Wetpaint

Wetpaint is a free website builder that allows you to create social websites on your own personal interests. You can create, collect, and organize content and include text, photos, videos, and polls. Since it's a social website anyone can contribute content, opinions, photos, etc. and can edit inaccurate facts, just like a wiki. Wetpaint has won numerous awards and honors, and is reported to be simple to use, no maddening code needed. As the creator, you can set your site as public or private. Many of the sites created through Wetpaint are built by fans of TV series or movies and include many photos, trailers, polls, and discussions of characters and plot lines. In the classroom or library setting, a social website could be created on a given topic or subject that requires students to contribute content based on their learning; editing and adding as their knowledge increases. Also, teachers or librarians could create a website to collaborate with other educators on a specific topic or unit of study. http://www.wetpaint.com/

Blogs

Using blogs in the classroom can provide students with a meaningful, real life experience. Educators who integrate technology in the classroom find many benefits in having students blog. Those benefits include: improving writing skills; providing just in time learning (a concept we covered in LIS 2000); a place to share learning; a place to receive feedback; a motivator in creating real work samples; a quick and easy way for students to web publish; a means of collaboration; a means to involve parents; and so on. Edublogs has been recommended by my district's technology coordinator as a safe way for students to create individual blogs, while providing an easy management system for teachers. An educator can sign up for the Free, Pro, or Campus memberships that allow varying degrees of customization in design and management. Having students blogging should not be limited to secondary and higher education; even elementary students can be introduced to blogs in the classroom. http://edublogs.org/

Fotobabble

Fotobabble allows you to create talking photographs. It's easy to use, simply choose a photo to upload, record your message, and share. Access to this application is free and can be used with your Facebook account. You can choose to mark your photo as private or public, and can share through Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, link in an email or instant message, or embed into your web page. In the classroom, Fotobabble could be used by students to enhance oral descriptions related to all curricular areas. Using a photograph of a grasshopper, I recorded the two-voice poem (with my husband) "Grasshoppers" from Paul Fleischman's collection, Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices. For a personal touch, students can use photographs to invite family members to a school program, thank family members for their support, send a special message to family members for Mother's Day, Father's Day, and Grandparent's Day. Fotobabble's application in the classroom is only limited to your imagination.

Blabberize

Blabber may no longer simply refer to incessant idle chatter. In today's digital environment, a blabber is a talking picture. Blabberize is an online tool that allows you to choose a picture/image, record a voice track, and animate the mouth of the character to make it appear that it is talking. Blabberize is free, easy to use, and allows teachers and students to enhance speaking and listening skills. However, since it is a public site, many of the examples provided are not educational, and according to its terms of service you must have parental permission if under 13 years of age. In the classroom, Blabberize can motivate students to share poems, stories, speeches, knowledge of a specific topic, scientific observations or even mathematical story problems. It can also provide a fun way for students to practice oral language skills and proper speech. Have fun exploring blabberize.com!

Prezi

Are you tired of the same old PowerPoint presentation? Prezi offers a creative solution. Rather than traditional slides, Prezi allows you to place text, images, and videos on an infinite canvas, grouped in frames. Due to its non-linear design, you can zoom in and out of a visual map following the path that you've created to maximize your presentation power. Since you can create your presentation in a browser window and download it, you can present your project without relying on an Internet connection. The zooming action tends to make me dizzy and queazy, but its a new tool that many find add an extra element to presentations for students, administrators, parents, or community members. The following video (1:23) posted on YouTube provides an introduction to Prezi, from UTM Library.

Twitter

My first experience with Twitter was through Resources for Young Adults in the spring term. We were required to create an account and tweet about YA books. Due to the time constraints of being a full-time student and more pressing priorities, I haven't continued tweeting, but am interested in its applications to the classroom. I've heard others discuss the use of tools like, Tweetscan, Twitter Search, Twitscoop, and Retweetist as a means for students to research current events. Many educators (though I haven't found any at the elementary level) are finding Twitter to be a useful classroom-communication tool. David Perry, assistant professor of Emerging Media and Communications, University of Texas, Dallas had added Twitter to his syllabus and has been experimenting with assignments and general use since 2008. Even though he began his experiment as a skeptic, he has become convinced of the power of using Twitter in the classroom. Here are some of his observations: increases conversation surrounding class content; develops a classroom community; provides a sense of the world; provides immediate access to tools for tracking a word or conference; allows instant feedback; allows one to shadow a professional to get a sense of a field of interest; maximizes the teachable moment; and much more. You can access Dave's blog here and read more about his use of Twitter in the classroom.

Skype

A text, voice, and video-chatting platform, Skype allows face-to-face interaction using an Internet connection. Skype has tremedous potential in the classroom. Teachers can access guest speakers as experts in their field to speak on a particular topic. Classrooms in different buildings, districts, states, and/or countries can connect to collaborate in projects or share presentations. Skype is easy to use, but there are many areas to consider when using with students, such as: equipment, connections, district approval, and time zone differences. With some creativity, Internet connection, and a webcam, Skype can be a beneficial tool in any classroom. http://www.skype.com/