Web+2.0

Embarking Upon Web 2.0 As I learned and continue to learn about the ever evolving world of web 2.0 I am always amazed about the amazing applications and programs it continues to offer. The suggested website cool tools for schools is one of the most fascinating sites I have ever come across. It brings forth so many interesting and useful web 2.0 tools an educator could be consumed for months on end just wading through all of the different types of applications and web sites that it provides. Cool tools for schools enables a teacher to completely switch his or her classroom to an online environment if he or she were to choose. Indulging myself in this spectacular website I came across five particular Web 2.0 tools that I thought would be of great use and add tremendous value to the English classroom I will have some day. The sites that I enjoyed the most were Blogger.com, Prezi.com, Quizegg.com, Vyew.com and Webs.com a website where you can create your own website for free. In the following paragraphs I will take you through these websites and how to apply them to your own classroom. I will also include a few examples of how I would apply each to my own homeroom. The first Web 2.0 tool I selected was Blogger.com. As a future English teacher it is very important for that the students I will be teaching are up to date on current trends that are widely used in the world outside of the classroom. Blogging has become a very common medium for individuals all over the world writing about any and every subject, from recipes and cooking tips to the interworking of the game of cricket. A couple of neat features of blogger that you are able to take advantage of are the abilities to customize your blog through the use of pictures, YouTube, Google video, RSS feeds, slide shows, and hyperlinks. You also have the abilities to follow any and all blogs of your choice through blogger and the use of Google reader. In addition to these if you are an individual that cherishes the use of your smart phone you will be able to set up mobile blogging. All of these features make blogger an extremely valuable tool for educational purposes. The way in which I would implement blogger into my classroom would be through the use of online journaling. Through an RSS feed I would notify the students of a question or topic that I would like to have them respond to through the use of blogger. Following this I would have them comment on the thoughts and opinions of their fellow classmates. Since you are able to follow any blog I would have the students set up their blogger accounts to include all of their peers blogs. Through the use of blogger I would be able to incorporate their online activities to the classroom and enhance their learning. The next great tool I came across on cool tools for schools was Prezi.com. Prezi enables users to create an entire new type of presentation, using the web, which is completely different from that of our traditional PowerPoint. It is easy to use and allows the designer to create the presentation to follow a natural flow. With Prezi you are able to create presentations that seem to reach out and grab the audience generating an illusion of a highly interactive environment. The way in which Prezi flows you sometimes feel as though you are watching a movie. Prezi allows the user to zoom in and out of the presentation to focus on specific content and show an overall grand image of other important materials. When working and creating with Prezi you are able to add images, video from YouTube, build graphic organizers and group and layer your presentation so that your audience is made to feel that they are actually getting into the production. I would incorporate Prezi into my classroom through the same means I would use PowerPoint. Giving lectures, assignments, and so on as a part of my regular lesson plan. Prezi would play an especially fantastic roll when implementing sound and video. Another cool tool I came across was Quizegg.com. Quizegg is an online site that enables users to create quizzes for groups that range in size from 2-200. It allows users multiple options such as 8 varieties of question types. These question types include multiple choice, essay, short answer, true/false, matching and so on. The site also allows the host user to select the order of questions and whether to keep these consistent or random. It allows for retakes and for the quizzes to be timed. You are also able to limit who can have access to your quizzes. Hosts are able to customize the quizzes to their fullest potential with the abilities to upload word docs, excel spreadsheets, pictures and more. Those who will be taking the quiz are able to access the quizzes through a simple web address making the quiz available to anyone with Internet access. In addition to all this the host is able to view the scores, attempts, time, and answers given to all of the quizzes so that he or she my be able to asses the data and apply it to content that needs to be taught or placed in the completed teaching folder. Hosts are also able to create multiple groups so that if you are a teacher you could have different class or the same class taking the same or different quizzes. A downside to this sight is that you must pay to gain access to unlimited quizzes. I would use this in my classroom to increase information retention sending the quizzes’ web address to the students through an RSS feed and having them complete it as homework. Next, an interesting web tool was vyew.com. Vyew.com was a site where individuals could meet to work on group projects together, create study sessions, and even plan social events. This was a really neat site because it allows students more time to complete group activities that are always difficult to schedule with other students as far as time commitments are concerned. I would use this site to hold after school office hours receive feedback from students and create a setting for students to study together and perform group activities such as projects and presentations. Last, I came across a web site titled Webs.com. Webs.com is a site in which users are able to easily and quickly create their own websites, without having to know all the computer language. Through Webs.com users can show and share photos, videos, podcasts, add mediums such as YouTube and Flickr, share blogs, forums and much more. As a teacher I would use this cool tool in a similar way that I am using it for this class. As a place for students to create and show case their work in a way that they do not have to have any physical materials but a home computer. I have used personal websites in courses before and I have always loved them. They allow students to put their individual flair into their work and have a space that is 100% theirs.