Blog 5: Web 2.0 Technology Tools
I believe that blogs
are a great tool to use in the classroom. I have personally used classroom
blogs in this class and in other classes. It gives students a different voice,
a voice that is public to the world, which in a way is empowering. I enjoy reading
my classmates blogs as well and viewing their media posted because I can see
varying and original ideas. They also help students adopt a specific voice in
the digital world and abide by the rules of the internet as a digital citizen.
I think Diigo is a
good tool to use for students, but not in the classroom, specifically. I think
it would be a good homework assignment though. Teachers often assign students
articles to read and this tool is mainly about digital annotations, which kills
two birds. Students can read the article, annotate it, and the teacher could
grade the assignment by adding constructive and meaningful comments.
Bubbl.us is a mind-
mapping tool, just like many other mind-mapping tools that allow not only,
students or educators, but anyone to use according to their specific task. The
website describes, "A mind map is a graphical representation of ideas and
concepts. It's a visual thinking tool for structuring information, helping you
to better understand, remember and generate new ideas" (Bubbl.us, 2018).
Whether its "creating a book outline, mapping a team hierarchy, or
designing a process" (Bubbl.us, 2018), this website allows for endless
possibilities. One example the website displays is creating a family tree
(which I have actually had an assignment on in college). The program is user
and collaborative friendly.
I believe the
Promethean Board is an amazing piece of technology that has been an
instrumental part of the classroom. It is an enhancement of our typical white
board that many of us millennials grew up using. The Promethean board is the
next generation of a dry erase board with markers-- transformed into a great
digital and technological phenomenon. It caters to many different learners and
gives teachers and students far more options that were not previously granted
to us. Through these interactive lessons, students are given the opportunity
and ability to expand their horizon and utilize technology in a more hands on
manner. When I was in school, there was only the stylus pen and many times the
board would have to be re-calibrated. Rather, now as a continue my collegiate
education, I have seen an updated version where the projector is closer to the
board, which minimizes frequent re-calibrations and has more stylus options,
including pre-colored styluses and an eraser stylus.
“I think Diigo is a good tool to use for students, but not in the classroom” I agree with you there. It’s a pretty janky tool that seems to be trying to do too much at the same time.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite thing about the “boards” being used in the tech sandbox, is that by the time y’all graduate they may be outdated. All the smart board lately have been incrementally better since the early 2000s. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new competitor that’s either slightly more advanced and cheaper, or far more advanced at the same price point. Guess we’ll see!
Bubbl.us is a great tool with a lot of potential for the classroom. I agree with you that Diigo is more fit to be a homework assignment than a classroom tool due to its lack of versatility. The Promethean boards are definitely interesting and it is really cool to see them improving bit by bit every year.
ReplyDeleteI definitely grew up just having a projector and regular whiteboard. It's really interesting to see all of the strides being made regarding educational technology. In my Intro to Education class I'm required to do classroom observations. I noticed that the Promethean Boards are in every classroom and the students feel very comfortable using them. Even the first graders were using them to mark themselves in for attendance.
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