Hi again! As a future teacher, I often think about my future classroom, lesson plans, and projects for my students. Educators are constantly finding new ways to help children learn by integrating technology. To do this, teachers often instruct using Web 2.0 technologies. So, I thought that I would give them a try by researching them, and posting my favorites here!
1. Find How - http://www.findhow.com/
Here users can search information on almost any topic. Users just type in what they want to learn about, or pick from a subject area. This website also delivers safe content. Students in my class could use this website to learn how to become better writers. They could also use it to learn how to do other things in the classroom.
2. Vyew - http://vyew.com/s/
With Vyew, users can create online discussion forums. Users can also post documents, and have online interactions. Vyew allows people to view posts in real-time, but people can also go back later to review them. I could hold online class discussions with Vyew. Students could also use Vyew to work on group projects, and then upload their presentations for the class to see.
3. Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/
This tool is essentially the strictly audio version of YouTube. Users can create and share their audio files. This sharing process can be done privately, or shared onto blogs. Also, like the other tools mentioned so far, there is an app for it! As a teacher, I could upload lectures and post them to my website. As a project, students could upload an oral presentation, and then share it with the class.
4. My Story Maker - http://www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/storymaker/
My Story Maker is a way to tell a story using pre-drawn characters and objects. Users can create a personal story and are able to view their story as a video when finished. This tool also gives users codes for their stories, so users can always go back to stories they have created. Students in my class could recreate a literature piece that we have covered, and put it into their own words. They could also use this tool to tell a brand new story of their own. Although the format this tool uses is a bit childish, it is entertaining nonetheless!
5. EQuizzer - http://www.equizzer.com/
This is a Web 2.0 tool that allows teachers to make quizzes online. Students then take these quizzes online, and they are turned into the teacher. Teachers can also monitor the scores of their classes. As a teacher, I could create any quiz and send them out to the students for them to take one quickly. My students could also create their own quizzes, and from their questions I could select questions to go on their tests.
6. Quizlet - https://quizlet.com/
Quizlet is an online way to share flashcards. Users can study in groups using the flashcards, tests, and study games. This tool is also available as an app. I could create my own study guides from here to send out to my students before their tests. My students could also get in groups to create their own flashcards and share them among one another.
7. Survey Monkey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/
Survey Monkey is a way to send out polls to groups of people. They have several templates to choose from. Users can also complete these polls to measure satisfaction, or give insight to those who send the polls. I could send a poll to my students to survey the amount of bullying that they have observed in the school. Students could also provide their feedback to how well they believed that the I covered the lesson.
8. Braingle - http://www.braingle.com/
Braingle is an online tool that provides riddles and trivia questions. They have a wide variety of brain teasers to choose from. Users can also submit their own riddles when they sign up for an account. As a teacher, I could use this site to find daily riddles to use in my classroom. Students could solve these brain teasers for a few bonus points, or just for fun.
9. Go Animate 4 Schools - https://goanimate4schools.com/public_index
This is a safe way for schools to create animated videos, and keep them in the schools. Users can only access the video content of their school / class. With this tool, teachers can sort the students into their classrooms, so that each class can use the tool separately. For my class, students could create a video for any sort of presentation or project. I could also illustrate pieces of literature that we are covering, so that students can visualize it better.
10. Prezi - https://prezi.com/
Prezi is a Web 2.0 tool that allows users to easily create power points. They have many templates to choose from, and then users can just add the information that they want. Because it is an online tool, users can access it from anywhere at anytime. As a teacher I could create my own presentations to lecture with, and not have to keep up with a flash drive. Students could also make their own professional-looking presentations for group projects.
I hope that by reading this post that you have discovered some new tools to use! Also, what are some of your favorite Web 2.0 tools that you use?
