Below is a list of Web 2.0 tools available on the web for use in the classroom. This is by no means an exhaustive list, there are many, many more examples, too many to list here, that are available with a simple Google search. These tools will give you a good idea of the potential of such tools in your classroom.
1. PreziPrezi is a zooming presentation tool. It has all the multimedia features of a slideshow and adds to them a whole host of interactive features.
This tool is great for final projects or culminating assignments within a unit of study. |
Features
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Benefits to the classroomStudents can:
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Example of tool's use
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Possible classroom applications:
1. Oral/Visual presentation in any subject area 2. Media Literacy assignment 3. Compare & contrast text 4. Mind map on a science, social studies, mathematics unit study 5. Present results/findings of a science experiment |
2. MeographMeograph is a multimedia presentation tool. It allows the user to detail events in a linear or divergent manner, using uploaded pictures, video, graphics, as well as maps and text.
This a great tool to support learners in social studies or as a retell for a book study. |
Features
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Benefits to the classroomStudents can:
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Example of tool's use: |
Possible classroom applications:
1. Oral/Visual presentation in any subject area 2. Media Literacy assignment 3. Retell the events in a text 4. Social studies/History presentation on a important historical figure 5. Simulated newscast presentation as a culminating assignment in a newspaper study 6. Recount of a school event |
3. BlogsBlogs are an excellent tools with which to begin integrating information technology. They are written text that can be created in many formats: as a reflection, journal entry, log, informational text, discussion, written assignment. A blog can be created for personal or educational use, private or public.
Blogs are great resources for classroom teachers because they involve expectations from the curriculum teachers must teach. Here are some excellent free sites for which to create a classroom or personal blog: |
Features
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Benefits to the classroomStudents can:
Browse the following link to find more ways to use blogs in the classroom: 33 Ways to Use Blog in the Classroom |
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Possible classroom applications:
1. Students can use a blog to showcase individual art projects throughout the year 2. Students can maintain a blog on a specific topic of which they are an expert and can answer questions, comments, as well as suggestions throughout the year as a journal like activity 3. Students can use a blog as a means of reflecting about their learning 4. Students can follow and respond to Blogs of people effected by current events, people who have the same hobbies or interests 5. Students can use it to develop a portfolio |
4. SkypeSkype is more than an online phone system. There are many educational applications for this tool. With its ability to use video and audio, Skype is a digital space where students can connect face-to-face in real time to discuss interests, current issues, make connections, and become better acquainted with their world.
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Features
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Benefits to the classroomStudents can:
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Example of tool's use:
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Possible classroom applications:
1. Oral/Visual presentation in any subject area 2. Debate current issues 3. Conduct a literature circle with others around the world 4. Share their learning on a historical figure/location within their community with others around the world 5. Use new vocabulary in a second language with others around the world |
5. VoicethreadVoicethread is a great multimedia presentation tool for teachers and students. It allows users to create, collaborate, edit, and add comments on a presentation. In this way, the original presentation can become the focal point for a class discussion.
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Features
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Benefits to the classroomStudents can:
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Examples of tool's use: |
Possible classroom applications:
1. Oral/Visual presentation in any subject area 2. Debate current issues 3. Conduct a literature circle with others around the world 4. Share their learning on a historical figure/location within their community with others around the world 5. Use new vocabulary in a second language with others around the world 6. Revise creative works such as visual art, music, and/or drama |
With this tool, users can make stories using uploaded or pre-loaded images, adding text or voice or narration.
Students could animate their favourite personal stories or retell one from a new perspective.
Watch, create, upload, and post videos with this multimedia tool. This site is a great resource for content as well as research for both teachers and students.
Students could create a video, explaining the process for a variety of subject areas. They could create a commercial for a younger audience, detailing the importance of healthy eating and/or exercise.
An online, cloud, multimedia tool which allows users to upload, download, edit, and store a variety of files.
Users can use Google Hangout to connect with others around the world. Students could debate and/or collaborate on a shared project, or simply have a class discussion online.
Users can also utilize Google Forms to create, analyze, present, and share surveys online with people around the world. Students could take a survey of their peers in order to make a presentation to their principal or local government, detailing the importance of a local concern.
A communication tool which can be integrated as reflection tool in the classroom setting. It can also be utilized as a ESL or Immersion tool for practicing new vocabulary and grammatical and context skills.
An online application allowing users to share their slideshows with the world. This is a great tool for students who have created presentations on specific topics to distribute them to other students around the world. If students designed a presentation on their city or an important part of their city, they could share it with other students from another part of the world and learn something new about their world.
A unique presentation tool using bubbles called 'popples' instead of slides or zooming. This application could be used to re-energize a slideshow presentation or traditional presentation. Once it is created, students can then share it with the world, posting it on the class's website.
An online portal program which allows users access to documents, assignments, tasks, subject content, and a variety of file types. It can also be used as a platform for online discussions, collaboration on projects, and/or debates. This is a digital classroom, extending the academic environment from school to home to anywhere there is access to the Internet.
This a great tool for intermediate and senior teachers, allowing them to post assignments and tasks for the semester, and giving students access to learning at their own pace.
This a great tool for intermediate and senior teachers, allowing them to post assignments and tasks for the semester, and giving students access to learning at their own pace.
A great online tool for generating and maintaining bibliographies, especially in intermediate and senior divisions.
Students could maintain their resources on online and do so using proper MLA or APA formatting.
Students could maintain their resources on online and do so using proper MLA or APA formatting.
A multimedia poster tool. Students and teachers can create online posters detailing an upcoming event, or they can use the tool to present information on a specific academic topic (i.e., historical figure, scientific principle, autobiography, biography).
An Apple Inc. app. used for creating albums, edit photos, or design a photo journal with captions. Students could detail a recent event, adding text to briefly describe it. Students could also use the app. for recounting a personal event through pictures, adding an oral presentation.
An Apple Inc. app. used for creating and editing video. Great resource for students to create a commercial or procedural video, explaining how to conduct a science experiment, perform a specific action, and/or play a new game.
Students could also create an advertisement for a new product. Or, they could design a presentation and record it, describing an important feature of their city, family, or community and share it with the world, after they have edited and revised it.
Students could also create an advertisement for a new product. Or, they could design a presentation and record it, describing an important feature of their city, family, or community and share it with the world, after they have edited and revised it.
Wordle
Students can create 'word clouds' to make a poster, explaining the importance of a specific topic or event. Students could also create a wordle to describe some of their responses to a poem or story.
This is a great tool to teach about many art as well as language features.
An online library of books both fictional and non-fictional. They could be used as read alouds, shared reading, and/or independent reading books at a centre. In the library, the non-fiction text can be read aloud by the computer. The fictional texts are animated and have a narrator. This is a great resource for developing oral language skills, specifically listening for a purpose.
Students can create a comic online. They could use the tool to tell a historical event from the perspective of a person who was there or they could tell it from the perspective of someone who wasn't. They could also use it to create a narrative story for a younger audience. Or, they could retell a story as a 'fractured' story, using the comic book format.
This is a user friendly website creation tool. It utilizes drag and drop features, allowing users with no background or HTML training an opportunity to create a website. Students could create a webpage to display their work or as a culminating task in a science, social studies, or history. Teachers can use this tool to create a classroom website to maintain communication with parents.
This is an online organizational tool. It allows users a digital place to save webpages and websites in one place. Teachers could create a binder on a specific topic, then add links to websites that they would like to visit at a later date. Students could use the application for saving websites that they will use to write a paper or create a presentation.
WEB 2.0 TOOLS