the inevitability of web 2.0

At this point, I am sold on Web 2.0.

OK, so maybe I'm not sold on it. There are many things I still have reservations about. At the tender age of 38, I am a self-proclaimed "fuddy duddy". I'm uncomfortable with the amount of information out there about us that is available at the touch of a button and I'm uncomfortable with the quality of a lot of the information out there. I don't want to be on Facebook (how ironic that I'm blogging about all of this). I like my privacy. That being said, I do think that there are a lot of good things about Web 2.0 and it is the world that we are living in.

Between this week and last week, I really have been astonished at the tools available to us (online and free for the most part). As a case in point, the timeline sites that we looked at were every bit as good as software like Timeliner. I used this software at the middle school and no longer have it available at the high school but now I can use a site like Timetoast easily. The resources that have been given to us in the syllabus plus the resources people have posted on the discussion board and in the Diggo account are phenomenal. I plan on going back and revisiting all of them in depth when the class is finished as well as rereading some of the articles.

I still do believe that technology is just a tool and choosing the right tool is crucial, whether it is a blog, ning or pencil and paper. I also believe that time constraints become more and more pressing. Every year it seems that we are expected to do more and more with less and less time. As educators we need to continue to ask for the time we need to explore new options and technologies, collaborate with other education professionals and plan quality lessons.

I also believe that as our world grows smaller through technology and the amount of information available grows exponentially, we need to do a better job of educating students on issues like cyber citizenship, privacy concerns and the importance of evaluating information. We need to continue to grow and change right along with the world we live in.