Web+2.0

Web 2.0 Using Web 2.0 technology in education is a unique way of diversifying your lessons and bringing technology skills into your students’ hands. There are many different applications that you can use in the classroom in order to convey more information is various ways to students. Anything from Podcasting, in which students would be able to listen to an expert speak on any subject from around the world, live during class. Students are able to get streaming news from Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds, as long as they have internet access, from either a portable device, or a computer. Web 2.0 also offers a variety of options that can supplement and spice up what would be a normal power point presentation. There are boundless ways that Web 2.0 can add variety and another perspective into the world of education. In the collection of Web 2.0 tools on the website http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/, there is access to over twenty different types of tools, all related to being able to deliver information in a fast and efficient way to numerous people at one time. The first type of tool that I examined was the mapping tools. The mapping tools allow you to create and edit various maps, including street maps, and world maps. These tools allow you to put in landmarks on different maps, or create visual map presentations. There is even tools where you can upload pictures and then provide a map of where the pictures were taken. I would incorporate these mapping tools into my classroom when doing different types of lessons. I would use the map editing tools to allow students to create battle scenes for a Civil War lesson. I would be able to split the class up into groups for the various armies involved in the war and have them track their progress throughout the war on the map. Or you can track the progress of a hurricane up the coast of theUnited States in a geography lesson. There would be a variety of opportunities to incorporate the mapping tools into lessons. The second set of tools I examined was the writing tools. The writing tools have a much greater variety of tools available. It has tools that allow students to create comic strips, and other animated story telling features. It also has personal journals and diaries that you can create. Other tools include citation makers and the opportunity to post notes from your class and allow other students to read, correct, add to, and highlight in a massive collaboration tool. These tools will allow me to become more creative for literacy, reading, and writing instruction. I can use the citation maker to help example to the students how to correctly format citations for papers. It would also help for creative writing. The students would become more imaginative when using a comic strip to create a story rather than just a plain piece of paper. These writing tools can allow the free thinking students to think more naturally than linearly, like a lot of learning is. The third set of tools I spent time playing with was the organizing tools. We all know that student organization is essential for a students’ success. These tools allow you to create flow charts, timelines, graphic organizers, and many other types of diagrams, and graphs for any type of subject or need. I would incorporate these organizing tools into my classroom by letting students visually see each other’s notes on different websites that they would be able to highlight and commentate on. The students would also be able to use the timelines for history lessons in order to show cause and effect and see the order of events more clearly than just reading about it. Another unique set of tools was the quiz and poll tools. These tools allow you to create different quizzes, tests and research polls that I would be able to use in the classroom. You can create crossword puzzles, true-false tests, multiple choice tests, and even the jeopardy game. This creates another way to be able to assess my students. Paper and pencil tests are not always the best or most efficient way to assess students. Students would also be able to take an active role in their learning by being able to create the questions for the jeopardy game in order to study, or analyze different texts they have read in a variety of subjects. I would also use the survey making tools for the students during science labs, so they could develop good data collecting skills that they could analyze and decipher more easily. The final set of tools I examined was the audio tools. The audio tools included things that allowed you make video presentations with audio streaming concurrently with it. The tools also make it possible to listen to speeches, and to watch or post Podcasts, in which the viewer can actually see you speaking. I would incorporate these tools into my teaching by having students create presentations on different research or projects through multi-media. So much of society runs off of multi-media devices and outlets that having your students work with tools like these would benefit them greatly. The Podcasts and availability of listening to speeches would also bring a different feel for the students in different lessons. I would have the students listen to old speeches, like Martin Luther King Junior’s “I Have a Dream” speech as if they were listening to it on the radio during the 1960s so they can get a different feel or perspective for the history. This variety of Web 2.0 tools provides an opportunity to expose students to so many topics and in so many ways. These tools will only enrich students’ educational experience, and I will attempt to incorporate as many as I can in an effective manner when I begin teaching. Web 2.0 contains many tools that allow users to access and give out information more freely. Reflection ?'s

I think that web 2.0 is an amazing set of tools. It allows studetns to share information on the internet at the click of a button. The web 2.0 tools are endless and create numerous possibilities for students to increase their education.

I think that web 2.0 tools are very useful and convienent. By having access to so many free resources, you can only increase your student's potential in the classroom.

I plan on using web 2.0 in my teaching in as many ways as possible. Web 2.0 is very east to access and manage, making it easy to incorporate into my teaching.