Blog Journal #5

I found various Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs and twitter to be very useful in a classroom setting. Classroom blogs easily allow students and teachers to effectively communicate and share ideas on a digital platform. Twitter's modalities such as tweeting and sharing information can also be helpful in an educational setting. Due to many students already being familiar with Twitter and it's functions, it makes for an easy introduction in the class curriculum. Conversely, I found Web 2.0 technologies such as Wiki and Diigo to be less useful. Both are often unfamiliar to students, so additional instruction and training is needed to effectively use these sites. Though both prove to be good technological assets in the classroom, I do not find them to be as necessary as blogs and social medias.

As a teacher, I would like to instill Remind in my classroom. Formerly known as Remind101, I had various instructors use this Web 2.0 tool during my educational career and I found it very helpful. Remind safely lets educators text message students announcements and reminders for class. This is a one way communication system that allows students to remain up to date with future assignments. With phone usage growing everyday, I find this tool to be highly useful. For more information on Remind click here.

I believe that electronic paper holds the biggest promise for education in the future. This technology mimics the appearance of ordinary ink on paper. According to visionect.com, "The way e ink works means that it differs from other displays in two key points: an electronic paper screen reflects light from the environment and only consumes power when the content on it is changing." Implementing electronic paper in classrooms will reduce spending on regular paper, and will help the environment by reducing paper waste and saving energy. This technology will be utilized in the classroom as replacement text books and notebooks with e-books.