web20faves

=Our Favorite Web 2.0 Tools= Please put your favorites in the correct category of tool or under multiple categories if you think it fits in several places. And put a short description of what the tool does and why you like it.

Audio Tools
Audacity is a recording tool that my students mostly use for fun, but they also use it for recording their musical performances. [|Gcast.com] is a great web site for doing podcasting. It allows you to upload free to the site with voice recording from your computer or you can upload audio files from your phone for a small fee. I think it is very easy to use and works well with kids. Laurie Fowler __Audacity__ can engage the learner by simulating connectivity through voice recognition. It can be used to help students practice the power of reading aloud and improving their oral reading skills, as well as add interest while teaching internet skills.

Collaboration Tools
[|Edmodo.com] is a safe and secure online social learning network. Operating much like Facebook, it connects teachers and students as a virtual classroom. Teachers are free to post PowerPoint presentations, videos, links to websites, administer online quizzes, post polls, etc. In collaboration, educators can create groups and share resources as well as join subject-related and/or special interest groups. The network also provides educators with a library with unlimited storage. Edmodo is also a great venue for educators to connect with other educators across the globe. Ken L. Spear

Communication Tools
[|www.blogspot.com] is another great blogger, maybe a little more popular with students. However, this blogger is sometimes blocked by educational Internet filters. Beth Todd [|www.edublogs.org] is great for blogging - the kids who have internet love it and I have determined that some have far more to offer than they would ever say in front of their classmates. www.wikispaces.com is evidently great too (just using it) - I like it because it is a running dialogue - where blogging is more of a conversation - however, I am going to play with it to see how to monitor student use and what they are able to type in, so forth. www.wikispaces.com is the Web2.0 tool I want to use in my lesson plan for developing my students biographical info.Gentry Hassett

Just for Fun
[|Generatus] is a social networking status generator. It makes up funny things to put in your Twitter, Facebook, or Plurk. Laurie Fowler [|www.booktagger.com] will be used for students to review books about Alabama and to keep a record of the books they and others have read. Gentry Hassett World Mosaic will be a fun site for my students to explore all of the possibililites of Web 2.0. Gentry Hassett

Miscellaneous
http://www.readingquest.org is a website dedicated to providing content area teachers in middle and high school reading comprehension lessons that teach content as well and reading strategies. I like it because it is specific and an easy tool for teachers to use. Linda Stringer

[|www.classtools.net/fb/home/page] houses "//**Fakebook**//," a tool for educational purposes. While it is not affiliated with Facebook or any other social networking site, students can create an imaginary profile page for instructional purposes. For instance, one cn chart the plot of a book, the development of a character, a series of historical events, the debats and relationships between characters, and so on. THe cool thing about this site is that ClassTools.net has posted a 90-second video tutorial on Fakebook. Ken L. Spear

**Podcasting**
[|http://www.podomatic.com/] In a matter of minutes, you can create a video or audio podcast (for FREE) to share as you like. Melissa Marsh

Video Tools
Animoto video and music- updated version of a power point. easy way to begin working on digital projects with your students [] is a great site for video creation from photos on your computer. Works alot like PhotoStory but posts to the web. === [|Glogster] is a great site that allows you to not only create awesome pages for blogs, wikis, etc., but it also allows you to embed your own video and sound to your page. Another wonderful aspect of Glogster is that you have access to thousands of educational videos that pertain to your content area that you can use on your Glog pages. ===