Welcome!

Image from itslearning.net

Welcome to this blog tutorial on a few Web 2.0 tools that can be incorporated into your classroom. Each blog post has been designed to introduce you step-by-step to each tool and provide information as to the benefits of using these tools in the educational setting. 





If you have any additional questions, please feel free to ask! 
I am here to help!
N. Sauer

*Special Note* Credit given to Aaron Mueller for creating the name for this blog!
Works cited:

Berger, P. & Trexler, S.(2010). Choosing Web 2.0 Tools for Learning and Teaching in a Digital World. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. 

Kist, W. (2010). The Socially Networked Classroom: Teaching in the New Media Age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. 

Blogging - reflective learning

Why Blog?

Image from twitter.com

Will Richardson (2010) describes the potential learning that takes place with blogging in this way: 

"Blogging can teach critical reading and writing skills, and it can lead to greater information management skills. It can help students become much more media and information literate by clarifying the choices they make about the content they write about, it can teach them about how networks function - both human and computer - and it can teach the essential skills of collaboration" (37). 

This reflection on personal learning can have profound, positive consequences. 

If you would like to start blogging with your class, it is a good idea to start small (Richardson, 45-46):

• Get students to read some model blogs
• let students respond to posts on your class blog - perhaps pose a simple question they can respond to
• use small groups to create blogs
• work your way up to individual blogging, with clear expectations of what should/shouldn't be included

Realizing that staying safe online is a priority (Kist, 2010, 55), one simple, secure, and free site to use with your class is kidblog.org

Image from kidblog.org

Once you have created a class account, you can create the look of your blog from provided templates.  

You can add new students to the class list:

You can add posts/topics/questions that students can respond to:

You have the ability to preview any comments before they are submitted to the blog: 

You can keep track of any student activity that happens in the blog:

If you are unfamiliar with blogging, I would suggest that you start experimenting with your own blog first. This blog was developed using blogger.com, which is a simple, yet versatile way to begin your blogging adventures. Try adding hyperlinks, inserting images/video, or try embedding a document from your adventures with animoto. Once you are familiar with the navigation aspects of a blog, you will have a better understanding of how to set up a blog with your students.
This positive learning environment will take your students to a new, reflective-learning level!

Screencast - Video instructions

One of the Web 2.0 tools that I enjoy the most for it's educational uses is the screencast. This tool enable you to take a video of your screen, with voice instructions added, so that you can teach the viewer how to navigate around a certain aspect on a website, or program.

Students can learn to do a screencast to create internet tours, explain their work, or create stories that they read with accompanying visuals (Richardson, 124). By considering audience, planning a script, and preparing the visual aspect, students are developing many different literacy skills.

Producing a screencast with screenr is very easy, however there is a 5 minute time limit. The hardest part is planning out what to record and what to say along with it. Sometimes it takes a few practice tries!

The options with screenr are limitless! No need to download any program, just sign in, launch the screen recorder and you can begin!

Here is an example of a quick screenr for showing students how to use some of the tools in a word document:



Once you  have created your screencast, it's simple to share it, embed it within another document like a blog, or access it via a URL that you can provide to your students. These codes are all provided to you on the screenr website. 

Glogster - Poster Projects

Image from moodle2.dist428.org

Having students visually representing what they read is another way to develop literacy. With the focus these days on screen technology, "Visual literacy skills should be included if we truly want to prepare students for this new kind of reading" (Kist, 2010, 25). 

Glogster is not only a fun way to visually represent information, but it allows students to critically think about the information they have researched, how to summarize it into a visual representation, with an additional focus on audience. With the increased use of "digital scrapbooks" like flickr, (Kist, 28), this presentation tool allows students to explore another way to communicate information. 

Glogster.com is the free site available for use, however there is also a secure glogster available for student use at edu.glogster.com. This edu.glogster starts at a cost of $25 per year for 1 teacher and 30 students. 














I used the free glogster, with the option of setting the pages to private use.

Once you have created an account, you can start creating a new glog. Templates are provided to choose from, or you can design your own. 

It will be important to become familiar with the toolbar in the glog, which is used for adding text, graphics, images, audio, video and other data which relates to the specific topic chosen.

