Twelve .Web 2.0. tools that can be creative outlets for your students

Oliver Dreon, PhD Millersvil le University

.Wikis. A wiki is a collaboratively edited website. Instead of worrying about HTML coding or editing with Dreamweaver, students can go to a wiki and click “Edit” and just start typing. Wikis can be used for private interaction amongst a class or be placed online for more public viewing and participation. Wikis are great tools for collaborative projects. There are quite a few free wiki sites like Wikispaces (www.wikispaces.com) and PBworks (www.pbworks.com). .Blogs. The term “blog” is short for web log. Blogs function like online diaries and can be used to promote student reflection. While wikis are great tools for group collaboration, blogs are more personal in nature with individual students writing blogs in their own “voice.” Check out Edublogs (www.edublogs.org), Blogger (www.blogger.com) or 21classes (www.21classes.com). .Google Docs. Imagine that Microsoft Office moved online. Then imagine that you could share any of your documents with your colleagues and they could edit the documents WITH you. Google Docs (docs.google.com) offers all of this and, best of all, it’s FREE! Google Docs is a great tool to use with students for collaborative projects. It even allows an individual student’s participation to be tracked. On a side note, TypeWithMe (typewith.me) offers some of the same functionality as the word processing application in Google Docs but students can participate without creating a username or password. Great tool for an impromptu classroom discussion! .Ning. Social networking gets a bad rap. While Facebook can be an enormous timewaster, take a look at all that it does well. Communication. Video sharing. Real-time collaboration. Ning (www.ning.com) offers the same functionality but offers private social networks that individuals can create and manage. Consider creating a Ning network as a supplement to your class. Note: Ning will start to charge for its services in July but will offer K-12 educators free accounts. .Glogster. Want to tap into students’ creative spirit? Check out Glogster (edu.glogster.com). Using Glogster, students can create online posters called “glogs” where video, audio and text can be incorporated. Glogster is a great tool for a portfolio project, as a creative replacement for a paper or as an “About me” project for the start of a class. Note: Be sure to use the EDU portion of Glogster and not the full site. Some people’s creative expression on the full Glogster site can get a little too…. creative.

.xtranormal. xtranormal (www.xtranormal.com) bills itself as a site where “if you can type, you can make movies.” And it’s really that easy. The site is really incredible. Students can plan out a movie with two animated characters and have complete control over camera angles, dialogue, facial expressions and actions. The best part of xtranormal is that the site is free. Or mostly free. It has recently started charging for more advanced options as changing characters, settings or voices but the basic options are still free.

.VoiceThread. Wouldn’t it be great if a discussion board were more like a real discussion? VoiceThread (voicethread.com) is best described as an online conversation around media. Whether it’s a conversation around digital pictures, videos or documents, VoiceThread allows conversations to occur in an online space even though the participants might be miles apart. The great part is that each participant can record his or her voice as part of the conversation.

.Edmodo. Edmodo (www.edmodo.com) is a microblogging site like Twitter except that it is designed especially for educators and students. With Edmodo, users can create private groups and share short updates, files and links in real time. It’s a nice communication tool where students can get alerts via email, text message or through Twitter.

.Gcast. Some people want to start podcasting their classroom content but are a little intimidated by the software. Check out Gcast (www.gcast.com). It’s a FREE and easy way to create professional sounding podcasts with a microphone or even a telephone. You can even add background music and edit your recording without downloading a thing.

.Jing. Jing (www.jingproject.com) is a free screencasting tool that allows users to record the actions on a computer screen. Jing is great for recording Powerpoint presentations to be shared online, either by instructors or by students.

.Animoto. Animoto (www.animoto.com) is an easy way to make music videos. Upload pictures, text and music and in a few short moments you have a professional looking music video. And best of all, the site is free if you want to create a 30 second video. Animoto offers free unlimited accounts for educators and their students. Check it out at: animoto.com/education

.Scrapblog. Scrapblog (www.scrapblog.com) is an online scrapbooking site but don’t let that description limit how you use the site. Most of the content on Scrapblog is free, just be sure to click “Least Credits” to access the free stuff. The site is really easy to use and would be perfect for creating online presentations or even a digital book.

Need some help or some other ideas? Check out my blog at:

the8blog.wordpress.com