Journal #2

"Bloggers Cafe - Making Your Presence Known" By Tim Lauer
Learning and Leading with Technology - Aug. 2007

This article talks about the use of micro-blogging and live streaming within the teacheing profession and how it is revolutionizing staff development. In particular it focuses on two websites that help make this possible, Twitter and Jaiku. Both of these sites allow users to display in real time what is happening via the internet at any moment. They also allow users to file share with friends and other users. Jaiku in particular "provides a whole picture of what a person does online." This can be helpful in identifying a persons computer usage and tracking them throughout the internet. It goes on to talk about how school districts are now using these sites to help promote staff development by sending a few people to an out of state conference and sending a feed back to the school, via the internet, so that all staff can benefit from information at the conference. The coolest part of the article, in my opinion, is that these websites also allow for video feeds to be sent wirelessly to cellphones as well.

Questions:
1)Would school districts object to using these websites within a classroom setting?
I think school districts would have a hard time objecting to utilizing one of these two websites within a classroom. I think that the benefit of staff development and educational data sharing far outweighs any negatives, since keeping teachers on the forefront of technology and educational issues is so great. i think by using this sites teachers will be able to share experiences, and "best practices" amongst each other, making all teachers across the country better.


2)What benefits are there if a teacher would use one of these two sites in the classroom?
I think teachers should use these sites in their classroom. No longer can the students use the excuse i wasn't at school, or I was sick that day for no completing their homework. Teachers could literally show students via the wbsite what was taught in class via a video stream. Teachers can then hold the student responsible for work that was completed in class. It can also allow students who didn't understand the activity to review the lesson at home with their parents. This would give the students an additional opportunity for review as well as answer any questions they may have.