Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom

Cool Web 2.0 Tools for your Classroom

Table of Contents

Children's Storybooks                  3

Slidely                                          4

ScreenChomp                              5

Children's Storybooks:

• http://www.magickeys.com/books/
• a website filled with illustrated children's stories which can enhance children's literacy!
• an effective teaching tool for students that are beginning to learn how to read 
• great for children that have access to iPads or laptops and get excited about using technology (appeals to them more than books)
• it aids students that have trouble flipping pages 
• for students that have trouble reading texts, there's an audio function so they can utilize that
• there's no need to register or sign up so there are no privacy concerns, you can just access any storybook anytime
• its for all ages! 

Slidely:

• http://slide.ly
• you can use slidely to make music-lively videos using your own pictures or pictures from the web
• great way to get students to work collaboratively on presentations that add a personal touch (i.e. personal photos)
• it also could be used as a tool to teach students about copyright and common licenses when using online photos
• fun and appealing to junior high and high school students 
• it could be a great means to get students to work in groups and enhance their communication skills and creativity using technology
• unfortunately you must register or sign in using facebook and that could be a security or privacy concern 
• there's also advertisements that link to other websites which can also be another security issue
• there's an app that slidely created and it's called slidelycam, it allows users to capture photos from videos and its free!
• using the slidelycam app, students can bring photos for their presentations from all over the place! 
• slidely can also make collages which can aid students in their learning experience and make for a good assignment (i.e. in Social Studies ask students to make a collage about Aboriginal Residential schools)
• need parent or guardian to approve your use of this website or must be 18 years of age. However, the website does allow users to sign from third party (Facebook) and you don't need to be 18 years old to use Facebook. 

ScreenChomp

• http://www.techsmith.com/screenchomp.html
• its a free app that could be directly downloaded to an iPad
• what's great about this app is that is developed primarily for educational purposes. It's an online whiteboard where teachers and students can record their ideas/lessons/ problems and share them with each other or even make it public to share with everyone!
• great as a way for teachers to jot down the lesson and then for the students to refer to it at anytime and anywhere
• it's also great if students have a problem figuring out what to do for an assignment, they can also ask friends and the teacher. 
• great for collaboration and student involvement
• it requires that the app be downloaded so that might limit access to Mac or iPad use only which is unfortunate because not all classrooms have iPads provided 
• it does however remove the barrier between teacher and student involvement outside of the classroom. The screenchomp could be a resource for the student outside of the classroom when perhaps parents are unable to help
• its appropriate for all ages however, it would perhaps be easier for higher elementary to grade 12 to use the app since it requires some tech savviness not as easy as the children's storybooks website (app needs to be downloaded)