Web 2.0 Ebook on:

 

Tools of the Teaching Trade

What to use, how to use, and

where to find Web 2.0 materials

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In this Ebook, we will focus on the following tools:

 

Wordle

MATLAB

Audacity

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Wordle

Wordle is a online tool that can be used to display words in a graphic manner. It changes a page of text into a collage of words essentially.

Wordle Website: http://www.wordle.net/


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Pros and Cons of using Wordle in a classroom

Pros Cons
•Looks professional

•The website is not user friendly
•Looks good on a wall •Website requires up to date java 
•Gets students to pick key terms •Website does not work on Google Chrome
•Easy way to integrate technology into the classroom •Requires all students to have access to computers
•Wordles are fairly customizable •Students can not fine tune a Wordle once it is generated
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When to Use a Wordle

Wordles are great tools for students to demonstrate learning, but they can become chaotic if the students take it too far. When using a Wordle for an assignment, make sure that the students know not to include too many words like the picture below that was retrieved from http://www.bottlenose.net/article/euler/


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MATLAB

MATLAB® is the high-level language and interactive environment used by millions of engineers and scientists worldwide. It lets you explore and visualize ideas and collaborate across disciplines including signal and image processing, communications, control systems, and computational finance.

text retrieved from https://www.mathworks.com/

Logo retrieved from https://helpdesk.dei.uc.pt/

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Pros and Cons of using MATLAB in a classroom

Pros Cons
•Great learning experience because it is the tool that engineers and scientists are using today

•The program takes a fairly long time to get used to
•MATLAB is a great foothold into the world of computer sciences for students •MATLAB is very expensive and because of this students need to buy memberships in order to use it
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When should MATLAB be used in a classroom?

MATLAB is a very powerful tool so it is not going to be needed unless the students have a task that requires a lot of computing power. I would suggest using MATLAB for AP math or computers class. 

 

Picture retrieved from https://matlabacademy.mathworks.com/

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Audacity

Audacity is an audio editing program. These recordings were all made with Audacity.

 

Audacity allows me to cut out mistakes that I make while making these recordings. Also there is a long list of cool effects that I can use with Audacity.

 

To download Audacity, visit http://audacityteam.org/

Audacity logo retrieved from http://audacityteam.org/

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Audacity Demonstration

With Audacity I can do many things. This page is just a summary of what you can do with Audacity.

Note: On this slide you will need to click on the audio at the bottom of the page.

With Audacity I can:

-Import Audio

-Change pitch

-Add an echo

-Change playback speed

-Reverse the sounds

-Make certain sounds fade in and out

-Create full songs with an equalizer and other various effects

 

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Pros and Cons of using Audacity in a classroom

Pros Cons
•Allows students to record, edit, and export all in the same program

•Requires knowledge of audio and the technical side of sound
•Allows students to use music and edit out profanity •Requires microphones for each student 
•Audacity is not a large program •When students download the program, there is a chance that a student could download the wrong file
•Easy way to integrate technology into the classroom •Requires all students to have access to computers
•Audacity shows a new form of technology integration •The different special effects can be distracting in a class
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When to use Audacity

Audacity can be a very powerful tool for your students if they want to make a project that requires audio. With that in mind, teachers should use Audacity for project based learning. Audacity can also be used by the teacher to make audio files for the students. The issue with Audacity is that it can become very distracting if students have too much free time.

Screenshot retrieved from http://audacityteam.org/


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