Web 2.0
Web 2.0 Tools for Social Studies
Grades 6-8
Taylor McLean
-
Classroom 2.0
3 -
Glogster
4 -
Bubbl
5
Classroom 2.0
Classroom 2.0 is an online social network for people who are intersted in Web 2.0, and can use this technology in their classroom. It is free, and is a community-oriented network that has tons of support from people all over the world!
For social studies, I can create a discussion board/ webpage using Classroom 2.0 where I can create a topic that students can particpate online in. Grades 6-8, you can create a 'Who Am I?' post where students can comment with their answers on the webpage. They can do a write up, post pictures, and include videos on who they are and what makes them unique. Laptops can be provided in class for them to do this online assignment.
Classroom 2.0 is also a good source for teachers to collaborate with other teaching professionals around the world. They can comment, post links, ask questions, therefore creating a professional learning network.
Classroom 2.0 allows students who have different learning needs be able to succeed. Creating a discussion board/ wep page where students can answer a question in many different ways engages all students regardless of their strengths or weaknesses. If they are visual learners, this allows them to post pictures, or videos of who they are. If they like writing, they can write a paragraph, etc. Classroom 2.0 allows the teacher to expand their teaching and allow students to learn in a variety of ways. There are no grade restrictions, however, students should be old enough to operate a computer on their own (probably grade 3 and up). A barrier to using Classroom 2.0 is if your students did not have access to a computer at home, or they were not comfortable using technology. However, everyone can work at their own pace and allow for flexibilty.
Glogster
Glogster is a Web 2.0 tool that is an online toolkit that allows you to create interactive posters, with text, images, graphics, audio, and videos. As a teacher, you can create lessons and present them omplete with links to other resources. Having the audio and video option makes it easy for kids to listen instead of read, and attends to all learners, especially the visual, auditory, and linguistic.
Glogster supports and meets the needs of special education and other students because there are images, audio and video on them. Glogs are always a fun way to learn and engage your students. Providing a mutlisensory outlet for expression and stimulates creativity.
Glogster allows you to set up and create accounts for all your students and they have access to create their own glogs and save them at anytime. It is a safe, collaborative and interactive platform for students to use both in and outside the classroom. Students can create their their glog anyway they want, allowing for a lot of unique and creative glogs in your classroom.
For grades 6-8 I can create a lesson on any social studies topic, like Roman History. Then the students can create their own glogs that contain images, texts, videos, on 6 important facts they learned about the Romans. This will allow for a variety of ways they can show me whay they learned. Glogster is a great Web 2.0 tool because it removes the barriers for certain learners. Glogster is flexiable and allows the students to express their learning in many ways, and they can share their glog with anyone they like. I will be using Glogster when I am a teacher as it is an amazing interactive tool.
Bubbl
Bubbl is a free and simple Web 2.0 application that lets students and teachers brainstorm online. You can create colourful mind maps online and share it with anyone. Bubbl allows students and teachers to create mind maps in their blog and can save it online, or email or print their map.
Bubbl is a good tool to brainstorm idea, build a family tree, create flow charts, create handouts, do presentations, make notes, and organize work. Bubbl allows for anyone to start planning and sorting out their ideas using bubbles. You can transform your bubbl blog into powerpoints which is very easy for teachers to use.
Bubbl is a good tool to use becuase it allows students to visually see how things are being sorted, and makes it easy for them to turn their ideas into a more structured way. You can add colours, designs, layouts which allows for creativity. Teachers can use Bubbl in their classrooms for classroom discussions, assignment directions, pre-writing brainstorming, etc. Bubbl is also great for group work as it allows for stuednts to network with eachother and look at eachother's maps to gain better understanding or a different perspective.
Teachers and students have access to Bubbl 24/7 making it easy to work and grade assignments anytime. For social studies, Bubbl will be great to create concept maps for any topic, such as Canadian history. Bubbl is especially good for students who have difficulty organizing ideas. This breaks the barriers for students who strguggle in certain areas and helps students who are visual and linguistic learners.
