What journey can truly begin without research? My last few weeks have basically been spent doing just that-RESEARCH. My computer science class had just begun their podcast unit, so I basically searched for everything from podcasts to websites to books on the Flat Classroom and Web 2.0. Somehow in this journey I ended up at Edublogs:) It is a perfect addition to our class website, currently undergoing yet another remodel. Im not sure which I remodel more my house or our class website!
I began a simple word document and folder. The word document is just a copy paste of informational bits I’ve come across in researching. Everything that had a pdf, I printed and saved in a folder along with keeping a digital folder.
If you havent already made your way to Sue Water’s blog, it is a must! Click here for Sue’s Blog
Another “must stop” is searching the Edublog forum.
The research process is still ongoing, and Im already up to 4 pages of notes. I will have to get them in less of a “rough” state before sharing them online, but here are a couple of highlights on the subject.
There are hundreds of Web 2.0 components could be incorporated into a classroom. The difficult part is selecting what will work best for your classroom.
Wikis and Blogs
One of the best suggestions I found was to use wikis for facts and blogs for opinions. Wikispaces has a free version for classrooms. I plan to begin each unit with a paragraph on the unit topic. The students will each have an account and add to the topic throughout the unit. I am going to use Edublog to add to our class website. It will be used for my blog, student journals, lessons, etc. It will also incorporate rss feeds and widgets such as news and diigo. Students will have their own blogs after the first few weeks of class. I first wanted them to get familiar with incorporating a website, blog, and wiki. Plus they need to complete internet safety and etiquette lessons before having their own blog:)
Other “Stuff”
There are so many more items that could be used, but Im still researching these. Some things to think about include: polls, widgets, google calendar, student online organizers, and photo feeders,
One of the largest obstacles in our school is finding components that are not blocked by smartfilter or are allowed to be added to the “safe list”.