Web+2.0

B The assignment is to select 5 Web 2.0 tools from http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ and think about how I can incorporate them into my teaching. write a 2-page paper on 1) what I think of Web 2.0 in education, 2) features of the 5 Web 2.0 tools choosen respectively from the site, and 3) how I will use those 5 tools in my teaching respectively.


 * -- 1) W **** hat do you think of Web 2.0 in education, **
 * 1) Web 2.0 does have a place in today’s classroom. Although there are features that may be counter productive when it comes to furthering ones education there is so much more that is very beneficial for students. There are interacting capabilities such as facebook, myspace, twitter and so on which are not a very productive thing to do and in terms of using the computer as a learning tool would not apply in the classroom setting. Although they have the potential to broaden ones horizons I feel in most cases they keep the visitors in a bubble that they create. It is however a fun thing to do on personal time but as far as in the classroom not helpful. Now there are still many other aspects of Web 2.0 that would be more than welcome in a classroom setting. There was a time when in order to play a computer game one would need the software a disk of sorts (whether it was Compact or floppy) to put in the computer and load it. Now that is no longer the case there are more computer games that one can play for free on the internet than any one person would need however that is great because that gives very different personalities game that will fit their needs. This is also great because that means that there are many educational games that students can play which brings me to the benefits of Web 2.0 in the classroom. There are games which can help a student learn and keep them occupied at some down times in the school day. There are tools that help a student put a video together which could foster an interest in movie making. There are different thing that allows one to change photos, videos or music to fit there needs. And an especially important tool would be things like google docs which allows older students to work together in groups with the convenience of working in there own time rather than meeting in a specific time and NEEDING to finish the project within that couple hours that they are meeting in. All of these things and more are why Web 2.0 needs to be in the classroom because they can nurture the student into a future path or at least bring in a certain amount of creativity to the classroom.
 * 2)** ** features of the 5 Web 2.0 tools you select respectively from the site,- **** The five items that I have chosen I did so from different parts of the site so there was not just five project creating pieces or five video creating sites. I feel I have a more well rounded selection. The portion in blue is the direct description from the ** http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ site.
 * 1) google docs-Upload your files, edit anytime from anywhere, choose who can access your documents share and collaborate online. Google docs is a great way for students to get together on group projects and work on them either at the same time or at different times from different computers. If they are on at the same time they can virtually see each other making the changes in the document power point and so on, they can even communicate in a live chat type of way through the google docs program. This is a great way to make working in groups easier and more convenient for the students.
 * 2) Clipgenerator-Create own cool videos clips with favorite popular music in top quality. Select the music, add your own photos or images or videos and generate automated professional film cuts and animations. This is a great way for the students who are stronger in a creative style of learning to get involved and interested in the classroom topics. If they are not your traditional book learning type of student (which there are more and more who aren’t) you as a teacher can ask them to make a video about a famous historical figure. This will make them learn the required information but they will be more likely to learn it because they were more excited about what they were learning and made them think how best to display the information that they learned.
 * 3) FindHow- Find how to do things. This site gives you access to trusted, reliable How-To content on the Internet. I think that this is great way to introduce the students to a search engine and they can learn how to use them while also getting the information that they needed.
 * 4) Xtimelin-Find timelines of events, or easily create and share timelines with pictures and videos. This is beneficial for a student because I feel with everything right at our fingertips now it is harder to think of things sequentially or draw connections from one thing to another so to have a program that can help the students put everything in a time line they could then have a greater or further understanding of the topic itself.
 * 5) KidsKnowIt- Making education fun and free. Free educational Websites For the young, and the young at heart. Search the databases of the Children's Learning Network. This one is just for plain fun. These game are educational but I feel that they would be (in my classroom at least) an award to the students who have finished there work early or was well behaved in class for a prolonged period of time. These games have no specific goal to get the students thinking outside the box unlike the other four items I’ve chosen for this assignment but I feel that this would be a very necessary part of my classroom. To earn the ability to play the games I feel would be exciting for the students and not only that but they are learning while playing the games as well, it also is something that will help the students become more comfortable with the teacher.
 * 3)** ** how you will use those 5 tools in your teaching respectively (please use concrete examples). **
 * 1) As I mentioned above I picked a variety of tools because I think that they are all very beneficial in a variety of ways. There is two different things that I saw in these tools; one most of them makes education easier and more accessible to the students and two it educates students in a creative different and stimulating ways. Things like google docs and FindHow are ways of making doing projects or gathering information easier allowing it to be more on the students individual time schedule not forcing the students to be on the schools schedule. The FindHow I would keep it bookmarked on the schools computers so that if there was something or someone that the students wanted to know more about they would have the ability to look it up. The clipgenerator and Xtimeline are great new way of reaching students in this new age of technology. They can get students to think outside the box when it comes to learning and they can also allow students to learn without even realizing that they are learning. There were many other tools that I found on that site but there are to many to mention it is great that there are sites like this that make learning easier and fun.

-- This is familiarizing me with a great source that can help bring kids to use technology in the classroom. It can help them with creating a project or just to pass time while learning symotaniously. This would be great for me to just give the address to the parents or students and they would be able to discover how to use it for learning both in and out of the classroom.