Thing 11: Web 2.0 Tools

GoAnimate.com: Yay for fall time! by langerudkp

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

I had so much fun creating my animation at GoAnimate.com. I first watched the very helpful and informative tutorial. GoAnimate made it so simple to create a short video. It was as easy as choosing a scene, clicking on characters, and typing in text to create a conversation! I will definitely use this in my classroom. Students could use it to create a short story for Language Arts. It would even be fun to divide students into pairs and have them create a short informative animated report about a specific topic to share with the class. I would love to post the students' stories on a classroom blog to share with parents.

As I looked over the Web 2.0 Awards, I stumbled across several that I really thought sounded neat. One that stood out to me was Lulu. I became interested in the website because they have a special section for educators of all levels. Lulu allows teachers to publish a book with needed classroom materials. I thought about how great this would be for lesson plans. I know that it can become expensive publishing books, but I thought about how neat it would be to publish an end of the year book created by students to keep in the school library. Really the only downfall I see is the price.

I found an incredible Web 2.0 website from the larger list for teachers and students called Sweet Search: A Search Engine for Students. This website is great because it only provides the most effective and safe websites that students and teachers can use in the classroom. As I explored the website I saw that they provide an online tutorial for students and teachers that provides helpful information for how to appropriately navigate the internet when researching. There is also a special search engine set up for students to use that narrows down their search to only safe and appropriate websites.
One of my favorite parts of the website is the section that provides information about news that happened on "this day" in history. This would be great for a current events lesson each week for students to do or for the teacher to share each day during Social Studies. This section also includes word of the day, poem of the day, and a question of the day! I love that they even have helpful tips for how to write a biography and provide links to several websites with information about famous historical figures for students to explore. I am using this in my classroom because it has so many great resources and I feel safe putting it at a center for students to work individually in the classroom. CHECK IT OUT!

Thing 10: Online Productivity Tools

Zoho Writer is such an easy and neat writing tool. It reminds me a lot of Microsoft Word. I like all of the different options it allows you to use, especially the idea of being able to edit documents sent between colleagues. For instance, if my grade level team and I were creating a parent newsletter, we could each look at the newsletter and make additions to it and write comments to one another. It makes the editing process so easy. I think I could use Zoho Writer with students as well. If the class is creating a story, each student could add onto the existing story and I could then publish it to the classroom blog.
As my sample document, I created a parent newsletter for if I had a first grade class. It is a very basic newsletter, but as I explore Zoho writer some more, I will defintely learn some more techniques to make a more creative newsletter at a later time. I was able to make my document public, but for some reason it will not let me post or link it to my blog. I will try again later.

Thing 9: Play with Wiki's

     The Technology Poppers Wiki is such a great resource that I can reference when I begin teaching. I love that educators and future educators have collaborated on this Wiki to share new ideas of how to integrate technology into the classroom. I read a lot of great ideas that made me stop and think about how easy it really is to use technology in a simple and time efficient way with students.     
    I added the idea of using a Web 2.0 tool called CarrotSticks which is a safe online math community for students in grades 1-5. Students can not only continue to master their understanding of math, but they also have the opportunity to play games against other students around the world who are their same skill level. I actually played a couple of games on the website and saw it as a great opportunity to use as either a center or during math time.
     After having the opportunity to experiment and explore with the world of Wikis, I think there are so many different educational opportunities available for teachers. Teachers can use them to communicate ideas with other educators, such as resources, educational news, or questions. It can also be used to create a classroom website, or an alternative to a classroom blog. I love that it is an opportunity for teachers and students to interact with technology. I am definitely more interested in doing a bit more detective work about Wikis now that I know how easy they are to create.

