Web+2.0

Audrey Brown 9/28/10 EDU 3010 __Web 2.0__ There are many golden aspects of Web 2.0 that we all can benefit from, especially teachers. Technology has advanced significantly within the last decade and from this, teachers have more resources to make a class room interesting and educational. While knowing that I want to teach first and second graders, using the web page cooltoolsforschools.com, really helped me discover five technology features that I would like to introduce into my classroom. The first tool, which I’m sure all teachers of all ages will use, is Prezi. Prezi is a non-linear way of presenting, similar to Power Point. Prezi is presented on white board and allows the presenter to zoom in and out of the material, thus making the material much more personable and memorable. For a class that I intend to teach, being able to manipulate info and images is important for little kids and persuading their attention. Googledocs is another tool that I would use to enhance my teaching ability. Googledocs is similar to a Wikispace in which you can have a personal web page, yet Google offers many more features. On this program a teacher would be able to make spreadsheets, forms, presentations, and other word documents. I would use this solely for spreadsheets and for personal organization with a class curriculum. I found from the cooltoolsforschools.com web page, a few handy tools that I would also add to my curriculum. One would be what is known as “What2learn”, this being an interactive learning program. This program acts as a solution and provides effective resources and revision games. This program is a good tool for those with learning difficulties and literacy difficulties. I would incorporate this program in an older class, not first graders. This would be a perfect program to those who feel behind and need extra assistance within the classroom. This program is also been effective for those who need to work ahead and so I would give this program to a student who needs make up work or is advanced. This is a program that seems to accommodate to all types of students. Another program I found from the web page is called “Scratch” and this program is a free download site that is very interactive and is creative. This is a program I would plan my work around or present and have a class activity. “Scratch” has interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art. This program increases the education of math and computational ideas, thus allowing a student to work creatively, reasonably systematic, and collaboratively. And the last program I found was “Slideroket”, a program similar to Powerpoint and Youtube. “Slideroket” allows the teacher to upload slides, keynote, or Powerpoint, and videos. This would be helpful for teachers for all ages. I would use this for slides and videos for my younger students.

Web 2.0 is very beneficial for myself and other teachers because it gives access to possibilities. The web is allows teachers to be more creative and share ideas and be more innovative. This is a quick and simple tool that any teacher, like I in the future, could use. Web 2.0 is another fundamental tool that should be used alongside SMART Notebook, Digital Story Telling, and visual literacy.