THE SOCIAL WEB
"Learning is a continuous conversation among many people." That quote partially sums up this chapter. The social web allows us to be connected with anyone in the world. That is amazing. It's an amazing thing to know that we can converse with someone on the other side of the world. In this chapter it talks about how some classrooms connected through the web with classrooms halfway around the world. Just think of the culture and worldly connections your students could make! When we think of the social web the traditional classroom setting is far from it. Most student work is still done in isolation whereas the social web is more a work/group setting. In this chapter it discussed Twitter a great deal. I set up a Twitter account about two years ago because one of my friends told me to. I didn't get that into it and actually found it boring, but after reading the benefits Twitter can have when being a teacher I feel I might have to try the thing again. It could help me connect to a larger teaching network and let me converse with fellow teachers all over the world. It could help me get my questions answered, find resources, or even give me ideas for projects and lessons! I never thought of Twitter in that way, but I think I will definitely have to try this "phenomenon" out again. I also learned that getting people to "follow you" is the hardest part of having a Twitter account. However, it gives you a few tips that I think I will have to try. I also learned that some schools are using Twitter to communicate with parents and others in the community. If Twitter feels too "wild west" for you I also learned there is an alternative site like Twitter called Edmodo, which is much safer and more appropriate microblogging. The lesson about Twitter they leave you with is this: Think about Twitter for yourself first. It's a great place to connect and learn with others who share your passions. I also learned about another interesting site. Diigo is comparable to Delicious or so they say. One unique feature it possesses is allowing us to annotate and highlight pages. You can also keep your bookmark private or allow it to be viewed by the public on this site. Another feature on Diigo is the "sticky note." The last feature that sets Diigo apart is that when you bookmark a site you're not just capturing a link; you are making a copy of the whole page for use later on. I like Diigo because if I use it someday in my classroom I know it is safe and will always be available for my students to look back on and reflect on their progress. I also like how it talked about separating tags in the account for each student's name and everytime I see something say "Molly" likes I can just simply add her tag and her feed will automatically update. I think it would be great to be so personal with my students!
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