This post follows on from Learning whilst Immersed in Web 2.0 Part 1 where I discuss the origins of WEB 2.0 and why the World Wide Web changed in the way it did around 2004. I also listed 10 WEB 2.0 tools that have helped me in my teaching and some that have been suggested to me on Twitter. This second post will highlight a further 10 tools that have made an impact on pupils learning for many teachers I know. If you find these tools useful why not subscribe to my new series of posts on Ideas for Learning and Creativity?

WEB 2.0 Tools for the classroom

11. Xtranormal

There are many comic and video editors available on the web, but not many that combine the two so well. Once registered you can either create videos online or download ‘State’, their offline video editor (PC only). Xtranormal provides the user with a vast array of different characters, backgrounds, music, effects and pre-made animations that you use to create your movie.

What is especially good about this tool is that you can control the camera as well as character movements and reactions by using the pre-recorded items in the editor. The editor is divided into three main sections which together make up the final movie:

• Direct the Action – camera movements, animations, expressions, reactions
• Write the Script – decide on a single or two characters and then type what you’d like them to say
• Design the Scene – change set, music and background noise

If you want to create a quick movie and you’re not to fussed about camera angles (you can even get the characters to look into the camera – I love that bit) then you only have to select the ‘Magicam’ which sets up auto camera angles for you.

Once the final movie has been rendered you can send it to colleagues, share it on the most common Social Networks and embed it on your school blog or website – it also embeds well on most Learning Platforms. There is also the option of downloading it as a movie file so you can edit it using your favorite video editor.

Here’s an example:

12. Awesome Highlighter

This is a superb tool, particularly for older students, as it can be used to teach them how to underline and read more effectively. It also has the added bonus that everything that has been highlighted is also copied so they later can print off their notes or email them. There is also a firefox bookmarklet so you can highlight on the go and if you register you can also save pages including annotaed videos. Quick and effective.

13. Browzmi:

This tool gives the user the possibility if co-browsing or social browsing sites as well as sending each other instant messages. Google Wave is more powerful of course, but this one is quick and easy to use and only does one thing. This is a very effective for group work and for research, well worth a look.

14. Go Animate!

There are many good WEB 2.0 tools that provide possibilities for students and teachers to create comic books of various kinds, some of which I have already mentioned in other posts for example ToonDoo, Pixton, Memoov and Pikikids. GoAnimate is slightly different as it provides the user with the possibility of creating talking characters as well as full animations. This tools is as featured-packed as Xtranormal but uses more comix-styled graphics. Here’s a simple example of an animation (3 minutes to set up):

15. ShowDocument

If you are looking for an easier to use tool to Elliminate then ShowDocument is a good choice. Although it’s not as powerful as Elluminate, for example lacking many of the administrative features, ShareDocument is  quick to set up and fun to use. Here’s a brief list of what you can share and collaborate at the same time using the Quick Start menu:

• Watch Youtube videos
• Files from your machine
• Google Maps and Docs
• Whiteboard

16. Scribblar

Scribblar shares many of the features of ShowDocument. Unlike the latter students can use audio chat and not only text-based chat (like in ShowDocument) and Scribblar’s Pro account ($99/month) enables you to integrate the entire functionality of Scribblar into your existing website – pretty powerful. Although Scribblar is very good, ShareDocument has a few extra functionalities that makes it just that little better.

17. MovYlo

This surprisingly powerful resource provides you with the tool to create mobile websites. All you need to focus on is to add the content – MovYlo will take care of the rest. There are several features that you can use to produce your mobile site including:

• RSS feeds from e.g. your blog, Youtube, Flickr
• Create newsletters
• Adding mini blog and pages
• Polls and contests
• Videos
• Images

See this example of a mobile site that was set up in less than 10 minutes. For about £3.50/month you get 5000MB of space and your pages will not be covered in ads, which is the only set back of the free option.

18. Mobile Study.org

If you’re looking for an easy tool to help you create quizzies for mobile phones then look no further.

