Web 2.0

Web 2.0 tools are a great way to integrate technology into the classroom.  This week in class we were assigned a web 2.0 tool and were required to learn the tool and work with it so that we could teach it to the class.  I worked with a tool called Timetoast.  Timetoast is a free tool that allows users to create a timeline through the web.  Through this web 2.0 tool users can also browse other timelines for ideas by categories including music, film, science, technology, politics, and history.
Overall, I enjoyed using this tool, however there were a lot of weaknesses that I encountered.  One of the biggest obstacles that I came across was that the tool did not seem very elementary friendly.  For example, I tried to do timelines of sequence books, but the timeline requires a specific date and year which certainly limits the tool.  The next topic I thought about doing for the timeline was about the presidents, however, for many of the earlier presidents, such as George Washington there are not specific dates.  I think this tool would be most appropriate for secondary education or for creating a syllabus.  I did my timeline on Hurricane Katrina, and this worked out really well, but overall I don't think I would use this tool in an elementary environment, but I believe it would be very useful in a secondary classroom.