Web+2.0+examples+and+discussions

Use this page to share your favorite Web 2.0 tool and ideas for use in your classroom!

Promethean Planet- Gina Violi

In my school district we use Promethean Boards instead of Smartboards, which are basically the same thing just a different name. There is a great website to both create your own flipchart or use flipcharts that are already created for different subject matter. It even walks you step by step in creating your own interactive flipcharts. When I taught fifth grade they loved attempting to create their own flipcharts to share in class.

__**Skype--Heather Petris**__ As many of you are familiar with, or at least heard of, Skype can be a great tool for students to utilize. Skype not only has the potential to improve class participation and collaboration, but it can also help cut costs by providing free voice and video calling to other Skype users worldwide. Some uses of the platform include multi-class and cross-district collaboration, professional development, and virtual field trips. I have not used this within my classroom, but I have used it for my own personal use and it is very easy and user-friendly. I don't that students will have difficulty catching on to the logistics of using this type of technology. During the video calls, students will be able to choose a fun background or even a mask to overlay on to their video feed. I definitely suggest looking into using this type of technology in your classroom!

@http://www.skype.com/intl/en-us/home

One Web 2.0 tool that I mentioned in my discussion post on the main site and I find to be a wonderful way to incorporate performance assessment and artistic ability into the classroom. This tool is called Pixton. Pixton.com is a website that allows for the creation of online comic strips that is free to use and even has a education segment that allows for easy turning in and monitoring of students assigned to a class you create. There is a stock set of characters, background and objects that the students can place into the comic and create whatever their heart desires. Mainly, within my class, I use this tool as a student project tool for review of our major readings. One example of this is our project on John Gardner's //Grendel//. Within this book there is a number of humorous and thought provoking scenes and in order to review this, I have the students recreate their favorite scene using Pixton. The students have a ball with it and I honestly enjoy grading these projects. This is a wonderful tool I suggest everyone to look into. [|www.pixton.com] (Tim Irvine)

The Web 2.0 tool I chose to investigate is called jing. It is a screen capturing tool that makes communication over the web easier. It can: You can add notes to online convesations. You can also add tutorials to explain different parts of assignments or directions. This tool also allows you to give feedback to students as you grade papers or you can take a snap shot of a really good paper to share with the class. Students can even use it to communicate with each other and to have discussion groups or ask questions. You can also add text boxes right onto pictures or diagrams to further explain them and then take a shot of it to email out to your students or the post on a class wiki. If a students is absent from class and still needs to learn the material you can copy all of the information that the class went over and simply save it and email it or post it. This tool really seems to be a time saver because you only have to do things once and then just save a snap shot. [|www.techsmith.com/**Jing**] (Jenny Barnes)
 * Take Screenshots: Capture an image of what you see on your computer screen
 * Record Screencasts: Record up to 5 minutes of onscreen video

The Web 2.0 tool I chose to investigate was called Animoto. This tool allows you to create professional looking presentations in very little time. It was incredibly easy to use, and offers a great alternative for your students to present information. I logged on to the website and created an account with my email address. I then viewed a brief tutorial on how to create a presentation. Then I did it. First you choose a basic format to follow from a menu. Then you either chose or download the music you want to have played in the background. Next, you download pictures and add text if you desire. They will then show you a preview of the video. You have an opportunity to revise your video if you feel the need to do so, if not, click the “Produce” button and it will be emailed to you in a few minutes. Within 10 minutes I had a completed video in my inbox. It really was that easy. I might use this tool to introduce myself to the class, but they would be able to use it for a lot more. They could create videos of famous people, places, or things. The only factor that might limit the range of possible student uses would be the potential for cost. My video was free, but it was only about 30 seconds. You can upgrade to more advanced levels which will allow you more time and creative latitude with your video. All in all, Animoto produces a wonderful professional looking product with relatively little effort. Your students will love it! [] Fred Matheis

I found a Web 2.0 tool that I thought was really cool and would be fun for all grade levels. It is called StoryJumper. Students can go on this site and create a book. They create the story and can use their own drawings and photos to illustrate the pages. It is very user friendly. The students can use the ideas given by the site to create a story or create one from scratch. I created one very easily. There are many props and backgrounds to choose from. You can also use actual photographs in the story- which would be great for nonfiction text or a biographical story about the stuent.This tool could also be used as a way to present some facts that were learned about a topic. Once the book is created, students can share their story on-line or can actually order a hardback copy. (The cost is 24.95 for a hardback book, but that could be paid for by a grant or the PTO perhaps. Of course, parents could order copies on their own!) I thought it would be great to create a book and then share it over the Smartboard with the whole class or even with a lower grade level. My son liked it and made a story for fun! He doesn't normally enjoy writing! **Amy Muslin** []

