Chapters 1 and 2

It is hard to believe that the world wide web is only 15 years old. I can remember when my family got our first computer and first got access to the internet. To think of how much computers and the web have changed since then is mindblowing. Yet, it is an important reason that teachers learn about new technology and use it in their classroom.

I do agree with what the book was saying, that the technological world is evolving quickly but schools and education are having a difficult time keeping up. I was in a kindergarten classroom during my student teaching that used very little technology. This was something that I wish those students had been able to experience more.

The book discussed a lot of safety issues concerning the internet. I think it is extremely important to get parental consent before allowing students to publish any personal things on the internet. It can be a great way for students to showcase their work and then possibly discuss it, but it is more important that you have the permission of their parents before they do it. The author also said that he had a discussion with his class on what to do if they accidentally came upon inappropriate material on the internet. This is something, in my opinion, that needs to be done at the beginning of the school year, before students even get on the internet. By doing this, the students are prepared in case something did come up while they were on the internet.

I was suprised to find out that weblogs are not necessarily where people can write about their feelings and what happened over the day. I always assumed that a blog was exactly that. I completely agree that a lot of teenagers use blogs and other websites as social networking opportunities as opposed to letting them be used as instructional tools. Unfortunatly, I think this is something that is going to be hard to change but hopefully teachers can show them new, productive ways of using weblogs and other social websites.

I love the idea that students can interact with other people in different states or even in different countries. The idea that students can share their thoughts about a book or results of a certain experiment, and then have the author or scientist comment on what they have written, is extremely exciting. To me, weblogs seem like a win-win situation to teachers, students, parents, etc.