Trying New Things

This week I looked at some new Web 2.0 tools. I explored VoIP, GoogleEarth and LinkeIn. All of these were in a way new to me. VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol as they are known as is similar to using the phone but it is over the internet. I was familiar with Skype but not many of the others such as Oovoo or Tokbox. These websites are interesting and I actually have found that often people that do not enjoy talking on the phone enjoy using Skype because they can do more things such as show the person they are talking to items that are on their end.I could see myself using this in school for IEP meetings. Many times parents can not always make it in to an IEP meeting and they ask to attend via the telephone. If they have internet I could see Skype being more useful during a meeting so that parents can put names and faces together as well as the teachers can see the parents. The second tool that I looked at was GoogleEarth. This is a map that shows the earth, as it really looks. A student could be in class learning about a place and then go online and actually see the place. Finally I looked at LinkedIn. This website is thought of as a professional network. They're mission is to connect all the worlds professionals and in the end make them more successful because of these connections. I could see this website being useful in school to show student the importance of being connected to others. Also it could be used to help students understand what is important for them to do to reach their future goals in life. If they want to become a police officer they could connect with other police officers and talk to them about what they feel is important for the student to focus on now while they are still in school.