Web+2.0




 * This assignment involved exploring many Web 2.0 tools, and then selecting five of those tools that could be incorporated into our teaching in the future. We were asked to describe the features of the tools we chose and how we can apply those tools in our teaching. To look at the website we were given to choose our five Web 2.0 tools, you can use this link:** http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/


 * Here it is!**

The first Web 2.0 tool I selected to use is the quiz and poll tool EasyTestMaker. This is a free online test generator that can be used to help create tests. The tests offered by this tool include: Multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, short answer, and true and false questions all on the same test. EasyTestMaker can also automatically generate alternate versions entirely randomized and master answer sheets. This eliminates wasted time spent on formatting, and all the tests you produce will be saved for simple retrieval. Additionally, this application allows you to insert instructions and divide tests into multiple sections. This is an extremely useful tool and really helps reduce time spent on creating and formatting tests that isn’t necessary. The second Web 2.0 tool I selected to use is also a quiz and poll tool, but it is titled SurveyMonkey. There is a free basic plan offered with all the essentials you need. SurveyMonkey allows teachers to design surveys for their classes or even parent polls/surveys, collect responses, and analyze the results. This application cuts down the time spent on the busywork involved in designing and collecting research data. The next Web 2.0 tool I decided would be helpful to use in my classroom in the future is Kids’ Vid. This is a video device and helps students create work in a new and exciting way. It is an instructional website that aids teachers and students use of video production in class to support project-based learning. These instructions include: Scripting, making, editing, and showtime. Scripting is a storyboard tool that guidelines the process of writing down on paper what the video is about, and it is used to help visualize and prepare for production. The making instruction provides crucial information about capturing images and sounds on tape. The aspects of production include: The camera, the shot, camera moves, lighting, and audio. Editing is the process of putting all the elements together in a way that the story you scripted is told. This editing is called digital editing because the editor uses a computer to manipulate the shots. This process starts with importing the shots of video, music, and narration into the computer and then arranging the clips in an order that tells a story. Some important things to keep in mind when going through this process are using music, using effects, and jump cutting. The final instruction of showtime occurs when the editing is done and it is time to show the movie. The options for showing a movie are recording it to a video, a DVD, a CD-Rom, or putting it on the web. An important part of recording is deciding on the digital size of the file, which is also called compression. The fourth Web 2.0 tool I selected to use is 280 Slides. This is a presentation tool that you can try for free, and it has numerous features such as: Importing existing documents, autosave and recovery, downloading to PowerPoint, publishing to the Web, running in your Web browser, taking it with you, built-in media search, and quality themes. With this tool, a teacher can create a slideshow directly on the web with no software required. Storage is easy, secure, and convenient because you can access the presentation anywhere in the world where there is an Internet connection. Also, downloading the presentation to PowerPoint is available with a single click, and with SlideShare, you can e-mail the presentation or embed it directly on your own website. It has professional quality built-in themes, and adding photos and movies to the presentation directly from websites like YouTube is effortless and uncomplicated. The fifth and last Web 2.0 tool I decided would be helpful to use in my classroom is a creativity tool called What2Learn. This application features interactive learning solutions that provide effective educational resources and revision games. It makes it easy for teachers to create interactive games and quizzes and to track student attainment. What2Learn is a wonderful tool for students with learning difficulties like ADHD and/or literacy difficulties. In contrast, this tool is also a great resource for high-achieving students because it allows them to work independently to get ahead. What2Learn is free and has 25,000 learning games, tests, and quizzes, or it allows you to make your own that is personalized for individual student needs. This is extremely helpful to engage students in learning and to monitor students’ progress. It is so useful to be able to apply these Web 2.0 tools to the classroom because it allows teachers a wealth of resources that have not been available in the past. In my teaching, I would use the five tools above that I chose in different situations to make sure my classroom is an interactive one and that the students are learning in new and fun ways. The EasyTestMaker application is something that I could integrate into my everyday classroom administration and preparatory work because it has so many helpful features. I would use it to reduce the time it takes to create my tests, and I would also save my tests using this device so they are easily accessible in the future. The SurveyMonkey tool would be beneficial to apply to classroom instructions, as the students could develop questions and create survey for projects. For example, if I am teaching a lesson on environmental awareness, the students could create surveys for the rest of their classmates on the habits they have that may have an effect on the environment. Then, they would look at the results and discuss what they could do to be more environmentally conscious and rank the most important things. This is a fun way to learn about a topic while also keeping it interactive and using different tools like surveys. The Kids’ Vid application would be an exciting way to introduce the idea I had previously been contemplating, which is to have a classroom “television news channel”. The students could use Kids’ Vid to learn about the process of video production and all the fun ways to include music and different effects into the finished product. Possibly once a week or so, we would take time as a class to go over the current news, weather, etc. and the kids could take turns in the various areas of creating the news video based on this current information. For example, during one week a particular student could be in front of the camera as the anchor who actually recites the news, and then another week that same student could operate the video camera or hold the cue cards, etc. I believe the students would think this is a fun activity, and it would incorporate technology and interactive tools into the lesson as well. The Web 2.0 tool called 280 Slides would be essential for me to create slideshows and PowerPoints for the lesson plans that I have during the year. This would allow me to incorporate movies and photos and other learning tools into the subject I am presenting. Additionally, 280 Slides is a great application because it would make it easy for me to securely store my presentations and access them from anywhere that an Internet connection is available. Also, I could put my presentations on SlideShare, so the students could easily access them too. Lastly, I think the What2Learn Web 2.0 tool would be an extremely helpful resource in the classroom that I could use for any students that need extra help in a specific subject or that are high-achieving students and can work independently to get ahead. I would also use What2Learn to track student attainment through games and quizzes, so I would be able to keep a record of the level each kid is at in various subjects. Then, I could create games and quizzes that are tailored to individual student needs and help the kids where they are struggling. All these Web 2.0 tools can be very beneficial to a teacher’s curriculum, and also in some cases they can used to decrease the time needed to spend on busy work, such as creating and formatting tests.