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Welcome to the Robert Andrews Staff PD Wiki! toc

Here you find everything you need for the PD on Web 2.0 tools, as well as links to related articles, curriculum sites, ideas and the tools themselves. I am hoping that you will all participate in building this site into a great resource for our teachers by adding to it throughout the year.

=What is Web 2.0?=

According to the Literacy with ICT document, "the term "Web 2.0" was coined by Tim O'Reilly in 2004 and refers to online applications and services that emphasize collaboration and sharing among users. The most widely known tools are wikis, blogs, social networking, picture sharing and video sharing." (Retreived on January 26, 2009, from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/web2.doc)

Let's look at a comparison between the "old" web and the "new" web:

The Literacy with ICT document has two self assessments for teachers that you may be interested in looking at:



Here is a video that helps describe some of the benefits of Web 2.0:

What is Web 2.0 by Danae Howe (recommended by the Literacy w ICT document): media type="custom" key="3041126"

=What kinds of tools are available?=

There are many different web based tools available that can be used to enhance teaching and learning. I will describe only a sampling of what's available and provide links to each tool I describe. You will have an opportunity to explore one of the tools in the last part of the PD, and can continue to explore this site at your leisure. If anyone would like further instruction on the "How To's" of a particular tool, please don't hesitate to ask or email me. I'd also be willing to provide some after school workshops if enough people were interested.

All the Web 2.0 tools have three things in common which make them ideal for use with students: 1. They are free and web-based and therefore accessible by anyone with internet access, anywhere that access is provided. 2. They are easy to use, require no knowledge of HTML and students seem to intuitively understand how to use them. 3. The goal and products of each tool all involve collaboration and communication, essential aspects of what we hope to teach our students. As an added bonus, most of these tools can be accessed at the school.

=So What?=

Some of you may be thinking: why do I need to know this? Because: 1. Our students have changed physically (re:brain research and [|cartoon]) and their expectations of what learning and education is and should be have changed too (refer to Prensky article). 2. ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education, a group of Canadian and American educators and technologists) has a set of standards that it feels all teachers should be meeting. Are you? (see the ISTE standards here) (Read the blog article [|Is it Ok To Be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?)]

=Wikis=

The word wiki means "fast" or "quick" in Hawaiian. "Wiki software therefore quickly allows you to collaborate with others to create a website. Think of a wiki as a webpage with an edit button. Wikipedia, the best-known example of a wiki, allows anyone to edit the entries in its online encyclopedia. . . Wikis also allow you to see a history of each new saved edit so you know who contributed (and can check their credibility) and you can quickly revert to a previous version . . . Wikis can be public, protected or private." (Retrieved on January 26, 2009, from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/web2.doc)

Here is a simple video that shows the use of a wiki: Wikis in Plain English by the Common Craft Show media type="custom" key="3057074"

Various Wiki sites include:

Wikispaces or [|Wikispaces for Educators]

Also here is link to the Wikispaces Sandbox where you can "play around"

[|PBwiki]

And here is the [|Sandbox site for PBwiki].

[|WetPaint]

[|Wikidot]

=Blogs=

"A blog is a conversational tool / online journal (Web log). A blogger posts an article or journal entry to the Internet and invites others to comment and expand the discussion. Your students can create blogs to discuss what they are learning and invite others to share their viewpoints and to contribute new ideas. Blogs can be public, protected, or private. (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2009  from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/web2.doc )

You could also keep a blog as a class update on what's been going on in your class and what the assignments and homework are for the day or week.

Here is a simple video that explains blogs: Blogs in Plain English by The Common Craft Show media type="custom" key="3057078"

Various Blog sites include:

[|Blogger]

[|Edublogs]

[|Class Blogmeister]

[|Wordpress]

=Podcasting=

"Like a spoken blog, podcasts are live-voice files that be downloaded into your iPod or other mp3 playing devices for later listening. Students and teachers may easily create and share podcasts." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2009 from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/web2.doc)

Podcasts can be both audio and video (vodcasts) and can be either downloaded onto a MP3 player or listened to/viewed online. Teachers and students can create their own podcasts and then upload them at certain websites to share with the world. Or podcasts that are applicable to a teacher's curriculum can be found online and used as part of their intruction.

This video explain podcasts: Podcasting in Plain English by The Common Craft Show media type="custom" key="3057088"

Tools for creating a podcast:

Read this booklet called Podcasting for Teachers and Students

[|Audacity]

[|The Levelator]

[|DivShare]

Looking for podcasts to use?

Check [|iTunes] or Go to the [|Education Podcast Network]

Also try: [|Podanza] or [|Podcast.com] (both these sites have a variety of podcasts, but I have linked directly to the Education Podcasts) or [|Canada Podcasts] (for all Canadian podcasts)

Also most radio stations and TV stations have podcasts available on their websites (like this site from [|CBC Radio])

=Social Bookmarking=

“Imagine having your own bookmarks or favourites available from any computer in the world. Social bookmarking sites  allow you to save links and a description to an online site that you can access using any computer anywhere. Because these sites are public, not only do you have access to your own bookmarks but that you can also search other people’s bookmarks as well.” (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2009  from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/web2.doc ) Social Bookmarking also allows you and a group of colleagues (or your students in a group) to collaboratively collect websites for research purposes. As they collect the sites, they can add them to a "list" created for their research topic. You (or your students) can also "tag" each website they find with a variety of applicable titles which makes them easier to find later and also helps to organize them into a coherent set. Some Social Bookmarking software also allows you (or your students) to annotate the sites they find, thus allowing a description of the site and how it applies to the research to be added to the bookmark.

