Web+2.0+Wiki+Groups

Group 5: Tiffany, Jessica and Hollie

Directions: In your group, find 10 Web 2.0 tools that are relevant for today's teachers. Create a product using each of the tools, embed your sample, then write a 500 word review of the tool including overall impression, ease of use, relevant application, grade level recommendation, and any tips or pointers.

media type="custom" key="14395184" Toondoo is an awesome site that allows you to create cartoons for your students or to have them make cartoons themselves. It is a creative way to engage students in learning. Children love new and fun ways of learning. We found that this site is extremely easy to use and would definitely be child friendly. We did have a slight concern with students being able to embed the cartoons. If there is a separate way to turn in the cartoons, it would probably be more effective. We liked the fact that there was a great deal of options that the children could use. The site provides a diversity of images and people that could be used. We feel as though this tool is a great way to assess student learning as well as engage students in creative thinking. We feel as though this site is a great source for teachers. Our example is a cartoon reflecting the use of technology in the classroom. Students could create toondoo reflecting on lessons from class, or as a way to present information they learned. As an educator, you could use a toondoo to present information from history, language arts, and science and math curriculums. For example, if discussing soil properties, you could have students illustrate their findings and observations through a cartoon. We were impressed with the site as a whole. We feel that the site is easy to navigate and students could use easily. We do feel that there is a slight time lag when loading toondoo pages that may deter students or lose their attention. This is why we feel the proper age group for the site would be grade 3 and higher. We feel that this tool will engage students a great deal. We think that as a teacher, there should be strict guidelines when working with the site just so that students don’t get too sidetracked. If the students are guided properly they should stay on task, and produce a good reflection of their learning. We also believe that students will benefit from gaining the computer skills needed to navigate and create a cartoon. The best part of this site is that students will not think they are being assessed and will have fun creating the cartoons.
 * 1. Toondoo**

media type="youtube" key="8I7Wk14VWK4" height="315" width="420" My overall impression of YouTube is that it is such a big web tool, that is so easy to use and become very familiar with if it is your first time using it. Personally I have not ever uploaded a video or anything to YouTube yet, but could see myself using it as a tool for when I teach. When I teach I can easily get videos from it and use them in class. I have some professors that use YouTube as a tool to help teach a class. Sometime you get more out of a simple quick video then you do a one day lesson. YouTube is a very big web and continues to grow and become very popular to many users. When accessing YouTube you can discover, watch and share originally created videos. It provides a forum for people to connect, inform, and inspire others across the world and allows for distribution for original content by creators and advertisers large and small. If there has been anything that I have ever needed help on and wanted to see a visual aid I have always gone to YouTube to help solve any problem that I have needed help with. I would recommend YouTube for middle school with supervision because there are sometimes inappropriate things that may pop up when searching certain things. But over all I would definitely recommend it to anyone. It is once again another beneficial tool for in the classroom. Again the only thing I would recommend is that you watch over what students are searching and avoid anything that should not be seen. Another thing I would recommend I that you at least show a couple of educational videos at are useful and helpful to students that actually need that type of visual aid, and add it to the classroom if possible.
 * 2. Youtube (with Ipads and Smart Boards)**

media type="custom" key="14395510" When working with the Animoto, I enjoyed it the most out of all the projects and found it to be very easy and understanding. What is very cool is that you can turn photos, video clips, and music into videos and share them with everyone. It is a process that is fast, free, and very easy. Creating presentations are so easy with Animoto. If you wish to highlight a certain part of your presentation there is a feature that allows you to do so, along with including text to your picture or videos that that you post on your presentation. Educators find this web tool to be easy to make presentations for their students and be very creative. The educator can also choose the design they wish to have as well. Businesses, photographers, real estate agents, charities, and educational fields are different types of groups that would benefit from using the Animoto website. This site would be recommended for middle school and high school. One thing that the educator can do is to have in the curriculum is for the students to make an Animoto for a class project. It would allow for them to use a different tool they are not use too and have a fun creative way of doing a presentation. Some pointers I would give are that you continuously save your work and just have fun with exploring the website, as well as play around with different things on the site and look at all the options you are given.
 * 3. Animoto**

media type="custom" key="14395628" When using Prezi I find that it can be a little difficult out of all the presentations and there is a lot that I find difficult with the program. It is similar to power point but does not have all the slides that you are use too. Basically it is one big slide that allows you to zoom in and out on different parts of the presentation. While you can create an order that you want to present it in, you can also if you want jut click on the section you want to focus on. It is more of a free flow type of presentation. I would certainly recommend this to anyone, and it would be useful to anyone from kindergarten to any higher levels of education. Allowing teachers to use this website will help enhance teaching strategies with using other tools that we are not used too. Before using I recommend you looking at videos from YouTube that show you how to create a Prezi. There are helpful hints they give you along the ways as you create different fames for your project, but still can be confusing if you have never done it. Personally the videos they have and looking over the website to see how to create one was the best thing when needing a better understanding of everything.
 * 4. Prezi**

