Week 2 Article Review

Web 2.0 in the Elementary Classroom: Portraits of Possibilities by William Kist

This article introduced some great Web 2.0 resources that can be utilized in across all grade levels in the elementary setting. The first teacher discussed how they utilize blogging in the first grade classroom for students to reflect on their weekend, restate learning, and pose questions. The students enjoyed writing their blogs and reading their peers. It is an opportunity for the students who may not be as vocal in the classroom to contribute.

Another teacher discussed the benefits of using Twitter in the classroom. The class would send out tweets throughout the day to keep parents up to date on their activities. If the parents are following, they do not have to ask the question “How was your day?” because they will be updated. The teacher even incorporated digital citizenship discussions into the experience.

The article also had piece from a teacher in New Zealand who utilizes web resources to stay up to date and to educate himself. The class uses Skype to feel more connected with the world and to help with research. The class used Photobooth to record video of 2D puppet shows they created after researching an animal habitat. 

I felt like some pieces of Web 2.0 resources mentioned in this article can be linked to my classroom. Blogging has a place in all classrooms but the technology access must be available because not all students can word-process at the same speed. I also enjoyed reading about how Twitter was used within an early elementary classroom. Creating a class twitter account or encouraging parents to follow me and then providing updates throughout the day is a great way to communicate. The only part of the article I disagreed with was that these types of classroom environments are only achievable for schools that have plenty of access to technology. With early childhood students, I feel like they would all need to be working on the blogging at the same time so that the teacher can monitor and help with questions. My biggest takeaway is a quote from the article. “The media used is not important; the attitude of the teacher is.” Teachers need to make an effort to try and go in with a positive attitude to have a truly successful experience.

Kist, William. (2010). Web 2.0 in the Elementary Classroom: Portraits of Possibilities. Retrieved from https://blogs.otago.ac.nz/multiliteracies/files/2015/03/Kist_2010.pdf