#5 - Web 2.0 and Technology Advancement

Web 2.0 allow users to interact and share with each other.  According to the podcast, teachers use YouTube to show students relevant videos and enhance their learning, blogs to post updates and announcements.  Blogs can also be used for student publishing and teachers can controls to monitor use. Wikis are also used to collaborate work.  Twitter can be used to follow political and public figures and learn from them.  Diigo can be used to share resources and take notes from them.  All of these are interactive and great for the learning experience.  Other social media websites may prove less beneficial.  Instagram and Facebook may not be as useful in the classroom.  YouTube, Twitter, Blogs, and Wikis are only helpful if used appropriately and monitored by the teacher.

When I am a teacher I will probably use TED to assist me with my lessons.  They are talks by important figures that discuss technology, design, and other things going on in the world.  It contains many videos and links on all kind of important topics.  The use of video would enhance the learning experience.  The link to this is: https://www.ted.com/

Personally, I think that Open content holds the most promise,  All of the technological advancements bring hope for the future but this one intrigues me the most.  According to the book, Open content is "content that is developed through collaboration and interaction through social media rather than by a few knowledgeable authorities."  If monitored and integrated appropriately, it could greatly enhance the learning experience! The book states that open content has already "[significantly impacted]...the classroom."  I think MOOCS are also super useful and exciting.  MOOCS are massive open online courses that provide learning opportunities.  Just reading about all of these technological advancements gets me so pumped to be a teacher some day! I hope that I can use these effectively in my classroom in the future.