Why Web 2.0 is good for teaching and learning
Facebooking, Twittering, texting, blogging, and
emailing are just a few of the technology based interactions that our students
are making on not just a daily basis, but an hourly and minute by minute
basis. We live in a world now that is
dominated by the use of cell phones, iPhones, iPads, computers, laptops, Nooks
and Kindles and we must accept the fact that if we cannot beat them, we should
join them! And we should join them using Web 2.0!
What is Web 2.0?
Web 2.0 applications come in various shapes and
sizes, but what they all have in common is the ability to foster creativity and
interaction amongst and between users. Web
2.0 allows users to share ideas with others and not only be informative, but permit
for actual involvement as well. Rather
than being instructed step by step, students may use their own imagination and
creativity to create and design many different types of projects, as the Web
2.0 applications are easy to use and more enjoyable (Zhou, 2013).
Web 2.0 Applications
There are many, many different types and kinds of
Web 2.0 applications. Below is a list of
the applications that I have actually used and some additional apps that look
like they would be fun to try.
·
Prezi.com
– It’s PowerPoint on steroids. With
multiple templates available for use, a person can easily create a presentation
that takes the audience on a journey much more fun and enjoyable than just a
plain PowerPoint. Speaking from
experience, it is extremely easy to use and fun to be creative with. With Prezi, anything is possible and whatever
you can imagine you can create.
·
Voki.com.
– Give your voice and creativity to your own Avatar. Using Voki.com is a great way to introduce
new material to students, get them using their own creativity for an informative
and fun presentation. An avatar allows
students to create their own presentation and at the same time it takes the
pressure off of them to present in front of their classmates; the avatar can do
that. From my own personal experience,
it is very easy to create an avatar and a lot of fun!
·
Google
Docs Quizzes – We all know that part of teaching
requires assessing student’s abilities and knowledge and one way to do this is
through the use of computer/online quizzes.
Google Doc’s quiz application was a great tool to use to get this job
done. The quiz document itself is very
easy to use and is to be completed by students online. By creating a key you can also have student
quizzes graded for you.
·
Picasa/Photo Editing – This free tool
can be used to edit, organize digital photos and videos and create photo/video
presentations, collages and recognizes faces.
Practical Web
2.0 Integration
While it is understandable that not every minute of
every lesson can be spent in front of a computer using a Web 2.0 application,
one should see that this is the direction we are moving in as a society. “Since the Web 2.0 technology is primarily
designed to provide a better and more enjoyable online experience among
internet users, many companies have found this application beneficial to their
businesses” (Zhou, 2013). By using these technologies we will be better preparing
our students for life after high school.
With proper guidance, students can become experienced and experts in
this field before they are even out in the work force.
Also, I firmly believe that when you allow students
to be responsible for their own learning and make them master’s of their
projects they will learn the most and not just content knowledge, but real world
applications as well. The education
system has had a reputation since its beginnings of telling students what we
want, how we want it and how we want them to arrive at the answers. With the Web 2.0 applications we can allow
students to use their mind’s creativity and get them to build things that help
them arrive at those answers that we previously had just been handing them.
Finally, for my own personal use, I am going to set
a realistic goal of having my students create their own Web 2.0 project once
every month or two. My classroom is not
equipped with our own computers or laptops and although we have computer labs,
they have to be shared with 30+ teachers.
And aside from quantity, I would rather have my students focus on the
quality of their work and create meaningful projects with a lot of meat to
them.
References
Zhou, Jing. 2013. Retrieved October 19, 2013 from http://www.slideshare.net/jingzhou/the-benefits-of-using-web-20-applications.
2013.
A list of Web 2.0 technologies
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