Week+4

=A must-read for today's educator:=

"Web 2.0: New Tools, New schools" Written by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Scrum and published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
This book gives an in-depth analysis of the technologies used today, mainly over the internet. The implementation of these technologies needs to be considered in the classroom, as well as in professional development. These techonologies include:

Blogging: as a natural tool for writing instruction. [|Blog is defined by Wikipedia] a as a website maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions. All presented in a reverse chronological order.

Wikis: and their role in project completion where distance is no longer a barrier. [|Wiki, according to Wikipedia] is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of webpages that are interlinked.

Podcasting: and its powerful way to present information and and ideas. [|Wikipedia defines Podcasts] as series of digital media files that are released periodically and downloaded by listeners using an RSS feed or other ways of web syndication.

A simple, yet powerful reality is that people no longer just search for information on the web they now provide information, and these people include our students. The world has changed; students have changed, and traditional schools are not only up to the task of educating young people for the future, but also to educate teachers on how to use these web 2.0 tools and to help them incorporate these tools through good models of learning and wise technology use that point in the right direction.

Professional development in education is no longer synonymous with acquiring new teaching techniques, it is rather about starting new processes and new forms of learning. With easy access to online communication tools, learning inside a wider community is not a possibility, but rather a reality. This reality is sought after by a larger number of individuals interested in pursuing their learning path both in a personalised and networked way in many walks of life. The web provides the space for learning, but the learning environment is decidedly dependent on the interrelationships that are established amongst individuals. Corporations are not only saving valuable resources by implementing online training policies, they are also making the world even smaller.

The students of today is the workforce of tomorrow. Solomon and Schrum in their book observe that, although young people may be ahead of their teachers in using these tools, teachers can help students use the tools in an appropriate way, focus the educational value of their projects, and mediate content. Below is a good example of what can be done to enhance professional development amongst educators using Web 2.0 tools. Please click on this 5-minute video,

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Solomon and Scrum provide examples of teachers who have guided their students to use Web 2.0 tools in creating a collaborative math solutions manual, an independent literature circle project, a collaborative guidebook about online security. The book is a must read for today's educator.