Web2.0+Tools+in+K-12+(Week+4)

__**Directions**__
 * 1) Post at least **two** examples in each category of how online collaborative Web 2.0 tools are being used in K-12. Categories are **Manage or Delivery Content**, and **Student Generated Content.**
 * 2) Please include your last name next to your post. Optionally, color code your post too.

By the time we are done, we will have a comprehensive list of ways that online tools can be used to support K-12 teaching and learning. I have posted one example in each category to get us started.

__**Manage or Deliver Content**__

Mr. Smart's History Wiki- This history teacher uses a Wikispace as a space for students to discuss topics in history, collaborate on the development of webpages, and provide reviews for tests. (schnupp)

Google Sites- Review the lesson plan: Google Sites for States Research appropriate for grades 4-6. (Johnson)

Moodle - See a list of how Moodle can be used to differentiate instruction(Johnson).

==== Wikijunior:Big Cats This is on the WikiBooks site and is a collaborative effort by educators to write a book on "Big Cats" (i.e. Lions, Tigers, Jaguars, Leopards etc..) This is a book that is targeted to the k-12 audience with different levels of data appropriate for different ages. (Mark Drummeter) ====

Hot Potatoes is a downloadable internet based application that includes six applications, letting you create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is freeware. Here is an example of a Hot Potatoes quiz: Hot Potatoes-Little Red Riding Hood quiz (Mark Drummeter)

==== **[|Weebly]**- Using Weebly for Educators, teachers can easily create a classroom website & blog, manage your students' accounts, accept homework assignments online, & keep your parents up to date. (Haber) ==== ==== **[|Vialogues]** - Create conversations around a video - Each comment is time-stamped and clicking on this will take you to that point in the video so you can see the comment in the context it was made. (Haber) ====

[|Renzulli Learning] - This site provides the opportunity for students to create a profile based on their interests and learning styles, and allows teachers to access a variety of learning activities related both to state standards, ability level, and modality preferences. (Estes)

[|Teacher Tube] - This site, similar to You Tube, allows teachers to access shared videos and upload original videos to deliver content presentations. (Estes)

[|EduCreations] This site could be used in both categories, student generated content or teacher delivered content. Educreations is an App that can be downloaded to an Ipad. It allows the user to use the Ipad as a recordable whiteboard. There is audio, handwriting, picture upload, and video recording that can be done on this App. Once the lesson has been created it can be uploaded and shown on any browser. Scroll down to view several teacher created lessons. (Cross)

[|Screencast-O-Matic] This is a free downloadable software site where screen capture created videos can be uploaded to Youtube or GoogleDocs. This would be great for both student generated content or teacher delivered content. Screencast-O-Matic allows the user to download free screen capture software. The screen capture software supports voice recording so students or teachers can explain what they are showing step by step. It makes it easy to for the viewer to follow along! There are many student created videos and teacher lessons examples. (Cross)

Blabberize- Blabberize could be used to create teacher-generated content or student-generated content. You upload a picture and create a "mouth" on the picture. It could be realistic or not (you could make a talking pineapple, for example). Then you record audio. Here's an example of how one teacher used this tool with her 5th grade students. They researched different planets and made a recording, pretending to be the planets. Teachers could use this to present information in a humorous, more engaging way than simply speaking to the class. (Michelle K)

Timetoast - Timetoast could be used to create teacher-generated content or student-generated content. It is a timeline visualization tool. You create popup boxes filled with images and text that appear when the viewer moves the mouse over a specific point in time. This could be used in a variety of ways. A teacher could create a timeline to introduce significant historical events. A student could create a timeline to highlight important events throughout his/her life. (Michelle K)


 * UStream This is a free web application that allows you to stream yourself all around the world LIVE (audio & video). Many educators use it to deliver lectures/content synchronously, and even to hold "office hours" for homework, etc. This can be very interactive through the additional use of Google Chat or Google Docs! It also has loads of educational resource live-streaming videos.... (Binnert) **


 * Socrative This little gem of a tool serves as a sort-of "clicker device" in conjunction with a tablet (such as the iPad or Samsung Galaxy), smart phone (iPhone, android), regular laptop, or even iPod touch. The teacher logs in, is assigned a "room" number, and gives students the room number to enter with him/her. From that point, there are interactive games, voting tools, text entry, and more formative assessment tools for the teacher to interact with and engage students. Records are kept and updated on the teacher's screen. (Binnert) **

