Shannon

Hey
Web 2.0 Tools
RESOURCES: Facilitating and Inspiring Student Learning and Creativity


Creating: Powtoon

Powtoon is a website that anyone can use to easily create awesome videos. There are
already-made templates with characters and images that are ready to use. For example, you can
have characters that are doing an activity, such as talking, waving, walking, etc. You can add
different music or record your own voice over the video. There are also tons of fun transitions
you can use, as well as unique ways of presenting text.
Both students and teachers can take advantage of Powtoon. For example, students can
get together in groups and present a specific topic for any subject. Our group even made a
Powtoon video on the Maker Movement in our technology class! Teachers can also use this tool
to create lessons for students to watch either in class or at home for homework. An example of
this could be for a French Second Language class perhaps a teacher could put images together
and the students have to create and write a story (in French) that goes along with the video.

Evaluating: iRubric

IRubric is a free rubric builder and assessment tool. Its an extremely easy website to
use where you can also build your own rubrics, see rubrics that are posted by other users, and
have access to a rubric gallery. Rubric scores are automatically adjusted.
This is a great tool for teachers, especially first year teachers who dont necessarily have
rubrics that are already made. They come in all grades (K-12) and many subjects (see print
screen below). Teachers can create rubrics to define their expectations for their students to
peer assess or for auto evaluation. Teachers could even email their created rubrics to their
students to refer to at home. As mentioned, the tool is free, however if a school/district wants
to create a large account, iRubirc offers paid options.

Analyzing: Create A Graph

Create A Graph is an excellent tool where you can chose any type of graph, such as a bar,
a line, area, pie, or XY, and tailor it to your specific needs and information/data. Elements such
as colours, grid lines, direction, shape, and style are available for you to chose. Sometimes
graphs and charts can be cluttered and difficult to understand this tool helps organize
information visually in a way thats easy and makes sense.
This tool is great for practically anyone, but especially great for teachers and students.
As a student in the B.Ed program, I have used this site for my science observation journal to
measure the differences in temperature over a 2-week period. Students can use this tool for a
math project or presentation, or any reason they would need to represent collected data.
Teachers can use Create A Graph to illustrate fractions or show students/class progress in a
certain course.

Applying: Gliffy

This tool is a website that allows you to create professional-quality charts and diagrams
in no time. Much like Bubbl.us, which is shown below, Gliffy makes it really easy to create and
share many types of diagrams, such as flow charts, Venn diagrams, technical drawings, network
diagrams, business process, and site maps.
If students have any great ideas, they can bring them to reality. They can organize their
ideas and thoughts from brainstorming into a simple chart. Flow charts are also great for
creating stories. Teachers can also collaborate together, as long as theres access to a web
browser. From creating a lesson plan to organizing visual information for students.

Understanding: Bubbl.us

Trusted by Stanford University and many companies, Bubbl.us is an online application
that allows you to take your brainstorming and central ideas to a properly structured project.
You can create colorful mind maps and share your work with friends, and add it to your blog or
website. This brainstorming-tree has many great features!
As mentioned above with Gliffy, these graphical representations of ideas can be used
both by teachers and students. Teachers can use them for how to brainstorm for a story and
students can follow the example. Its also a great way to break down a lesson plan or have
students do research on particular topics, for examples, types of dogs and their characteristics.

Remembering: Flickr

This tool is an image and video hosting website, which is widely used by bloggers and
photo researchers to host images that they use in social media. These photos and videos can be
used without registering to Flickr, however an account needs to be made in order to upload
content; this means anyone can share their own work.
Students can upload their own original work. Teachers/classrooms can make their own
accounts as well, making it easier for the class to access one anothers work. An example could
be that a teacher could as their class to find images of a particular subject, history for example,
and upload them to the account for everyone to see and comment. This tool promotes
collaboration and participation of al students.