MobileStudy.org is suprisingly effective and with its ‘Add Explanation’ feature you can produce good activities that will support students in their learning by providing them with feedback for each question. The website has evolves since it first started and you can now install each mobile quiz in different ways:

• Install the quiz on a mobile phone via SMS
• Install the quiz on a mobile phone using QR Code
• Download directly to your phone or PDA

There is also installation guidance available on the website. Here’s are a couple of examples:

KS2 French Quiz (PC version) (mobile version)

GCSE Quiz + Explanations (PC version) (mobile version)

19. QR Generator

If you are looking to use mobile phones in the classroom, in school or even for outdoor learning then QR codes could help. QR stands for ‘Quick Response’ as the inventor Denso-Wave intended to have the code decoded at high speed. For more information about QR its history and usage please visit Mobile Barcodes.

QR Generator

This tool is very simple and very powerful so you don’t need to know any coding as the website will generate that for you. You need a mobile phone that has a camera + software that can decode QR codes (most barcode apps do a pretty good job). Here is a list of recommended softwares. I use QR App on the iPhone which works very well and it’s free.

The QR Generator allows you to create a number of different QR images:

• website url
• vCard
• 100 character text message
• Phone number
• SMS
• Email address

As a result you can create a suite of interactive tasks for students to do, particularly if you combine the different tools. For example:

• Setting up a Thinking Skills Mystery using a combo of website urls and cryptic messages which finally ends with students having email their answers to the teachers.
• Hook QRs: teachers stick up images outside the door of the classroom which students can access before the lesson starts
• Revision: create a series of images and add them to the departmental ‘Revision Board’.
• QR Challenge: split class into a number of teams and get each one to create questions that the other teams have to answer
• QR Debate: same as above but get teams from different sets/classes to have a running debate on a key topic over a half-term. Add QR images outside each others’ classrooms.
• PowerPoint aide: students scan the image and can link to a website, article or task instead of having to remember the Url.

Here are couple of examples of code generated by the website just use a QR decoder which is compatible with your camera, take a snapshot and see what happens:

QR website

QR Message

For more ideas about using QR in the classroom and for more articles on QR please visit the brilliant blog Don’t Waste Your Timeby David Hopkins and also watch this example of using QR code in the classroom (worksheets linked to YouTube):

20. FaceBook

This application is blocked on schools’ network and most teachers don’t wish to share their FaceBook profile with students. Judy Hart explained at the NAACE conference 2010 that there is an alternative so you don’t need to add students as ‘Friends’ to your page, just create a Fan Page. This is different to a standard FaceBook page because authors of the fan page can’t add fans as friends. This is a great way of  providing additional opportunities to engage students as autonomous learners by adding resources to your Fan page.

Scroll down to the end of any page and click ‘Advertising’, then ‘Create Page’ and off you go. There are several applications that are useful to add to your Teacher Fan Page e.g SlideShare and Poll to name a couple.

Here’s an example of a Fan Page – at the time of writing I had no Fans…

Mr. Ahrenfelt

Hopefully these two posts have provided you with 20+ tools that can be used in the classroom to help the delivery of lessons, content-generation as well as a series of engaging tools for your pupils.

If you liked that, you'll like these:

• Learning whilst Immersed in Web 2.0 Part 1
• Thinking about Game Based Learning…
• 7 Brilliant iPhone Apps for Teachers and Bloggers

When the dot-com bubble burst in 2001 many regarded the World Wide Web as defunked and on its way out. Others disagreed and saw changes of the Web as a significant turning-point . These individuals argued that there had been bubbles and consequent shakeouts in many other technological revolutions throughout history. Tim O’Reilley from O’Reilly Media, stated in his 2005 article ‘What is WEB 2.0?‘ that these “shakeouts typically mark the point at which an ascendant technology is ready to take its place at center stage”. Cue WEB 2.0.

The definition of WEB 2.0 has been fiercely debated since 2004 although it was at a brainstorming session with O’Reilly and MediaLive International of that year that marked the birth of the concept. They discovered that many of the surviving companies and Web developers of the dot-com crash had many key features in common. Whereas WEB 1.0 allowed users to passively view information available to them, WEB 2.0 enables users to interact with both content, other users as well as help in generating content in the form of ideas, text, videos, or pictures. For a quick overview of key characteristics of WEB 2.0 please see this article.

Watch this brilliant video about the development of the World Wide Web by Michael Wesh, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology Kansas State University:

A more advanced feature of many WEB 2.0 tools is the ability to synthesize different services using the Application Programming Interface (API) to create a new application also known as a mashups. This means you can blend social media tools such as Twitter with your own application to create a new, or at least a heavily modified, tool. Some commentators are now talking about yet another transformation namely from WEB 2.0 to 3.0. This presentation explains the evolution from WEB 1.0 to WEB 3.0 very well.

