Journal #2

Article: Breathing Fire into Web 2.0
By Justin Hardman and David Carpenter

This article was very interesting to read because it is something that I have truthfully never heard about before. It is always so great for me to hear stories of how things were created by a simple idea by simple people. The two men who created DragonNet were two teachers from an international school looking to organize their calanders and information on-line so it could be shared. A simple idea grew into a fantastic way for educators to organize all of their information in collaboration with the schools, students and collagues.
The Web 2.0 service is not something that I know a whole lot about, so some of the information within the story was difficult for me to grasp. From my understanding, this new service, Web 2.0, is a new form of the internet that offers more than the older version does.
I think this is a fantastic idea because it encourages the use of technology in the classroom, which as discussed many times in class, can have numerous benefits. You can teach a science lesson online and not only are the students learning about science but also about technology. Many of the different NETS standards for students and possibly teachers, would be met through using a service similar to that of DragonNet.
Another benefit is that students could use the DragonNet for social networking, as opposed to using FaceBook or MySpace, which can have negative reputations.
My first question is would I be interested in using a Web-based program similar to DragonNet in my classroom. The answer would be an emphatic yes! I believe that this could help all of us mulit-taskers have one central location to organize all of our information for inside and outside of the classroom. I love the ability to enter all the information and make it available to students at certain times.
My second question involves the expansion of the DragonNet. Is this program only available for the teachers of the Hong Kong International School? I Googled the program and it came up as only a program for the Hong Kong International School. I believe however it could be a prototype for other schools and Web-based programs similar to this one could be created for school districts individually. What a fantastic idea!