine the impact of the use of Web 2.0 technologies in an educational setting. One problem that they encountered was the fact that the studies that they examined looked at the impact of the use of these tools over short periods of time and were not the “longitudinal studies” that they were hoping to find. In addition, there was also an issue in determining when “improvement is significant”. None the less, the authors were able to examine these various studies and highlighted some of the impacts of the use of various Web 2.0 technologies for educational purposes.

As I read more about Web 2.0 tools, I discovered that they are often classified by their purpose or functionality. The article talks about two different classification terms, synchronous and asynchronous, each of which I have to say I was not very familiar with. Synchronous refers to tools that allow instant feedback or comments. I would imagine this to be something like instant chat programs or social networks like Facebook or Twitter. Asynchronous tools allow more time for reflective thinking. Blogs are a good example of asynchronous tools. Web 2.0 technologies can be used in a variety of ways, including: “online reflection, social spaces, online collaboration, social bookmarking, and repository”.

In the discussion of weblogs or blogs, the authors point out the fact that while blogs are often used to chronicle the author’s reflective thinking, they can also show the progression in the author’s thoughts over a period of time. The article goes on to examine the use of blogs in education by looking at different studies where blogs were incorporated into student writing assignments. These studies seemed to indicate that students who integrated the use of blogs into their assignments tended to significantly improve their writing. There is some disagreement however as to whether or not the use of the blog itself was the reason for the improvement or the fact that the use of the blog provided access to additional resources not available with the standard assignment. Overall, the studies tended to show that the use of blogs seems to have a positive impact on students’ writing and critical thinking skills, while having little or no influence on reading or learning physical skills.

While the use of blogs for personal reflection can be helpful in the learning process, the idea of using online collaboration tools is something that I tend to associate more with Web 2.0 technologies. One of the most well known of these types of tools would perhaps be Wikipedia. According to the article (and Wikipedia), Wikipedia has “more than 82,000 active contributors working on more than 17 million articles in more than 270 languages”. The idea behind Wikipedia lends itself to group learning on a large scale and while I am not sure whether or not I totally embrace the idea of using this as an educational tool, I can certainly see how such the sharing of knowledge could be beneficial. According to the information studied for this article, the authors found differences in variables in the experiments presented and therefore, felt as though no true generalization on the positive impact of the use of wikis in an educational environment could be accurately made. In addition to wikis, the article also mentions audio discussion boards as another means for online collaboration.

When thinking about social networks in relation to Web 2.0 technologies, I would have to say that Facebook and Twitter are at the top of the list. While I have had little personal experience with either, I am somewhat familiar with them and the purpose for these tools. Even if you do not directly participate in these social networks, one can not help but be exposed to the idea of them through today’s media sources. It seems like every time that I watch television, read a magazine or search for something on the computer, there is always a mention of or a link for various Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, or other social networks sites where individuals can find more information about the topics or organizations highlighted by that media source. Although I do know a bit about Facebook, but am not a direct participant, this class is serving as my introduction to the world of Twitter. When it comes to the use of social networks like Twitter, the article indicated that there was only one study done to determine the effects of using this tool. Based on this study, the authors found that the use of Twitter led to increased conversation and interaction amongst students and faculty. This course is my introduction to the world of Twitter and I am curious to see if our use of Twitter will produce some of the same results.

The idea of three dimensional virtual worlds is something that I have very little knowledge of. When I think of 3D worlds, I tend to think of video games used for entertainment purposes and not necessarily educational purposes. The article discusses the fact that there are two types of virtual worlds, “role play game worlds and social worlds”. The role play game worlds are the types of 3D worlds that I tend to associate with this kind of technology and video games. Social virtual worlds however, give users the freedom to design the world, objects within that world, and their behavior within it. Due to the fact that objects in this type of world can be manipulated, the author points out that social virtual worlds “make it possible for students to learn by doing”. For this reason, I can see how tools like this could be very beneficial in education. While I have not really seen any of this technology used in an educational setting, I have heard about things like virtual dissection programs that are often used in place of actual animal dissection. The studies examined for this article seemed to indicate that there are indeed benefits to the use of virtual worlds in an educational environment. One of the affordances of the use of these tools is that they can allow for the illustration or rendering of concepts that would be difficult to express through traditional lecture. Also according to the article, virtual worlds allow students to “manipulate environmental conditions while keeping other variables constant”, thus making it possible for them to test scientific hypotheses.