[|Twurdy] This is a search engine that provides results with readability color coded. This is great for differentiation and providing content information at appropriate instructional or independent reading levels. (Renner)

[|Qwiki] This is a search engine/encyclopedia that presents content in the form of narrated presentations. The topics are general, but they are good for helping to build context and background knowledge. That narration will help students who learn better with visual and audio. (Renner)

Jing Jing is type of screenshot/screencast software that allows you to capture and deliver images or video of what you are doing on the computer. Educators can use it to record a math lesson on an interactive white board and then post it for review or to demonstrate how to use a particular Web 2.0 tool such as Google docs for publishing a project. (Sherwood)

[|Diigo] Diigo is a social bookmarking website which allows users to tag web pages to share information. Users also use sticky notes to highlight specifics or the entire page. It can be shared with a group within Diigo or another forwarded link. "Diigo" is an acronym from "Digest of Internet Information, Groups and Other stuff". (Michelle S)

[|SmartKiddies] (Studyladder) is a highly effective and well organized Mathematics and Literacy program. It has been developed by experienced educators to inspire and motivate learning. It is suitable for Elementary and Junior High School students and is user-friendly to gain access to the materials. (Michelle S)

[|Voice Thread] has a bunch of great projects done by students. When browsing, type in some key words such as "elementary" or "education' and see what comes up. My daughter had a snow day when she was in Kindergarten, so I had her make a digital story. Her teacher was also the HS girls basketball coach, so she wanted to create a story about the pep rally and game we attended. She chose the pictures, scripted her story herself, and put it all together, with very little assistance from me. Check out the [|Girls Basketball Game] digital story. Another example is [|4th Grade Reflections] where students used Voice Thread to reflect upon classroom experiences. (Schnupp)

Blogging--Watch these powerful videos on Langwitches Blog of 2nd grade students discussing how they use blogging in their curriculum. They also helped develop videos on how to make appropriate posts! (Johnson)

StoryKit iPad App--This article describes how 5th grade students used the StoryKit iPad app for storytelling. They also describe some of the struggles the students had using the app. Here's a StoryKit tutorial on how to use it! (Johnson)

Podcasts - There is a site on the internet called "Our City" podcast at: http://learninginhand.com/OurCity/ which allows students from around the world to post information and stories about their home town. Most are by elementary school children. (Mark Drummeter)

Voki - Voki lets users to express themselves on the web in their own voice using a talking character (Avatar that they create). they can customize the Voki to look like them or take on the identity of lots of other types of characters… animals, monsters, anime etc. Voki can speak with in the student's own voice which is added via microphone, upload, or phone. Voki can be added to a blog, social network profile and instant messaging platforms. It can also be able to download it to most video supported phones. Here is a video example of students using Voki to help with their writing. Voki helps writing (Mark Drummeter)

**[|Little Write Brain]** - is a publishing and education company that aims to instill a passion for reading, writing and storytelling in children through the use of online book creation tools. Children can create unlimited free books while working on character development and story building skills. (Haber)

**[|Primary Pad]** - A web-based word processor designed for schools that allows students and teachers to work together in real-time. Offers additional features such as chat, time slider (to see how your project has evolved) and speech-to-text capability. (Haber)

[|Museum Box Creator] - This site allows students to create a virtual "museum box" that includes images, text, audio, and video to present different aspects of an area of study. Check out this [|link]to an example box created by a student from the Baltimore Metro area. Click on the box to get started and see all sides of the cube. (Estes)

[|Spell with Flickr] - This site allows students to enter a word into a search bar to spell out words using Flickr images. This could be used to help develop web-based acrostic poems on class Wikis or even in Word documents. (Estes)

[|LiveBinders Blogging] -This blog site shows how an entire class uses student created blogs to report about projects that are done during each quarter throughout the year. Students can also comment on each others blogs to provide feedback. (Cross)

[|Wordle] Wordle is a tool students can use to turn a paper, poem, message, letter, or any text into a word cloud picture. There is an example on the site of a student who highlighted words from a paragraph to make the cover of a Journal. The words that are used most often in the text, tend to show up larger in the cloud. It helps to see what the main idea of the text is once its turned into a word cloud. (Cross)

