Web+2.0+Tools

=What is Web 2.0?= There are a number of articles regarding this topic about a term we hear all the time. Basically, it boils down to Web 2.0 is the web as it has evolved into what we know it as--Internet without boundaries full of interactive, dynamic, ever-changing sites. There are so many Web 2.0 tools that you could incorporate into your classroom. As I've stressed before, the importance in this section especially is to browse through what is available and consider what you are comfortable with as well as what you can incorporate into your classroom. This week, you are going to be looking for at least 2 Web 2.0 tools that you can utilize to form lessons for teaching.

If you have used some of the tools before, please pick something you are unfamiliar with! The opportunity here is to expose you to something you haven't used before, learn about something you know nothing about before today. If you are using any Web 2.0 tools in the classroom, use the discussion area to share ideas with classmates that perhaps they could then utilize in their own classrooms. At the end of the course, we'll be pulling together everyone's ideas so they can be available throughout the district.

Please note--I have given VERY BASIC information about most of these. For many websites, you should take the tour or find where you can learn the basics if you are interested in learning how to do them. If you find yourself trying something and can't figure it out, post to the discussion tab at the top of this page, or send me an email so I can help you figure it out. There are so many directions you can go for this week's assignments, it was impossible to cover everything and with so many sites offering good explanations of their own site, I didn't want to reinvent the wheel! If you get stuck, make sure you ask!!!

Show Me the Tools!
Animoto Looking for easy, exciting and fun? Upload pictures to Animoto, select a song and press the finalize button--Animoto creates a fun video using your pictures. I've included an example of what the results can be. media type="custom" key="9831703" align="center"

Animoto offers educators free accouts that are better than the basic account--you just need to register with your school email address. Go ahead and get started with Animoto like this:
 * Go to the Animoto website
 * Sign up for a free "lite" account by pressing "sign up now" and following the instructions (you can go ahead and start creating with the lite account for free).
 * Scroll to the bottom of the site. In the fine print at the very bottom, find where it says "Education."
 * Fill out the application for an Educator account. They will contact you by email, though it sometimes takes a few days!

Big Huge Labs Whether you want to make a poster, a puzzle or another way of displaying information, give Big Huge Labs a try! There are many different features to try on their site. Just click on what you want to try and then follow the instructions for that specific feature.

Flickr Store, manage and view photos on Flickr. This photo website has an extensive database of photos, including the White House, NASA and other interesting places. Flickr has a partnership with the Library of Congress, found in The Commons area, where you can find thousands of historical photos. Search for photos to use without copyright restriction if students are making videos or other online projects. Click the "Take Tour" button at the top of the main screen for more information.

Glogster Use Glogster for online posters--full of colorful information and design! Start by signing up for an educator's account at this link, then explore the possibilities. You can post your own glogs, look at others' glogs, and even have students make their own glogs for a project.

Imagination Cubed This site is no longer available--remove from your key set!

Picnik Need to edit a photo? This is an easy to use photo editing site. From removing red-eye to adjusting colors, you can do basic photo editing, plus you can do more advanced things like adding frames, putting stickers on the photo, and more.

Read Write Think Are you looking for the jackpot of lesson plans? Here it is! Search by grade level, keyword, type of lesson, whatever works best for you. Complete lessons, with handouts and multimedia resources, are ready to go. You can even share them with your Thinkfinity account to organize them and keep them handy.

Spell with Flickr Try this one in just a few seconds: visit the site, type in what you want to make in the "spell" box, and hit the "spell" button. Your term will come out in fun pictures for each letter. You can then use the code that is following to copy & paste into your wiki or other webpage (ok, that's the hard part to figure out, but give it a try!) media type="custom" key="9883019" Tux Paint A free drawing program to use for creativity. Use rubber stamps and more, kind of like KidPix, but free!

Visuwords An online graphical dictionary. Uses concept mapping with cool graphics to show meanings of words as well as words that associate with the term. You must see to understand!!!

Vocaroo Need to record someone speaking? Visit Vocaroo, click record and there you have it! You can then use your Vocaroo file to send a message to someone or use as an audio file in a project.

Voki Create a personalized speaking avatar on your website. Voki for Education (a tab at the top of their site) is a good place to site. Also notice they have a section for lesson plans! It is pretty simple to personalize your character, from hair to clothing and more, then tell Voki what you want to say--either speak it or type it! Choose what you want your voice to sound like and it's ready to go! media type="custom" key="9883129" align="center"

Wordle For a special daily challenge, have kids play Guess the Wordle! Please note the link to Guess the Wordle that is included in your keys is no longer valid. I have posted a new one, but there are other sites that provide this fun activity too. Or have kids make their own!

Check this out for ideas to use Wordle in the classroom: [|51 Interesting Ways to Use Wordle]

My next special note--the Guess the Wordle I posted is created and maintained by Jennifer Wagner, an educator who has many ideas for technology projects at her website. Find Projects by Jen for some great project ideas!

YouTube What better way to learn about using YouTube in the classroom than watching a YouTube video about using YouTube in the classroom! media type="youtube" key="bPfjpTYBgSM" height="349" width="425" Don't miss YouTubeEDU, a special section of YouTube created for education. Primarily devoted to higher institutions, there may not be much to use in every person's classroom, but there are lots of educational videos housed here.

SchoolTube TeacherTube Looking for videos a little safer than YouTube? These are the same idea as YouTube but specifically designed for schools.

[|Zamzar] Oh, I need that file as a .jpg. And I need that one as a .docx. What to do? Visit Zamzar, upload your file that needs converted and choose what type of file you want it to be. Zamzar will then email the file in the format you need it. Probably no lesson plans coming from this one, but a great tool if you are in a pinch!

Web 2.0 Tools Assignments
For this section of the course, you will write two lesson plans, each utilizing a different Web 2.0 tool. For instance, you might choose a social studies project using Wordle and a writing assignment using Flickr. Give details about what tool you are using, what subject area the tool will be used in, how you plan to present the lesson (will this be a teacher showing the lesson on a projector or will kids be using computers to use the tool themselves, etc.). Remember, you should post 2 lessons using 2 different tools on your personal wiki page.

You also need to respond to the wiki question under the Discussions tab on the main class page, Unlocking the Future with 21st Century Keys.

Extension Activities
If you would like to learn more about what Web 2.0 is and the development of the Internet as we know it today, check some of the following articles:

What is Web 2.0 by Tim O'Reilly Web 2.0 on Wikipedia media type="youtube" key="nsa5ZTRJQ5w" height="349" width="425"