Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 refers to the next generation of the internet. Until recently people were just passive consumers of the internet, just going and getting information. Web 2.0 tools allow the consumer to be the producer by having them create content. Web 2.0 websites include (but are not limited to) social networking, blogs, wikis, and media sharing. There are a lot of Web 2.0 tools out there and the trick is finding good ones that are valuable in schools. The following is a list of some of my favorite Web2.0 sites that I use at school either with my students, collaborating with other teachers, or for preparing lessons.

Wordle
Wordle is a website that allows you to create word clouds by typing in text or linking a website. The site takes all of the words that you typed in and creates an word cloud. The more times that the word is used in the text or on the website you linked to the bigger that word is. You can choose the font, the general layout, the color palate. You have the option of removing words that you don't want or removing common words. I don't like that you cannot arrange the words yourself or make the words into shapes (try imagechef to do that).
I have used this in my class to have the students move around and make word clouds for their classmates giving each of their peers a compliment or positive adjective. I have also used it to make report covers for the junior high students. The eighth graders each year make a collaborative power point of their memories, and this year they put their memory paragraphs into wordle.

Google Docs
In general I LOVE GOOGLE, but Google Docs is a great tool that which is linked to any google account. Google Docs allows you to create, store, and edit documents similar to word docs, spreadsheets, and power points. What is great about Google Docs is that as long as you have an internet connection you can have access to all of your documents so that way you don't have to worry about a flash drive or anything like that. Also, Google Docs is great because you can share your documents with other people and collaborate. This is great because then students working on group projects can collaborate from across the classroom or from their homes across town. It is also really nice because you can import office or any .doc in Google Docs however sometimes the formatting gets a little messed up. I'm not sure that Google Docs is not yet sophisticated enough to replace office, but it is still very useful.

Google Sites
I think I might have mentioned that I LOVE GOOGLE! Google sites is a simple wiki/website creator. Like Google Docs Google Sites is linked to any Google account. Google Sites is really simple that is easy for students or inexperienced teachers to create a website. Not only can Google Sites be used as a website it can also operate as a wiki allowing multiple people to collaborate on one site adding information and sharing comments. As the owner of the site you get to determine who can do what on the site. I recently used this to start creating my own website for school. I know that Anne had used this with her students to do a collaborative project with a class from across the world on Challenge 20/20. Google Sites is a little limiting in that you are limited to their templates and people collaborating must have a Google account. (Note: You can sign up for a Google account using any email address.)

Zamzar
I don't know about your schools, but at mine YouTube is blocked. I understand that there is a lot of questionable content on YouTube, but there is also a lot of really great stuff on there. (TeacherTube is a great alternative) Getting to the point, Zamzar is a file conversion site that you can use to convert YouTube videos into a number of different video formats. You can also convert all different types of image, doc, and video files. Zamzar will take a file or URL and allows you to choose the file format you would like and then emails you the newly converted file. The site is free up to 100mb and for bigger files you have to have a paid subscription.

Backflip
Backflip is a social bookmarking website similar to something like Delicious which is like bookmarking something on your computer but instead of just bookmarking it locally it is on the web so you can access your bookmarks from anywhere with a computer and internet connection. I prefer Backflip because of the way that it is organized. You create different folders like you would on your computer. Mine, for example, is broken down by websites for classroom teachers to use, ones for students, and ones that I use. Within each of those folders it is broken down by grade level. It allows you a brief description and an option to publish your folders so that other people can look at your directories. Mine can be found at www.backflip.com/members/misspelsor but I am still developing it (Have any good websites that I should add?) There is also a button you can add to your web-browser to "backflip" any page that you visit and really like. The only drawback that I have found is that sometimes their site takes a little longer to load.


Picnik
Picnik is a great photo editing site that has a lot of free features and also a paid subscription option. At school we have taught the students how to use PhotoShop which is great as well, but is not something that everyone has. This past school year I had my students manipulate their school photos in Picnik. There are all kinds of filters that you can apply, stickers, text, and a whole lot more. You can upload images or you can link you your Flickr, Picasa, or PhotoBucket account. I still used Photo Shop with my classes, but it is also nice to let them know that they have access to free things on the web too. (Foto Flexer is another great photo editing site.)

Ning
Ning is a social network organized by specific interests. This is not something that I have used with my students, or something I am sure I would, but it is great for connecting with other teachers. I belong to a Ning of Elementary Computer Teachers where I can go and ask for help or suggestions, share neat projects that I have done for others to do, or see what everyone else is doing. Nings are nice because, depending on how they are setup, require that you have permission to join a group and its limited to only people with similar interests.
There are so many more great Web 2.0 tools and to find more go to Go2Web20