Technology+and+Leadership+Book+Summary

The book I selected to read for Technology Leadership was “Web 2.0: new tools, new schools”. My first instinct was that I felt this book would give me good insight to information that I am not completely aware of. As I go through this journey of becoming a technology leader at my school, I hope that I can open doors to new “tools” that my school has not used before.
 * Technology/Leadership Summary**

First and foremost, the introduction to this book focused on how students are different today mostly because of technology. It even stated a list of the top ten reasons students use as excuses of why they couldn’t turn in their homework. It is needless to say, that students have gone beyond using the excuse “my dog ate my homework” to now that “my dog chewed my laptop.” Students are so reliable on technology that it has become a part of their daily life regardless if we are educators included it in our curriculum or not.

The main points that were being addressed throughout this book included examples of Web 2.0 tools, 21st century learning, online safety and professional development. Most of the examples of Web 2.0 tools I was aware of because it wasn’t that long ago when I was in school and using some of them. “Three of the most commonly used Web 2.0 tools are blogs, podcasts and wikis.” (Solomon 2007). I never had never used any form of podcasting, but it was interesting to read about how it works. Other popular web 2.0 tools were social bookmarking, photo sharing, 3D modeling and mapping. Next, 21st century learning is something that I felt was important to read about because as the word changes with technology, their greatest contenders are our students. Author Marc Prensky stated himself that “students have not just changed incrementally from those of the past…our students have changed radically” (2001). For some educators, it difficult to catch up to a generation where students use technology as their main source of communication and learning. Educators must be able to adapt to their needs even if it does take more time and training. Also, as we continue to grow in teaching with the opportunities that come our way, it is important that we understand how to teach online safety before it becomes a problem. A major issue today is cyber bullying. Some people may feel that it is not affected students all that much, but as you can see in the media, it has become an even bigger problem than expected. “Cyber bulling may be the online equivalent of bad schoolyard behavior, but it is not less hurtful or dangerous” (Solomon 2007). We need to make sure to protect our students from this type of behavior and make sure to only provide access to accurate information on the internet. Finally, professional development is critical for today’s educators. “As technology improves, many school districts adopt new methods to enhance communication, teaching, and learning (Solomon 2007). It is our responsibility to be life longer learners and to participate in programs or classes that will get us accustomed to new ways of learning. It is important to go beyond just what you learned in high school or college. Also it is critical that teachers become comfortable with working with Web 2.0 tools as well developing their own networks. Most importantly, it is important we fill in the gaps of what is still to be learned in this ever-changing world.

As you can see, this book represented a good focus on the main tools and topics needed to be addressed in our schools. We need to adapt to today’s students, learn about new ways of teaching as well as protect our students from online safety. **__Citations__** Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9 (5), 10-15. Retrieved from[|www.marcpresnky.com/writin/Prensky-Digital]

Solomon,G. & Schrum ,L. (2007). //Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.// Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education