Wow!  What a variety of teaching tools avalible to charge into the 21st century! the new technology today is enabling the teacher to break down the walls of the classroom and provide instruction or reflection of learning any time of the day.  These technologies give the capability to all students to have a voice in the classroom.

Wiki pages are a great way to track students’ goals, ideas and learning while sharing their ideas with each another.  The wiki would be an excellent tool to have students summarize their day.  They could also post the nightly homework for all to see if they need to reflect back to the day ‘s activities whether they are absent or not.  Wikis can also keep parents aware of what is going on in the classroom and allowing them to participate in their child’s learning. 

Utilizing podcasts/vodcasts enables students to create visual presentations on their learning using the technology of today. They can have a voice in explaining their learning by inserting audio files to presentations.  They can take pictures of the different aspects of the days.  Giving the student the tools and power to investigate with each other will engage the students in teams to learn differently.

Podcasting could be used in math to discuss how to’s for mathematical procedures.  This allows the student to hear themselves explain the concepts.  It forces them to clarify their ideas and practice essential skills for being successful in the PSSA open-ended questions.    These student-made pod casts can serve as a tutor for future students.  Ecogeeks is an example of a science podcast to enhance my ecology curriculum.

In order to make the above work, it is necessary for me to have more computer access or computers in my classroom.  For whole group instruction and sharing it is important to have a projector for large screen viewing.  The tvs in the classroom right now are not effective in instruction because they are too small.  A video camera would be ideal to share learning experiences on the wiki pages on line. 

The possibilities for these technologies are endless!  For wikispaces, I would like to refine my idea of digital portfolios.  I would like students to complete assessments on their individual wikipages as part of their engagement in the learning process.  I tried a blog this year, but I do not feel I was very successful.  I need to think about how I can more effectively model and implement this technology to promote discussion and collaboration.  I am excited to expand on my knowledge of podcasts.  I would love to have students podcast at the end of a day or a week.  I would love to have them translate the content and process skills they acquired into a podcast.  In addition, this would be a valuable vehicle for communicating interests and questions to develop their learning.  This could be an invaluable digital diary for me as the instructional planner.  Parents could access this resource and develop a strong understanding of their students’ education.

There are many diverse uses for podcasts with students of all ability levels.  Click here for a few ideas Cathy and I developed.

Podcasts can really develop fluency and building confidence in oral reading.  I want to continue to use this technology with my remedial readers. 

I’m interested in developing additional knowledge of the open source web 2.0 software applications.  There are many to investigate! 

To implement these ideas, my classroom needs a projector, a digital video camera, computers, and microphones.  I would love to have a digital smartboard to model these tools and develop additional instructional strategies.  It is essential these tools are readily available for seamless integration into the learning environment.

Wikis: student-centered learning. Good for making the students the experts. It would be cool to give each students an objective for research which, on its own, is incomplete. Then each student would contribute his expertise to the wiki. The class’s contributions would come together and give the reader the big picture.
“Wiki etiquette” would need to be taught; removing others’ contributions is not acceptable, formal English, positive and constructive comments only, etc.

I read a blog about the use of cellular phones in a classroom. I’d like to see students use their full capabilities to complete their classwork; it is the classwork that needs to changed based on the tools available to them. Our generation of teachers will be the ones to either pioneer our students’ usage of new tools and information streams, or to stick our heads in the sand. If we choose the latter, public schools run the risk of becoming irrelevant. Their jobs and lives when they finish school will be in a connected world; disconnecting them at school does them a disservice.

At what point do we consider removing filtration and teaching students skills to cope with an internet which is filled with things they ought not see? It opens up a huge can of writhing worms and I don’t know how to handle it, but I think eventually we’ve got to find a way to do it. Any ideas? Any research on this topic? Will it ever be possible or even desirable? It would represent a HUGE shift in thinking for our schools and our nation.

Teaching has changed since I started twenty years ago. As I learn more about Web 2.0, I realize the potential for these tools in education. I expect to see more change in the next five years than I have seen in the last twenty years. The classroom in the future will use technology as a tool for collaboration. Teachers will become facilitators. Students will become more engaged and more resposible for their own learning.