Web+Technology+(new+Reading+and+Writing+literacies)

**Web Technology (New Reading and Writing Literacies)**
//Your Challenge: What are **at least 3** other things one can do with the Web (with a Smartboard or even each student with a laptop) besides retrieve facts and information, that might enhance a classroom lesson?//

__**Communication**__ The World Wide Web has a vast array of possibilities for the 21st century learner. With communication skills at the forefront of what students are going to be asked to do in their professional as well as personal lives. It is essential that we use the Web to its maximum potential in order to prepare them for success in the workplace and at home. The resources that are available for teaching students to effectively communicate are endless. Take discussions for instance, teachers could have students and parents create Facebook accounts for professional / school use, or could have them use blogs. This provides students with opportunities to communicate with each other, teachers, professionals, other schools, etc. on the web through writing email or blogging. This means that students could participate in live discussions during class or at home after school hours. Facebook accounts can also be utilized as a stream of communication between teacher and student, allowing for more individualized feedback outside the classroom as time allows. In addition, students could take advantage of this communication opportunity by posting on blogs or discussion boards like Blackboard. Furthermore, teachers could instruct students in the art of effective letter writing skills using email, and could set their students up with e-pals and language pals using Internet resources. Students could also communicate through video and audio. They can demonstrate understanding, share ideas, and learn via video, screencasting, etc. These activities could further extend into Skype conversations with these e-pals and would expose students to other cultures. Still another communication activity teachers might have students engage in would be working together to collect and share work with one another from around the globe. As an extension of this, students can interact and communicate with others through virtual reality worlds like SecondLife. The benefit of this is that we would also be teaching our students to respect differences in various cultures depending on the assignment, by using technology to bridge a cultural divide. With the World Wide Web students can communicate directly to the actual people they may be studying including, but not limited to, artists, authors, directors, and musicians through e-mail or any other available method of communication. Parent / teacher communication would also improve with the creation of a scheduler for parent teacher conferences. This doesn't mean that the typical meeting wouldn't be set up via a telephone, but it simply provides an additional way for parents and teacher to schedule a conference. With the Internet parents could also subscribe to RSS feeds for classroom or school information updates.


 * __Collaboration__**

While students begin to use the World Wide Web to communicate with one another in school environments, they will also begin to build their collaboration skills. As students access these forums and write on them, they are also learning to share and help each other in writing assignments. Web based tools such as wikis, Google Docs, and online storyboarding can be used by students in collaborative writing activities, which would allow them to share their strengths throughout the process of prewriting, writing and revising. Wikis and Google Docs could also be used to collaboratively generate ideas and materials for in-class debates or projects. Classes can work with scientists or other participating classes on experiments/studies, such as those found on Journey North. Students can work collaboratively with a partner/small group on homework assignments and projects without having to physically "meet" in person. Students can practice/play music together and assist each other in regards to technique, interpretation as well as collaborate and create online ensembles. Students can also compose music by contributing their melodic/harmonic ideas, editing their parts, posting recordings of their parts, or a recording of their final performance. Students can create artwork together by collaborating on design ideas with other students

__**Interactive Activities**__

In addition to communicating, the web also has some amazing resources for Interactive activities. Virtual field trips, online gaming and virtual manipulatives are examples of resources teachers can use to further student understanding of taught concepts. By utilizing these activities, different learning modalities will be addressed, thereby increasing the likelihood of student engagement and understanding. Students will be able to see connections between what is learned in the classroom and how it can be applied in the real world; providing them with additional methods of understanding information and recalling it later. Schools that do not have appropriate funds or resources for outside classroom activities, can take their students "places" (as listed above), thus giving them a better understanding of how or why the things they are learning about work in the real world. In some cases, it may be safer to take students to places virtually, than in person such as, looking at the dynamics of a volcano, geyser, underwater sea life or the rain forest.


 * __Publishing__**

The web also provides an outlet for students as far as gaining mastery of different ways of publishing their products or submitting projects. Now we have the web to create e-portfolios for their work, allowing feedback from classmates as well as instructors., create and upload podcasts, can have students create and edit videos as part of a project and upload them to youtube or other sites. This is good for grading and sharing alike and would allow access to their work by anybody at any time, such as students who may be home due to an illness or injury for an extended period of time, or the student who simply wishes to have access to class content and resources outside of school. The days of not being able to complete an assignment because a student simply forgot their worksheet in their locker, or to write down the assignment could potentially be a thing of the past. Also along these lines, teachers can create and archive videos of lessons, daily lectures, or supplemental materials for their classes. This can effectively extend the classroom into a student's home. Remote access to all class content can be a valuable asset to a student's education.