Web 2.0 Tools for Education
Web 2.0 and how it can be used in an education context.
Meagan Seeley
www.wordpress.org
Wordpress is a "free and open source blogging tool" (Wordpress, 2014). This tool allows people to create and express themselves through blog entries free of charge.
In an educational context, specifically for a language arts class, this tool would be useful as a way for students to express their feelings. For example, a teacher could have their students create blogs that coincide with a piece of literature the class is working on that discuss their feelings about the piece.
Wordpress can be used to remove barriers for students because with a blog they can choose how they want to discuss and express their feelings whether it is through written word, pictures with descriptions, or an uploaded audio tape, students would be able to do whatever works best for them.
Unless you specifically set restrictions, Wordpress does not have any restrictions.
www.prezi.com
"Prezi is a virtual whiteboard that transforms presentations from monologues into conversations: enabling people to see, understand, and remember ideas" (Prezi, 2014). Prezi allows people to create unique and interesting presentations using words, images, videos, whatever the person wants.
This tool can be used in an education context because the teacher could have the students create a report, for language arts a book report, that allows them to be more creative.
Prezi can help remove educational barriers for students because it incorporates numerous different ways to present the information. Students can use images, words, videos, or a combination of all of them.
In order to use Prezi, students have to be above the age of 13.
www.ted.com
Ted is a "global set of conferences" (TED, 2014). These series of informational talks cover all sorts of topics and range from funny topics to courageous and inspirational topics.
Ted can be used in an educational context because students can use this as a resource to explore different ideas and information and can write an essay or report on what they have learned from these unique videos.
This tool removes barriers for students because it is visual and audio so for students that struggle with writing this is a great tool for them to use.
There are no restrictions on this tool that I have found.
Resources
Prezi. (2014). Ideas Matter. Retrieved from:
http://prezi.com/about/
Ted (2014). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 28, 2014 from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)
Wordpress (2014). In Wikipedia. Retrieved February 28, 2014
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress