What is a blog?

This is my first week in Literacy and Technology. I am nervous about all of the different Web 2.0 tools that we are going to use. I have heard the term Web 2.0, but I am not really sure what it means. Guess I will be finding out soon enough. During my first week I worked with my group, the Teck Trekies, on our Powerpoint presentation. Since I joined the class a little later my group already had the presentation together, but I was able to add narration to some of the slides. This was really cool since I had never done this before. I also learned about LoTi and discussed it with my group during one of our WizIq meetings. In our discussion we came to the conclusion that technology is not used effectively in schools. WizIq is new to me also. It seems kind of strange to meet with people virtually, to hear them, but not see them. This week I started my personal website, blog, and wiki. I was concerned about all of this being on the internet, but realized that it had to be safe or we would not have been asked to do them. I am still not sure what a wiki is. Our class requires us to use Moodle. This is my first time using this as well and find it interesting that everything you could need for your class is there and that assignments are submitted through here as well. I learned the difference between Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. Even though I was around before Web 2.0 and probably most of Web 1.0, I am still considered a Digital Immigrant because I did not really grow up with technology. Technology definately adds convenience to our lives, but sometimes can make things more difficult. We cannot afford to keep up with the ever changing technology. Most memorable for me during this first week is the abundance of resources that can be used in regards to technology and schools. To think we are only scratching the surface of this in our first week. Included in this memorable moment is the creation of my previously mentioned website, blog, and wiki. Also, to realize how important it is to evaluate websites and make sure that they are reliable, current, and safe. I think this class is going to be a rocky road. There are so many assignments, videos, readings, and activities to do that I do not know how I will ever keep up. Most of these activities are interesting and educational in regards to the course topic, but there are so many. This is completely overwhelming, but will be worth it in the end. Technology is vastly becoming important in learning and teaching. It is all around us and needs to be included in education. There are so many resources that can be used. It is important for teachers to know about this technology to keep up with and teach to their students because they come in knowing more than we do. This is empowering because teacher and student are able to learn from each other. Our blogs are supposed to be an ongoing event throughout the course. They are to be informative and educational with catchy titles, but I find this task to be daunting and will attempt the challenge.