Top Web 2.0 Tools

There are hundreds of tools that we have access to that would be considered a web 2.0 application. These tools give people from anywhere in the world a way to interact with each other. Thanks to these applications, people can share and improve ideas, designs and really whatever you want. I have listed a few of my favorite web 2.0 applications that i feel are important.

Facebook/Myspace/Twitter

Everyone has at least heard of these social networking sites and most people have used them at some point. A lot of people cant see the amazing potential of these apps because they cant see past stupid teenages sharing inappropriate picture and cyber bullying. The truth is that if used correctly these sites can offer community that no other resource can match. All you need to do is tweet a question and within minutes youll have responses coming in from real people you can trust. These sites provide a means for spreading effective lessons, projects and other topics.

Delicious

Delicious is a site that documents bookmarked websites from thousands of people and shares them with the world. This tool is like a google but ultra refined so that any hits you get, you know are going to be credible because someone bookmarked it as a valuable site. This is a simple and yet genious system that can change the way information is acquired.

Blogs/Wikispaces

I posted previously about blogs as a tool in the classroom. They are one of the easiest and most effective way to organize a class. I plan on using wikispaces and blogs as a center for students to check due dates, assignments, help forums, calendars, class hand outs, study guides, really any material that was included in class. Not only can it be used as a reference for a class but also as a medium for students. They can use blogs as project submissions, primary research, and really any reason they can think. The uses for blogs and wikispaces are endless.

National Educational Technology Standards

Visual representations of the ISTE NETS I posted about earlier.

Blogging as an Educational Tool

Blogging can be a very effective tool in learning if used correctly. a bloig is like a window in which we can see other perspectives and ideas and even interact with them. This is a resource of infinite value. Getting students to open their eyes and broaden their horizon is a very important part of education and throough blogs students can do exactly that. Just getting a student to find 1 blog that they are interested in can lead to a passion that will stick with them for their entire lives.
More than just finding their interests, students can use blogs to gain access to help with almost any subject they need. Many blogs focus on certain subjects and topics that can be use to form ideas for projects, presentations, and papers. A blog can even be an excelent medium for a project. I think an excelent idea for an assignement would be create a blog about an interest the student has, make a few posts about said topic and find five other blogs that focus on the same topic (out of the 6 billion people on this earth, i guarantee someone has posted about any subject you can think of) and interact with the blog in some way. They can email the creator, make a comment, link your blog to theirs, etc. The web log has changed the way people can interact and therefore changed education.

ISTE NETS

       The ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) provides standards that set the bar for how technology should be used in a school. They call this set of standards "NETS" (National Educational Technology Standards). The NETS for students focuses on six categories; Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking, Research and Info. Fluency, Digital Citizenship, Tech. Operations and Concepts. These are in order as to how important i feel they are in today's students.
       The first and most important category they point out is creativity and innovation. Creativity is the gasoline that fuels the growth of technology. If it weren't for people that think outside the box, people would still be sitting in caves writing with rocks on a wall. Developing creativity in students is ensuring that those who will shape the future have the qualities to break through on new levels and continue to advance us as a society.
      The next quality that ISTE recognizes is Communication and Collaboration. This is another extremely important quality in a student. Ideas are rendered useless if they cannot be communicated and articulated clearly. Students have to learn to share their ideas and critique them in order to find the best possible solution. Technology has completed changed the way we communicate as a society and it is necesary for students to understand this.
     Another crucial skill in today's culture is Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making. Now that computers have revolutionized the way we do calculations, we have to move on to more complex thought.We have to teach students to use technology to assist them in their problem solving and critical thinking. With the use of technology we can take our critical thinking to another level and continue to push the limits to human thinking.
    Research and Information Fluency is the next ISTE standard in the NETS. This in my opinion is important but not anything too new. Today all it takes is a couple of Google searches to find out anything you could ever want to know. Yes it is important to teach students how to differentiate between good and bad information but i feel that computers have made research and info. gathering so easy that any literate human being can acquire almost any piece of information they desire.
    The last two standards are Digital Citizenship and Technology Operations and Concepts. I feel that these two categories can be melded into one. They entail effective, safe and efficient use of technology systems. All of these qualities are necessary to a productive member of society.