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. 

Comments

  1. A.H.February 22, 2018 at 11:53 AM

    “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.

    My 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!

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  2. ToasterTechFebruary 25, 2018 at 8:31 PM

    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.

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  3. UnknownMarch 4, 2018 at 5:02 PM

    I 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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