Web+2.0

While browsing through the various Web 2.0 tools, I found a variety of useful information and great resources to use in my future classrooms. Out of all of the choices, the five Web 2.0 tools that I liked the best were Comic Sketch, CommunityWalk, Mapskip, ChartTool, and Tikatok. Comic Sketch is a tool that is designed for drawing and allows the user to draw, create, and publish their own comics. The site is very user friendly and would be easily navigated by children. CommunityWalk is a Web 2.0 tool that is designed for mapping and allows the user to create personal, community and professional maps, after the maps have been created they can show the map on a website or blog and add videos, photos, and comments. Mapskip is another Web 2.0 tool similar to CommunityWalk. With Mapskip, the user can explore the world through shared stories and pictures about all the places in our lives. It also allows you to upload and share your own stories, photos and sounds from places you’ve visited. ChartTool is a Web 2.0 tool that is designed for graphing or making charts and it allows the user to design and share their own graphs online and it also contains a number of different chart types like: bar charts, pie charts, line charts, bubble charts and radar plots. Finally, Tikatok is a Web 2.0 tool designed for writing skills. On Tikatok, the user can create a book, upload images, and comment on the book. It allows the user to either view online, embed, send via email or purchase hard copy. I think that all of these Web 2.0 tools would be useful and appropriate for use in the classroom. For instance, you could use Comic Sketch while doing a focus on comics in the classroom. After reading and discussing the various types of comics and what makes a comic a comic, children could have the opportunity to create their own comic via Comic Sketch. This tool gives each child the necessary layout and resources they need in order to create a comic. After everyone has created a comic, each comic can then be printed out and put into the class comic book. Comic Sketch could also be used alone simply as an art project within the classroom. CommunityWalk would be a great Web 2.0 tool to have in the classroom when discussing various aspects or dynamics of the community. CommunityWalk allows students to create their own maps and publish them online. This would be a very useful tool when discussing the aspects of a map and how to create a map. After exploring the different uses of maps and discussing them within the classroom, CommunityWalk would allow students to experiment with maps hands-on by creating their own version of a map. They could make a map of their neighborhood, school, or even their own house. This tool would also be useful if you were doing a unit on neighborhoods. After taking a walk around the neighborhood with the children, it would be fun to collaborate with each other and make a map on CommunityWalk. Since this tool also allows you to add videos and photos, it would be fun to add real life videos and photos of the children in their neighborhood on the map. The children could also add their own comments to the map as well. Similar to CommunityWalk, Mapskip allows the user to explore the world through shared stories and pictures about all the places in our lives. It also allows you to upload and share your own stories, photos and sounds from places you’ve visited. This tool would be useful in the classroom during any geography assignment or unit of study. It would also be beneficial if a student was interested in learning more about a specific area or location, and could use Mapskip to research the specific area or location. This tool would also be interesting to use to create a classroom blog about travel. Each time a student travels to a different area of the world, he or she can then bring in photos and videos of their trip and upload them to the website. This tool can help create a community of learners within the classroom by allowing each child to share a specific and unique experience. ChartTool is a Web 2.0 tool designed for graphing or making charts and it allows the user to design and share their own graphs online and it also contains a number of different chart types like: bar charts, pie charts, line charts, bubble charts and radar plots. This would be a useful tool to use in the classroom when teaching mathematics, especially for early childhood as graphs and charts are the simplest way for younger children to understand the concept of less, more, the same, etc. This tool would be a fun and interactive way to explore the concepts of graphing and making charts in the classroom, as it allows children to interact with a variety of materials on the website. It would be useful during a math unit to have each child create their own graph or chart using various quantities, and then have them share their graph with the class. This would help children understand the concept of graphing and charting, what values or variables are needed in order to make a graph or a chart, and what chart or graph presents their data the best. This tool would also be useful when comparing or contrasting characteristics of something, say during a science unit, as the children could use this tool to create a ven diagram to show the similarities and differences between two things. Using the Web 2.0 tool Tikatok within the classroom would allow children to create a book, upload images, and comment on the book. It allows the user to either view online, embed, send via email or purchase hard copy. This would be a great tool to use for writing workshops or as a presentation for the end of a unit. By allowing children access to this tool in the classroom, they can create their own story and then submit it online and produce an actual book. At the end of a unit of particular study, each child could upload an assignment or work of art related to the unit and then a class book could be made with a compilation of all of the students’ work. It would also be nice to use this Web 2.0 tool for children to compile sort of a portfolio of all of the work they have done over the semester, and then the teacher could use it as an example during parent/teacher conferences. All in all, I found all of the Web 2.0 tools to have a high potential for usefulness within the classroom. Each tool provides children with a different dynamic to learning and creating. It also gives the teacher an opportunity to provide differentiated instruction to each child within the classroom, so that the needs of each child are met as well as the needs of the class as a whole. By integrating technology, such as Web 2.0 tools into the classroom, we as teachers can provide a fun, interactive, and highly stimulating learning environment. This will not only help children become accustomed and proficient with various technology, but will also enhance their overall learning environment.