Collaborative Tools

I think the use of collaborative tools in ANY way is a positive for my students. I currently teach fifth grade and they are very tech-savvy. They enjoy any chance to get online to search, learn, share and just explore. The use of collaborative tools would be an opportunity to extend our learning and experience in the classroom. I see huge potential. I took a look at the various sites: coursesites.com, edmodo.com and collaborizeclassroom. I see pros to all but preferred edmodo the most. I think it appeals to me, as an elementary school teacher. There are accounts with group codes required and that keeps it social media but in a safe way. I also like the feature of giving parents access with their own accounts so they can shadow their child's work and keep posted on what we are doing in class. I also love the feature of students uploading their work and utilizing a drop box where I can access it. All three sites make it easy to upload content to share with others, and enabling participants/students to comment, create and share their own work. Also, evaluating work and giving grades or course information is readily accessible with all three. They are visually appealing and offer a wide range of options to engage the audience and promote dialogue and connection. I found coursesites to be more adult in setup and arrangement. I think it would be great for a high school or college course. I found collaborize to be useful as a teacher working with their students and as a colleague wanting to engage professionally with other teachers. The bank of lesson plans and curriculum ideas would be quite an asset. Finally, I liked the grade level/discipline groups that edmodo offers - they suggest activities and online links to support the learning in the classroom.

My website

Here is my my pages of my school website.  I've worked to create a resource for my students and hope  to continue to add to it as I learn how.  I want my students to have easy access to what we do in class.  I think it's a work in progress, as I am new to my job and still figuring out what tools my students are competent in and are lacking.  I do know they love to look at themselves - so the photo gallery option is a must!   My colleagues and I are working to collaborate on what information should be online for students to ease any school-home angst.  There are many ways this can support my students if they are well-versed in how to navigate the page and request more information so I can continually build this powerful tool.

Web 2.0 Tools Reflection

I see a lot of value in the Web 2.0 tools I reviewed for these assignments.  Many of them are part of my classroom already in a variety of ways, and others intrigue me.  I hope to add them to my classroom repertoire soon.   I think most promote greater collaboration than what we’ve, as educators, had before and the avenues of creativity are so vast in all the different, unique tools and sites created.  Opportunities are endless!  I do see them in my future – personally and professionally.  Having lived and taught overseas, they’ve helped me stay in touch with friends around the world and connect with like-minded colleagues and educators to incorporate new tools, strategies and best practices into my classroom.  Professionally, the opportunities are endless.  Now I don’t feel alone in my classroom, there are fabulous sites, activities, connections, links, etc at my fingertips to enhance instruction and increase my students’ understanding.  I would hate to have choose only one Web 2.0 tool as there are so many that I love and find valuable.  One that I have become better about utilizing this year is Google Docs.  The many applications of Google are among my favorites.   I especially like the use of Google docs with my students in reviewing and conferencing on their reading and writing.  Additionally it’s a great way to schedule meetings with parents, get feedback and make unit curriculum plans with groups of people.   

Web 2.0 Tools in Education

Edmodo

Edmodo is a free site that offers the world of blogging and collaboration to students and teachers in a safe, educational setting.  I have just started using it this year, as a pilot program and many of my students love it.  It’s surprising to see which of them are quite engaged and offer many of their ideas and opinions, though in class they are quiet and don’t often participate.  I like this alternative opportunity it provides for them to share.  It can be used to gather information from students in surveys and polls, disseminate information with links, attachments or text, and it provides a venue for thinking, reflection and collaboration with students.  www.edmodo.com

Prezi

Prezi is a free online tool that can be used as an alternative to power point.  It has huge potential in the way you can connect your information and help your audience see your stream of ideas and thoughts.  It has a great zoom feature that allows the user to embed pictures, videos, etc within the presentation and makes for an interesting view.  I just created my first prezi and my students positively received it.  I found it a bit picky in creating one of my own but appreciated all the tutorials, help categories and large gallery of completed public prezi presentations that I could refer to often. http://prezi.com/

ToonDooSpaces

ToonDoo Spaces is a great online source for creating and sharing comics written by students in a protected, safe environment.  My students love creating comic strips and would LOVE this website.  It has great connection with our writing workshop model in sharing and getting feedback from one another.  I also think the use of the website would be a huge incentive for some of my students as it seems like their work is being published.  It does require you to create an account so students’ work would not be shared publicly.  There is a huge gallery of images available to make the creation of the comic strip to go rather quickly, once the idea, sketches and text are created.  I’m trying this one as soon as our current unit is wrapped up. 

http://www.toondoospaces.com/

Glogster

Glogster is a great online resource for students in creating collaborative projects and interactive posters.    I see this as an easy way to incorporate technology into our science and social studies topics.  Students would love to find text, visuals and video to support their glogster topic.  Its link to Google Earth is a great geography connection and its link to Edmodo would be a neat addition to our class blogging.  I will try to incorporate this into my classroom this year – I think it would be a good match to a study of George Washington coming up in late spring.    There is a gallery of excellent completed glogsters to preview and use.  There seem to be a lot of supports in place for any novice, student or teacher to figure it out.

http://edu.glogster.com/

Kerpoof Scholastics

Kerpoof Scholastics is a multimedia site where stories can be created, games can be played and many lessons are stored and shared.  The graphics programs included offer great options and the way a story can be clearly laid out and created are user-friendly and fun.  I know my students would love this!  The choices of settings, backgrounds, and clipart are endless!  There is a huge bank of lessons already written that use many of the Kerpoof tools.  In addition, there are games that are fun and somewhat educational.  I can see using this site as one students can work on independently, once we’ve reviewed the basics as there is so much there, they can choose from.  

http://www.kerpoof.com/teach