Final Blog Reflection on Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Tools

When I registered for this class in December, I was not really so sure that I could learn so many new things. This class definitely helped me a lot. To me, it was a kind of life-changing experience. This class is different than other ETEC classes. As I explored some web 2.0 tools in this seven weeks, I can list following advantages of using web 2.0 tools in learning environments

• Web 2.0 tools support collaboration.

• Web 2.0 tools are easily accessible and easy to use.

• Many students and teachers have a comfort level using them.

• Tools are low-cost (most of the times free).

• Tools do not require much maintenance support.

• Web 2.0 tools have very little “downtime."

However, before using these tools in the classroom, training the teachers is essential. Alo teachers need to step out of their comfort zone, and strive to learn more about these tools. The biggest concern with web 2.0 tools are privacy and security issues. There are plenty of resources out there about how to use these tools securely in the classroom.Overall, I feel like I am very fortunate to take this class this year. As a class, I think we did great job developing one of the best(my opinion) evaluation rubric that assessing web 2.0 tools. I used the rubric for my final project, and in the future I would like to use this rubric to evaluate other web 2.0 tools.

Unleashing the Power of Web 2.0 Tools

End of Course Vanity Search

When I conduct my final vanity search, I see that my digital footprint has grown significantly last seven weeks. When I search as "Muammer Aktas", same prosecutor is still popular on search results, but on Google Images, I finally got some pictures displayed.

On the web results, my name appears two times on the first page. I just setup my LinkedIn account, and it appeared on the first page.

On the Google Videos search results, my youtube channel got the first place, and surprisingly the video I created and uploaded to youtube for my final project for this class displayed on the first page.

When I search my name as " Muammer Aktas TAMUC" I have noticed significant change on search results, most of the results related to this class (ETEC 527). I feel lucky taking this class, it definitely helped me to expand my digital footprint about my academic and professional life. I will keep continue to explore more tools, and keep enlarging my footprint across to web.