The Web 2.0 I wanted to share is called Chart Tool. As part of our second grade curriculum, we teach students how to read and create graphs. This site allows students to create their own graphs. First, they choose the type of graph they would like to make. My students would use the basic ones, like a bar graph or line graph. Then, they type in their title and information for the x and y axes. They are also able to change the font size, style, and color. Next, the students preview their graph and are able to go back and edit if necessary. Finally, they are able to save and share their graphs. I think this would be great for second grade to use individually or even as a small group. Around Christmastime, my students take a poll of other students for their favorite Christmas cookie, present, etc., and then graph their findings. Currently, they use large chart paper to show this, but Chart Tool would be a great alternative for this activity. This is just another great way for the students to apply their knowledge of reading and understanding graphs. In addition, it would be great for all grades that teach graphing. I can see students from kindergarten (as a teacher-lead lesson) to seniors in high school using this tool in a variety of ways. This could also be a great tool to differentiate instruction for your students. -Chelsea Haight h[|ttp://www.onlinecharttool.com/graph.php]

DoodleWall-Samantha Sharpless I decided to do my Web 2.0 on DoodleWall. I teach math for learning support students so I wanted to have something that was more interactive for them to learn on. As I was searching I came across DoodleWall. It is a virtual wall where people could draw and others can view. It is also a wall that I can customize and make private, so that I can select the students that I want to join. I would use it a little differently. I would use it as a tool to help with solving different mathematic problems. This way it’s more interactive for the students and also a little different way for the students to do class work, bell work, or homework. It also allows them to be interactive with the others that are invited into the room so if they have questions or if they don’t quite understand, they can write a question and interactively show me or another student where they may get stuck in the problem. I really like this idea because unlike a worksheet that I can’t see from home, I can answer questions on the DoodleWall and get back to them ASAP. This would be a great tool to use for my students since they work at a lower level and feedback and repetition is critical for them to master content. (SS)

I did my Web 2.0 on TeacherTube. This Web 2.0 program works just like YouTube. The only difference is the resources on TeacherTube are all educational, and people are able to upload documents (PowerPoint, lesson plans, assessments, etc.). Educators post videos, documents, audio, photos, etc. on this website for other teachers to access. The setup is similar to YouTube; to find a resource, you type what you are looking for in the search bar. You can also filter your search by clicking on what type of resource you want. This Web 2.0 program also gives you the option to look at the recently added, top rated, most viewed, most discussed, and most favorite of any of the resources. If your school blocks YouTube, this is a great website to use because the content will be available to you and your students. I always show videos to my classes to help enhance the lesson, but if I find them on YouTube, my students are not able to access them on their own, since YouTube is blocked on student computers. By using TeacherTube, students will be able to watch the videos and listen to the audio clips again on their own. You can also use TeacherTube to help you find worksheets, PowerPoints, lessons, etc. that you would not be able to find on YouTube. Students would also be able to use this website to search for resources on their own for projects, homework help, etc. TeacherTube is a terrific Web 2.0 that every teacher should check out. It helps make your life a little easier by just going to one place to find plenty of relevant materials.

Mara Fedeles []

The Web 2.0 site I am sharing is WePapers. WePapers is a website where students are invited to share typed documents with other WePapers users. Although this site is geared toward college-aged students, high school students, as well as students of all ages, are able to utilize it. Students are able to upload their papers to the site, as well as being able to search for other students’ papers given a specific topic. It even allows you to narrow your search for items such as exams, articles, and lecture notes. Papers are also offered in a variety of languages, to accommodate to nearly every student's needs. I found this to be an interesting site because I feel it could be very beneficial for the special education population. So often, students are asked to write a paper, and are given a rubric to help guide their way. However, many students need a more focused place to start. They need some help to get them started. By viewing the work of another student, they would be given ideas not only about the topic, but they would also be given a visual of how their paper may look when completed. There is always a risk of plagiarism, and even the chance of viewing a poorly written example. Regardless, I feel this website could be very helpful for any student, even if it is just to “get the wheels turning.” Lastly, I feel this website could be utilized by teachers by printing off examples of papers for their students to use for inspiration, or even giving students examples of papers to critique.

Carolyn Crawford []

The Web 2.0 tool that I chose is Pezi. I realize that Prezi may not be new to everyone (since I think some of you had to make a Prezi for one of these Clarion courses), but I have yet to have that course and I am intrigued.

Prezi allows anyone who can sketch an idea on a napkin to create and perform stunning non-linear presentations with relations, zooming into details, and adjusting to the time left without the need to skip slides. You can create zooming maps of texts, images, videos, PDFs, drawings, and more.

Prezi is a useful tool for both students and teachers. Students are so accustomed to powerpoint presentations, that it doesn't keep their attention anymore. I would use this tool as an alternative to powerpoints. Students can present online and offline. They can incorporate all kinds of media into their presentations including PDFs, images, or videos from YouTube. Students can also add a storyline to their Prezi as an alternative to the standard book report. There is also an App that students can download so they can create Prezis on the IPad (if your district is lucky enough to have access).

Beth Rosatone []

PhotoPeach is a Web 2.0 tool which can be used to create photo slideshows for use in your classroom. The software not only gives you the ability to add audio/voice to your slideshow like many similar programs but also gives users the ability to add multiple choice quizzes to individual photos within your slideshow. After completing the project, the program allows you to copy and paste a link into your web page or other computer document for access.

In the classroom there are two possible uses for this, one teacher-led and one student-led. For teachers presentations can be created for students to access on individual computers or demonstrated as a whole with a SmartBoard or similar device. Students could also be grouped up to create their own presentations to explain a topic they've studied to the whole class.

Kevin Boariu [|http://www.photopeach.com]