Some of the final examples of Web 2.0 technologies described in the article are social bookmarking tools and repositories like audio podcasts and YouTube. The authors of the article examined studies that incorporated podcasts and traditional lectures. Students who were given recorded lectures on podcasts and able to review that content multiple times, scored higher on exams than the students who were just exposed to the content through a traditional lecture format. I can see where this would be extremely helpful, as I remember using a digital recorder in many of my undergraduate classes to record the lecture so that I could refer to it later, should I need to do so. It makes sense that this kind of tool would enhance a student’s ability to learn because they could listen to and review the information at a pace that is comfortable and conducive to their learning style. Based on their research, the authors concluded that the positive effects on learning are “not necessarily attributed to the podcasts per se but how the podcasts are used”.

Social bookmarking involves users saving their favorite websites and sharing those sites with other people. I can see how, when conducting research on a topic, social bookmarking would be a helpful tool. The popularity of YouTube has increased substantially over the last few years. Thanks to this repository tool, individuals can make and upload their own video that can then be viewed by millions of people worldwide. While there are certainly things on YouTube that I would not care to view, there are also many videos that can be very informative and educational. YouTube can be a good educational/teaching tool if utilized correctly.

Overall, the authors of this article concluded that “the use of Web 2.0 technologies does appear to have a general positive impact on student achievement” and none of the studies that they examined indicated that the use of these tools had any detrimental effects on learning. While the evidence of the true impact of Web 2.0 technologies is greatly dependent upon the variables in each study, I have to say that I believe that the implementation of new technologies within the educational environment, if done correctly, can not help but bring about positive results. Everyone learns differently and I feel that the use of various technologies can only benefit teachers and students by helping them to discover how they learn best.

Source:

Hew, K. & Cheung, W. (2012). Use of web 2.0 technologies in K-12 and higher education: The search for evidence-based practice. Educational Research Review: 9, 47-64.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2012.08.001

Reflections on "Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning" by Bryan Alexander

The first article entitled “Web 2.0: A New Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning?” by Bryan Alexander gave me good insight into the idea of how emerging technology is changing the learning process. The introduction of “social software” ,as the article calls it, has made the sharing of information and the learning process in general, more collaborative and no longer static or linear in nature. Technologies like blogs, wikis, and social networking sites have allowed people to not only access new information, but actively contribute to the learning process of others by editing and sharing information as well. Being relatively new to the concept of Web 2.0, this article introduced me to a new term that I had not previously heard about, “folksonomy”. After reading more about the term, I realized that I have seen folksonomic metadata before, but I did not associate that term with the content. Basically, I understand this idea to be a description of the way in which individuals generate new content that they attach to existing content in order for the content to be more relative to the user. Some of the examples that the article gives in relation to this idea, deal with the action of social bookmarking. I suppose that most people that are familiar with social networking sites are also familiar with the idea of “tagging” and bookmarking pages and information. I have had limited experience with this and therefore am learning more as I progress throughout my coursework. I do know from my own experience, that bookmarking pages can be a convenient way to quickly locate and move between information.