Thing 8: Wiki's

     I have heard of Wikis, but have never really had the oportunity to work with them. I never realized how easy they are to navigate and to use. One interesting aspect that I am seeing after doing my 8th blog post is that a lot of the websites we have looked at can be related to the theme of "community". I find it so interesting that people from anywhere in the world can instantly go onto a Wiki and add or edit information in a post. Information is constantly evolving all around us and Wikis make it so easy to access information and update individuals all around us. I do think there are some flaws in regards to Wikis though in the sense that anyone can post information. Therefore, sometimes I wonder if it is reliable, but being aware of this flaw is beneficial when choosing how to use a Wiki in the classroom.
     After looking at several of the Wiki examples provided, I found the Educator Wikis to be the best resource. I perused this Wiki for a very long time looking at some of the Wikis other educators had posted. I love that this is a community for educators to reach out to one another and share ideas and resources. Educators were using their Wikis for all different types of purposes, such asking for ideas or help, providing information in regards to education, sharing examples of new technology ideas to incorporate into the classroom, and even creating a classroom Wiki page.
     My favorite Wiki that I came across was a 2nd grade classroom Wiki in Canada. This teacher had lots of great resources, news, and ideas on her classroom Wiki. Some of the Wikis I came across were in different languages! This is such a neat idea to incorporate into the classroom and to have students interact with Wikis all over the world!

Thing 7: Image Generators

I first explored Wordle. This website really intrigued me because I loved that you can pick a theme and type as many words as you can think of that relate to it. The webiste then allows the viewer to be creative by editing the text, colors, and how the words are arranged on the page. As I worked on this website creating my "Wordle", I kept thinking about all of the ways I can relate this program to an educational activity. For example, this could be a great brainstorming activity to help students generate ideas about a topic. I can imagine students having so much fun being able to work as individuals or in a group setting generating ideas about a designated topic. Students love technology and this is bringing brainstorming and thinking maps into the world of technology.

I chose Glogster and quickly began exploring some of the different ideas people had created on the website. After only viewing a few so far, I can already see different personalities exploding on the pages of people's creations. It made me think about how much fun students would have being able to use such a great resource that would allow them to explore and create a poster on an educational topic, as well as have the ability to represent who they are as an individual. This website allows students to present their ideas through music, pictures, video and text. I believe that this type of activity will hold students' interest and intrigue them. This website is accessable to all students and the limits are endless.
I believe that children are now born into a world of technology. Therefore, I think this type of website can be of crucial importance in the classroom to expand students' needs for the use of technology, creativity, and learning. Students would present their posters to their classmates in such a different format than how they would present a paper poster because a Glogster is interactive. Students would be engaged in how to organize their thoughts, along with learning all the elements that relate to technology. Students would have to manipulate the information on the page in such a different way from how they would on a paper poster. Another positive it has over a paper poster is that a teacher can link all of the students' posters to a classroom blog for students to share their thoughts about each other's work. I will definitely be using Glogster in my classroom.

Thing 6: RSS and Newsfeeds

     I found Bloglines to be interesting, but very difficult to use. I spent about an hour and a half trying to figure out the website before understanding how to add newsfeeds. I also had never heard of Bloglines until I started this blog. There are a couple of benefits to the RSS, such as having the ability to pick specific newfeeds I am interested in and have them in one specific place. I find it resourceful and a time saver that the articles on my newsfeed are constantly updated so I do not have to waste time tracking down new articles each day.
     I signed up for a feed that updates me on news because I am always on news websites reading about current events. I also signed up for Amazon's newsfeed because I have an obsession with this website! Lastly, I mostly signed up for education newsfeeds. I like that at the touch of a button I can read several articles about the latest news in the world of education. One website was a Podcast for teachers, another one was about how to add technology into the classroom, and another website was a radio network with current news about education. I really like RSS, but I need to explore it more indepth to completely understand it, but I am happy with the small library I created tonight with newsfeeds. I think I will only use this for my personal use and not with students.
My Newsfeed!

Thing 5: Flickr Mashup

I explored the Flickr options provided for us to look at such as, Flickr Color Pickr and Montagr. I find Flickr really neat because it brings people from all over the world together through the use of photographs. Mashups are so interesting because they pull random photographs from Flickr and create slideshows, mosaics, and more. It really is a social network through photographs. I ended up choosing to use the Trading Card Maker. My trading card is a photograph of one of the most amazing moments of my life...my engagement. I love that I could commemorate this moment with a unique trading card! I am excited to spend more time discovering more Mashup ideas on Flickr. I think it would be a fun opportunity for students to use in the classroom as well. Therefore, I will be looking for more ideas that are geared towards education.