Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Thing 1B

Web 2.0 has changed so many things in the school systems today. It is amazing how a student can do a report in half the time that it took twenty years ago. The days of going to the library and spending hours of looking through encyclopedias is now gone. You can just get on your computer and you have everything that you need at your fingertips to complete any report, or research for your project. All the tools that you need is on the computer. Also, the communication between parents and teachers can be made easier with them just emailing each other. It can be a great asset to everyone, teachers and students alike, but it can also be a problem.
With the way the economy is today, there are so many people who do not have a computer, or internet access at their home. But at least for those who do not have access at home, those kids do get to have the chance to explore all the different things on the computer while they are at school. They have that opportunity while they are in computer lab, and a lot of teachers offer computer time in their classroom. Web 2.0 is a great thing to use in the classroom for our students. Last year we had a couple of special ed children who really loved getting on the computer. If the lesson that the other students were working on was too difficult for them, they could get on the computer and work on a modified lesson and they enjoyed it a lot more.
While working with the kindergarten students we can incorporate many lessons on the computer. They really like being able to do work on the computer. To them, they are just playing a game and having fun, but they are really learning while they're doing it. I would like to be able to utilize Web 2.0 more in the classroom because the children need to learn as much as they can as early as possible. The sooner they start learning it the better.

2 comments:

  1. "The sooner they start learning it the better."

    I couldn't agree with you more! I think some people might view Kindergarten age children as being too young to use some of the tools that are out there, but I disagree. They don't have to use every function of the tools that we'll be exploring and with the right guidance, it's incredible what they can accomplish and create.

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  2. I agree about the special ed. kids who need modifications. It's amazing how they can understand directions on the computer, but not process what you are trying to explain. So why not use the tools we have available to better their quality of learning.

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