This week I looked at a few different web tools. After reading Science 2.0 I explored a few of the tools suggested.
- · In my Biology class I like to have my students create concept maps to gather all of their thoughts from the unit, and to help review, so I looked at Webspiration. Initially I was pretty excited, but then after reading, I noticed that it was only a 30-day trial.
- As for PhotoPeach, to me this seemed very similar to PhotoStory. The one feature that stood out, was the ability to share it on Facebook and other sites, which I thought was cool. I can see this as being an option for student projects in place of PhotoStory.
- VoiceThread- I viewed a thread, entitled After Chernobyl- Would you stay? . As I viewed this I was thinking of using this in my upper level classes. So many mediums are put into this site, which is great! I’m sure the students would not only like to comment on one anothers projects, but have feedback from other people around the world.
Again though the technology is great- it would cost our school $1500 to get a subscription.
Other tools:
- · I rely heavily on TED Talks for my AP Environmental class. I love it, information right from the scientists at a level that my students should be able to handle. It’s so authentic!
- · I also looked into social networking for the classroom. I have used, and plan on continuing to use EdModo. First two of the four networks are blocked at work, so they would be pointless for me to use with my students. The only other option besides EdModo is Twiducate. Twiducate seems like a great tool, but since I’m not too comfortable yet with Twitter, it might take me a while to convert or use both.
Great post! I enjoyed reading your thoughts. You mentioned about webspiration. I just wanted to suggest Mind42.com. I can't claim to be an expert but I did stumble across this as I was researching. This appears to be a free resource and a simple substitute for webspiration.
ReplyDeleteOK, I know you posted this awhile ago, but hopefully you will still see this response! I have been really overwhelmed by Google Reader when it says I have over 200 unread blog posts for this class...
ReplyDeleteI found a neat concept map tool that is free called Exploratree (http://www.exploratree.org.uk/). It was developed in an inquiry in the classroom project in the UK.
I also wanted to let you know about "edu2.0 for school" for a learning management system. They do have subscriptions, but as far as I know, you can still get a free version that will suffice. I really liked using it in my classroom and it has all the features you need to incorporate web2.0 stuff into your classroom. It is the most "social networking" like LMS that I have seen. The students love it and you can have a lot or just a little bit of control over their experience.
I hope you find these useful!