Thing 5

School 2.0 appears to be the inevitable development of education and technology. As a society, we are advancing further and further into the age of technology that education was clearly next. In classrooms, we already use so much technology, like smart boards, laptops for power points, and computers for student activities and projects. School 2.0, to me, means that we are about to embark on a new and adventurous form of teaching that will takes us to places we have yet to explore, and it will bring new benefits to both teachers and students. 

School 2.0 is going to explode in the future and many of the articles represent some of the new aspects to teaching that this program will offer. This includes distance learning programs, free and open source software, and video conferencing. Since School 2.0 is basically a combination of home, school, and community, there are other tools offered through several websites that combine these areas. They have community tools which will enable teachers and students to communicate, share their work, and collaborate on programs and assignments. They have mobile tools for pod-casting, blogs, media sharing, and even quizzes or tests. 

There are so many benefits to School 2.0 because it makes work interactive and allows all students to participate. It also creates a huge tidal wave of information and endless amount of activities and assignments that can be offered. The only downside to School 2.0 that I can think of, is that there may be a disconnect with some students who do not translate their work through technology well, such a special education students. There would have to be seperate guidelines for special education classrooms to allow the students to complete work with the help of their teachers or parents, if they are not able to manipulate a computer well.
Other than that, I think School 2.0 is a wonderful way for students to get interactive with their work and great for parents to get involved with every aspect of their child's education, as well as keep track of their progress and work.