Journal # 5 Collaboration in a Web 2.0 Environment

Bull, Glen (2006, April). Collaboration in a web 2.0 environment. Learning and Leading with Technology, 33, Retrieved February 25, 2009, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume_33_2006_2005_/April_No_7_/April_2006.htm

Glen Bull's Article from Leading and Learning with Technology discusses the uses of Web 2.0 tools in a classroom setting. Bull discusses some of the ways educators can utilize these tools to allow students to create collaborative documents, blogs and checklists. The great thing about all these websites is that they are all free and easy to access from anywhere. The days of having to get your parents to drive you across town the night before a group project is due are long gone. Students can collectively edit documents and blogs from their home computers. These sites that Bull suggests all have RSS capabilities which allows the teachers to easily view changes to the student's blogs as they are made. What I found interesting is that this article still holds true today, two years later, when so much on the internet has changed.

1. Could these sites be used in an elementary school setting?
Today, with the amount of technology that young children are accustomed to using, there is no reason why this couldn't be utilized in an elementary classroom. Young students would be able to create blogs to discuss the solar system in the third grade or utilize class discussion pages to post comments about the class reading book. By utilizing these sites, teachers are teaching students to use the internet responsibly and appropriately all the while increasing content knowledge.

2. What are some of the benefits of using these types of programs?
Any student can use these sites and tools since they are free and user friendly. The great thing about them is that all students have access to these tools. There is no user fees or startup costs. Students can access these sites at libraries if they do not have computer access at home.