Category: Webtools
How to Integrate Web 2.0 Tools into the Classroom
‘Web 2.0’ is a term familiar to all teachers. Stated in its simplest form, it’s the set of interactive internet-based tools used by students to enrich educational opportunities. ‘Web 1.0’ referred to the act of accessing websites—
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Which of these do you use in your classroom[/caption]
nothing more. Students read websites, clicked a few links, and/or researched a topic.
Web 2.0—Web-based education basics–includes blogs, wikis, class internet homepages, class internet start pages, twitter, social bookmarks, podcasting, photo sharing, online docs, online calendars, even Second Life—all tools that require thoughtful interaction between the student and the site. For teachers, it’s a challenge to keep up with the plethora of options as the creative minds of our new adults stretch the boundaries of what we can do on the internet.
Students, adults, teachers who use this worldwide wealth of information and tools are referred to as ‘digital citizens’. They leave a vast digital footprint and it is incumbent upon them to make healthy and safe decisions, including:
- Treat others and their property with respect (for example, plagiarism—even undiscovered—is immoral and illegal)
- Act in a responsible manner
- Look after their own security
Here are some activities you can do in your classroom that will make your lessons and activities more student-centered and more relevant to this new generation of students:
Monday Freebie #27: Internet Skills for K-8: Blogs
Create a classroom blog. Show students how to interact on it, answer questions, add their ideas. Include pictures, student schedule, location of your wiki and more
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Tech Tip #51: Copy Images From Google Images
As a working technology teacher, I get hundreds of questions from parents about their home computers, how to do stuff, how to solve problems. Each Tuesday, I’ll share one of those with you. They’re always brief and always focused. Enjoy!
Q: To copy an image from Google Images (or Bing), I right-click on the picture, select copy, then paste it into my document (with right-click, paste). But, It’s hard to move around. Isn’t there an easier way. (more…)
Weekend Website #64: Khan Academy
Every Friday I’ll send you a wonderful website that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.
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Khan Academy–free videos on lots of stuff[/caption]
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Weekend Website #61: Brainy Widgets from Wolfram Alpha
Every Friday, I’ll send you a wonderful website (or more) that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.
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Educational widgets for your blog or website[/caption]
Weekend Website #60: Google Tools and Bloom’s Taxonomy
Every Friday, I’ll send you a wonderful website (or more) that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.
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Support Blooms Taxonomy with Google Tools[/caption]
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Weekend Website #55: Science for Fifth Graders
This list covers all sorts of science from nature to geology. Like with the math websites, for my students, occasionally I put a list on the internet start page and let students go there during sponge time (click the link and see what’s up this month, so close to the end of the school year): BTW: Links go bad. Click here for an updated list.
Weekend Website #61: Brainy Widgets from Wolfram Alpha
Every Friday, I’ll send you a wonderful website (or more) that my classes and my parents love. I think you’ll find they’ll be a favorite of your students as they are of mine.
[caption id="attachment_5665" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Educational widgets for your blog or website[/caption]
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Weekend Website #53: 41 Websites for Teachers to Integrate Tech into Your Classroom
This list has a little bit of everything, and will kick-start your effort to put technology into your lesson plans:
ISTE Debrief: Don’t Hide the Internet from Today’s Kids
If you didn’t make it to ISTE 2011, you missed a great time. There was more going on than any sane person could absorb in a month and all 30,000+ of us 
attendees tried to do it in four days. The seminars cover every topic from tech integration to how to use specific programs to general trends. I tried to attend a few of each to not only learn new material but to make sure what I’m teaching is as relevant this year as when I first taught it to my classes.
Here are some of my thoughts:
- Teachers are not lecturers. We are guides, even fellow-learners
- Students learn by doing more than being taught. Encourage this
- There are a lot of ‘right’ ways to learn
- Students are problem-solvers. Let this happen
- Technology is about offering options in learning styles
- Technology offers different ways to teach different learners. Use it that way.
- Work beyond the classroom because class is too short, kids aren’t engaged the entire five hours
- Paperless classroom is possible. Figure it out.
- Virtual presentations so kids hear from the experts in real time (more…)