The article goes on to discuss different sites that first allowed users to in essence “personalize” their information gathering process, by “tagging” information. Some of the sites mentioned are Del.icio.us, Shadows.com, and rawsugar.com. Wikis are also discussed in this article, with Wikipedia being mentioned as one of the most notable. I have always been a bit skeptical of Wikipedia myself, because of the idea that anyone can edit or contribute to the information presented on the site. I realize that this is the idea behind it and the purpose of these kinds of “social networking platforms”, as the article calls them, but I wonder about the validity of the information that is presented there. Perhaps there are measures in place that I am not aware of for checking the information. I am certainly far from an expert when it comes to these kinds of sites, although I hope to learn more as I continue my educational journey. While I do have my reservations about wikis, the author’s mention of the program JotSpotLive peeked my interest. This program takes the concept of group collaboration and makes multiple documents available for all group members to view and edit. It seems as though this would be quite beneficial to use in a group learning assignment or simply to allow individuals to collaborate on more than one project. I was not aware that such a program existed before reading about this and I am interested in learning more about it.

As I read more about ideas mentioned in the article pertaining to the use of social writing platforms in higher education, I am beginning to better understand some of the benefits of incorporating this technology into the learning environment. Allowing students to actively collaborate on assignments using these formats allows for group learning to take place at a pace established, in part, by the participants. Learners are in some ways, more invested in the learning process. The article goes on to discuss blogging and various ways to search within the blogosphere. Being relatively new to the world of blogging, I am just beginning to see how much it has influenced society and consequently brought about changes to education as well. I had originally viewed blogging as simply a way for individuals to publicly express their opinions to the outside world, but after reading this article, I have come to realize that blogs can also be good learning tools. I suppose that I had never really stopped to think about the fact that many bloggers tend to link pertinent information to their sites, thus making their blog a more informative tool for readers because the readers can further investigate ideas and concepts highlighted in the blog. Many blogs also integrate news information. One service mentioned in the article that I found to be quite interesting was entitled Memorandum. With this service, users can examine topics and find both “journalistic accounts and blogospheric opinion” related to the topics. The author compares it to the style of a newspaper, but states that it draws from “thousands of sources”. I can imagine that this would be a very helpful tool for research purposes and I am interested in exploring it further.

Overall, I have to say that I found this article to be extremely informative. Having known little about various Web 2.0 tools, I was able to learn about several different types, as well as ways that they could be utilized for educational purposes. I know that I have a great deal more to learn and I have no doubt that it will take awhile for me to further understand many of the ideas introduced in this article. One thing that I do know however, is that this article has provided me with information on several tools and programs that I am eager to further explore.  

Source:

Alexander, B. (2006). Web 2.0: A new wave of innovation for teaching and learning?

https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0621.pdf

Week 1 Video Reflections

I began this week's assignment by viewing the five videos listed. While I found each one to have relevance to the changing educational experience, the video entitled "Not on the Test" was an entertaining reminder of just how different the learning environments have seemingly become within the public school system. Having grown up in a family of public school teachers and having recently returned to working within the schools, I can see how state standards and testing practices are having negative effects on both teachers and students. The video addresses the fact that if information is not on a required test, it is not taught within the schools and extracurricular activities that the students often enjoy (such as art and music) are steadily declining in schools in order to "allow for more test preparation". I see how much pressure students and teachers are under to ensure that their test scores are satisfactory and I have witnessed numerous occasions where students miss out on important learning opportunities because they are pulled from classes (deemed not as important because they are not state tested subjects) in order to help "prepare" them for the subjects that are. I have seen this happen many times in the subject area of social studies because for many of the lower grade levels, this is not a state tested subject. For someone who is passionate about learning history, I feel as though we are truly doing our students a disservice when we take away those learning opportunities, all in an effort to get them to perform a certain way on a state test. Every subject should be considered important. As teachers, I feel that it is our job to help prepare students for life outside the classroom and if all they take away from their educational experience are skills that help them do well on a test, then I think we have not succeeded in truly teaching them. 

The video entitled "Web 2.0... The Machine is Us/ing Us" was an interesting look at how much the advancements in technology have changed the learning process to more of a connected learning experience. Perhaps I am dating myself a bit, but I remember my time in middle school where learning on a computer meant learning code that you could enter to make certain words or objects appear on the screen. Today, technology has advanced so much that thanks to Web 2.0 technologies, learning in a traditional sense is becoming an increasingly collaborative experience. The exchange of information is not as limited on computers as it once was and as a result, the educational environment is changing as well.

