Reflection on teaching and learning with Web 2.0 tools

Web 2.0 tools are essential in today’s modern classroom.  Not only do students desire to use them daily in school, but they also afford the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy: evaluating and creating.  Social media is ever present not just daily, nor hourly, but is available to students every second they are awake.  Web 2.0 tools are not something that will fade away; moreover, teachers must become aware of how learning has changed and apply their content and pedagogical practices in such a way as to reach this technology-based age group. These tools allow students to apply their content and prove to the teacher the knowledge they have learned through synthesis and application. Traditional methods of teaching can do the same thing; however, they do not allow the learning to be student-centered and inquiry-based, which is what a Web 2.0 tool offers as an advantage.

For new Web 2.0 tools, I need to focus on the ease of use, the student’s privacy and confidentiality, and the application of the tool.  I found that the easier the tool was to use, I used it more throughout the week than those I found hard to navigate.  For example, I did not like the initial Twitter platform because I do not follow politics, sports, or celebrities.  However, when I began to use Tweet Deck, I understand how others could use Twitter as their main source of communication.  It became easier for me to follow specific hashtags and group my items together on the page.  One of the pitfalls of these tools is that I think students are just as “judgy” as I am; if they cannot figure a tool out in a set number of minutes, they are apt to give up on it and use something that is familiar to them.  This is why you may have students come up and ask to use a different tool than the recommended one because they are so much more comfortable with it.  I did find the lack of security and privacy a problem when reviewing different tools.  Most of the tools are cloud based so that information can be stored and accessed across multiple platforms and devices.  Younger students may not be able to use those platforms since privacy cannot be guaranteed to a minor.  I know that during this E-learning time frame, several schools have had Zoom meetings go awry.  It is difficult to monitor and keep 100% confidentiality for students when it is going on the Web where it could potentially be accessed by someone else.  In the future, I have found that although I like certain tools because they may design things in a list (for example), others may find a similar tool that utilizes images instead.  I may put more effort into finding tools that are more click-drop usage or have potential to easily move.  I did enjoy creating a Protopage, but it is important for me, as a teacher, to test out all components before suggesting it for my class.  While I found it easy to add certain links, I ended up having a hard time with videos.  If the main use for my class was to create a Protopage over a novel and it must include a video, it needs to be easy enough for students to figure out without having technical issues.  They need to be graded on the content and application of the novel and not worry about the technology they are using.