Web+2.0

Integrating Web 2.0 into education is essential. Educators and parents alike cannot ignore the vast amount of time today’s students spend with technology, or the vast amount of information at their fingertips. It would be a mistake to think that the next generation of students will absorb as much information with only lecture style learning or that their attention will be kept solely using one teaching style. In order to affectively teach content, new ideas, social concepts, and creative thinking, it is important to incorporate new technology. Also, the output of student’s work can be much more stimulating and profound when using all available resources to their fullest capacity. One of the tools listed for presentations on http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ is MyBrainShark. This tool allows you to; “ upload your presentation, document, or video, narrate it, share it, track it, create voice-over presentations” and much more. (http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ ) What I like about this tool is the ease of access. Students will no longer have to meet at one person’s house to work on the project which can be a hassle with after school activities, sports schedules, and being able to secure a ride to the location. Also, I really enjoy the voice over aspect. This would be great for a student who has difficulties presenting in front of groups, but would allow them to still have a successful presentation. One project I can envision using this for would be to create a “how to” video. The student would be able to include pictures, videos, and step-by-step verbal instructions describing a process that could be related to many areas of study, especially science. Along the lines of research tools, TeachersTV caught my eye. What I like about this link is that it provides you with many published sites that have archived videos in the thousands that can be used in the classroom, or as a source of information for the teacher. And from what I could tell, they are all free! Free is very good! Teachers need to have a resource to go to that they can afford, they shouldn’t have to break their own bank or wait for a purchase to be approved by administration to be able to show valuable content to their class. I explored some of the videos that were available in the subject of history. I think history is one of the hardest subjects for kids to connect with, they don’t see the practicality in learning about things that have passed. Using videos in the classroom can bring history to life and allow students to make a real life connection so that the people of the past now have a name, a face, and a voice. The BeFunky link under Image tools is interesting. Through this site you can upload a photo and convert it into a different form such as an avatar or sketch. In class we could use this to take pictures of class events and turn them into a sketch that the kids could color and write a story about. They could even explore different art styles by finding a picture they like on the internet or one they have taken and converting it to replicate a popular style of art. The writing tools offered a lot of great choices of links. I particularly liked studentpublishing.com. This site allows students to have their stories published in a hardcover book. How exciting that would be for a student! This could be great in helping students with their writing; they can go through many processes including brainstorming, drafting, editing, and peer review and finally end up with a finished, well-polished book of their own. This could also be tied into literacy and children could write an entire short story over the process of a semester or school year. It would make a great keepsake for their parents as well. Organization tools brought forth a lot of options, and I learned a new term; mind mapping. These list of tools and links are essential for helping teachers stay organized with their projects, lesson plans, and even their own research and papers. I could see using an internet based organization system like this so I wouldn’t have to always have my own computer on hand.