Web+Tools

Identify a web tool from the resources below. Explore the tool. Learn how to use it. Consider how it could improve teaching and learning, if at all. Share it with your Google group and generate discussion about its use. Finally, write an annotation for the tool. The annotations should identify strengths of the tool for teaching and learning, possible specific applications of the tool, and challenges of the tool in terms of technology.

This wiki page is intended to be a resource for our class (and anyone else who stumbles upon it). Try to select unique tools from your classmates, but if you happen to review the same tool, add to the existing annotation so that it is one entry on our page. Organize the page so that it is helpful to readers. Consider organization as you add your commentary.

Etoolbox http://etoolbox.wikispaces.com/

Google tools and resources []

Guide to Digital Learning []

Note: You are not limited to tools from these two web pages, but there are many here worth exploring.

=Web Tool Reviews=

Debate.fm Debate.fm is an easy-to-use, free tool that allows students to engage in argumentative thinking with their peers. Students can easily access the tool from any browser and add ideas to the debate. The creators respond to requests for help immediately, and they incorporate user feedback to improve the tool. This __#|application__ can be used as a pre-writing tool, as a silent debate, or in preparation for a live debate. The tool is open to the public with no way currently to limit access to the classroom or to give administrative privileges to the teacher. Participants do not need to create an account to contribute. The major flaw in the tool is the lack of administrator privilege, which reduces the usefulness, but it is worth trying by teachers across disciplines for various purposes.

Jing (Grace Leu) Jing is a program that allows you to capture images and record video on your computer—then share them with anyone. Jing is a great tool for adding basic visual elements to all of your online conversations. It is also a tool that can be utilized to create instructional presentations on how to use different programs on a computer.

[|Animoto] (Margo Salinger) Animoto is an easy-to-use, free tool that can be accessed by teachers, students and parents. It allows participants to create video clips from pre-made templates and select and add music, video, or pictures. Application of this tool has been discussed to best fit as a book share or creating book trailers. It's limiting time frame on video prompts students to create their video with the most important information to share, focusing their presentation. It could also be used for students to tell about themselves, or used as a structured learning choice activity as the tool does lend itself to a variety of literature based extension activities. One benefit of Animoto is that teachers can request to sign their class up, which has some security precautions pre-set. They can gain full unlimited access for free! One flaw is that if you chose not to use anything other than the trial, you are limited to 30 second videos with very limited room for text characters.

[|ToonDoo] (by Patrick D.)

ToonDoo is a free, simple online comic-strip and graphic novels that allows students to digitally publish their own comics and graphic novels. Students can access the tool by visiting the website and creating a free account. Users employ a simple "click-and-drag" format while creating their comic strips that makes creating comic literally as easy as clicking a mouse. This tool can be used by students as an alternative to completing a traditional book report, a means of visually representing an important time-period or historically significant event, displaying a scientific concept (e.g. evolution, phases of the moon, parts of an ecosystem, etc), and a variety of other assignments. One major drawback with this tool is that some of the elements may not be appropriate for all ages (e.g props that promote or represent violence, alcohol, or elements that are "scary" or "gross") and there are no "blocking" settings to help prevent students from seeing and including them in their comic strips. However, with proper monitoring and establishing guidelines for appropriate use, ToonDoo is an invaluable tool to help engage students by appealing to their interests (e.g. graphic novels, storytelling, etc,) and their knowledge of interactive technology.

[|Glogster EDU] (Rickeena Richards) Teachers can set up a free account with Glogster EDU to create class glogs, which are multimedia collage-like posters online, and establish and monitor their students’ glogs as well. Glogs can contain several multimedia elements simultaneously, including text, video, audio, photos, graphics, drawings, and data. Glogs could serve as a great tool for engaging students in their own learning experiences by offering them a chance to be, for the most part, responsible for creating them. While the teacher would obviously structure the activity, students will have free reign to express themselves and their understanding of the content covered in the class while also developing their digital literacy skills as producers of Web content.

