Week 4 PLN Reflection

The high adventure is over. We arrived back in muggy Memphis. Now for some serious catch-up work in this class.

In a live phone conversation with a teacher friend, her unscientific survey of other teachers in a live teacher summer class found blogs are difficult for students to use and students prefer Facebook as it is more familiar to them.

That led me to search of Facebook vs. Google. I found some lively blogger conversations on the "walled garden" (facebook) versus the "public park" (blog sites). Right now I'm leaning toward facebook account for each class for privacy and ease of use. My classes start in three weeks, so I need to make a quick yet wise decision.

As I chased around the bunny trail on this topic, I ran into a couple of helpful tools. Instapaper is a site to save web pages to read later. You can make folders to organize articles, print, and archive that pages saved on this site. I added their "read later" link to my bookmark toolbar and it instantly saves the link.

It was in this blogging vs. networking debate that I also found a database site that helps you find specific social networks. I have already found a site for homeschool chemistry teachers and students. Education 2.0 is a ning for teachers who are doing what we are doing...exploring and asking questions of using 2.0 tools for the classroom and PLN's. (If another of you has already posted this link, my apologies for not paying attention. It is not the often referred to Classroom 2.0 site.)

Here is the bottom line of what I learned: go to the blog sites of the guys who are writing the programs and applications for Web 2.0 tools and read the banter between them. It provides a new perspective and sometimes someone will put out a link that will get teachers connected.