Review: Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools in the K-12 Classroom

Beverley E. Crane is the author of the 2012 monograph, Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools in the K-12 Classroom, a concise and detailed look at how teachers and school librarians can use current technology to engage their students in twenty-first-century learning. Crane is an educator who has developed and taught workshops for classroom teachers and school librarians on integrating online searching into their curricula.  In this, her fourth book published by Neal-Schuman, Crane has written a hands-on manual for teachers and school librarians to learn how to incorporate Web 2.0 and social media technology into their lesson plans. 
 
Using Web 2.0 and Social Networking Tools in the K-12 Classroom explores many educational technologies and tools, and explores how to use them across a range of subjects, including English Language Learning and Elective Subjects. The technology tools that Crane describes, explains, and demonstrates in her book include blogs, wikis, podcasts, Skype, social networks, Google Tools, and digital video.  Crane also discusses how teachers and school librarians can harness the power of Web 2.0 tools and social networking to communicate, collaborate, and learn with their colleagues, including how to create their own online Personal Learning Networks.
 
The chapters are organized for efficient learning.  Each chapter is designed in the same fashion: a list of Learning Objectives; Glossary of terms; Information, Ideas and Insights into each specific technology; steps to begin using the technology with detailed real-life examples; Practical Applications with detailed lesson plans; and a listing of URLs relevant to the technology.  Screen shots and URLs to real-life examples of how teachers and school librarians have incorporated each technology into their pedagogy are also included, and offer the reader the opportunity to examine them in detail. 
 
The learning does not stop once you have read this book.  Crane refers her readers to the website she created to accompany her book, at www.neal-schuman.com/webclassroom, where she offers current information, ideas, and educational uses for technology tools.  Additionally, Crane hosts a blog at http://bevcrane.blogspot.com, where educators can share their ideas and learn what their colleagues worldwide are creating with technology for their students.
 
Crane’s book will be a valuable resource for teachers and school librarians, and I look forward to a future revised edition that reflects advances in educational technology.  As a Youth Librarian at a public library, I will use many of her ideas and information in planning programming for children and teens.  I highly recommend this title for all education and information professionals who strive to engage their twenty-first-century students and library patrons.