This tool lends itself to individual and/or group projects, presentations on any topic, digital storytelling (or retelling), research assignments, book/current event reports, etc. Teachers can also use Glogs to incorporate the Common Core-aligned skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening into students’ assignments since producing a glog would require students to read and write, and sharing them would require students to speak and listen. The only con is that while Glogs can be fun opportunities for students to be creative, they could come off a bit aesthetically immature as far as options for designs go. Thus, while your students will definitely be picking up some great digital literacy skills, you may want to make a point (especially the older your students are) to distinguish the level of professionalism of a Glog illustrates versus another medium a professional might use to present information.

Lore.com (Chris Finch)

Lore, formerly known as Course Kit, is a quality, up-to-date website that can create a positive learning community and can simplify the process of teaching and enhance learning experiences for members involved. The website gives students the tools and opportunity to not only learn, but also share and teach. According to its website, "Lore is a community of curious people, spanning every discipline, campus, country, and age. It’s a platform for learning: a new venue for education that allows you to explore." The website offers discussion boards, which gives students and teachers a place to share and discuss ideas. Teachers are able to use this web tool to keep track of grades and student progress; teachers can accept and grade assignments on the website. Files, articles, books and links can all be shared and all members of the class can stay current by following a class calendar which can be managed for all members of the course to see. Mimicking social media, the website offers students to create personal profiles of which they can post pictures to. Above all, the web tool is simple to use and free. I have used the tool in past classes and can see the benefit of using it with high school students.

[|Edmodo] (Julianne Benedetto) [|Edmodo] is a social networking site created specifically for schools and educators. It allows school districts or individual teachers to create their own address so that they can safely connect teachers, students and parents. The website is modeled off of the ever familiar Facebook, but it's unique design facilitates classroom collaboration. Easily embed important files in your library and create calendars, quizzes, discussions and polls.

Gapminder World utilizes 't rendalyzer' software to display various statistics regarding country data. Trendalyzer is an information visualization software that animates statistics and allows for easier comparison and analysis of data trends. A user may view preset graphs that compare data, such as the change in CO2 emissions since 1820. The software illustrates counties with circles, and these circles move across a graph with respect to an x and y axis, the independent and dependent variable, respectively. For the more ambitious and curious, users can construct their own graphs by selecting their x and y axis variables. Users can create very interesting and compelling comparisons that illustrate trends concerning a vast array of topics, varying form child mortality to the wealth of nations.
 * [|Gapminder.org] (Christine Peters) **

[|NoteStar] (Nicole Liuzzo) Students can record and organize their sources and bibliographic information on NoteStar. The NoteCards are basically virtual index cards that students use to record notes about sources, quotes, and citations. The website creates the citation for the students. Teachers can create individual and group projects for students. If students are working in groups, they have access to all the students in their groups' research information. The teacher can choose whether to assign the whole class the same type of project or a different project so it can be used for differentiation. The other great aspect of this website is the fact that teachers can check in on specific students' progress as the student saves their work to the site, as well as note who is fulfilling their research requirements when working in groups.

[|TurningPoint] (Andrew Wiktor) This tool allows teachers to invest students and check for understanding at the same time. The technology works hand in hand with PowerPoint and allows teachers to embed questions into their PowerPoints. Students, who must have the clickers needed to use this software, can choose an answer choice right from their seat by using their devices. They don't have to raise their hand or talk! For some, that's paradise! You can give each student his or her own or you can have one clicker per group. Either way, it give the class instant feedback because the technology creates a graph on the PowerPoint and then shares that information with everyone present. It's excellent for class votes (students vote anonymously, so no one will be influenced by others) and for checking for understanding. It's a simple tool that can change the trajectory of your class.

