Weblog 5

As a teacher, what range of Web 2.0 applications do you need to integrate into your web presence? What are your goals? What are your students’ needs? How best to facilitate communications with your students and their parents? What about your principal’s expectations and/or concerns?

Web 2.0 Applications:
I hope my applications are useful and user-friendly. Students should be able to access and use without too much outside help. I want them to be content-specific. Sites that enrich topics we are studying in class would also be helpful. I want students to have access to sites that offer remediation as well as sites that provide a challenge for those seeking and needing one. Ideally, I would like to find a way to receive feedback regarding students' progress, especially those needing remediation. Most important, I want my students to learn how to ...learn.

My Goals:
See above...
In addition I want to to be able to keep my page up to date. I can be a perfectionist, so I do not want to spend to much time on the insignificant details of the site...just the facts, but fun.

Students' Needs:
I asked the students what they would like to see on the site and their responses were interesting...
-a place to get past assignments
-also a place to get future assignments, so they may get ahead
-ask others for help (including me)
-games to help them with vocabulary words
(If this is all I include, it may be easier than I thought ;) Obviously, I want there to be more to my site. I do not think they even realize the possibilities, nor do I have a complete grasp. I am just excited to get it started!

Communication:
Ideally, I would like this to be a school wide assignment. We could hold a parent night to let them explore the possibilities. We could also set up a video podcast for parents and students to access should they need a tutorial that they have immediate access. It would be great if our district's website offered tutorials for parents to view as well. We could conduct a video conference with parents and students. We could even do something as basic as a newsletter.

Principal's Concerns?
Safety! Whatever you are placing on our site would obviously have to be safe for our students. I think she would also expect us to keep it updated...not just a one time thing. She may want it to be accessible, user friendly (for parents and students). I would also think she would want it to be useful.