Thing #11: Web 2.0 Tools

In a past class, having been introduced to Web 2.0 tools, I knew this discovery exercise would be a wealth of information. In fact, I based my learning contract upon what I could discover and collect of Web 2.0 tools. I found the article noting the estimates of how many Web 2.0 tools are out there so intriguing...exactly along my questioning about whether or not the future of say Microsoft Office is bleak. To learn that at least SEVENTEEN different companies are working on web based office applications in astounding. I know of Google Docs, learned about Zoho Writer yesterday....and there are at least fifteen others in process! And this article is four years old so I would imagine that number is much greater now.

From the list of Web 2.0 Award Nominees, I selected LuLu. I absolutely love reading, love books, and love to write...so I looked first at this category, predicting that I might find a source to discover new books. Instead, I found a tool that allows for self-publishing! I was even more excited...I have a dream, I would love to publish a book (or two or three) one day....so I was fascinated by this site. There are a number of features that I already have just on my own computer with IPhoto like creating a calendar or photo book. However....then there is the option of creating an ebook or book and publishing it through the site for minimal cost. You can also create a cookbook....the site helps you set up design, formatting etc. Think site is already bookmarked and I WILL be returning to explore further!!! It is not just about publishing either, you can purchase textbooks, find suggestions of new fiction books to read....I will say that I see this site more for personal use as the publishing side has costs associated with it. Although if there was a student interested in getting "published" and their parents were behind that endeavor, this could be a great suggestion to point them to. I am so excited I found it for me!!

Now in searching on the goWeb20 listing, I chose to explore Game Classroom. This site is designed for students between Kindergarten and Sixth grade, primarily for math and language arts games. I first played VERB VIPER, which allows the player to choose what type of verb usage to practice and then as a words quickly appear next to the viper's head, the player must "strike" the correct verb form to go with the subject. This game provides practice for several different grade levels. I appreciated on the site that you could easily search by subject matter or by grade level....and within the games there was choice. I played a little with Clockworks for second grade students to practice telling/setting time on a clock with hands. For 6th grade Math, I explored Disaster Math, giving students practice with word problems. You could choose which "natural disaster" to work with so students actually use terms they may know from science as well. As a site, this has great resources for classroom use, whether all students spend some time on one or more games for practice or review, or if the games are used as extra practice for a student needing more time with a concept, or even for challenging a student who may have mastered a certain level and ready to accept the next level. This is a great site I will be passing on to my colleagues.