Web+2.0


 * I think that web 2.0 has enhanced the learning that kids today have and help supply kids with the tools they need. They research and develop presentations and documents much quicker then when I was in high school. Search engines like Google and Yahoo have allowed kids to find what they are looking for faster, and find sources that were difficult to find ten years ago. However, I also believe that the internet has been misused to distract students from their course work. It is uncommon to find some one who does not know what Wikipedia or Facebook is, and know how to use them. I think that the trick in teaching is to find that equilibrium between online searching and catalog searching. In helping around the library and tutoring freshmen I have noticed that students can find what they are looking for online, but when it comes to finding things in the library using a catalog system they have difficulty. By allowing for both they will have the skills that they need to find sources and materials if the internet is not available.**
 * When I went to the** ** http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com ** **site I found a lot of useful tools that could be used to help students with their education. The first of these were the presentation tools. Most computers already come with presentations, but these sites could be used to make presentations fun to make and share with their classmates. Using Google sites or PreZentit allows a student to work on a group presentation with out finding time to meet up in the library or other place. This allows the students to post presentations online and work on them from their home. It also allows flexibility when a student wants to work on a project. Other tools that students could use are the Photoshow and Slideboom. These allow the students to make their boring old slide show presentations into a musical slideshow, making presentations more enjoyable for the students that are watching and spruce up the presentation for presenting.**
 * The research tools are important for students trying to learn History. In High school they will have several history papers to write, and these help. It gives other search engines that are not commonly known, like Addictomatic and Dogo. Both can find news and other research types and list them by category. The research resources I though were the most useful. Teachers.tv has programs that will educate the kids, and snagFilms allows teachers to access free documentaries. These are other places to find educational resources instead of relying on Wikipedia for information.**
 * The writing tools were important because many students do not know how to write when they come out of high school. They have hard time finding information that will be useful in a paper, or they just copy and paste an article on their paper then turn it in. I found tools for teachers like Adode buzzword that allows teachers or students to share documents. I would only suggest that for teachers because you don’t want cheating in the classroom. What really shocked me were all of the dictionary, grammar, and plagiarism tools that teachers and students could access to improve their writing. Grammar and dictionary tools come with the writing applications but Grammar Girl and WordAhead will explain the rules better to the students which will improve their writing. The plagiarism tools like Plagium and Dupi Checker are good for both teacher and students. Teachers can check the work of the students and make sure they sited correctly or not at all, and the students can do the same thing. Some students are surprised when they get things back that are a zero because they plagiarized and they might not know what they did wrong. I would have the students check their work against one of these to make sure that they know what is required when sighting a source.**
 * The quiz and testing are helpful when trying to create a test. I don’t want my tests so hard that they fail all of my students, but not so easy that they do not need to study. These tools help teachers in creating tests that are far to the students and yet hard enough to test their knowledge. Hot potatoes, eQuizzer and ClassMaker help the teachers organize their tests. They also help create fun test to help the student learn. The Mapping tool I thought would be a fun way to teach geography. When teaching about the locations of things in the world, a teacher must find a way to keep their students awake and interactive. Atlas, Umapper and Quikmaps will help the teacher in this process and help the students stay awake. Since the invention of the smart board this can be very useful in getting the kids up and helping find locations around the world.**


 * This assignment is that we looked at web 2.0 and describe what we thought about it.**


 * The tools that I found during the creation of this will be very helpful when I am a teacher. tools that will help the students improve grammar and help them with the plagiarism.**


 * A a teacher I will require my students to go through some of these web sites to improve their writing. That is the skill as a teacher that I am going to focus on and help the kids with.**