20 WEB 2.0 Tools

In March 2010 Google listed more than 8.5 million citations of WEB 2.0 and thousands referred to WEB 2.0 tools. This list will attempt to narrow that down significantly (!) and hopefully provide you with a few interesting reources that can be used to aid the delivery of lessons, content creation as well as be used with your pupils in the classroom. The following tools are in no particular order:

1. VoiceThread.com:

Enables you to collaborate on images and videos by adding text, doodles, voice or video comments. One clever feature is that you can record from your webcam and add it to the image. Other users can also add their comments which makes this tool stand out from similar ones out there. Therefore a superb opportunity to spice up Peer-Assessment! If you purchase a Pro Educator account then you only pay $10 – once. Check out this 60 second guide about using VoiceThread.

Here’s an example of a group of Primary pupils using VoiceThread.com:

2. PictureTeller:

Created by E2BN and is hidden deep in the jungle of their amazing resources and eventually appears in the Cook IT section. E2BN has said that they are about to launch an Activity Generator section to make it easier to find tools such as PictureTeller. PictureTeller allows you to upload an image, add your own voice over, text bubbles (lots of different kinds to choose from) and then establish the direction of where you want the ‘camera’ to zoom. Essentially you create a movie which can be embedded (although this didn’t work as well as I’d liked) downloaded or simply copy the link and use your favourite social media tool to share the creation. See this example of a mini movie created using this tool.

3. Wallwisher:

Works as a wall of interactive ‘stickies’. Users start a new wall, enter a suitable title and description so others know what/how to use it and then they simply double-click the wall to add a sticky note. Each note has some customizable features like adding not only text but also an image, audio, or video link to each note. Wallwisher is a superb tool and very versatile:

• Homework wall: get pupils to add their stickies prior to the lesson and then read out a few examples as a starter activity (also great ice breaker for older students who, lets face it, sometimes struggle to talk in big groups)
• Interactive sorting task: quick activity where you create a series of stickies which pupils have to rank, sort, organise etc
• Writing frame; where pupils drag the piece of writing into the correct order; or where pupils add content to ‘Intro’, ‘Main paragraph 1′, ‘Main paragraph 2′ and ‘Conclusion’ sticky.

Here are two examples of using Wallwisher both in the classroom as well as during INSET or Department meeting:

In the History classroom

Tips on becoming a creative teacher

4. Issuu:

Simple tool where you can create stunning digital editions of worksheets, articles, comics, drawings and so on, simply by uploading a document. Register, upload, embed – done.

5. Phrasr by PimPamPum

Phrasr uses the Flickr API by matching images to words you choose. It’s all very straight forward really, just type a few key words and select which images you want to match with each word. It can be quite a powerful tool in the classroom as it provides opportunity for students to really think about the meaning of words from complex underlying abstractions of key concepts to producing presentations about contrasts, differences and similarities.

Here are a few examples:

8 O’Clock

Future Technology

A Different World

6. Spezify

Spezify is a great way to get pupils digging deeper into research, source material and their own projects. Add a key word and watch the screen populate with search results from a range of different sources. What is particularly good about this way of searching is that you can filter out certain types of sources e.g. only show images or videos, comments, text or even audio like this video shows:

7.Voki

Create talking avatars that can be embeded on the Learning Platform or Department website. This clever tool can enhance the learning experience for pupils and can be used in a variety of ways:

• Characters welcome visitors to an area on the Learning Platform
• Avatars explain tasks to pupils who are working independently from home or in lessons
• Great for creating Thinking Skills mysteries where Voki Avatars give pupils info bursts which together complete the mystery
• Fantastic for improving listening skills – ask pupils to listen to the character and answer a series of tasks
• Give pupils a range of images which they have to describe or explain using their own Voki avatars.
• Pupils use their Voki to talk about a book they just read

8. StupeFlix.com

If you want pupils to create a quick presentation or video then this is a good tool to use. One great aspect of this tool, at least for techers, is the ability to upload to Youtube without leaving StupeFlix. Genius. Take a look at this example from of a StupeFlix video produced in less than 5 minutes.

There are other similar resources out there like for example Flixtime which is also easy to use.

