Web 2.0 Education

Web 2.0 
Tools for the Classroom 

Blogger is a website you can use to create blogs. It can be used to connect to social media channels such as YouTube, podcasts, other blogs, and tweets all on a single centralized page. 

Blogger is a great tool for creating a blog you can use with your class. There are a lot of templates you can use to quickly create something that looks professional and still easy to navigate.

By compiling your resources on a blog, you are creating an area where students can find different resources that suit their learning style. You can post videos, stories, and audio recordings related to the subject so they can find what will relate to them best, and maximize their learning potential. As well, Blogger is compatible with Google+, so people with Google accounts can be active participants on your blog. 

With younger students, you can use this tool to let parents know what is going on in your classroom. You can upload examples of student artwork and projects, so parents can see what their children have been doing. A lot of children forget to tell their parents what they do at school, and some parents don't have time to come to the classroom on a regular basis. You can even create a custom domain, so that students and parents can easily find your class page. 

Blogger is owned by Google, so it abides by Google's Terms of Service. To have a Google account, you have to be 13 years or older. 

Skype is a downloadable Web 2.0 program that allows users to have video and/or audio conversations in real time. 

Using Skype would be a great way to incorporate genuine artifacts into a classroom. If you were studying a country or place in the world, you could use Skype to talk to someone who actually lives there! Instead of reading about what the people in a region eat or wear, for example, your students can take the initiative to ask and even see for themselves. This would be a great way to engage students who might not always absorb information from articles of text. It also saves teachers time and money because they don't have to leave the classroom to go on a field trip! 

Skype does not have an age limit in their Terms of Use.

Not only can you watch your favorite TV shows and movies on Netflix, you can also access educational shows and documentaries to share with students. 

For eight dollars per month, users have access to thousands of TV shows and movies they can stream to their computers or televisions. There are a lot of educational TV shows and documentaries, especially for younger children, that could help explain concepts in a fun way. Visual and auditory learners would benefit from this and learn in ways that books or worksheets could not accomplish. If the number of shows on Netflix is overwhelming, resources like this one from Michael Petrelli can help you to narrow down your choices. 

You must be 18 years or older to sign up for a Netflix account, according to their Terms of Use. Account managers can set up parental controls to make sure children do not watch content that is not appropriate for their age. The four categories of age restriction are little children, older children, teens, and adults. Netflix will restrict the available content for those users to what suits their age.