a) Throughout the world of Web 2.0, as a student teacher I have realized that there is an immense array of possibilities for the way in which a teacher can convey information to their students. The current era is digital, and it becomes crucial to address the students of the digital and technological age using means that are relevant to them.
One of the main things that can be useful for the teacher in conveying new information is the ‘centralizing’ of information. Through a variety of online tools and Web 2.0 software, teachers have the ability of putting information for their students in one central place, so that students will then have the ability to easily access information for lessons.
One such example is a blog. WordPress and Blogger are common examples of creating a central place for information. By creating a blog, the teacher is able to post work up in the one place, and then students are given the opportunity top access this blog to retrieve the work given to them by the teacher. A blog could be a useful place for the teacher to post lesson plans and lesson resources, so that if a student is away from class for one lesson, or an extended period of time, they are able to access the work they missed. Teachers can also include relevant links for assignments, overall feedback for students on their work, and even calendars so that students know when things are due, and are able to stay on top of their work. This centralizing of information has become a key characteristic of Web 2.0 which becomes useful for teachers in conveying new information.
Another important example of the ways in which teacher conveys new information is del.icio.us. This Web 2.0 software tool allows users to save all their favourite and interesting websites into the one central place, in the online sphere. What this means is that you are able to access your favourites on any computer – you just need to create an account. This becomes an important tool for teachers, as they are able to save websites useful for their teaching, as well as useful for their students and their work, all in the one place.
An important aspect of del.icio.us is that it allows capabilities of adding friends. What this means is that students can create their own accounts, become ‘friends’ with each other AND with the teacher, and then they are able to access all of their favourites. These ideas of ‘sharing’, as well as ‘centralizing’ are key implications for the teacher in conveying new information.
For an example of del.icio.us, on the sidebae of this blog there is a link to by del.icio.us account!
Creating an iGoogle account is also useful for the teacher, in that it centralises all information found on the internet into one central place!! iGoogle is also a useful tool for students to centralise the information they find on the internet, which in turn could help with the work.
Upon browsing the internet for useful Web 2.0 for this exam, I came across a video in which iPods are becoming a crucial element of online learning. Online, students are able to retrieve podcasts in which can be directed to their iPod, and thus they can listen to lessons at home. For a definition of podcasts, click here.
Podcasts have revolutionised the ways in which teachers can convey information, as now teachers have the capabilities to submit oral lessons online, and students then have the ability to listen to these lessons at home.
