Web+2.0

QuizEgg is a site that allows teachers to create quizzes or tests for their students online. This Web 2.0 tool allows the teacher to customize the quizzes in a variety of formats. It is also great because it has reports that will show the teacher what students are excelling and which ones are struggling. It is a great way to quiz students because it automatically grades the quiz. There is also no complicated software to download or install. I think this would be a great tool for me to use before a test as extra credit or to use as a weekly quiz grade. I can format and customize it exactly how I want and it saves me time by grading the quizzes instantly.

Vyew is a collaborative tool that gives the educator a variety of ways to interact with their students. The teacher can give presentations on the topic they are teaching and have the slides available to their students online. I can upload docs, images or media to the site and even have a spot for chat or talk. I think that this tool would be great for students to interact with the teacher outside the classroom. I can have class review sessions online and be able to interact with my students for a period of time outside school. I think this tool would be great for a review session before a big test. I can chat with my students online and answer questions. This is a great tool to create and upload course content for real-time and anytime collaborative learning.

280 Slides is a great slide show tool. Unlike PowerPoint I could create a slide and have it with me anytime I have internet connection. It’s nice because there is no software required. It’s easy to add photos and movies to your presentation directly from popular web services like YouTube. I think this tool would be great for my classroom lectures for a couple reasons. One reason is that it is different than PowerPoint. Personally I’m tired of PowerPoint presentations. A different format would be refreshing. The other reason this tool would be great for me because I can easily add YouTube videos to my slide show which will be great when I am teaching the DNA replication process for example. I could talk about it then have a slide with a YouTube animation of the process so my students see it visually.

YouTube is a great tool for teaching in the modern classroom. It is a video library with just about everything you can imagine. I think that YouTube will be very helpful when I’m teaching biology because I can show my students video animation of the biological processes they will learn. Visual learning is much more effective if the students can see animation of the process rather than trying to imagine the process with my drawings on the board.

I think that twitter could be a fun way to get my students involved in the class. I can tweet what sections the tests will be on or tweet extra credit assignments. I think this would excite the students a little because they might already use twitter and it would be an easy way to get last minute info out to my students if they sign up with twitter they can receive messages instantly to there phones, could be a good way to send out reminders.