[|Diigo](Edna Xie) Diigo (**D**igest of **I**nternet **I**nformation, **G**roup, and **O**ther Stuff) is a social bookmarking tool that is used to organize bookmarked websites, highlight and take notes on the websites, which is then saved into the user’s Diigo library. As stated on their [|website], “Diigo offers a powerful personal tool and a rich social platform for knowledge users, and in the process, turns the entire web into a writable, participatory and interactive media.” Over the years, Diigo have made improves, from a tool that was simply used as online bookmarking tool, to adding highlighter, sticky notes, group-based collaboration research, personal learning network, and collecting and organizing bookmarks, notes, screenshots, and more.


 * ~ Pros ||~ Cons ||
 * * Free online access anywhere.
 * Diigolet (toolbar) makes it easy for students to bookmark, highlight, take note, and share content.
 * Students are able to organize their research through tagging and share them with other classmates.
 * Teacher can have student read a website and use this tool to assess students through their highlights and/or sticky notes.
 * Students are able tosearch for topics of their interests (e.g. – [|drawing], [|sing], [|crafts]) and participate in the discussions on Diigo.
 * Students are able to see how others interpret content on a specific website.
 * The Teacher Console allows teachers to manage students’ accounts and create groups for students to work, share, and review resources.
 * Can share information through email, Twitter, or group on Diigo.
 * Tools include linkroll, RSS feed, embedded widget for blogs. || * Some discussions and notes can be commented by other users, which may be harder for students to organize their own notes.
 * Free account offers unlimited bookmarks, but only 1,000 highlights per year, and 30 total cached pages.
 * You can only highlight certain amount of words. ||

[|Storybird] (Megan Smith) Storybird is a website where students can use pre-made templates/themes/artwork to create their own stories. This is a fairly easy to use website that can make writing fun for all students. Students can work individually or collaboratively to create stories using the artwork as inspiration. Students can also access age-referenced Storybirds that have been created by other users. Pros: Easy to use, free of charge, age appropriate Storybirds for students to read, "no-pressure" writing, FUN Cons: Artwork may not be completely congruous throughout the Storybird, website drag & drop doesn't always work, no formal writing process (pre-write/editing etc)

[|Prezi](Michael Stuart) Prezi is a tool where students and teachers can make presentations online that bring the presentations to life. Zooming, panning, and rotating are part of the entire experience of using Prezi, and it makes giving and seeing presentations fun again! Students can easily add images, text, and videos to their presentations, making it a simple tool to learn how to use. Once presentations are created, all a student would need to do is share the link to the presentation with another person, and that person can go directly to the Prezi and run through and explore the presentation himself, or the student can share it in front of a group as one would with a normal presentation. Though there are some privacy concerns if you select the free version of Prezi, there are many [|pre-made Prezis] that you can explore and are ready to be used in your own classroom!

Shelfari (Meghan Schuster) Shelfari.com is a really cool website that allows the user to create virtual bookshelves and discuss books with other members. While you have to sign up, membership is free, and is linked to your Amazon.com account (if you have one). Members of any age and reading level can look up books, rate them and review them. You can join reading groups and discuss various books with other readers. It is a virtual reading community. Teachers can use this site to have online chats about classroom texts (if a specific book has been assigned) and can use this website to introduce the class to the books that they will be reading. One of the features that I especially love is the goal tracker. Here you can set a goal for how many books you want to read in a specific timeframe. Each time you finish a book, and mark the book as "I have read", you goal is updated and shows you how far you have progressed. I think that it is great for students to keep track of how far they are in the class (if each classroom novel is in their goal), but also as internal motivation to set a goal and work towards it. If you decide to take a look at Shelfari, follow me! My name is Ms. Schuster!

Museum Box (Miguel Jimenez) Museum Box is a website that allows students to fill virtual containers. These containers can be customized by the students and filled with images, text or video clips. The push behind the creation of this web tool is so that students can customize and use the containers to “build up an argument or description of an event, person or historical period by placing items” within the box. It should be noted that the site is hosted in the UK and for best use the school should be registered with the site/the teacher should have a log-in account.

