Unit 5: Web 2.0

   Web 2.0 technology tools are engaging because they incorporate video, music, images and artful presentations that capture student’s attention.  Teachers can use community tools to get students collaborating on projects and activities.  They can share writing, pictures, videos and take polls to enhance their learning.  Presentation tools can be used to engage students by adding music, avatars of popular figures, video, and unique artistic displays of slides to present materials.  In addition, students’ prior knowledge can be engaged by using familiar songs, images and videos so that they can make connections with their beliefs and the new information you are trying to teach them.   Web 2.0 tools can be used to elicit student’s prior understanding in many ways.  First, polls or quizzes can be given using the students’ cellphone, i-Pad, netbook or computer to find out what they already understand.  Students could respond to questions in a wiki and read each other’s responses to help identify and build students’ background knowledge. 

  Web based technology helps support the process skills of inquiry-based learning by supporting them with sharing their opinions and viewpoints on blogs and wikis.  Students are practicing technical skills and written communication skills.  Students are formulating explanations, questions and making predictions through blogs and presentations.  Students can observe, plan and investigate and analyze data through teacher made Animoto’s. 

   Web 2.0 tools can be used to assess students understanding by using interactive presentations such as Nearpod  to get instant feedback throughout the lesson through polls and quizzes.  They can also use blogs and wiki’s as a ticket out door to answer questions and explain concepts in their own words.  My students use Kidblog every day in every subject to share their findings and explain their understanding.  I also have them apply and demonstrate skills that I have taught them.  The students also use ShowMe to explain their reasoning as they work through problems on the interactive whiteboard.  The lesson can be saved and uploaded so others can view it and we can view lessons from others.