Web+2.0

=**For this assignment, I was asked to evaluate a number of Web 2.0 tools, and then I chose five of these tools to discuss and explain how I would use them in my classroom. I tried to choose tools that would be good for helping students with their writing and literature comprehension.**=

Web 2.0 Assignment

One of the most obvious Web 2.0 tools that I would use in my classroom is Blogger, or any other type of blogging website. Websites like Blogger allow people have their own blogs, which are like an online journal. While people can choose to use blogs like a journal and keep them on private settings so only the writers can read them, they are different from a typical journal because they have the opportunity to make them interactive. People who use blogs can share their writing in a group, or to their friends, or to the entire public, and gives others a chance to give commentary and feedback on the writing. The interactive nature of blogs makes them great tools within an English classroom, where they can be used in many ways. In my classroom, I can have my students all create a blog and join a class group that I create online, and make the settings so that only the people in the group can see each other’s work. Such a blog group would be useful during a creative writing unit. Here, my students could post rough drafts of their writing for other classmates to see, and they could comment on each other’s pieces. I would tell my students to focus on the positive aspects of each piece, while I offered the constructive criticism (in a way where students could not see the comments I gave to the work of others). This format helps students learn how to take things from each other’s work, and how to form a writing community.

I would also use a tool like Prezi in my classroom. Prezi is a Web 2.0 tool that people can use to make various types of presentations. However, it is different than a PowerPoint presentation because it uses a non-linear design, and has more creative aspects to it to use text, pictures, and other files to make an interesting presentation. I would use a tool such as Prezi in my classroom to present topics in English that would typically be less than exciting to my students. I could make presentations on different literary terms, different literary periods, or for terminology on parts of a story using Prezi. Using any type of visual element is good for subject matter such as this, because if students have an image to connect a literary term to, they are more likely to remember what it means. Visuals are also good for explaining literary time periods because they help students get a feel for what that point in time was really like. While presentations are more interesting for dryer subject matter than a teacher just standing at the front talking about it, most students have now seen various types of PowerPoint presentations, and can become bored with them as well. Using a tool like Prezi gives students more than they might expect in the classroom technology-wise, and helps to engage them with the subject matter.

Another Web 2.0 tool that I could utilize in my classroom is Pixton. Pixton is a website where users can create different types of comics using a drag-and-drop format to choose backgrounds, characters, props, speech bubbles and text. The comics that are made on Pixton can also be shared with friends or the general public online. I like the idea of using Pixton in my classroom as opposed to some the other programs where people can make comics because it uses premade templates, so my students don’t have to be very artistically inclined to use it. Because there is less focus on creating the images for the comic, there is a greater deal of focus on the writing. I could use Pixton in my classroom by giving my students an assignment to write a humorous memoir, like a story about something embarrassing that happened to them that they are comfortable sharing with the class. After they wrote these memoirs, I would have them use Pixton in order to turn these stories into comics. I would take my class to the school computer lab to show them how to create accounts, which comic format I wanted them to use, and how to use the program. Then they could create comics that were based off of their own writing. I like the idea of using a tool like Pixton in my class for many reasons. Having students make comics shows them that there are many types of creative writing besides short stories and poetry. It also shows them that the same story can be presented in a variety of written ways. Finally, it helps to make the writing process fun and interesting.

Glogster is a Web 2.0 tool that I have already been exposed to and that I would like to use in my classroom. Glogster is a tool that is used to create digital posters using various backgrounds, borders, and images. However, because it is digital, it contains more interactive features. Users can add music to their glogs, and also links to other content. I know about Glogster already because the librarians at the high school I volunteer at use it to create interactive monthly newsletters for the library. This newsletter is sent to the entire school faculty to keep them up to date with what’s happening in the library. In my classroom, I would have the students use Glogster to create interactive book reviews. The students would find images that pertain to the different books that they read to use on their glog, but would use portions of the poster for different things regarding the book, such as a basic summary of the story, the good things about the book, parts that were problematic, and questions the story might raise. Once the students were done creating their glogs, they would share them with the class. Using Glogster to create book reports and reviews makes a typical assignment more interesting, and using them in a presentation format helps to further illustrate the book, and make reading more appealing to students.

The Writing Fun Web 2.0 tool can also be very useful in an English classroom. Writing Fun is a tool that uses text organizers in order to help explain different parts of the writing process. Depending on what kind of writing is being focused on, you can choose different text organizers that pertain to that subject matter. I especially like the Writing Fun text organizer on poetry. It easily shows different types of poetry and shows illustrations to help explain them. I would use Writing Fun in a poetry unit to show my students the different kinds of poetry that there are. This is a good tool because it shows clear, concrete definitions and explanations along with illustrations of how different things pertaining to writing are used. Tools such as Writing Fun are helpful in the classroom because they show examples in a different way than they are usually shown, which might help students to understand concepts more clearly. It is also more interesting for the students than reading out of a textbook on such topics.

It is amazing how many types of Web 2.0 programs exist. Some are used to manage files, pictures, and other information, while others are used to create presentations and other types of media. While I found several Web 2.0 tools that would be useful to me in an English classroom, I found many other ones that would be great in order to teach other subjects. Overall, Web 2.0 offers many things to teachers who are looking to steer away from a boring, predictable, and ordinary experience in their classrooms.