Thing #19

Microblogging - Facebook; more popular than porn says Time Magazine. When you can reach all of your friends through social networking (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter www.twitter.com), then porn sites lag behind (for the 18-24 year olds). Social Networks rank first. Web 2.0 is all about empowering individual consumers. It's not enough just to find that old movie; now you can make your own film, distribute it worldwide, and find out what people think almost instantly. Twitter: the exchange of quick frequent answers to one simple question.
Students have a natural affinity for these tools, specifically interconnectedness, immediacy, interactivity, communications, and community. Being so connected, students can dig deeper to find information that stretches their ability to reason. Students can collaborate on projects and consult experts in a matter of minutes and then, share their data with the world. The parents (and teachers) of the 21st century student who plays video games, text messages, conducts internet searches, downloads music, shares files, and uses the Web for homework, have to struggle to keep up! They no longer have to look to a parent or a teacher for an answer, and they no longer have the patience to wait on an answer. It's all right there in this interactive world we call Web 2.0.