Web+2.0

Web 2.0 tools are amazing technology advances. These tools allow people to share documents and pictures with each other from any computer or smart phone with web access. Some Web 2.0 tools allow people to write and edit documents from anywhere at any time. Users can view others’ documents and edit them. Web 2.0 tools save time and paper. Instead of printing and mailing letters to parents, teachers can post documents on the web for parents to view at their convenience. Teachers can create websites with research to support their teaching techniques. Allowing students to use Web 2.0 tools will foster learning. The more children are engaged in hands on activities the more they learning. Using technology keeps students interested and teaches them that technology can be used in educational ways in addition to entertainment purposes. Google Documents is a Web 2.0 tool. Known as Google Docs, it allows people to create and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and forms. Documents can be edited with others in real time, allowing one to see the edits made by others as they are happening. All documents are accessible from any computer or smart phone with internet access at any time. Additionally, documents can be edited at any time. Google Docs can be used by teachers for multiple purposes. First, teachers can create newsletters for parents to view. Communication between parents and teachers is a vital aspect in educating children. Teachers traditionally send letters to parents and children frequently during the school year. Letters can be sent before school starts, shortly after the school year has begun, and as thematic units change. Letter creation in Google Docs is a great alternative to sending letters in the mail or home with children. Teachers can create and share weekly classroom newsletters in order to communicate with parents about children’s activities in the classroom. As teachers transition among themes, they can create and share a document or spreadsheet outlining the different themes that will be used. In addition to newsletters, teachers can use Google Docs to create spreadsheets, which allow parents to sign up to help in the classroom. Parent participation in the classroom is very important. Teachers want as many parents as possible to lend a helping hand. Google Docs allows parents to view days and times that teachers ask for help, and sign up at their convenience. As an example, there is a classroom party and the teacher has asked parents to bring food and games for the class. Creating a sign-up sheet on Google docs allows parents to view needed items and sign up at their convenience for items to provide. If parents have free time and want to help with small groups in the classroom, they can easily sign up on the Google Docs sign-up sheet created by the teacher. [|click here to check out Google Docs] In addition to using Google Docs to communicate with parents and children, creating a wiki space can be beneficial. A wiki space is a web page that includes anything the user wants it to. A teacher can create a website which includes documents, videos, and pictures. Ideally, when I am a teacher, I would like to create a wiki space for parents, including empirical research that supports play and movement-based instruction. As an early childhood educator, I understand the importance that play and movement has on learning for all ages. When I have my own classroom, I want to use as much play and movement as I can to support learning in young children. If I have a wiki space that shows the research supporting the methods I use in my classroom, I will inspire parent confidence in my techniques. Wiki spaces, such as PBWorks, can be used for more than creating a teacher website. Students can create their own web pages. Allowing students to build a web page, embed images and videos, and post documents facilitates child-centered learning. Hands on activities are the best types of activities for young children. Students can create a web page based around a topic of their interest. A teacher can guide the student in choosing areas of research within the topic of the student’s interest. For example, if a student wants to research dinosaurs, the teacher can require that the student research types of dinosaurs, habitats, food, and time period they lived. From there, the student can create a wiki about dinosaurs and have a direction for research. Students can also create wikis for group projects. Students can collaborate together anywhere at any time to create a web page based around the topic of research. Additionally, groups within the classroom can view other groups’ wikis and see others’ thought processes during research projects. Finally, teachers can create classroom discussion topics for students via wikis. A teacher may create challenge questions for students to answer over the weekend. Those who participate may receive a reward, such as first pick in the classroom library or extra free reading time. Teachers may also pose questions in a fun way to assess students’ metacognition in reading or mathematics. For example, the question may read, “I want to teach my dog how to read. What are three strategies I could teach him to decode words?” Students may be inclined to post a response because it is a funny question. At the same time, I monitor reading strategies of which the students are aware and using. [|Check out PBWorks] In addition to Google Docs and Wiki spaces, Blogger is another Web 2.0 tool that teachers can incorporate in the classroom. Blogs are viewed as electronic personal journals. Users can post pictures and narratives anytime anywhere. Creating a classroom blog can help create a sense of community. A teacher can post pictures and write general narratives about students’ activities and progress in the classroom. Teachers take pictures regularly in different centers, during large and small group instruction, and on field trips. Posting pictures and writing regular narratives about the classroom progress as a whole can help create a community of learners. Teachers should keep narratives general and about classroom progress versus individual progress. Teachers should also make sure parents approve pictures of their child being posted. A teacher could pick a few different daily activities in which the children participate to write about regularly. For example, a teacher may write a morning message on the board each day and ask students to read it. Then, the teacher may ask students to circle proper nouns or underline words that have a diphthong. As students advance, teachers can write about progress as a classroom. [|Create a Blog now!] Podcasts are another great classroom tool. Podcasts are audio files that are accessed via the web and can be heard on any audio player. In my classroom, I would like to have multiple podcasts for students to listen to during centers. Ideally, students can choose from a list of topics. Under each topic, I will have information on that topic and direction for a topic related activity. Students will be engaged in a hands-on activity while using technology and practicing following instructions. [|View podcasts here] Finally, a fifth Web 2.0 tool I intend on incorporating in my classroom is Prezi. Prezi is a lot like a power point presentation, but much more creative. Prezi allows information to be presented in a unique, nonlinear manner. In Prezi presentations, ideas are placed on a canvas and can be zoomed in and out for emphasis. It is very visual, and ideas that are larger may have more importance than ideas that are presented in a smaller visual. This is a great tool for the classroom because it is visually engaging. For young students this tool can be used to help in the understanding of main ideas and subtopics. By creating larger visuals for main ideas and smaller visuals for subtopics, Prezi provides a visual experience that may help students understand the concepts more easily. Additionally, students can learn about parts of a whole through Prezi. The presentations are designed so that all ideas can be viewed in one glance, but different topics are enlarged. With this layout, students are more likely to understand that multiple parts create a whole. [|Be amazed by Prezi!]