Create 2.1.1

Web 2.0 tools have made online learning possible and exciting.  There are a plethora of tools available for student and teacher use, but at times that can be overwhelming! I have explored some essential Web 2.0 tools and organized them into three categories: presentation,

Presentation:

• Prezi: Prezi is a more exciting version of PowerPoint. Prezi gives students the opportunity to create a presentation that is more engaging and visually appealing.  One of my favorite features of Prezi is when you zoom in on a specific aspect of a presentation to go more in depth with that idea.  It really brings home the point in a visual manner!
• SlideShare: SlideShare may fall into two categories - not only is it a presentation tool but it is also a community/collaboration tool. SlideShare allows students to take their presentations made in PowerPoint or Keynote and export and share them.  It is like a hosting site for presentations

Community:

• Edmodo: Edmodo.com allows instructors and students to share a 'social media' space.  Students can upload and share work and comment on others work.  Instructors could pose questions to students and have an interactive conversation with them via edmodo.
• Twitter: While Twitter may be thought of as purely social (particularly for teens), instructors could use Twitter to engage students in a different manner.  At Ga Virtual we have had some "Twitter Meet-Ups" where an idea is posted and by using hashtags others can participate and share their thoughts.  As social media becomes more prevalent in all of our lives, it is nice to find ways to use it in the educational field! 

Video:

• Animoto: This is a great site that allows students to create and edit videos. Students can customize their editing features and choose music to go along with their video.  Students can work on their video from anywhere as animoto hosts your video in the cloud and can be used on mobile devices.
• Clipgenerator: Clipgenerator is a free website that allows students to customize their clips by adding music.  The videos can be shared via social media, websites or file sharing.

*This post is the collaborative work between Alice Johnson, Heather McCormick and Cameron Wood.