Web 2.0 and the Classroom

Over this last week I have looked at various ways to use web 2.0 tools in the classroom.  I must say that some of the options surprised me while others were fairly intuitive.  I use several web 2.0 tools in my everyday life but I can't say I would have thought to use things like Twitter and Facebook in the classroom.  I found several articles that discussed various uses for twitter and Facebook.  They can be found on the resources page. Some of the ideas suggested for using twitter would be to keep parents updated on what is going on in the classroom.  I have reservations about using twitter in this way,  While most parents would enjoy having this these updates, is there is always the chance that they could be taken the wrong way and parents could take issue with what is being written.  Then as a teacher the question becomes how much time can I spend tweeting to parents.  My focus is my classroom and I would hate to feel obligated to tweet and not be spending that time with my students.

Facebook is also a very interesting idea.  I could see using Facebook as way to keep parents up to date with what is going on in the classroom very similar to a website or blog.  Many people have Facebook accounts so even the least savvy person could connect to Facebook.  Also Facebook offers privacy so strangers would not be allowed to access the page.  Facebook also works when creating organization pages.  If the school has a volunteer group or after school club Facebook would be relatively safe and easy for the group to use.