Crocodoc- Crocodoc enables students to annotate documents. After uploading a document, collaborators can highlight and strikeout text, draw, insert text boxes, and leave comments. The annotated document can then be shared with others. Students can use this for peer editing, or responding to assigned readings. Teachers can use this to give feedback on student work. This is a FREE product. Try the demo to experiment with the various tools. (Michelle K)

Wallwisher - Wallwisher is a graphical notice board maker. Students can create a shared wall where they can add text, images, links, videos, and files. Items can be rearranged on the wall. This could be used as a way for groups to organize information and communicate easily. View a demo here. (Michelle K)


 * ToonDoo This is a web applet that allows students, teachers, or anyone else to create little electronic cartoons. You can select from thousands of different options, and even use an image of yourself or a friend to create a similar-looking tool through the TRAITR feature. This is a great tool for story boarding and helping students make their writing more clear and concise. (Binnert) **

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 * Google Sketchup One of the most amazing (and still free for most functions; upgrade to Pro cheaply for all tools) design and 3D imaging softwares out there, this tool allows students to turn virtually any project into a 3D reality. I've included this video below for a direct example of its use in the classroom. Pair this with Google Earth for ideal use. (Binnert) **

[|Dabbleboard] This is an online whiteboard that students can use to collaborate and create representations of learned concepts. There are options to insert images for better visuals. Collaboration can also be fostered through the use of the cat feature. There is an option for a free account and you don't have to sign up to start using. (Renner)

[|Thinkport] Thinkport provides a variety of interactive tools. The "Annotate it" tool allows students to highlight and annotate the text in a meaningful way. They can categorize each color and add notes as they read a teacher created or imported text. This is an interactive way for students demonstrate during reading skills. (Renner)

PhotoPeach PhotoPeach is a free slideshow maker for creating and sharing photos with animation, music, and text. I used it this year with my fourth grade students at the beginning of the year when they presented a short slideshow highlighting important events in their life. Students loved using the music feature and adding text to describe their favorite vacations, birthday events, and other family memories. At the end of the slideshow, a comment feature can be enabled so that viewers can leave feedback. (Sherwood)

[|Kerproof]Kerproof provides a cool way to make students their own movies, cards, and pictures to share them all with one another. Please view this teacher turorials for this tool. (Michelle S)

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[|GoAnimate4Schools] GoAnimate4Schools is one of the greatest hands-on application for students to put learning into practice. They can create various eductional lessons and share their practices and experiences around the world. (Michelle S)

Jennifer Barnett's Class Wiki This wiki is about managing course content and providing information about text in technology driven ways. There are podcast links, interest polls and even video links to get students interested in their upcoming book, Hunger Games. Current projects, class calendar and course procedures are also available. This teacher is definitely on the ball.(Oren)

Brightstorm - This is an online learning network for high school students. Each of the courses covers the core topics commonly taught in high school subjects (e.g. Geometry, Algebra, Writing, etc) and are designed to support students in classes where they need additional help in order to reach their full potential. The courses are therefore intended to complement in-school learning. Each course is broken into 10- to 20- minute video lessons divided by topic. Each course also includes interactive quizzes, practice problems and study guides to help students gain a deeper understanding of the subject. (Cooke)

[|Kathy Shrock's Guide to Everything] - This page compiles most of the Google Apps and aligns them to Bloom's Taxomomy (see website by clicking the link). Each of the images has clickable hotspots and includes suggestions for Google, iPad, Android, and Web 2.0 applications to support each of the levels of Bloom's Revised Taxonomy. This is a very useful site for teachers to use as they are planning engaging higher level thinking lessons. (Cooke)

__Podcasts__-Our superintendent would use podcasts to deliver important updates and annoucements to parents, staff, and anyone who views the county website. (S. Scott)

__Wordle-__We (administrative team and I) used wordle in a professional development workshop. We asked teachers to write down three words that came to mind when they heard the phrase high expectations. We then entered the words into wordle to show what the biggest response was. It was Rigor. We used this as a segway into our discussions of how rigor is important in creating a culture of high expectations for all students. (S. Scott)

[|New Horizons For Learning EdTech Database] - This website is an initiative of New Horizons for Learning, a Johns Hopkins organization with the aim of aligning research and practice in education. The database reviews educational technology tools in real classrooms across the USA, and publishes resources as reviewed by teachers. Currently, they have reviews on resources like the [|Periodic Table of Videos], [|Blabberize], [|PollEverywhere], and so many more. For educators who are new to trying these tools in their classroom, the database is a great resource to see how other teachers and their students rated tools. (Rao)

[|PollEverywhere] - this website allows educators to create multiple-choice or open-ended polls, and embed them into PowerPoint. Then, students can submit their responses via SMS or online, and their responses are viewable in real-time on the PowerPoint. This tool is a great way to assess students quickly and in an engaging way that utilizes one of the main distractions I found in my classroom, cell-phones.

