Adventure #11-Web 2.0 Tools

This assignment said to choose only one to explore. Didn't happen!! Who could choose just one? What are Web 2.0 tools? Actually, they are just categorized websites that have been ranked or thought to be the best in their category. There are many websites. However, here is a link to the "short" list of websites which is alittle more manageable. "Alittle" http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0/short

I chose to explore four websites in detail. Of course, the websites I chose still need to be explored further. Talk about a technology rush!! The first one, for personal use, was My Heritage. This is a free geneaology site where you can start your family tree. You can find it at http://www.myheritage.com. This site is very easy to use but more for personal use than for school use.

The second one I chose was Wufoo. This can be found at http://www.wufoo.com. This is an online form creator. I created a form with it previously, but noone chose to fill it out for me. Boo Hoo! The only thing about Wufoo that I didn't like was that if you are using it for free, you can only create 3 forms per month. I can think of a lot of online forms to create for my library students. Teachers would be able to use this, however, because they probably wouldn't be able to create more than 3 forms anyway since their time is limited for extra "fun" things.

The third tool I chose was delicious. Delicious, which can be found at http://delicious.com is an online bookmarking site. Anything you find of interest on the internet can be saved on delicious for easy access later. Delicious also has internet lists already made. For example, in the search box, I typed in Elementary Library Lesson Plans, and a list of websites had already been created. Delicious is sponsored by Yahoo. I think the teachers would be able to use delicious for saving their searches for projects. High School students would also be able to benefit from this site.

The last tool I chose was pbworks. Pbworks is a shared workspace where students can collaborate on assignments. You can find it at http://www.pbworks.com The free version allows the teacher or librarian to host 100 students under her/him. What I liked about this tool was that the students do not need email addresses. Teachers or librarians can create the accounts under their account.

There are so many tools out there to use. I plan to expose the teachers to what is available and use some of the sites myself; however, sometimes, there is just too too much out there. Not complaining; however, in the real world of elementary teachers, you just do not have enough free time to leisurely "play around" with a Web 2.0 tool in order to feel comfortable enough to use it with your class.

That's just my two-cents worth. (okay, with inflation, probably less!) So, I am off to another adventure. So, techies................until next time. I am dying to post another glog....they are so much fun.