Kimberly_Bell_Web20

The assignments this week have forced me to become a little more knowledgeable about web 2.0 tools. Some of them of I have used many times, some of them I have seen other people utilize, but sadly, most of them I have never even heard of before. After researching them a little further, some of the resources seem way more useful than others. However, my guess is that I just haven’t seen them used correctly yet. Thinking as an administrator, I can definitely see the education benefits of many of the web 2.0 tools. They more easily allow for collaboration between teachers. Teachers could be at home planning for the next week and find great resources and very easily post them on a shared blog or website, like we have done on Diigo. I think it is definitely possible to use some of these tools in the classroom. Many of the tools could be used for the students to create educational projects based on a certain topic. Once students have a better understanding of how to use the computer, they will be able to create things beyond the teacher’s initial hopes. Children tend to be very quick learners when it comes to technology because it is fun and engaging. I think the major constraint that I would have in using web 2.0 tools in my classroom is time. We are departmentalized this year, so I have my students in the morning for about an hour and a half for writing and history, then they leave for two hours, then lunch, then they come back for an hour for reading and then they are gone to recess, resource, and dismissal. However, since I am only teaching reading, I could focus the use of these tools into creating exciting projects to solidify the reading skills.