Group+4+-+TechTools

Week 7: Tech Tools Final
There were a couple audio Web 2.0 tools that our group listed in their top 5 picks. We voted on a winning tool and it is VoiceThread. VoiceThread is not only an audio tool like a podcast, but is a Web 2.0 tool that allows for sharing, commenting, and collaborating of learners in your classroom and/or all over the world. VoiceThread, as you know from using it on Week 6 assignments, is a Web 2.0 tool that allows one to put an assortment of media in the center and invite others to comment. There are 5 different ways (video, audio, type, telephone, or upload audio) to comment on 15 different types of images, videos, documents, presentations. In addition to the ones listed above, there are more opportunities for teaching and learning using these tools. By viewing the tutorials and previewing many examples from other educators/classes I discovered a teacher made a documentary of her service experience in a foreign country, I found a presentation about an anti-bully program, and a glimpse to the steps in the writing process. VoiceThread is overflowing with many more opportunities for teaching and learner.
 * VoiceThread:** @http://voicethread.com/
 * Teachers and/or Learners can create presentations to preview or review a Unit
 * Learners can upload and compose a digital story (share with younger grades)
 * Learners can craft a song using knowledge from the poetry unit and lyrics in poems/songs
 * Learners can share ideas and thoughts with other learners from different classes
 * Learners can collaborate on a project
 * Learners can think critically when commenting and/or responding to media posted

GoogleDocs is remarkable and extremely useful Web 2.0 tool. This Web 2.0 tools allows students to create products individually or collaboratively. The students can also comment, add to, and provide feedback to other learners. Using GoogleDocs learners can generate documents, presentations, spreadsheets, drawings, and forms. Our group chose this Web 2.0 tool as a valuable resource because it has similar uses to wikis and blogs, but GoogleDocs has an abundant more uses. Using GoogleDocs a learner can create a document and receive comments and feedback from peers like they can on a wiki or a blog. In addition to this, a learner, or a group of learners, may design a presentation on a topic to preview or review, a learner could use GoogleDocs to generate a spreadsheet as a preview to rate, line plots, and/or variables in mathematics, a learner can vote unanimously on a classroom decision or take a review quiz on a unit using the forms from GoogleDocs. The multitude of options is the reason our group chose GoogleDocs. It is an incredibly useful resource for the classroom and for the home. Additional opportunities for teaching and learning using GoogleDocs are literally endless. GoogleDocs offers numerous options and tools, some of which I am being introduce to this summer. Who knows, maybe GoogleDocs will soon have an audio/video option in addition to the many other tools it contains. I am excited to create more learning opportunities for the learners in my classroom next year using GoogleDocs as a Web 2.0 tool. It is an amazing resource and the possibilities are endless with this Web 2.0 tool.
 * GoogleDocs:** [|docs.google.com]
 * Learners can compose, edit and revise writing assignments, reflections
 * Learners could create presentations to preview or review a topic, similar to wikis
 * Learners are able to embed pictures to compose a digital storybook (presentation)
 * Teacher and/or learners may generate discussion, similar to blogs
 * Teachers can use the form option as a pre-test for a unit
 * Learners are able to vote unanimously on a classroom/group decision
 * Teacher and/or learners will be able to preview the concept of rate/line plots by using a spreadsheet
 * It is an incredibly useful resource for the classroom and for the home.