Joel Soloman, Making the Read/Write Web Work for You!
Before I even went to the conference, I was browsing online through all of the sessions available. Quickly I thought to myself, I better figure out what Web 2.0 tools are before this conference!
Let me share with you the following quote from this site:
Tech Soup - The technology place for non-profits
Web 2.0 is a category of new Internet tools and technologies created around the idea that the people who consume media, access the Internet, and use the Web shouldn't passively absorb what's available; rather, they should be active contributors, helping customize media and technology for their own purposes, as well as those of their communities.
But Web 2.0 isn't just the latest set of toys for geeks, it's the beginning of a new era in technology.
These new tools include, but are by no means limited to, blogs, social networking applications, RSS, social networking tools, and wikis. |
The tools Joel talked about in this session:
Flickr
Flickr.com
From their website...
What is Flickr? Flickr is almost certainly the best online photo management and sharing application in the world. Let us show you why! Flickr is a way to get your photos to the people who matter to you. And since basic accounts are free, there's no reason not to explore further... |
When I looked at this site, it said that 3,230 photos were uploaded in the last minute! Think of how you can share photos/slideshows/etc. for others to access.
del.icio.us
Check out the definition on Wikipedia
del.icio.us
Basically, you tag and organize your bookmarks on an internet site where you, and others, can see wherever there is internet access.
Here is a link to the social bookmarks of Matt Kuhn from McRel. (htttp://del.icio.us/MattScottKuhn) If you go to his site and look on the right side, you will see all of his sites categorized. He has done this by TAGGING them with a category. Go to his EdTech category and see all of the sites he thinks are valuable. Then, you can also see the other people bookmarking these sites and the sites they have saved in del.icio.us. Talk about a networking of ideas!
For example...
Now set up your own social bookmark site if you like.
http://del.icio.us/
I barely had time to begin mine, otherwise I would be sharing. Soon...
ClusterMaps
This free service creates maps showing the location, based on the IP address of a computer, of individual visits to a web site.
For example...
Here is the page to go to access this free link... ClustrMaps
But here is the best site where a teacher actually talks about using ClustrMaps as Student Motivation - worth reading!
Think about using this in connnection with a classroom blog or survey where you gather information. Several years back I had my third grade class conduct an online survey on our webpage where there were three questions:
1.) What is your favorite ice cream?
2.) What is the cost of gas where you live?
3.) Where do you live and tell us a little about your community.
How great it would have been to be able to ClustrMap our responses. This was only 7 years ago, but we had to use a world map in the hall with pushpins to show where our responses came from. Other than that I still remember that we had responses from 5 different continents, chocolate was the favorite ice cream, and San Francisco had the most expensive gas!
pbwiki.com -
"Make a wiki as easily as a peanut butter sandwich."
This site is made using this free wiki service! Try it out. I actually found the toolbar somewhat similar to School Center when you use Advanced Content Editor. You also need to use Firefox, just like School Center.
You will see wikis everywhere and what sets them apart from a typical website is that they offer free collaborative editing and publishing.
Think of how engaging it would be for a couple students each from a different location, be it city, state, or country, write a story together or compare and contrast their personal lives or locations.
Stellarium
"Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope."
Stellarium.org
Do yourself a favor and download this! (I may add it to our school computer images.)
All of these are free resources which you will be hearing more and more about. Jump in now and begin experimenting, and let me know if you have any questions about how or why to use them.
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