Thing #5

When I started Thing #5, I thought I knew nothing about Web 2.0.  I now realize that I use it daily in my life.  After reading many articles, I think that School 2.0 is a means advancing the curriculum by adding technology into the classroom.  This is already being accomplished in many school systems by incorporating Smart Boards, Wiki Spaces, blogs, and classroom websites.  Many textbooks are available as a eBooks.  I think that many schools will be incorporating more technology into the classrooms. Schools need to teach students how to use the Internet more effectively and to show students that social networking can be used as much more than just My Space and Face Book.  I looked through many articles about Web 2.0 but I am only going to discuss two of the sites I visited.

The first article I read was Web 2.0 A Guide for Educators.  The article discusses that students already use the web and schools really need to get on board.  The website states ”55 percent of all online American young people between the ages of 12 and 17 use social networking sites,"  that is huge compared to when I was in high school.  I am amazed how much computer use has increased over the years.  I graduated high school in 1995 and I was required to take keyboarding!  That is not that long ago! 

Teachers 2.0 is another site I visited. It is a blog for educators. I really thought this was a great site because it gives educators a place to look for ideas to incorporate technology into the curriculum.  There is a monologue for the week and this is basically a lesson that someone has used.  I really enjoyed the blog! I really got sidetracked though. One of the monologues was about World of WarCraft in Schools and I spent at least an hour on that site!  There are actual lesson plans set up for WOW. The only reason I was interested was because I have a few WOW players in my family!