Journal #2

“Breathing Fire into Web 2.0”
By: Justin Hardman and David Carpenter

This article discusses how technology is advancing and how students are becoming more and more comfortable and educated on different technology systems. The school is behind with new technology and it isn’t at the same level as the students. This article talks about ways to increase the amount of technology used in the classrooms and how it can be incorporated into lessons more. They listed ways that teachers are using technology and they also discussed what needs to be done to make it better. According to Hardman and Carpenter, “The next logical step would seem to be the creation of an all-in-one, online communication and collaboration system for schools that leverages the best of what Web 2.0 offers” (Pg 1). Places such as Hong Kong have already created this all-in-one online communication system. This system uses online communication such as email, calendar for assignments, contacts and resources. Hardman and Carpenter say that there is three things that teachers need to do to develop this vision. They need to enhance communication and collaboration for themselves and for students to support activities that they work together on. They also need to provide curriculum mapping and serve as an online portfolio management system to support student and teacher interaction.

Questions:
Q: How important is it to increase technology usage in the classroom?
A: I think it is very important. As technology advances, students need to be up to date with the new systems and applications so they can be successful later on in life. If they learn it at an early age they will have an easier time using it later on.

Q: Should technology be used for everything in the classroom?
A: I think that technology should be used a lot but not is every part of the classroom. Just students should complete some parts. They should use their minds and imaginations.