Blog #5

 Web 2.0 tools are becoming very popular within todays classrooms. I feel as though most of the web 2.0 tools are very beneficial depending on how the teacher decides to incorporate them within the classroom. With this in mind I most frequently have seen wiki's, blogs, and witter used within the classroom. I feel as though blogs are one of the most affective and easiest things to incorporate into a classroom. I think it allows students to be hands on with material and write their thoughts our that are related to topics that are discussed within class. A perfect example of this is what we do for EME 2040, a blog post is due at the start of every class preparing us for the next class period by reviewing material and collecting our thoughts about these specific topics. I have not seen twitter used as much in a classroom just because there are a to more risks associated with using twitter due to the nature of twitter and the way that student tend to use it. With that in mind though I think it is possible to use twitter in a responsible way that could inhale the learning of students but I do not think that it would be beneficial for every subject.
  In my future classroom, I think i would be inclined to make a class website through Wix and include a blog of each day to keep parents informed of what is going on within the classroom. I would also include important documents such as field trip forms, class rules, the syllabus, and other information regard students while they are under my care. I would also include the homework for the week in case students lose the packet of homework I have provided at the beginning of the week. I think this could be very beneficial because parents are able to see what their students are learning in class so that they can help them continue to learn when they are at home so that they begin to show mastery of the material that I being taught in the classroom. I also think parents will enjoy having all of this information at the tip of their finger tips instead of having to search all over for very basic information. Here is the link where you can being creating your own website. https://www.wix.com/ 
   The continuous advancement of websites that help to reiterate information that is assessed in standards for that specific grade level. Not only are students able to hear this information while being class, but they can also prate the information they have learned in the classroom and at home. This not only makes them more successful in the classroom but also provides feedback on skills that should be practice before taking a standardized test. I know that I benefited greatly from programs like this, so their continuous advancement will continue to help students learning in the classroom so that they can be more successful and pass test the first time. This also may help them be more successful on tests like the SAT and ACT because technology continues to progress to help students prepare to take these tests as well so they can be granted entrance in to the college of their choice. I am hoping that technology through the web continues to progress so that students can continue to be successful and so teachers can continue to press this information in to their students minds without having to teach it four or five times.