Thing 2 – Thoughts about Web 2.0
Thrust into the Web 2.0 world last year I’ve found the amount of Internet change over the last few years shocking. Since that time I’ve been trying to catch up and keep up in the Web 2.0 world. Doing so has had a huge impact on my professional life. On the positive side, I’ve begun using wikis to collaborate on projects and RSS to collect and organize content for personal learning and exploration. I have a Google home page that I haven’t quite tapped the potential of. So far it works nicely as a news feed from our website. I struggle to keep up with my professional blog and sometimes agonize over what to write and how to say it. I look forward to the day when everyone is comfortable with wikis and online documents knowing they both have the potential to reduce f2f meetings, email and phone tag.
I find it exciting that the tools that connect and engage students in their social lives are becoming much easier to use and integrate into education. I find the idea of easily opening a classroom up virtually so that parents, grandparents and other classrooms can connect and participate awe-inspiring. I believe the potential for cross grade level, school, country and continent collaboration will be one of the most powerful experiences for students and teachers. Along with all of the remarkable possibilities I also see a critical need for those embarking into Web 2.0 to understand the Internet as a ‘whole new world’. One in which you can find anything you look for. For a look at this ‘new world’ checkout Growing Up Online. As with most things balance is the key. We can’t ignore this world we’re obligated to prepare for it and prepare our students for it.