Journal 2

"Breathing Fire into Web 2.0", by Justin Hardman and David Carpenter

From what I can gather, Web 2.0/Dragonnet seems to be like a fancy mix between a myspace/facebook, webct, and a giant server of information. It's very impressive how small ideas can grow, bloom, and become something so much greater than they were ever planned for. I definately like the idea of posting and sharing information with other teachers around the world. This can give new teachers a springboard to jump from, and for regular teachers, there's always something new to try or learn. I also like it's communication aspects for students and parents, opening up a vessel to communicate, with the teacher, as well as fellow students when/if they need help. I suppose, in that sense, it's the only thing that scares me, that it's similar to webct. Webct is a useful program, but it has it's share of bugs and glitches. I have yet to try dragonnet, but I'm sure it has it's share of holes and glitches, it wouldn't be 2.0 without it. As far as questions, ONE WOULD BE HOW I CAN USE THIS SYSTEM TO MAKE IT MORE USER-FRIENDLY FOR THEM. I think the allure of having a "school myspace" might be very enticing, as well as with the digital age we live in, one can't really go wrong. SECONDLY, WHAT IF I OPENED THE PROGRAM UP TO PARENTS? I think it could be a positive experience for them to get involved as well, especially in the form of communicating with the teacher as well as monitoring and helping their children along.