Web 2.0 Tools- Elementary Education

Web 2.0 Tools

Elementary Education

(http://kidblog.org/home/)

Kidblog is the perfect web 2.0 for safe and secure classroom blogging community. These blogs can be kept private from the rest of the internet while settings exist allowing parents and other classmates see these postings. This tool was designed specifically for K-12 education purposes and encourages students to write and teaches digital citizenship.

Kidblog tool can remove or reduce barriers by education in many ways. A few examples how this tool can be utlised is:

• If students have a hard time writing legilably, Kidsblog provides the students to express their ideas organised and legiably via typing.
• If students students express themselves better through multimedia, Kidblog makes it very easy to add photos, videos, etc.
• If students struggle writing their ideas down but rather can oral speak their ideas more proficiently, Kidblog enables embedding of both podcast and videos of students speaking.

There is no age restriction in using this web tool, and no student emails required. When a teacher signs up, they register the students, so this tool can be used from kindergarten to grade 12!

(https://present.me/content/)

Present Me is a very unique web tool which not only allows you to create presentations to share, it also allows you to add voiceovers to the presentation. There are many purposes for this tool in 21 century learning today. Teachers can create presentations (which include PowerPoint, GoogleDoc, or PDF's like Keynote and Prezi) and share these with students, or student's can create unique presentations with this tool.

Present Me can reduce or remove for certain learners in several ways. Some examples include:

• If students are struggling with being proficient in English (or language of instruction) or are visual learners, presentations including pictures can be utlised to clarify and assist these learners.
• If students are slower at comprehending aural information, then providing presentations online with a voiceover can be played multiple times to assist.
• The voiceover feature allows students in lower grades (K-2) to communicate their verbally while typing is a challenge. This allows the students to put together a presentation without text.

The terms of use states that "if you are under the age of 18 years of age you or your school must obtain a valid, signed parental or guardian consent before using this Site." This causes a strain on accessibility for students to create on this tool, but can still be a very valid tool for teachers!

(http://www.gliffy.com/)

Gliffy is an unique web tool that allows students to create and share flow charts and diagrams. With its easy drag-and-drop interface, students from lower elementary can use this tool easily and effectively to show visual concepts. This can be used in K-12 classrooms to represent and display content knowledge learned by the students.

Gliffy can remove or reduce several learning barriers for certain learners in the classroom. Some examples are:

• If students are not proficeint or struggling with English (or the language of instruction) then creating a visual representation with little words can help express ideas.
  
• If students struggle with fine motor control to draw shapes or to write, Gliffy provides easy ways to place shapes and text so the students' work can be legible and organised.
  
• If students struggle with writing ideas smoothly in paragraphs and stories, students can create diagrams and flow charts to illustrate their ideas.
  

To save a diagram or flow chart, Gliffy does require an account to be used. The terms of use requires that one account is for one individual and that the user is atleast 18 years of age. Persons under the age of 18 may use this with the involvement of parent/guardians or teachers.