9. StoryJumper

This is an online children’s book creator where you use a vast library of graphics like scenes and props to make your very own book. Pupils can also upload photographs as well as add text. The final product can be read online or bought in hardback format from the company (round $25 – approximately £15). A great tool for younger pupils in particular. For older students I would recommend for example ToonDoo and Pixton.

Here’s a Primary example of StoryJumper.

10. Creaza

If you are looking for a one-stop tool which combines comic strip creator, Video and Audio editor as well as a mind-mapping tool then Creaza might be of interest to you. Each tool has a suite of features that are pretty decent; you would have to spend a few quid to get something that works as well and in tandem with the other tools. After registering you are provided with a basic demo account (free), although some features are locked until you join and pay for a full account which costs . Another strength is that it can be fully integrated with the Learning Platform Fronter if you have bought into their extension.

Here’s an example that took 3 minutes to set up in the mind-mapping software Mindomo:

Mindmap from Creaza

That was the first 10 WEB 2.0 tools to enhance Learning and Teaching. The next post will look at another 10 tools that have proved to be successful in the classroom.

If you liked that, you'll like these:

• Learning whilst Immersed in Web 2.0 Part 2
• Engaging WEB 2.0 Tools to use in the classroom
• Effective use of Social Media Part 1: Twitter in the classroom

This is the first in a series of posts about ideas for learning and creativity that I have come across. I hope these posts will provide helpful advice about online resources and creative ideas that may help the delivery of lessons and encourage and challenge students to learn and think creatively.

Creativity and Innovation

Oblique Strategies

This is a set of 100 cards each which will offer suggestions to a course of action or thinking to help break deadlocks or open up your creative thinking. One of my favourite Oblique Strategies:

- Take a Break
- Make an exhaustive list of things you want to do and do the last one on the list
- What is the simplest solution?
- Where is the edge?

Ideas in abundance

From the introduction to the 2001 edition:

These cards evolved from separate observations of the principles underlying what we were doing. Sometimes they were recognised in retrospect (intellect catching up with intuition), sometimes they were identified as they were happening, sometimes they were formulated. They can be used as a pack, or by drawing a single card from the shuffled pack when a dilemma occurs in a working situation. In this case the card is trusted even if its appropriateness is quite unclear… (Wiki Entry)

I have found these cards to be invaluable in assisting in moving creative discussions forward, particularly when writing.

The cards are a little tricky to get hold of unless you buy them from the authors website and there are two sellers on Amazon that provide copies as well (same price as authors).

Danielpink.com

This is one of my favourite blogs/websites which I read weekly. It is owned and run by Dan Pink, author of the superb A Whole New Mind (see review here) and most recently Drive – the surprising truth about what motivates us. Dan Pink is exceptionally good at finding those interesting, thoughtful and, at times, quirky stories which make you think. In short, a very creative blog and his books echo his desire to discover and reflect on his experiences.

Here’s an interesting photo: emotioanlly intelligent signage - something I found on Pink’s blog:

The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers – LXD

Whether you have become wrapped up in the latest Street Dance craze or not do watch this brief video from TED 2010 because it goes beyond ordinary dance and raises interesting questions about taking creativity to a different level by using technology and social media. Jon Chu, speaking at TED 2010, introduces the dance troupe and the power of technology very succinctly:

…with online video and Social Networking dancers have created a whole global laboratory online: kids in Japan are taking moves from YouTube videos created in Detroit, building on it and within days releasing a new video while teenagers in California are…remixing it to create a whole new dance and style in itself.

The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers also have a good website with more performances and interviews: The LXD.com

Here’s the video from TED.com

ICT and E-Learning

Prezi

Prezi has become a popular presentation tool for many. I came across this creative presentation about using Prezi, well worth a look even if you are already familiar with Prezi:

ZinePal.com

Does what it says on the tin: creates PDF files from any online content so if you want your students to get a copy of the latest updates from your Learning Platform’s teacher’s blog then this tool is great. Similarly, if you want to send out regular activities, updates, or just want to give readers to opportunity to download your archived articles ZinePal is the tool for you. I love it. Here’s an example:

Blog Posts using ZinePal.com

If you liked that, you'll like these:

• Ideas for Learning and Creativity: simplicity
• Top iPhone Apps for Teachers and Students (and others)
• Ideas for Learning and Creativity #4

Create living maps with sound, stories and images

One way of creating meaning and relevance behind stories is to use illustrations and photos of various kinds. An even more powerful way is to add sound to a story to really capture a particular moment or event. Imagine including all of these features and then being able to add them to the exact location on a map. This is what MapSkip offers its users: create stories around a particular place.

