For this week's focus in my Inquiry Based Learning class from Wilkes University, I looked at various Web 2.0 tools. According to Wikipedia (2016), Web 2.0 refers to websites that, "allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to Web sites where people are limited to the passive viewing of content. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites, blogs, wikis, folksonomies, video sharing sites, hosted services, Web applications, collaborative consumption platforms, and mashups."
One of the resources I perused for Web 2.0 tools was Discovery Education, a multimedia site dedicated to helping teachers provide quality content and Web 2.0 capabilities to their classrooms. What was interesting about it was that some of the Web 2.0 tools contained on the site or referred to in the informational videos had either evolved significantly or shut down! The reason this was interesting was because the site was made in 2014, just two years ago! This is a clear reminder that you don't want to completely count on any Web 2.0 tool to stay the way you first learn how to use it, let alone keep operating. I know that is a bit frustrating, but usually the changes (updates) are needed and help improve the tool's use for the classroom. The downside to that (for cheap teachers like me) is when a Web 2.0 tool starts charging a subscription to use their tool.
The only tool I have actually felt was worth subscribing to, because I couldn't find a better (free) alternative, was Dropbox. I tried other cloud-based storage-sharing platforms, but none worked as smoothly as Dropbox. In my classroom it has been the easiest way to share files that are not created in GAFE, such as our Yearbook (using Adobe's InDesign) and the photos with it. Besides Dropbox, I feel that Google Apps for Education (GAFE) has supplied the Web 2.0 tools most helpful for my classroom. My students and I regularly use and collaborate with the following apps in GAFE:
- Docs - writing assignments
- Sheets - writing assignments, such as yearbook paragraphs
- Drawing - art projects or visual aids for presentations
- Slides - research presentations & music
- Classroom - writing prompt, assignment, & assessment platform; dialogue center
- Blogger - daily classroom news & potential homework (communication to parents from the students and teacher)
In the context of Inquiry Based Learning, I am excited to incorporate VoiceThread into my Web 2.0 toolbox this coming year (pending our amount & access to Chromebooks). Here is an introduction to VoiceThread, in case you haven't used it before:
I played with it a little this week and re-discovered how easy it is to use, and how wonderful it is for giving and receiving feedback on presentations. I see it as a very effective tool for my students to share their investigations; explain their results with evidence using pictures, video clips, and comments; and then critique each other's. I could even have parents and real scientists log in and critique students' presentations! So, depending on how I end up using it with my students, it may be worth subscribing to for a classroom version that would help me moderate my students' work easier. Here is a VoiceThread explaining the benefits of the classroom version.
I particularly like the idea of my students being able to collaborate with students around the world in the education version of VoiceThread, because it would be a very safe, controlled environment with quality accountability. What do you think of VoiceThread?
Sources
Stacey. (2015). The Influence of Web 2.0 on Marketing and Sales - Part 2. [Infographic]. Retrieved from https://www.onehourtranslation.com/translation/blog/influence-web-20-marketing-and-sales-part-2
Web 2.0. (2016, July 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:52, July 24, 2016, fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_2.0&oldid=730638388
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