Thing #5

    Web 2.0

     Richard MacManus (2005) describes Web 2.0 as an "...everyday, non-technical people using the Web to enhance their lives and businesses", and the act of people using it as more of a movement; he goes on to explain "[t]he Web is an infrastructure, a foundation. What we create and build on the Web is what Web 2.0 is all about". From the time society figured out that a stick could be used as a cane the advancements of technology has been heavily sought after. Wars have been fought and decided on the fact of higher technology. This technology should be adapted in to the classroom. A student should have to construct a project on the Internet as well as create a hands on representation too. The student needs to learn how to write on paper and type on a keyboard. The student should know how to problem solve using a book and using the Internet. The best of two worlds has never been looked at as a bad thing, and in time something else will replace what society knows as Web 2.0.
     Web 2.0 is best described by Susan McLester (2007) as "...today's Internet [that] has become a pervasive influence on the daily lives of a significant number of citizens across the world". The Internet has opened so many opportunities that were not there before. Now people can have what they need at their finger tips. Even most public libraries offer free Internet use. However, as much as the Internet has changed the lives of the older generation, the younger generation sometimes assumes that the way they experience the world is the way in which it has always been. Web 2.0's use in the classroom must be maximized; if this is how the world is going to work then students need to become much more familiar with using the Internet as a tool rather than a source of entertainment. The presidents, vice-president, human resource workers, or anyone that has the power should be getting on this; as a company they could easily sponsor some type of fundraiser to ensure that schools are technologically able to teach, which would better prepare the companies employment future. This is called protecting your assets.