[|Google Tools]: Google Reader, Google News, Blogger in the Classroom (Essence Caleb) Google has a host of tools that can be used in the classroom to facilitate learning. Google Reader makes it easy for someone to stay updated and informed on the information of his/her choice. One just chooses the topics that interest him/her and all of the articles pertaining to the subject will come up. Google News is similar to Google Reader except for the fact that it focuses on news articles only. With this tool one can quickly browse through news content by focusing on a particular date, subject or headline. Blogger in the Classroom is set up on Google so that you or your students can easily blog and add links, texts etc. to the information that you or your students write. These tools can be used by students to research, collect, organize, create, and share information. I would highly recommend using Google News in the classroom. I think it is imperative that we are teaching our students not in isolation to the world around them but in conjunction to it. Using Google News will help in finding current articles related to lessons that you are teaching. Some of the Google tools are repetitive so it would be crucial to research exactly what you are trying to do with your class and find one corresponding tool to fit that purpose.

[|Popplet] (Erinn Keane) Popplet is a website that allows you to create interactive graphic organizers. It is very user friendly and easy to navigate. For this reason, it is great for students to use as well as not so tech savvy teachers! You can add videos and photos to your graphic organizers on Popplet, which adds another level of complexity. Students can use Popplet as a brainstorming tool for a research essay or report. A good thing about Popplet is that when in presentation mode, you can scroll through the various popplets you have created. A good application would be having groups create a popplet about a similar topic (for example aspects of culture). When it comes time to present, the teacher can scroll through the popplets and see them all in one place. I enjoyed discovering, learning about and playing with Popplet and I will definitely use them in my classroom in the future.

[|VoiceThread] (Laura Madera) A VoiceThread is a mutual, multimedia slide-show. Anyone can upload: documents, images, and/or videos to create slide-shows for selected audiences and/or viewers. These documents, images, and/or videos can then be used to develop discussions or conversations. In order to use VoiceThread, all anyone has to do is set-up a free account using a preferred e-mail address. Then, (through e-mailed invitations) friends, family, students, teachers, and colleagues, can find, befriend, and communicate with one another through a VoiceThread slide-show. Comments on VoiceThread slide-shows can be left using: voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio files, or videos (via a webcam). Users can continue to moderate their conversations by doodling as they comment. <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline;">Because VoiceThread allows its users to select their own documents, images, and/or videos, comments become far more personal, unique, and individual. Teachers can use these traits to elicit, enhance, and enrich learning experiences for students. Furthermore, VoiceThread promotes collaboration between different students while providing variety. Students can choose which method(s) of communication they prefer or are more comfortable with, i.e. voice, text, videos, etc.

**[|Wordle]**(Josh Williams) Wordle is a program that takes a body of text and, based on the frequency of word use, creates a word cloud from it. This enhanced visual representation of the writing makes certain words much larger (words that are used very often) and other words much smaller (words that are used less frequently). The end product is a pretty cool, customizable image that clearly portrays the most prominent language in the piece. You could use Wordle in a variety of ways as a teacher; to identify main ideas in a work of literature, to brainstorm for a discussion, to edit writing for frequently used words, and much more! Head to [|www.wordle.net] and get started today!

Animoto (http://animoto.com/) (Luis Peña)

is a tool that allows students and educators to incorporate, pictures, video, text, and music into cool presentations that can engage the whole classroom. It actually analyzes all of the media used in the video and synthesis it in such a way that everything flows in an almost harmonic way. This is a great tool that can be used instead of the poster board and the student will be more engaged in the many aspects that take to create this visually appealing piece of technology. To create an account is totally free and the minor tools are coming can be used at no cost but if more tools want to be used the fool Animoto must be bought. Below is a link to one of the presentations that has been done by a teacher using Animoto

http://animoto.com/education

Past Semesters
Web Tools SP2012 Web Tools SU2011