Emerging+Trends+Instruction

=**//Emerging Trends Instruction//**=



VoiceThread URL: []

__Project Description & Process__

The Emerging Trends project was designed to allow candidates to select a Web 2.0 application of their choice and introduce it to their classmates. Candidates had to assume that their fellow classmates knew little if nothing about the application of what defines a technology as being a part of Web 2.0. Required aspects of the project included the characteristics and history of the application, how the application can be used in business and educational settings, and any potential issues or problems new users might face. This instruction was to be delivered via VoiceThread -- itself a Web 2.0 application.

__Reflection__

Though I have known about Google since shortly after its inception, this project helped me understand of its history and its evolution over the past twelve years. I selected Google because of its reputation as being an industry leader in innovation and collaboration -- two characteristics I associate with high quality Web 2.0 applications. The use of iGoogle and Google Docs has been promoted over and over again in professional developments I have attended as well as by subject coalitions within the State of Delaware. The collaborative aspect allows quick and easy sharing of work and feedback between teachers and students.

The Emerging Trends project helped me clarify what exactly makes a Web 2.0 application distinct: interactivity. This interactivity comes in two forms: interaction between the user and the application, and interaction between users of the application. It is the latter form of interaction that characterizes so many Web 2.0 applications as such. I learned quite a bit about the VoiceThread application and its classroom potential -- I have, in fact, been experimenting with delivering content within my own classroom via VoiceThread since creating my initial VoiceThread for this course. This project has also introduced me to some Web 2.0 applications that I had no idea even existed prior to this course. Some of these applications have potential uses within my classroom, while others do not.

__Works Cited__