Hardly anything conjures up more technology hype more than the phrase "Web 2.0". Our idea for this challenge came from looking at a lot of web sites. We don't want anyone overwhelmed by a Web2 fire hose effect, or a mega laundry list of “Aren't These Cool Things to Do On The Web'?.
Don’t misunderstand, Big Lists are great resources, and better references. But let’s say, you want your students to write a poem. Do you just toss them a dictionary and say, “Look at all these great words! Just use them!”? If I want to visit an exotic part of the world, do you unfold a map and say, “Just pick a country!”? If someone is new to web tools, leery of using web sites, or mildly skeptical, a big list of links is just hitting them over the head with a pile of web sites that are really out of any context. That approach is not very effective, and can even be counter productive.
So, for this exercise, you will have an opportunity to pick from a much smaller set. You will not become a Web 2.0 evangelist, but simply have a chance to expose yourself to something new and potentially practical.
What you will do:
This is hopefully a rather simple set of instructions.
Scan the list below. Pick something you have never heard of, or has an interesting description, or maybe it just has an interesting name.Just pick one, and give it a try for a few minutes.
Give it a quick test run. Take mental note of how easy, or not, it was to figure out; (a) what it does; (b) what it takes to use it, and (c) what limitations it might have for your own (or your students') use.
Share what you found. Using the discussion tab at the top of these pages, take some time to share:
The tool (and its URL) that you used.
Why you chose it.
Link to anything you constructed, created, performed with this tool.
What potential does it have for the subjects you teach or are interested in.
A long time, all-time favorite. It is simple and does something neat and useful. Enter any phrase, and the site finds images in flickr to spell it out from images. Useful for creating banners, web graphics, introductions for wiki pages, etc.
A powerful tool for creating graphics for diagrams and flowcharts. It comes with a selection of premade drag and drop nodes, and you create relationships with lines, arrows, etc. Save as images or PDF, and/or invite others to collaborate with you.
Wordle:**http://www.wordle.net/**
Wordle is a tool for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
Animoto: http://animoto.com
Add your own pictures, music, or video clips, add any text, and Animoto customises
a video for you. Publish to any web site or view online. A great tool.
Voki: http://voki.com
Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars, even recording your own voice, and use them on your Wiki, website, and in email messages. The kids love it! If you want to hear those wonderfull kid giggles this is the place.
StoryBird: http://storybird.com
Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make with family and friends to share and (soon) print. This site was recommended in the ForPD newsletter. Very cool!
Teacher / Student Challenge
Hardly anything conjures up more technology hype more than the phrase "Web 2.0". Our idea for this challenge came from looking at a lot of web sites. We don't want anyone overwhelmed by a Web2 fire hose effect, or a mega laundry list of “Aren't These Cool Things to Do On The Web'?.
Don’t misunderstand, Big Lists are great resources, and better references. But let’s say, you want your students to write a poem. Do you just toss them a dictionary and say, “Look at all these great words! Just use them!”? If I want to visit an exotic part of the world, do you unfold a map and say, “Just pick a country!”? If someone is new to web tools, leery of using web sites, or mildly skeptical, a big list of links is just hitting them over the head with a pile of web sites that are really out of any context. That approach is not very effective, and can even be counter productive.
So, for this exercise, you will have an opportunity to pick from a much smaller set. You will not become a Web 2.0 evangelist, but simply have a chance to expose yourself to something new and potentially practical.
What you will do:
This is hopefully a rather simple set of instructions.
Spell with flickr: http://metaatem.net/words/
A long time, all-time favorite. It is simple and does something neat and useful. Enter any phrase, and the site finds images in flickr to spell it out from images. Useful for creating banners, web graphics, introductions for wiki pages, etc.gliffy: http://www.gliffy.com
A powerful tool for creating graphics for diagrams and flowcharts. It comes with a selection of premade drag and drop nodes, and you create relationships with lines, arrows, etc. Save as images or PDF, and/or invite others to collaborate with you.Wordle: **http://www.wordle.net/**
Wordle is a tool for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
Animoto: http://animoto.com
Add your own pictures, music, or video clips, add any text, and Animoto customises
a video for you. Publish to any web site or view online. A great tool.
Voki: http://voki.com
Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars, even recording your own voice, and use them on your Wiki, website, and in email messages. The kids love it! If you want to hear those wonderfull kid giggles this is the place.
StoryBird: http://storybird.com
Storybirds are short, visual stories that you make with family and friends to share and (soon) print. This site was recommended in the ForPD newsletter. Very cool!
Now wasn't that fun and easy!!