SIGMS @ the NECC conference

After watching the video for the NECC conference, I am inspired to try to do some of what was mentioned concerning web 2.0 applications. First, David Loertescher's presentation on the learning commons rather than a typcial library web page made a lot of sense. He stated that rather than the library web page being a one-way street of information, it should be a conversation between all people involved in the school community. It would be like a big wiki.
I especially liked his idea of how to treat a unit that is repeatedly taught each year. There would be a "knowledge construction center" with the unit information and sources added by different people involved, and attached to the wiki would be the teacher blog with directions where the students and specialists could comment. This would help organize and connect students so much more. They would feel better supported when away from the school, because the learning commons would always be available. I also liked the idea of having all the students put the teacher blog into their rss feed. I wish I would have thought of all these ideas when I was an English teacher!

Another important aspect of web 2.0 use in the school was mentioned that I feel students can never be reminded of enough, and that is knowing how to use the technology responsibly so they do not hurt themselves or others. They should be constantly reminded that anything they put up on the web can potentially come back to them later, and they should be sure that any pictures or videos will not have any potential negative consequences.

I also found some of what Christopher Harris spoke about to be fascinating. He is a big fan of open-source software and said that wordprocessing should be added to the learning commons page mentioned by Loertescher. He mentioned using Zoho for wordprocessing, which would make it so students could search the catalogue, collaborate with each other, and conduct other research while also having the ability to write all within the one site. This does sound very exciting, and would make it so students could work on their project from any computer at any time without worry of software compatibility or flashdrives.

Harris also said he was over the idea of a laptop for every student, and thinks there should be an iPhone or ipod touch for every student. This sounds awesome, yet I would be worried about how easily these could be lost, stolen, or broken. Maybe I'm wrong to have that worry, and his idea of each classroom having a closed and safe network on the iPhone sounds fabulous. I may have to get over such fears because the idea sounds like it could be beneficial to students' learning.