Here is a video that makes it all more clear: Social Bookmarking in Plain English by The Common Craft Show media type="custom" key="3057098"

Social Bookmarking sites include:

The two most popular Social Bookmarking sites are [|Delicious] and [|Diigo] (Diigo is what I use, it allows annotation and enables a sort of highlighter and sticky note to be used on websites as well.)

=Trailfire=

The [|Trailfire website] describes trails this way: "Use trails to guide others to what's important on the web. Place comments on the web pages. Link them together to form a trail. Guide others' to what you already know. A trail is a collection of web pages, assembled and annotated by any Trailfire member, on just about anything under the sun."

Teachers can create trails for students to follow on anything from basic research strategies to the elements of the periodic table. Along the way, the Trailfire software allows the creator to annotate the sites and thus put explanations, questions or instructions on each page on the trail.

Here is a trail I created for my students : [|Citation and Plagiarism]

=Voicethread=

The [|Viocethread] website says "A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds [|images, documents, and videos] and allows people to leave [|comments in 5 ways] - using voice (with a mic or phone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Users can [|doodle] while commenting, use multiple [|identities] and pick which comments are shown through [|moderation]. VoiceThreads can even be [|embedded] on web sites and [|exported] to MP3 players or DVDs as archival movies. With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected and shared in one place from anywhere in the world. All with **no software to install**.

The greatest thing about Voicethread is that once it has been posted, others can view it and comment on your work, thus providing not only an audience for your (or your students') work, but also a conversation starter or a forum for discussion.

Here is the introduction Voicethread provides on their website: media type="custom" key="3057438"

Here is a Voicethread explaining their Education network [|Ed.Voicethread]: media type="custom" key="3057436"

If you'd like, check out [|my blog post] all about Voicethread and its application in education, where I have included a number of examples.

=Video Sharing=

“Video sharing sites allow users to upload videos and post them, usually in a public hosting site, and sharing them.” (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2009 from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/web2.doc) You’ve all heard of [|YouTube] (this is the link for the Canadian version of YouTube), I’m sure. But did you know that there is a similar service for educators and students called [|TeacherTube]. This service is similar to YouTube except you must be a teacher in order to post to the site. Not only that, but we can access TeacherTube at school. So it can become a wonderful tool for us to use for instruction (see this page in my class wiki where I posted and used in class a video on the circulatory system) as well as a great place to showcase our students’ videos. Sheryl also found a site called [|SchoolTube] which also looks promising.

=Photo Sharing=

Photo sharing sites work similarily to video sharing sites. there are added bonuses other than searching for funny videos though. Photo sharing sites allow you to tag and organize photos, annotate them and map where they were taken. There are many possibliities for the use of photo sharing sites through either uploading and annotating your own (or your students') pictures or having your students (or you) find applicable photos for projects and presentations. Most photos uploaded to these sotes are under a Creative Commons license which allows their use to some extent. (oneof my photo's was just chosen by Shmap to appear in their visual guide of Ottawa for 2009! They found the picture through [|my Flickr photostream].)

Watch this video for more information: [|Photo Sharing In Plain English]

Widely used photo sharing sites include:

[|Flickr]

[|Webshots]

[|Zoto 3.0]

[|Picasa]

=Social Networking=

Wikiepedia defines Social Networking as follows: " A **social network service** focuses on building [|online communities] of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are [|web based] and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as [|e-mail] and [|instant messaging] services. Social networking has created new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. The main types of social networking services are those which contain directories of some categories (such as former classmates), means to connect with friends (usually with self-description pages), and recommender systems linked to trust." (Retrieved on Jan 30, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Networking).

Here is a comprehensive [|list of available Social Network Services].

One notable tool is [|Ning], where teachers (or students) can create their own social network that is private and protected and only those who are invited can join. This tool allows us to create a social network and use it with our students, if we so choose. Ofcourse the well known ones are Facebook and MySpace. Here is a video that explains Social Networking: Social Networking in Plain Englich by The Common Craft Show media type="custom" key="3057106"

=RSS=

"RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. What does that mean? Using a free RSS aggregator (or “pulling together”), users can “subscribe” to different sites such as web pages, blogs, or wikis by listing the ones that interest them. Each time new content is posted on the sites subscribed to, the RSS aggregator delivers it to you on a single page." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2009 from http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/tech/lict/let_me_try/web2.doc)

RSS feed can be used for podcasts and news reports as well as anything else that you may find on the internet that allows you to subscribe. Most sites that allow subscribtion will have an icon to indicate a subscription is available.

In order to organize all the feeds you may have signed up for you need an aggregator, which collects all the feeds in one place and allows you to browse through them easily (its like reading through an online paper with stories tailored to your specific likes and needs). two popular aggregators are:

[|Bloglines] or [|Google Reader]

The following video makes it much easier to understand: RSS in Plain English by The Common Craft Show media type="custom" key="3057116"

=Things I'm still learning about=

Google Docs and online collaborative document sharing and writing

Twitter and Microblogging: [|Twitter] is a way to keep a network of people updated with small mini-blog type updates. That's all I know!

Twitter in Plain English by The Common Craft Show: media type="custom" key="3057584"

=Other Tools Available=

There are so many things available I just could not cover them all! So here is a list of some of what I did not cover: