WARNING! This website is no longer actively maintained. It is an archive of 2 years work by Doug Belshaw who now blogs at dougbelshaw.com...
Here’s an alphabetical list of the Web 2.0 stuff I’ve used, or plan to use, in my role as a teacher of History and ICT:
Bubblr can import photos from Flickr to create comic strips. Useful for storyboarding and/or helping students develop chronological understanding.
Bubbl.us is a mindmapping web application that can be used collaboratively. Very helpful for if you’re brainstorming something with a colleague, but can also be used by students to plan projects, etc.
Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking site, meaning that anything you (or anyone else using the site) deem interesting can be ‘tagged’ with keywords. This can be useful for sharing links on specific topics. Very flexible - I’ve posted about potentially Homework-casting using del.icious.
Diigo calls itself a ’social annotation’ web application. Allows you to (virtually) ‘write’ on any page and then share these annotations, sticky notes, references, etc. with others. Uses tags, and again useful for research projects.
Flickr - a photo-sharing website. Photos can be tagged and manipulated in various ways. Other tools use the Flickr API for various things - see Bubblr and Splashr, for example. There’s an official list of Flickr applications here, but a more comprehensive one here. I have a separate account for teaching, to which I upload sources, coursework photos, etc.
Gliffy can be used to draw and share diagrams, so can be used to create logical chains, hierarchies, or even classroom layouts! I’ve used it with my Year 8 ICT students when they were creating a layout for a theatre.
Google Calendar - I use this to plan lessons, as I’ve posted about here and here. Because calendars can be shared, it could potentially be used for departmental/faculty/whole-school planning, or simply for letting students know when deadlines are, etc. In the comments section I mentioned a couple of plugins that allow you to show events from your Google Calendar in your Wordpress-powered blog. Events can also be added to an iGoogle personalised homepage. Kristian Still has embedded Google Calendar reminders in the front page of his excellent wiki.
Google Docs & Spreadsheets is online document and spreadsheet editor, soon to also feature Powerpoint-like presentation capabilities. Students can use this to create documents, which they can then either share with their teacher, or with fellow students. I’ve used Google Docs with my Year 10 History students for their coursework as it allows me to see how they’re getting on and add comments as and when needed. Read my posts Coursework 2.0 and Coursework 2.0 - an evaluation for more details.
Google Reader: an online RSS reader. Allows you to ’subscribe’ to websites for updates in one place, rather than having to visit each individually. This is how I keep up-to-date with education-related and edtech news. As I’ve mentioned before, you can read what I think is worth reading via the Google Reader box at the bottom right-hand corner of the home page.
Google Video is a video-sharing website. I’ve uploaded videos that we wouldn’t have time to watch in class for students who want to do so at their leisure. Those that are inappropriate or infringe copyright are automatically removed by the Google Video team, so you’re safe on that front. The videos can then be embedded in other websites, as I have done at the KS3 History wiki.
Jumpcut is an online video editor. I haven’t used this extensively and not at all with students (yet), but others think it’s great.
Ning allows you to create your own social networks (like Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc.). I’m considering using it next academic year with my students. There’s already several education-based social networks on Ning, including the NextGen Teachers Social Network.
Pageflakes for Students and Teachers is a personalised education-focused home page for both students and teachers. Can be fully customised. I have discussed the potential of this over at edtechroundup.com. If you’d rather simply use a Google account that you’ve signed students up for, iGoogle is similar - though less powerful - version.
PBwiki: a free (advertising-supported) wiki solution. I don’t use this anymore, favouring Wikispaces, but others use it, with some success.
Slide.com is a presentation-sharing site. Upload presentations, revision materials, etc. and then embed it in your website/wiki/blog. It’s easier than converting your presentations to Flash and then uploading them yourself, as I’ve previously suggested.
Splashr allows you to present photographs from Flickr in various interesting and engaging ways. I’ve posted about this before, here and here, and there’s a video of me using this in the classroom here.
Sputtr is an all-in-one search page. Allows you to search using various search engines quickly and easily, and can also be customised. Stops students getting ‘Googleitis’ - i.e. if it doesn’t show up on the first page of a Google search, it doesn’t exist…
Tumblr is perhaps the easiest way ever to get started blogging. Has pre-formatted options for quotations, links, etc. and can import content from other websites via RSS feeds. See dougbelshaw.tumblr.com, for example. Could be used for student homework blogs or as a means of keeping in touch with your students outside the four walls of the classroom. I’ve posted about Tumblr at edtechroundup.com.
Twitter is ostensibly a social tool for letting your friends know what you are up to. However, it can be used in education-related ways. For example, it can be used to keep a blog updated from a mobile phone. See my home page and mrbelshaw Twitter account. Also has potential for contacting students via their mobile phone without knowing their phone number, as I’ve posted about here.
Vimeo is another video-sharing website. Has privacy options so you can set who can see the videos you upload. Has a ‘kidvimeo’ section. Can be embedded in blogs/wikis/websites.
Wetpaint allows you to create your own wiki. Very easy to use, but advertising-supported.
Wikispaces: another wiki solution. I prefer and use this website as it allows educators to remove adverts from their wikis for free. My GCSE History students have their own wiki, as do my KS3 History students, although the latter hasn’t been up very long.
Wordpress is the blogging software that powers this and all my blogs (and, for that matter, most of the blogs on the Internet). You install the software on your server with your own domain name or, if that’s not for you or your students, you can get a free hosted account at Wordpress.com or Edublogs.org.
Wordpress MU - Edublogs.org is actually a massive instance of Wordpress MU (multi-user). I’ve installed my own version of this at learning.mrbelshaw.co.uk/blogs for my GCSE History students to do their homework on. They can comment on one another’s posts, link to useful websites, etc. It means that you know before they set foot in your classroom whether they’ve done their homework or not. I’ve posted about this here and elsewhere.
xFruits is perhaps a more advanced one, but this website allows you to ‘mash-up’ RSS feeds in various ways. For example, on the home page of this blog I provide an RSS feed of the posts from all my blogs. This was created using xFruits. You can also create PDF files from RSS feeds, get posts from RSS feeds emailed to you, etc. This could be useful for putting everything in one place for students. I’ve posted about this at edtechroundup.com.
YouTube: unfortunately banned via most school networks, but an effective way of sharing videos. Again, videos can be shared, embedded and commented upon. There is a limitation in that videos cannot be more than 10 minutes in length, which is why I prefer Google Video - as it is also not a blacklisted site on our school network. For an alternative, try the slightly-less-cool TeacherTube.
Want more? Try Brian Benzinger’s Back to School with the Class of Web 2.0 Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3!
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