Generation Web 2.0

I really enjoyed the part of the article where they spoke about podcasts. I thought this was great because it really relates to teachers in the way of keeping up with technology. Nearly all students nowadays have some form of mp3 player or ipod. For teachers to be able to use them in a classroom setting I believe would be highly motivating for most students, especially those who own this new type of music player. I don't think that teachers should be put off by using a podcast in the classroom as they really are unbelievably simple to use. Being able to stop and pause the podcast allows students to learn at their own pace, and headphones allow for individual learning, allowing the student to block out initial classroom noise and concentrate without distraction.

I do agree with the first page of the article, however I am not too confident with the use of myspace and other communication technologies. I tend to think that these cause more trouble than what is worth it, as having communication such as myspace allows for student to talk to anybody, particularly those they do not know. It seems very risky to me, and from experience can cause all sorts of problems in schools such as bullying. Children of a young age would have to be taught very well how to use the program and have a completely clear understanding of the risks and guidelines involved with such a communication device.

Web 2 is the latest internet technologies that lets users share knowledge and content world wide. these technologies include blogs, social sites eg facebook, etc. Web 2 also as alot of both private and public forums for discussion about certain topics or programs. Web 2 was created basically to help people or student to be able to access information quickly and easily. It also is good for determining prior knowledge of students so teachers could build on and maintaining a constant flow of information and learning.

Teacher Pedagogical Belifes

The purpose of the article is to examine the relationship between teachers' pedagogical beliefs and their technology practices. The hope is that be gaining a better understanding of this complex relationship, educators might gain a greater appreciation for why more teachers are not using technology in ways advocated in the literature.

Ultimately, the goal in which this article is trying to get across, is to facilitate uses of technology that lead to increased student learning. It seems that more education and more technology has been put into place for teachers, but the use of high end technology is still quite low. The article seems to imply that this may be because of the teachers pedagogical beliefs. For example, if there is a teacher who has been teaching for a number of years and who is not used to using ICT's in their everyday teachings, even though they may be familiar with using ICT's they either dont feel confident or simply do not feel ICT's have value in the classroom. This article is trying to depict between who simply cannot be bothered integrating ICT's and who honestly doesn't believe they have an impact on student learning. So now the problem seems to be not only that there are not enough resources but that teachers do not feel comfortable using them in the classroom.

I strongly beleive that there should now be a way of showing current teachers that ICT's are valued in a classroom and in learning practices, and that using them should be compulsory to a certain extent.