After registering with the website find a location you wish to write about, for example the Normandy landings in 1944 or examine coastal erosion on the North Norfolk coast, add a ‘marker’ in the shape of a hand and a small box with a form will appear where you can give the place a name. Now you can also upload a photo or drawing, and why not include an MP3 file which captures the fierce fighting during D-Day landings? Another good idea is to create longer investigations with a class and keep adding to the map as you work through a unit, for example as they discover more about an individual’s journey, they can create a very detailed, meaningful and relevant story about this person. Imagination is everything with this tool and students tend to think of 100s of ideas about how they can demonstrate their understanding of a topic or unit. This is a superb educational tool.

Perhaps one of the ingenious tings about MapSkip.com is the fact that you can use it with students as you can set up additional accounts for classes using your email. There is a similar tool called VidMap.com which allows you to add, yes you guessed it, videos to exact locations on a map, also a very innovative tool.

Sophisticated and Imaginative polls

Another poll tool? Not quite. It would be to simple to describe Ask500People.com as yet another poll service. The premise behind this WEB 2.0 tool is based on New Yorker columnist Surowiecki argument that we tend to trusts experts and distrusts the wisdom of the masses but “under the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them.” His book The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few is a real gem. Sorry losing track…anyway, the idea behind the website is to provide real people’s opinions about real issues ranging from questions such as ‘Do you ever turn off your hot water heater to save electricity?’ to ‘Is it possible to look sane with a knife in your hand?’. Voting happen in real-time so you can see answers appearing whilst browsing the site.

It is simple to register and set up questions. It took no longer than 30 seconds to add the question below and use the embed code to add it to this post. You can also add the results bar if you want as well. It’s possible to create a range of different questions e.g. Yes/No, a question based on an image, text answers added by you as well as ranking answers (1-5, stars, Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree etc). One of the real strengths behind Ask500.com is the possibility to check statistics based on location, gender, age, income, education and country.

What do you think? Vote now.

Ask500.com is a truly effective and innovative tool which is very useful at both departmental level to use for Student Voice purposes but also at teacher level where you could get students thinking of a good question about the topic or unit that they are studying to really get them involved more deeply in the subject matter and make them see that learning, attitudes, opinions and interests about issues will never cease. You can also add a brief description or fact box to give voters an idea about the topic before the vote by adding a comment to your own post. By adding a comment you can also include hyperlinks to an external website which could provide more in-depth information.

The Art of Arguing

aMap is short for ‘Argument Map’ and the idea behind the website is very straight forward: to encourage the art of arguing by producing complex debates in a sophisticated visual format. aMap is based around the theory of ‘informal logic’ – the structure of arguing by ordinary people in everyday life. Chris Quigley, who led the team that set up this website has written a brilliant post about the theory behind aMap which is worth reading: How to win arguments and influence people. In a nutshell, the structure of ‘informal logic’ looks like this :

1. Your position: what your think overall
2. Propositions: reasons that support your position
3. Argument: supporting arguments that back up each of the propositions
4. Evidence: supporting evidence to back up your arguments

This process is of course ideal for classroom use as it helps students develop their Thinking Skills, reasoning and critical thinking in a highly visual format – great for demonstrating understanding. aMap is also a particularly useful tool for exam groups such as GCSE, A-Level and graduates students as it provides them with a map of ideas to use in their own writing. It is also beneficial for teachers for use in the classroom as you can easily print your maps and it provides a good writing frame to structure an argument for essays or extended pieces of writing as well as class debates.

Here’s an example from the website:

Creative and Effective Mind-Mapping

I simply love this tool. I think it’s even better than Bubbl.us…don’t take me off your delicious bookmarks just yet (!)… MindMeister offers something a little different which Bubble.us, at least for the time being (see their blog for updates about the new version), does not.

These are the features I particularly love:

1. Work on your mind-maps off-line: with Google Gears off-line library, you can work on all your maps wherever you are. Although Bubbl.us maps can be added to even if off-line (as the main flash files have already loaded) you cannot save the work without going on-line again.

2. Add ideas to your maps on-the-fly: Insert ideas into your default mind map on MindMeister directly from your Mac Dashboard or Windows Sidebar.

