PLN

Google Reader and igoogle are the first tools I share with others when I'm discussing some of the topics/tools covered in the current grad class I'm taking. I explain that these tools are the way to stay connected with so many topics in the area of education or any other area of interest. I explain how RSS Feeds are the great tool that give us the capability to follow blogs and wikis on any given topic. All the blogs and wikis of interest are pushed into our Google Reader, along with our gmail account, which can all be accessed from igoogle, which also has a great search engine.

Wikis are a tool I find beneficial for class purposes. I think it's great for everyone to have input on a given topic. I know that wikis are not a reliable source for research on the web and it is frustrating when searching for something and several wikis pop up. I'm happy that we as educators have made our student population aware of the use of wikis.

Blogs are great tools for many reasons. It is beneficial and therapeutic to share your knowledgeable point of view on a topic. It is beneficial to others to reads, view, and comment on your point of view. I feel blogs can be a disservice when they are for ranting and raving on a hot topic that people don't know enough about to comment on.

Del.ici.ous is one of the best tools I had the pleasure of exploring. It is great to have all your favorites at your fingertips as well as the appropriately tagged favorites of others. The one down fall is, I couldn't install the toolbar on my school computer, but I can still navigate my way to my del.ici.ous.

Google apps are a great way to work collaboratively on a written project or presentation. I know other polling sites like Survey Monkey have many of the same perks, but I think the fact that google has set the apps up to be at your fingertips from your igoogle account is a great plus.

Google Earth has great capabilities in general, but still limited capabilities at my school as well as many others. It's sad that all students can't access every part of this informational tool.

Twitter is amazing. The number of tweets coming into my account daily is phenomenal. I love knowing what's happening, everywhere. This is the tool that gives me this capability.

All the collaborative whiteboard tools are easy to navigate and share. They are by far the easiest tool to use to collaborate with others who are not in the same room with you. They are great for brainstorming topics out of the classroom and in.

Elluminate is a great tool, but is best used with microphone capability, which everyone doesn't always have. I have done a few web workshops using Elluminate and was happy with the results.

All in all, I've enjoyed learning about all the tools we've been introduced to. Knowledge is power and this case is no different. Staying in the dark and lacking awareness and use of these great web 2.0 tools would only hurt my students progress and my own in the end.