When students utilize the communication, collaboration, and publishing Web 2.0 applications, they not only reach those in their classrooms, they can reach those around the world. These apps offer them the opportunity to communicate and collaborate in unique ways in and out of school. They are able to publish and share their work for all to see using tools that we could not even imagine a few years ago. These apps not only create a unique learning experience for our students, they afford them avenues to learn and apply 21st century skills that meet the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
Web 2.0 applications, such as Edmodo, Google+ Hangouts, Google Docs, Glogster (to name a few of the wonderful apps listed in Unit 5), allow students to touch upon each standard in the NETS-S. For example, students can utilize any one of the publishing platforms of Web 2.0 to meet the needs of Creativity and Innovation. Students can demonstrate their creative thinking and create products that enhance any type of learning competency. Students can create glogs, use Edmodo, or create a Prezi to showcase their content knowledge.
The Communication and Collaboration standard can easily be met with Web 2.0 apps by affording students the opportunity to communicate and collaborate in and out of school. Apps such as VoiceThread, Google+ Hangouts, Skype, and Today’s Meet allow students to congregate in an online environment and communicate/collaborate using chat features, voice, and/or video. With some platforms, these meetings can be recorded for future use which is very beneficial.
Web 2.0 apps enable students to Research with ease and enhance Information Fluency. Students are given multiple avenues to “locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information” from a multitude of sources available. (ISTE, 2012). These digital tools (Wikis and Google Docs) are usually free and user friendly which levels the playing field for all students. Students can easily share their information with others for immediate feedback.
Twenty-first century skills, such as Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making are developed when students are prompted to work independently or in groups to solve problems on a small or large scale. Again, Web 2.0 applications can provide the means for which students can work collaboratively or individually to organize, manipulate, or revise their work. In addition, they can use other web-based platforms to reflect on their learning processes.
When implementing these apps, Digital Citizenship is critical. Students should be educated on how to use them appropriately and respect everyone involved. They must be aware that there are real people on the other side of their screen. Online collaboration through applications and other social media should be monitored, and netiquette and proper guidelines should be provided and stressed for comfortable collaboration among parties. Students should also realize that their products will be published in a public domain and viewed by many people, so material and interactions must be appropriate.
With the popular use of these Web 2.0 applications and other technological devices, such as iPads, iPods, and iPhones, students should be aware of Technology Operations and Concepts. With increased education and application, our digital learners must be able to troubleshoot problems with their devices and apps and be able to transfer this knowledge to other tools in various environments. Technology and apps are constantly upgrading, and it is crucial for students to be able to “grow” with them. They will be subjected to these issues in the real world, and they will need to know how to identify these issues and resolve them. We have all experienced technological difficulties; the important thing is being able to move past them and carry on.
Being an online educator, I realize that you cannot simply add technology to traditional instruction and believe that it is meeting the NETS-S. It is essential to insure that the technology you are integrating into your class is meaningful and has a clear purpose. After researching these tools and sharing best practices with others, you must be able to discern if this technology is relevant and has real-world applications. After exploring and utilizing a few of the Web 2.0 apps that we have discussed in this unit and after reviewing NETS-S, I believe that these applications, if used effectively, do offer platforms that do meet the standards developed by ISTE. As stated in Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, “The standards emphasize performance and behaviors that reflect the emerging learning opportunities offered by technology, as well as the world students will work and live in as adults” (Boss & Krauss, 2007), and Web 2.0 provides the means to take students into the 21st century on global platforms. Web 2.0 applications and NETS-S appear to be “…in perfect harmony.”
Boss, S. & Krauss, J. (2007).
Reinventing project-based learning: Your field guide to real-world projects
in the digital age. Washington, DC:
International Society for Technology in Education.
ISTE. (2012). NETS for students 2007. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards-for- students/nets-student-standards-2007
