Blog 4: Oh where oh where is Waldo on the Web?

AOL, Internet Explorer, MSN messenger, Yahoo!, Google!, and Mozilla Firefox. What do they all have in common? They are all part of the web, they are the web. But slowly, humans are gaining the control of what is the web and how we as a society want to define the web. I mean, who could of thought that in 2008, we would be able to watch videos on the computer FOR FREE from a site called youtube.com? Or even more surprising, we would be able to watch our favorite television programs online, for FREE? The internet age is booming and with it comes new tools that are available to our beck and call. With Google, we are now able to search through millions of topics and focus in on a specific idea or thought we are looking for. I remember when search engines first appeared and how much time and energy it would take to just search for a respected article for a school paper. With Google scholar, that process is simple and easy and less time consuiming. Hallelujah for Google!

From this class period alone, I have found all sorts of little gadgets that are offered on the web to help make life easier and more efficient. For instance, a website called Backpack.com allows you to create lists of things to do. From there, you can then send them to your e-mail or even to your cellphone. Even better, Google Maps allow you to virtually see your point of destination without having to go through the channels and bowels of mapquest.com. Simply put, these little gadgets are making life simpler and easy to manage. Or, on a little harsher note, it increases life's urgency to get things done in a quick amount of time...leaving people to feel harried or rushed. But right now, let's focus on the positives.

I am so surprised how far we've come as educators when examining our relationship with technology. Seriously, could our predecessors have imagined they would be teaching with iBooks and virtual chalkboards? I think not. When I was mentoring at Rudiger Elementary, I basked in awe as a teacher practiced F-CAT with her students, NOT from a dry erase board, but from a digital Apple iBoard. She could draw and work out the problems with ease. Who knew that technology would become so needed that it would replace a board and markers? But does it make life simple? Now that's where the debate is.