Educational Technology Journey

Today I spent some more time searching Web 2.0 tools. This time I visited the “What Kids Can Do” site from our Calendar home page. I followed the “Youth meets Web 2.0” link to find a list of resources including a “Seven Things You Should Know About Series” by EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. Each article in this series focuses on a single web tool and discusses briefly what it is, how it works, where it is going and why it matters to teaching and learning. I found it very helpful. They have various Web 2.0 tools listed. I learned about a few but the one that interests me most is the Mapping Mashups. It uses online mapping services to display customized, interactive markers that can be used in classrooms. I am hoping to learn enough about it to create a map for my Passport project where the students visit each of the different countries that we cover. It will clearly show the students spatial relationships between where we live and the countries we visit. Last year I just showed them some non-fiction books about the country and discussed some interesting facts but I think this will catch their attention even better.