This Here is an e-Book.
It's all about different types of Web 2.0 tools that can be used in a classroom setting. Click on through!
Twitter is a social media tool facilitating the quick exchange and compilation of information. It has proven useful in many fields, from celebrity promotion to political overthrow.
It can be used as a teaching tool, and should probably be quite easy to incorporate - being popular for personal use, it is likely that most students are already familiar with Twitter. Transitioning to an educational use shouldn't be a stretch.
I can see it being particularly useful for teaching Social Studies - what better way to follow current events as a group than to collaborate on a Twitter feed, following relevent accounts and hashtags. A classroom could end up with a unique perspective on world events, and analyze the way that their Twitter decisions affected the bias/composition of the news they received.
Twitter is as straightforward as these things come, and I can't see it creating particularly insurmountable barriers for any modern student. In one general way, I think it overcomes a barrier than many modern students may have: Twitter is perfect for the multitasker that we have all become - it provides tiny packets of information, with the option but not the requirement of expanding. It's well suited for the way we now consume media.
Twitter requires its users to be at least 13 years old. So, it won't be a problem for High School classes.
Quest
Quest is a visual game-design application, allowing for the creation of text-based games without prior knowledge of coding.
It seems like it could be very valuable for teaching English classes - allowing students to create games based on things they've read would be an interesting way of analyzing assigned readings, especially for open-ended fictional works. By adapting linear stories to a game format, students can consider the motivation, alternate possibilities and relations between characters.
There is a sub-app that is specifically designed for teachers, allowing for quick group sign up and collaboration.
Beyond use for student projects, a teacher could also create games using Quest to accomodate learning difficulties. Some assigned texts may be out of reach for some students. This presentation is not only fresh, it also allows for a break-down and re-building of literary ideas, in a format that pretty much every kid would go nuts for.
The website even includes tools for using this program in an educational setting. This page can be found here.
Also noteworthy is that this program is completely open-source. You are even allowed to sell the games you make!
There does not seem to be an age restriction - the wording on the website suggests that Quest can be used as a teaching tool for all age groups.
Animaps
Animaps is a service that allows for the creation of, and collaboration on, animated maps (just like the name suggests!)
It could be very useful for a Social Studies teacher, especially as there is now less emphasis on straight history and more of an attempt to approach the subject holistically. Maps that allow students to visualize where and when things took place could go a long way in enforcing the names-and-dates that we all love to forget.
This could overcome general issues of boredom-with-history, but it could also be very useful in cases of kids with reading difficulties. A visualization of this information could get a lot across without having to assign dense textbook readings.
There don't seem to be age restrictions, but I think I would prefer to use this tool as a teacher making a presentation... I saw it less as something that you would actually have students collaborate on. Though, having other teachers collaborate on maps to expand information would be great!