A reflection on the course

This course as a whole was meant to teach me new web 2.0 tools that could be employed in my teaching and diversify my lessons. I dreaded this course from day one simply because it was a computer class and I am not what one would call a “computer person”. But this class has ruined me, and it has presented several useful tools that I really will use to teach my students one day. It made me get over my aversion to computers (slightly) and though I never want to take another computer class ever again, I am glad that we met.

Zamzar, do it!

Meet your new friend Zamzar: 

 

….you are welcome.

This site has made my life so much easier, it’s the best!! Zamzar converts files for you for free and without an account or a hassle. Simply go to Zamzar.com, browse for a file OR choose a URL link that you want to convert, choose what type of file you want you media converted to, enter the e-mail address that you want the file to be sent to, press OK, and wait for the link to pop up in your inbox and open up your new file!

Once again, you are welcome. Go ye forth and convert!

Virtual Environments in Education

Incorporating virtual environments into classroom curriculum is a growing trend that I was unaware of before now. A virtual environment is a web-based interaction site where individuals can create a virtual world for themselves in which they can interact with others. Examples include programs and games like The Sims, World of Warcraft, and Second Life, just for starters. The idea here is that teachers could create a virtual world to correspond with the material they are covering in class in order to engage this new emerging technological generation of students. Incorporating technology in the class gets students’ attention, but it can be tricky because sites like this are unsafe and unprotected from the outside world and creepers that may be lurking.

I can see how foreign language students could greatly benefit from learning through a virtual experience because the teacher could create a virtual environment for, i.e. the city of Madrid or an art museum, and set the language to Spanish so students get to experience a place they otherwise would never get to see and hear Spanish spoken in interaction with the characters.

I personally will never use a virtual environment to reach my students because of the security concerns and the concern of students getting caught up playing and the program taking the focus off of the learning itself.

Gaggle, not Google

Gaggle, not Google, is awesome. This is the best communication tool for students that I have found yet. This tool lets the teacher create a space for her/him and their students to safely communicate with one another. You can e-mail, text, and follow each other. This is accepted in school systems because of the security involved in the site. You much be verified as a teacher and given a code by your principal to even create an account. For the purpose of this project, some colleagues of mine were given a code by the website administrator to get a look inside Gaggle, this is why I was able to get inside and check it out for myself and give you a picture of a Gaggle site. Check with your school administrators to see whether you can incorporate Gaggle also.

Google Forms

 

This here is an example of a Google Form. It’s just an example, that’s why it’s so simple and short. I just wanted to show you what a form looks like. Google forms is way better, in my opinion, than Excel because it’s much simpler and pleasing to the eye. You could create a Google Form in minutes and it’s free, you just need a Google account (which you should have). The link is up at the top of any Google search page, just like the Gmail link. You could make a survey about when to schedule a meeting, or learn more about you students, and for students to get to know each other and their teacher. The only down side to a form is that it does not have the grading capabilities that Excel does, but the teacher would just have to look at the results manually. The creator of the form receives all the responses on a live feed inside the Google Form, so you can watch as students complete questions and keep a record of all the responses. It’s really great! It’s too easy to not use.

Classroom 2.0

Classroom 2.0 is a social networking site for teachers. It’s actually kind of like Facebook, but specifically for teachers. Classroom 2.0 was created for teachers be able to help each other, ask questions, create forums, get advice, get ideas, and more. You must create an account and be accepted (the website managers must first verify you as a teacher) to start interacting on Classroom 2.0. After you are in the clear you can search topics to read discussions or forums on something you have a question about or are curious about or want to get advice on.

Flickr slideshow

Flickr is a really fun web2.0 tool that allows you to upload your photos to your free  online account at Flickr.com and make slideshows of your pictures, share your photostream with your students and colleagues, order prints, and so much more. Here is a picture of the folder I made with all the photos that I uploaded to Flickr. As you can see, I named the folder “collection” so that I could more easily recognize it on my computer and share it with my students and colleagues. Once you have chosen a theme for your “set”/group of photos, create a folder to save them into and make it easier for you to upload your photos to your Flickr page. This is a good example of a lesson on famous Spanish landmarks for my Spanish students. I could use a presentation of photos like these and others to show my students different ways of life in the countries we are studying and add a little bit of history as well, for example the life and influence of Christopher Columbus in Spain.

 

Here is a Google presentation of all the images I collected. I had difficulties finding a way to embed my slideshow directly from Flickr.

Engrade

This is probably one of the most useful web 2.0 tools that I have found thus far. Engrade is a really great tool for teachers that lets you add the roster for each of your classes and create a space for each, put in grades, assignments, make flashcards, print report cards, and more. I’m not sure how easily this tool would fit into your particular school system’s existing grading system, but it is worth checking out. Go set up a free account and try it out today! I’m pretty sure you can share your Engrade space with your school/principal/mentoring teacher.

Timetoast

Timetoast is a really simple tool that does exactly what it says, it is a sites where you can make timelines.  You can make a timeline to go with any sort of lesson, and you can add a picture to each date/post along with a detailed description of why the date is significant. History teachers could especially benefit from this, but so could a FL teacher like me. I could use this tool in my classroom to make learning about famous people in the Hispanic world a lot more fun!

Voki

 

This is an example of a Voki, another web 2.0 tool that can be used in your classroom. This site allows you to make any sort of cartoon character and add voice to the picture. You can record your own voice or type in the text box.  I was really impressed that I was able to write in Spanish, all I had to do was choose the Spanish accent and type in the text in Spanish the way I would normally write it and my little Voki spoke it perfectly. These are fun little things to incorporate to make learning even more fun.