Helen’s Edublog

This week’s CEHSP/ITSS workshop was a bit like being a kid in a techno-candy factory, where you we sampled a taste of a wide variety of Web 2.0 tools that are useful in teaching and learning. But one of the side effects of eating so much candy is that it can leave you feeling a little queasy from too much of a good thing! There are so many Web 2.0 tools out there that it can be very overwhelming, not only just in trying to understand what they are, but even more so if you try to incorporate too many into your teaching.

They key to remember, as with any kind of technology, is that technology is not the point — learning is. So the place to start is deciding what it is that you want students to learn and be able to do as a result. Then, and only then, look to see what types of tools are out there that might help improve their learning compared with what you have done before. Begin one tool at a time, making sure you don’t overwhelm both yourself and your students in the process.

The series of slides that is shown below presents a wide range of some key, free, Web 2.0 tools that can be used for teaching and learning. Each slide provides a screen shot to give you some idea of what the each tool can do, a description of features, and a link to the website at which you can sign up to use each tool.

I have not gone into detail here about specific ways in which each tool can be used in teaching and learning activities. Instead, our upcoming workshops in our CEHSP/ITSS series this semester (and the University of Minnesota Duluth) will go into more depth on some of the most commonly used tools. That means that I will also be updating by blog with details of each of these upcoming topics. So stay tuned! Here is what you can look forward to:

• Online collaboration tools: Making decisions about which to use when (Discussion forum vs. wiki vs. Google doc vs. blog)
• Google Docs & wikis: specifics on how to use each
• for student collaboration outside of (and even in) class
• Blogs & discussion forums: specifics on how to use each
• for student collaboration outside of class
• Using multimedia created by others: video and audio feeds (linking to podcasts, video casts)
• Overview Course/Learning Management Systems: which to use -Moodle or WebVista?

A question, though, for those of you who are reading this blog: What are your favorite Web 2.0 tools for teaching and learning? For what purposes are you using them and what stories, questions or comments do you have arising out of your experiences? I’d love to hear from you. Click on the comments link below to post your response.

Some Useful Resources:

• Web 2.0 - Wikipedia
• Understanding Web 2.0 - You Tube
• Go2Web20 - an incredible visual with links to hundreds of Web 2.0 tools!