__“Storybirds” ( http://storybird.com/ )__
// Beside the websites for practicing and improving interactive reading and collaborative writing in the digital space, such as wiki and blogs, “Storybirds” are short and more visual stories to share. In the following example for the development of reading skills in Spanish, the stories are embedded and organized in a wiki collaborative page (wikispaces.com): http://mfl-storybirds.wikispaces.com/Spanish+Storybirds. (D. Mizza) // //__ "Flickr" ( http://www.flickr.com/ ) __// // Submitted stories can also be shared in a platform to store, sort, search and share images, photos and videos online - and entered into competition. (D. Mizza) //

//__ "Bubbl.us” ( www.bubbl.us ) __// // Finally, vocabulary acquisition and key words/concepts brainstorming can be conducted and organized collaboratively using the freeware “bubbl.us" that allows to easily create colorful mind maps to share with classmates. (D. Mizza) //

__Flat Planet__ Flat Planet is an awesome wikispace designed and implemented by two teachers, one from Canada and one from the UK. The teachers each have a high school class learning about the environment. Students work together to develop wikispaces to teach each other about different environmental issues. (Oren)

Found this great blog with 33 uses for blogs in the classroom. Uses for young students to older and for parent to teacher communication as well. Enjoy!

__Skype__-A couple of years ago I collaborated with another business teacher on my team and we allowed students to practice mock interviewing as if they were in one location and the interview was across states or the country. (We were next door to each other). The students were prepped for the interview. They got to ask questions as well as be the interviewee. It was a great learning experience! (S.Scott)

__Skype__-I read in an article, I think on Edweek.org that a class was using skype to talk with students in maybe China, or some classroom that was literally half way around the world. This reminded me of how we used to have pen pals in school and write letters to them. Now they can talk in real time, face time, and incorporate other lessons like learning a different language, geography, business and economic systems of that country. The possibilities of integrating lessons and crossing curriculums are endless. Technology can be powerful when used effectively! (S. Scott)

[|Kidblog] - Kidblog is a safe blogging space for educators. Teachers create "classes" and give each student there own log-in. It is very "kid friendly." When students log in they select their name from a drop-down menu and type in their password. Students can see and comment on each others' writing. Teachers approve comments before they are published. Teachers can also create guest log ins for others to view and comment on the blog. Only those with permission can view and comment on the blog. My students love publishing their writing and sharing what they have learned. They love reading comments from their teacher, parents, friends and even the principal! (Googash) [| Mindmeister] - Mindmeister allows users to create extensive mind maps. In my exploration I found it fairly intuitive to use. I think it would work well in upper grades. Here is a description of how a ninth grade teacher uses mind meister to promote critical thinking and discussion in his class. (Googash)

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//__“Xtranormal” ( __////__http://www.xtranormal.com __////__ ) __//======

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//is a collaborative and playful writing tool in which students select the characters, setting, and language for the digitized speech (male and female voices) and then type the text (or cut and paste from a pre-prepared Word document). By selecting the camera angles and put in actions, students can create a movie that can then be embedded into a common website or wiki space. (D. Mizza) //======

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//__“Jing” (http://www.jingproject.com __////<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16px;">) has an easy-to-use interface that allow learners to practice speaking skills. //======

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//__<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16px;">"Voki" __////<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16px;">- already mentioned above - is a more animated one, because enables language learners to create their avatar, a computer user’s representation of himself/herself. The finished avatar could then be uploaded in a Wiki or Moodle Site to further collaboration and sharing. (D. Mizza) //======

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//__“Cartoon Story Maker” (http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/games/cartoon/csm_help/default.htm__//====== //<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 16px;">Among the online educational games based on the Web 2.0 constructivist approach, “Cartoon Story Maker” allows to make 2D screen based cartoon stories to illustrate conversations and dialogues. Stories can include an unlimited number of frames and are view frame by frame. (D. Mizza) //