I liked the way that the video "Did You Know 4.0" illustrated the ways in which changes in technology have impacted our everyday lives. It is amazing to think about the massive number of communication/ technological devices that have become a standard part of our daily environment. We are truly living in a world that seems to be constantly connected. Whether through television, radio, computers, cell phones, etc. very little happens that the world can not know about in a matter of minutes. Computers have truly changed the way that people communicate and sometimes I wonder if these changes are all positive. As more individuals turn to the use of technology to gain information, I wonder if traditional "face to face" interactions and communication skills will steadily become things of the past. I have already seen how the use of texting language has transitioned into the classroom learning environment. Working with elementary students, I have seen how terms that they use when texting lead show up in their writing and often lead them to have difficulty with proper spelling and expressing their thoughts completely. While this may not seem like a huge issue, I can say from my perspective, that it is definitely impacting the learning environment and will in turn, have an impact on teaching as well. While increased connectivity through technology can have drawbacks, the fact that people around the world can share information is also an exciting thing from an educational standpoint. As a teacher, I think that the proper use of these new technologies could enhance the students' classroom learning experience.

As a teacher, I think that the final two videos entitled "Academia 2.0" and "A Vision of K-12 Students" both highlighted just how the rapid changes and advancements in technology have impacted and continue to impact the learning/ teaching environments within both standard and higher education. I was reminded just how much students in today's society and the future generations have become accustomed to the integration of technology in their everyday lives, but often, that same technology is lacking or nonexistent in their classrooms. The videos bring up the point that as educators, in order for the students to be truly engaged in what they are learning, the information must be relevant and they need to be able to take some ownership in the learning process. I would like to believe that all teachers want these things for their students, but due to the rapid changes in technology and the way in which their students learn, they are often at a loss as to how to achieve these goals. I know that it is becoming increasingly essential that I learn to incorporate new technologies into my instruction if I want to be an effective teacher and that is why I am actively seeking to learn more about how I can do so. With that being said however, that points that were highlighted in these last two videos acknowledge the fact that too often, the educational system fails to keep up with changing technology. I would like to offer the idea that while some theories (such as the fact that teachers are often scared to learn new technologies) might be true, there are also other obstacles that often hinder a teacher from being able to incorporate new technologies into the classroom. Having grown up in and currently working in a rural school district, I think that many times, lack of funding and resources, as well as proper training are often the biggest hurdles for teachers being able to use more technology with their students. Perhaps, as I learn more about the technologies available, I will also discover ideas to help overcome such obstacles.

Reflections on "Vanity Search"

This is my first day of this course for Web 2.0 Technologies and I must say that I am a bit overwhelmed at the moment trying to figure things out. I have confidence that things will get easier as I go along. The first assignment that was posted for this class asked us to take a look at our "digital footprint" by typing our name into the Google search engine and seeing what appears. I was not really surprised to see that not much appeared when I searched for my name. For the most part, there was simply information related to my work and occasionally, a mention of my name in relation to a relative or direct family member. I guess you could say that I do not have a big "digital footprint". When it comes to the use of online technologies for social networking or discussing my daily events, I have chosen not to participate because I am a relatively private person. Therefore, I do not have the typical social media accounts and you most likely will not find photos of myself or my family posted online unless it was done by someone else. I do not have anything against using these resources, I am just not a person that typically uses online resources for more than research and educational purposes, but I am gradually learning more about various learning and educational resources available online. I am sure that by the end of this course I will have developed a better understanding about these tools and how they can best be used within an educational setting. I think that it is important for us (especially those of us in the field of education) to reflect upon the idea of our "digital footprint" so that we can better educate our students on theirs. I think that in today's technology driven society, the use of online technologies/media is so woven into the fabric of the younger generations' everyday lives that they often do not stop to consider the fact that the things that they do online can have lasting effects. I look forward to exploring this idea further in the weeks to come.