Thing 4

I have checked out several blogs, even some that I didn't realize were blogs, such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Topix.  My daughter has used Stardoll.  I think it is really important to post comments on other people's blogs to let them know that you are reading it.  You get to know people and keep in touch with them.  There are many people that I am able to communicate with because of blogs that I normally wouldn't get to see in day to day activities.  I found it comforting of sorts to know that others were just  as apprehensive as I was about this exercise.  I also found other people's websites that they noted could be used by me also in my classroom.  I specifically chose Facebook, Pinterest, Doreen Merickle's blog, Emily Rittenberry's blog, Cristina Evans' blog, Doshanna Richards' blog, and Brittney Maultbay's blog to comment on.  I chose these because they were interesting to me and connected with what I was interested in.  I commented back about how I used or would use the ideas they had posted and what good ideas they had.

Thing 5

Thing 5-Web 2.0 learning

When I was a young student in elementary school, doing research was very time consuming and not very accurate, as printed information took several years to compile and put into a book, and then, who knows how long the library carried this information without updating.  Using Web 2.0 invites students and teachers to use the most current, unlimited knowledge on the work they are performing.  As in the article "Web 2.0 A Guide For Educators" states, this way of learning is just the "tip of the iceberg" in what will be in the future.  Many of us use facebook, pinterest, and other sites like these.  Little do we realize that these are also blogs.  It allows all of us "non-technical", as stated in the article "Web 2.0 is not about Version numbers or Betas", to use technology comfortably.  It is easily accessible by all.  Web 2.0 shows me how important the opportunites are and will be in the future to our student's learning styles.  Children do not always learn in the same ways.  Using web-based technologies allow them to communicate effectively to better their learning skills.  It is also important to me.  It's an excellent tool to keep up-to-date information on our family and friends when reading their posts.  There are so many people that I have met in my life that I am able to correspond with on a daily basis, that I wouldn't have otherwise been able to have a relation with.  So Web 2.0 means to me a whole new learning experience that is very beneficial to teachers and students.