Task+1-Exploring

Take a few minutes and ask Google the question "what is web 2.0"?
==== You will find a number of ideas. More than almost anything you will find that there are wide-ranging answers. Think about it and come up with your own definitions. ==== ==== Some of you will probably wonder why you should bother spending time learning new ways of doing things. The answer to this question isn't so easy as doing a Google search. There are many reasons why Web 2.0 is widely touted as a way to teach now. Think of the world our children live in outside of the classroom. Is content important when you can get answers in seconds by knowing the right question to ask? All of us have probably heard of Bloom's taxonomy. Do we really set out to teach and assess the kinds of things on the low thinking spectrum? Here's the [|prospective of one student] from a recent Technology and Learning article. Other than to have education look good on the Jay Leno "man on the street" interview, do you think students should memorize the states and capitals or the capitals of countries? What kinds of assessments could we use in light of this knowledge? Studies from numerous sources have shown that there are actual physical differences in the brains of our students. Many of them have to do with engaging students. Some of them have to do with the disconnect between learning and the real world. While our brains were trained in a black and white world, our students have been living in a world that is rich in color and sound. The world has been changing how work is done but our classrooms are stuck in the Industrial Age where we knew what students would need to be successful in life. That model doesn't work any more. Check out ====

this video similar to the one on the introductory page.
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==== But wait, there's more. What are 21st Century Skills? Read about them at [|this site]. Explore all the tabs on the left hand side of the page. ====

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===**Web 2.0 applicati**ons are all about connecting. B**logging connects people and ideas**. The exact number of blogs is unknown but in 2007 there were over 70 million blogs according to Technorati's "[|State of the Live Web]" for April 2007. Bloggers blog about almost any topic, even Julia Child's cookbook. And you can get up to the moment statistics about what is hot or not by going to [|Alexa.]===

=
 **This is a quote from ASH's 23 Things "Blogging is more than writing.** Blogging is **//reading, reflecting, questioning, researching, synthesizing, linking, conversing, teaching, sharing and expressing ideas//**. Blogging is about writing, **but blogging begins with reading** **."** ======

====There are many, many [|educational bloggers]. Here is another source of all kinds of blogs picked out by Educators on EduBlogs. Since you are becoming a blogger, reading blogs is an important part of what you will begin doing.====

====Spend an hour going over the written material about brains, learning, and 21st Century Skills. Document this is some way by discussing it on your blog. Answer the questions below or make up some similar observations that you choose. This is worth two credit points.====


 * 1) ====What are three important things you found out about the brain and the learners we are teaching? How do you think Web 2.0 fits in?====
 * 2) ====What are some 21st Century skills that are relevant to your teaching? Which ones do you think are most important to equip your students for tomorrow using today's tools?====
 * 3) ====Spend some time exploring educational bloggers. Find at least three to add as a blog roll gadget on your blog. Adding the blog roll is worth one more point.====