Friday, March 19, 2010

Thing Twelve: Web 2.0 Tools


I really enjoyed playing with the different tools. One of my favorites was BeFunky. I thought it was fun to add the different effects to your pictures. Here is one I did with my family.
I am not really sure how I would hook this to a lesson, but it is neat. Another site that I like was JigZone. I enjoyed the puzzles; however, I could not make a puzzle from one of my own pictures. I could get them uploaded, but when I opened the file it was empty. Any suggestion?
Here is one puzzle I enjoyed making.
Sunset Palm Jigsaw PuzzleSunset Palm Jigsaw Puzzle
I am also not sure how I would hook that into a lesson either. To me it is just fun to do. I do think puzzles promote higher level thinking skills. I really enjoyed Mix Book, and I thought it would be cool to use with our Western Expansion unit. Each child could add pictures and important events that happened on our journey out West. I use Wordle and Quizlet on a regular basis. They are both great ways to study vocabulary, spelling, and Spanish. One Web 2.o tool that I love and was not mentioned is the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives. It is a library of interactive web-based virtual manipulatives for K-12 math learning. It meets all the NCTM standards. It is great to use on your interactive white board if you have one. It is also great to use as a center to support whatever unit you are working on. The Web 2.0 tools are great teaching tools to support the children's learning.




1 comment:

  1. I loved solving the puzzles in JigZone, but did not try to upload my own photos. I agree - there is some great learning that can happen with puzzles. The lack of spatial relation with some students makes this a must have tool to me. I have not tried MixBook specifically, bt I have played with similar programs.

    ReplyDelete