Web 2.0 Reflections (Thing 23)

Well - the 23 things course is coming to a close! I want to revisit the first assignment, my first blog post ... where I stated what I wanted to get out of the course.

By taking this course I hope to bring together all of the bits and pieces and build a cohesive presence for myself, to pull together all the haphazard pieces of my online "self" as it relates to education - and to be a more active part of the online PLN community. I have lots of ideas of how to use Web2.0 tools in special education particularly, I just feel like I need a framework and some accountability to get it all out of my head and online :-)

Well - I totally think that I got a lot of my ideas out of my head and online! I rediscovered some tools that I had been neglecting (Ning!), learned how to use tools I had heard about but never tried (e.g. voice thread) and discovered ways to use some web2.0 tools that I use for personal purposes but never thought about using professionally (e.g. Flickr). I think that being more familiar with the tools has helped me to be a more active part of my online PLN because I am now confident enough to feel like I can offer advice, opinions, or just converse about the different tools. So all in all I feel like the course was a personal success.

Because I was already familiar with many of the tools, I didn't expect to learn about many new ones - my main goal, like I said, was to tie it all together. I did, however, discover some new things! One of these was voicethreads. I had seen voicethreads on other people's blogs before but never really thought about what they were or how I could use them. I can't wait to use them in my class with my students as a way for us to work together to create a digital story. One of my first lesson plans of the year involves voicethreads now, to let the students share "what they did this summer" with the rest of the class. Since I took each student on a fun adventure, I have created the voicethread with my comments telling about what we did. I am going to have the students add their comments to their adventure as well (some already have), then play the voicethread for the class.

I am also excited about creating my own wiki and starting that blog I've been jotting down ideas for for 3 years now lol. I'm using bubbl to plan them and I can't wait to use glogster and wordle to create things for them, embed photos/slideshows/videos in them, and share them with my PLN via Ning and plurk! :-)

I think that the world is changing and technology is becoming more and more integrated in everything that we do in life. Because our main goal as educators is to prepare our students to live in the world, it is imperative that we teach them to use technology - and use it appropriately. Just as our generation's curriculum focused on new concepts than our parents, grandparents and ancestors, 21st century learners are facing a future requiring that they learn new skills. Just as we have evolved from chalkboards to white boards to overhead projectors in our lifetimes, today's technology provides us with even more effective and interactive tools for teaching in new and engaging ways that allow us to accommodate different styles of learners.

Plus, the bottom line is that the majority of the children we work with are going to use Web 2.0 tools outside of school whether or not they use them in class. We have a duty to teach them to be responsible when doing so - we must teach them internet safety and etiquette just as we teach them other types of safety and citizenship!