Web+2.0+Paper

My Web 2.0 Paper There are literally hundreds probably thousands of tools to help a teacher  make and interactive classroom. I have explored five in this paper. In exploring all of the tools available for education in the world of web 2.0 I see a vast and deep opportunity to make learning exciting and engaging. With the sheer number of application available teachers can find one or several that will make a difference in the delivery of education. I have observed in the classrooms teachers still trying to educate students by pontificating at the front of a classroom. And if they do use computers its only to show a video or to show a worksheet on the screen. Students in the 21st century are part of the fabric of the internet. They socialize not only at school but also in online social networks. They get their music and videos from the computer; they read the top stories minutes after they happen not in the newspaper the next day. The students interact with the content and even create the content not just read it. They demand succinct, quick immediate feedback and interaction with information. Because of the emersion in technology students get very bored quickly if you are not engaging and this boredom leads to behavioral issues (Willis, MD, 2011). Engaging students in the learning process is how students really learn the material; all too often teachers fail use technology that engages students. Using web 2.0 tools allows students to engage and interact with the information even design and create their own learning. There are tools to help students organize their thoughts and ideas. There are tools for assisting in creativity so students can build flash games for the material they are learning. There are tools to assist in reading, writing, math, science and many other subjects to engage students in an interesting and fun way.

The five tools I selected, and it was a difficult task to only pick five, are Solvr, EdHeads, Super action comic maker, bubblus, and Hot Potatoes. I chose these because they covered a variety of subject matter. Solvr is a problem solving program that shows you how to solve a problem step by step. Not just math problems, you can ask how to develop characters in a story or, how to solve chemistry problems. It is interactive problem solving applications that students can play with help them learn how to solve problems. EdHeads is a creative learning tool, for instance students can learn about stem cells and then build a stem cell line interactively. It has video lessons, and collaboration tools for students to participate in the learning of a variety of activities that include many different content areas. Edheads has classroom activities that allow the entire class to participate in a fun lesson. I also chose Super action comic maker for a writing application. This will allow students to create their own super heroes and develop stories and plots for their characters. Then see them come to life in a computer story book. Bubblus is a mind map tool for thinking organization. Students can use this application to display their ideas in a more organized fashion using bubble call outs. This helps students get their thoughts and notes in a more visual appealing order which help facilitate the visual learner in the classroom. Bubblus allows users to email and collaborate on projects. Different users can add ideas to a mind map. Hot potatoes is a quiz tool that help teachers develop fun and interesting assessments. The assessments can be used for pre, post and continuous feedback on lessons and content understanding. Hot potatoes is an interactive quiz developer that creates multiple choice, free answer, crossword, mix and match quizzes. There is a bank of pre made quizzes or you can make your own. In my classroom these tools and many others will serve to engage the students using interactive technology. The Solvr tool will be used as a research and problem solving strategies program. We will look a problem in class that a student or students are having difficulty with. The solvr will help us map out a step by step way to solve the problem. In 7th grade science we will be studying life science and some physical science lessons. Learning a method to determine the function of cell parts is a good example of how we can use the Solvr tool.

Edhead is a wonderful classroom activity tool. We will use this tool as an interactive hands-on way for students to test out methods of building organisms and see if they function as expected. An example classroom activity is building cell lines using stem cells. Super action comic maker is an excellent way for students to create their own learning by developing a comic story. We can utilize this tool with where the action hero has to develop an antidote to a poison or to a disease that has struck the good people of or classroom. Students will practice writing skills and cell knowledge while having fun. We will take notes in our class using the Bubblus program. Students can work in groups adding to the mind map so they can organize the information in a way that makes sense to them. Collaborating with each other to build a knowledge board in which the students can use as a tool to develop an assessment for each other. Hot Potatoes will be used frequently by the students to build their own tests and quizzes and have fun in the process. This tool demonstrates that tests and quizzes can be enjoyable if presented in the right format. After covering a lesson or topic this quiz format can give immediate feedback to students so they know what they need to study more thoroughly. I can use the results to see how much more we need to cover topics and or discover to what degree the students are already proficient. I am more excited than ever to be a teacher. The tools and technology available to educators is amazing. With just a little effort we can make learning more engaging and interesting. We can utilize the web 2.0 tools to meet the students on a common ground; interactive computer application. Students these days demand interactive environments they can explore and manipulate. With the web 2.0 tools we can provide this confluence in an educational setting enabling students to gain a deeper understanding of material and construct their own learning.