media type="custom" key="14395996" Podomatic is a very useful website when it comes to web tools. The website does not charge anything for service, and allows you to have supporting features that include RSS, embedded players, sharing, and comments. There are two types PRO and Basic, where when you use the PRO version you get all the basic Information plus PRO Customization Tools, Statistics, High Quality playback and downloads, and some other features are also included. The Basic one is more basic and does not nearly as many benefits, but is still useful. This tool would be useful in the classroom when you want to follow around certain podcasts for teaching your students. If a child was absent from school that day the teacher can make lessons for the class and the students can go online and see what they missed for the day. Or you can also as a teacher make podcasts for all the lessons. Then if the teacher has ipads in the classroom she can use the website and post the podcasts for her lessons. This will help students that are more advanced and want to move along in class as the other students continue to get help on what they need help with or even skip a lesson and move on. I believe this would be useful for second grade and anything higher. I don’t believe that anyone younger would need it although if a teacher feels comfortable with using it then by all means I would recommend using it for in the classroom or even announcements to parents and students for at home. One thing I would recommend to anyone that would use this tool is explore all the options you have and have fun with it. Overall I recommend this to anyone and everyone that wants to find a way of communicating to both students and parents, in a quick and simple way through technology.
 * 5. Podomatic**

media type="custom" key="14431268" Poll everywhere is a neat site that allows students to create interactive polls. We really like the fact that math can always be incorporated with this tool. This site is easy to navigate, however we all had some struggles with making the polls responsive. Poll everywhere could be used to create classroom polls or to demonstrate learned data. We feel this tool is suited for 5th garders and higher. However, we do feel that younger children can partake in the polls if guided by the instructor. For instance, if you keep a poll about favorite seasons the students could benefit from seeing and interacting with the poll. So perhaps you demonstrate to your second graders through a poll. Once again it is great that students are introduced to the site and gain the skills to navigate the site. The one drawback of the site is that it is hard to get results needed. Once again if coordinated by the teacher, it would be more beneficial. You could also teach students how to interpret the polls and integrate that with a mathematic curriculum. I also think it would be useful to use for a literature unit to express opinions about text and authors they are reading.
 * 6. Poll Everywhere**


 * 7. Facebook**

[|http://www.facebook.com/#!/MsRodmansThirdGradeClass] Facebook has its pros and cons. Using facebook in the classroom could be used as a good way of communicating to people if you need too. Like what many businesses are doing having a group and writing out information on them and what is going on. It would be very beneficial because so many people have facebook and get on every day. So for a parent to be friends with the teacher class and not the teacher herself that would be very beneficial for the teacher to send out assignments and post announcements on the page. Personally teachers and their students should not be personal friends on facebook, just because I feel that what some people put on facebook can get them in trouble. Facebook is one of the easier websites because so many people are use to it and have been using it for a while now and are very familiar with it. It is so well know and popular and will continue to be popular in the future. I recommend facebook to be used for parents with children in grades Kindergarten through middle school, as a way of parents and the teacher to communicate about class. High school students and college students should use as a way of keeping up with their work. Some pointers I recommend are that you are careful what you post and know that when you post anything on facebook it becomes public the minute it is typed. If a teacher does this they need to know why they are posting what they are. It is a great tool for communicating and has many benefits, but it also have many cons to using it and you don’t want to get in trouble with it.

[] Wix is an online flash studio that uses a drag and drop interface to create flash websites with having no knowledge of flash. You can create a full website or you can use it to enhance your profile. You should use wix if you want to create a website that is flashy and personal but do not have any knowledge of Flash. You also have the option or creating a website on wix and then sending it to a friend. I have never heard of this website but I do not think I would ever get any use out of it because I do not use flash websites and wouldn’t find a need for using this web tool in my classroom.
 * 8. Wix**

[] Blogger is a place where you can go to have a personal journal that is published on the Web or create a blog about something you are interested in or just to have something to talk about. You can create your own web page blog and create it however you want. You can also use blogs to update family and friends about what’s going on in your daily life. You can host blogs with other people or just you. You can use blogger to make your own podcast feed. You can set up blogger in just three simple steps. You create an account then name your blog and then you choose any template you like. You have the choice of separating your blogs if you choose. Blogger has an option where you have the option of emailing your posts to your blog. You can also upload pictures off your computer to you blogger and post them on a blog. Blogger is good if you like having your own personal journal or love posting stuff for people to read.
 * 9. Blogger**

[] [] Learn together in the classroom and share your projects with the world. Photopeach is used by educators and students in hundreds of schools world wide, including schools in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, England, Pakistan, Argentina,Thailand, and more.The combination of images, music, and text helps students learn about presentation, expression, writing, communication skills, art appreciation, and media literacy. The quality of the finished work is great and students will remember it forever. Start creating fun slideshows with captions, soundtracks, quizzes, and easy editing controls. I found the site easy to navigate and easy to use. It is a great tool to use for students and teachers. Teachers can use this site to introduce lessons or even teach lessons, as well as a form of assessment of students work. We think the proper age for this is 3rd grade and above. If the tool is being used to teach a lesson solely then it is applicable to any grade.
 * 10. PhotoPeach**