#5 Web 2.0

          As stated in previous blogs, the web 2.0 software that I find will be most the most useful and implemented in my classroom will probably be Twitter.  I have been using the social media for years so I am very comfortable with it, and I also have experience with teacher interaction in it.  It is very useful for sending out information to students quickly, whether it be assignments, extra credit, or simply things that I find interesting and fit into the curriculum.  I also find Youtube and Diigo would be very useful.  Youtube is great for sharing clips that fit into the curriculum.  If I can implement clips into my lectures, the students will be more likely to stay engaged.  Diigo would be very helpful as my preferred subject is American government.  Government involves a lot of research, and Diigo would be incredibly helpful in allowing my students to collaborate on information. 

          Personally, I do not believe that blogs will be too useful in my classroom.  That is simply because of the subject that I wish to teach.  I find them very beneficial in many classes such as English, or an education technology course such as the one I am in right now.  However I believe that what blogs are used for can be accomplished better through other media in the subject of American government and history.  

          I find that SlideShare is an incredibly useful web 2.0 tool for the modern classroom.  The purpose of the website is to aggregate presentations such as Prezis or PowerPoints similar to how Diigo does with websites.  However, instead of finding the presentations, you upload your own.  This allows you to access your presentations from multiply different computers and also allows others to access them as well.   With this you are able to show your presentation to another in a matter of seconds as well as receive comments on the product.  This could be very useful in the classroom as a way to let students view and give constructive criticism on one another projects.  

          I believe that of all the emerging technology for education, the most useful is probably seen as one of the more boring.  I see cloud computing as the most useful as a future teacher.  For one reason, I cannot count the amount of flash drives that I have lost.  The stress that comes with losing one of those small USB dongles is immeasurable.  With cloud computing, we no longer need to fret about remembering where our flash drive is, or whether or not it will even work when we get to school.  As a teacher, I will feel far more comfortable with my students being able to upload their work to the cloud and access it at school.  It also allows for lots of collaboration which is imperative for school.  Students can work on projects with one another without having to find a meet up.  The ability to save assignments to the cloud, where my students can reach them is also very useful.  I will  not need to worry about printing every last thing, and if a student forgets something that was a hard copy, they can print it off of the cloud.  

          If I were to pick one of the more exciting advances in technology, I would have to go with augmented reality.  As my dream is to become a government teacher, it could be very useful to allow my students to see first hand what it would be like to live in the 1700's.  We could take class trips back to all of the different places we are talking about such as the debates over the declaration of independence, the ratifying of the constitution, or the swearing in of George Washington.  In my government class, we were given a virtual tour of the White House simply through pictures, and I loved it.  To go to the next step and virtually take my students there would be outstanding.