Using New Web Tools in the Primary Classroom by David Barber and Linda Cooper is for all educators interested in the application of new Web-based ICTs to primary teaching. It offers a justification for using Web 2.0 tools and explores tangible ways in which technologies such as blogs, wikis, podcasting, media sharing, and social networking sites can enhance classroom practice, teaching, and learning.
Considering key issues such as how children learn, curriculum, policy, and children’s prior experiences of ICT, this book focuses on the expectations and needs of the child and how technology can be unlocked to meet those needs now and in the future. Key ideas considered include:
- Diverse views of social software in education
- Using web tools to create and reinforce stimulating learning environments
- Teacher skills and the availability of suitable technology
- Competing demands of government policies and curriculum
- Practical ideas for enriching learning through social software:
Children as producers of knowledge, as explorers, and as communicators