Web 2.0 Education
3 Web Tools for the Classroom
Cacoo
https://cacoo.com
Cacoo is an online mind-map that can be used in collaboration with colleagues and other 'minds'. An idea is started by one person and others can add to it, creating a visual mind map.
I think this would be effective to use in education. If all the children in a classroom were registered, it would be a large help for group projects or assignments. Group members can add to their fellow classmate's ideas and therefore help eachother learn.
I think that children who do not like working individually would enjoy this website. As well, children who may have issue with group work that is focussed on being verbal may find that it is easier to express themselves through text, on a mindmap. Visual learners would also benefit from the mind map part of it.
There is no required age for this and I believe it could be used in any age grouping.
Google Maps
maps.google.com
This website is familiar with many, however, not as much as a learning tool. Maps shows roads and resources in your city, or anywhere in the world. It also shows directions to and from locations.
I would use Google Maps when teaching about the community. For elementary students, learning about their community would be easier if they could see where they are located in relation to the resources around the community. They could interact with the environment using google maps to find things in their community such as grocery stores, a firehall, etc.
I think this could help learners that are often bored by reading or listening to the teacher speak. Learners who enjoy visuals or hands-on would benefit greatly from interacting with google maps to forge their own understanding of community.
There is no age limit on google maps; however, I would see this being used in a grade 3 classroom or above as google maps can be a little complex for the younger crowd.
SurveyMonkey
https://www.surveymonkey.com
Survey Monkey is an easy-to-use web tool that allows the user to create polls and surveys and collect data on whatever subject they choose.
I would find this useful in a classroom for two reasons; one would be to collect data from my students on what they prefer, how they learn best, etc. As well, students could create surveys and use the data for a lesson. For example, an elementary math lesson could be made by making the data they have recieved from SurveyMonkey into a graph.
By using SurveyMonkey, children would be able to see that the data they recieve is from their classmates and make it more 'real' for them. Students may not quite understand the process of collecting and gathering data until they are involved in the process themselves.
SurveyMonkey is an all-ages site and would be optimal for children above the grade 2 range.