Once the glog is finished and saved, you are provided with a URL to view the finished glog. 

You are also provided with a code if you would like to embed the glog into another document, such as a blog.

Another additional feature is to be able to print the completed glog!

 Here is an example of an embedded glog:



As you can see, there is opportunity to add visuals and text related to a specific topic. This can then be saved and shared with others!

Animoto - picture presentations

Animoto is a simple way for students to incorporate pictures with music to create a simple 30 second video clip presentation. Students can incorporate their own pictures, or photos related to a class project. There are many designs and background music options available, so there is not a lot of editing skills required!

Go to Animoto.com and sign up. Pricing is free for 30 second clips. 

Once you have created an account, there are many styles to choose from!

Choose from a variety of styles, and be sure to select the free version:

Choose a title, select a song, add photos, and preview the video. 

Photos can be arranged in the desired order once they are uploaded. Click on preview to view the video clip, and decide if any changes are necessary.

Once you are  happy, click on Produce video, and Animoto takes care of the rest.



Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.

Podcasts

Creating and publishing recordings has become very easy, and there are many uses for the classroom (Richardson, 2010, 117):

• language teachers can record and publish daily practice lessons that students can listen to
• students could record oral histories for Social Studies
• music teachers could record choir songs, or special events
• teachers could record narrative for books that students could follow along to

Once again the opportunities are endless, and once you become familiar with how to create the podcasts, you can decide how you would like to use them in the classroom - either for yourself, and/or for the students. 

Image from soundcloud.com

One site that is easy to set up and use is soundcloud.com

Using this tool is free, there is potential to download the recordings, and burn recordings to DVD. 

Once you create an account with soundcloud, you are ready to begin recording sounds. 




The toolbar at the top of the page contains an "upload" button. 

Once you click this button, you are ready to record!

Once you have finished your recording, you can upload the file. Make sure to give it a Title. 

You have the option to set the privacy settings, so that you can decide who hears the sound recording. You can also change the settings to allow for downloading the file - which is convenient for burning to CD's. 

Here is a sample of a sound recording!

Keeping in Touch

"Youth are leading the transition to a fully wired and mobile nation" (Berger & Trexler, 2010, 7). Our students are immersed in a technological world and as educators, we need to meet our students where they are at. This is a simple way to communicate to students, and even parents, in a format that they are comfortable with. 

Image from mooneyclasses.blogspot.com

"A safe way for teachers to text message students and stay in touch with parents. Free." remind101




Not every student in the class may have a cell phone or an email address, but chances are many of them do, and many parents have them as well. Here is a simple and safe way to send reminders regarding class assignments or upcoming events. 

One teacher commented, "I like to use remind101 to send out a brief message about an upcoming test. It's simple to use, and private - I don't even have access to student phone numbers. I even had a parent that wanted to be sent messages so she would know about upcoming assignments for the class" (Brown, M). 

Need students to remember to bring skates on Monday? Or a simple reminder to parents that library day is on Friday? Here is a simple way to get the message out!

Create an account at remind101.com

Decide on a name for the class. Make it specific enough so you can create different classes. You will be able to add more classes at any time.

Once you create a class, you will receive details that you will provide to parents and/or students to invite to receive your messages (numbers and text are blocked out in the photo - you will receive your own message information). 

Once this information is provided, it is then up to the student/parent to text or email that information to join the class. For privacy convenience, teachers DO NOT enter phone numbers or email addresses. 

You will receive notifications in your account for who has joined the class. 

You can then send messages to the members in that class, and they will receive a convenient message on their phone or by email. 

*Note* It is not possible for students/parents to reply to these messages, so you do not have to worry about being inundated with replies! If students try to reply, they receive a polite text message: "Sorry, you can't reply to your teacher."

At any point, you can delete a class, or a student/parent can remove themselves from getting reminders. 

If you lose track of time and decide to send out a message, remind101 sends you a friendly little reminder...

As an added feature, for those who have a class blog, remind101 provides a widget that enables you to send your messages to the website or blog.  

With remind101, no one can complain that they didn't know about the upcoming test!