Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Web 2.0


Web 2.0 -- What is it? It is all the new possibilities for communication made possible by the Web most recently. Click on the title for a vodcast explanation.

For teaching and learning there are many new implications, of which blogging is just one. How can you use wikis, Google Docs, Zoho, Twitter and other web applications for teaching and learning? The possibilities seem endless. If our students are digital natives, then we must enter the digital world too. I have been using computers for over 30 years, so I am as close to a digital native as my generation gets. Still, there is so much to learn, and there seems to be something new every day. It is hard to keep up.

Vocabulary
vodcast -- a video available on the web
implications -- suggestions, possibilities
endless -- infinite, having no limit or final point
digital native -- someone who has used electronic media such as computers and video games from childhood
generation --the average period of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their children, usually around 20-30 years
to keep up -- to continue at the same pace or to match someone's pace

1. Technology changes so fast that it is hard to ___________________.
2. I would like to film the class and put the ____________________ on our blog.
3. Kids today can be called __________________________ because they have been using advanced technology for most of their lives.
4. The _______________ of the article are that students and teachers benefit from using technology.
5. The grammar lesson was so long that it seemed _________________.
6. My mother and I are not of the same __________________.

Grammar Point
The first paragraph has three different sentences: a question or interrogative (?), a statement or indicative (.), and an imperative (.). Try to write one of each on the same topic in the same paragraph.