3. Easy images into mind-map: Insert images from the default library, have MindMeister insert an image based on the key word of a node or just upload your own photos or illustrations – fantastic!

And many other tools…

Here is one mind-map that I made for a job interview in July (got the job too!): Tom’s Learning Journey. Just click the image on the left to see a larger version. There are many possibilities with this online tool; I have only used the basics!

The only catch, if you want to use the free version, is that you can only store 6 maps. Mind you, you can export your brilliant creations in various formats incl. .pdf or as an image so you could always get rid of a mind-map and keep creating new ones. It is very cheap to upgrade to an educational license (approx 9 pounds per year) though, take a look on the main site.

Interactive Diagram templates galore!

Creating diagrams to use in the classroom or online is becoming more and more popular and they range from excellent to, well let’s face it, rather poor. Exploratree has been developed by FutureLabs which is a leading light in transforming the way technology is used in classrooms, and therefore belongs to the former type of tools – excellent.

By registering you can save and hare your diagrams so I suggest you do that first. The website provides you with a series of interactive thinking guides which are categorised into:

• Map your ideas
• Solve problems
• Explore
• Analyze
• Different perspectives

Example of interactive diagrams

Whereas other tools only allow you to add text and then simply save and print off, ExploraTree gives you the opportunity to add more shapes, text boxes, arrows and even images to your diagrams in a matter of clicks.

This is one of the most sophisticated yet easy online diagram tools I have ever come across and certainly worth exploring further. One particular diagram which I use regularly with my students is an interactive version of Belle Wallace’s Thinking Actively in a Social Context wheel (TASC) as it provides structure to problem solving as well as independent learning projects.

Create cool toons

Online comic book generators such as ToonDoo.com and Pixton.com can provide teachers with an opportunity to really engage students, challenge them whilst at the same time ensure that they progress. These type of websites also allows exam groups to think about audience, purpose, context and argument.

ToonDoo.com This particular website allows the user to quickly register and then produce high-quality and varied comics in only a few minutes. Although there are very few differences between Pixton.com and ToonDoo.com, the latter offers more in terms of usability, graphics and sleekness. I have used both sites with both GCSE and A-Level groups with great results.

See the following links for examples how I have used them:

French Revolution: What should they do with Louis XVI?

Look at these two comics I made at Pixton.com:

• Open Mic Battle: Witte v Stolypin at Pixton.com
• Why did the Uprising of 1953 happen? at Pixton.com

VisuWords

VisuWords and Wordle.net (below) are not what I would regard essential WEB 2.0 tools for classroom when you first look at them. However, I feel that both tools can have some benefit for both students as well as teachers.

VisuWords allows you to look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. You can then produce a diagram of those associations as well as, if you’re geeky, install the software on your own site! The image on the left shows you the associations from the word ‘freedom’. This website is useful to explore big concepts and get students thinking carefully about how words relate.

Beautiful Word Clouds

This interesting website was passed onto me from Tom S. It’s essentially a ‘collage’ tool, excellent for presenting ideas and visualising concepts. Neal Watkin recently asked on Twitter if Wordle inspired design firms with their graphics or if design firms inspired Wordle.net… Here are a few examples:

Key word example

Intro from Innovate with ICT - enhance learning through the curriculum

Hopefully you found some of these WEB 2.0 tools to be a useful and interesting addition to your teaching repertoire? If you have come across other tools that you have used successfully with your students then please share your experience and explain how you used it in the classroom : ) .

Johannes.

It seems that many counties have opted to ban/block or discourage the use of Twitter, or any Social Media tool for that matter, as Twitter can leave students open to a range of different problems.  The interesting question is of course: Shouldn’t we use Twitter in the classroom so that students learn how to use it well and about potential issues with social media so they know what to do and what to look out for?

There are some teachers and educators that do use Twitter well to engage and challenge students to learn. I have compiled a brief list of websites and videos that I feel provide good examples of how Twitter could be used effectively, I’ve even thrown in a few ‘How to Guides” for good measure.  If you come across other useful links please comment below : ) .

Websites:

K-3 Teacher Resources: a guide to using Twitter: This is a solid ‘How to’ guide for those of you new to Twitter. Excellent.

Teaching with Twitter: Steve Wheeler provides practical ideas that can be used instantly. I particularly like the idea of ‘Twitter Pals’, brilliant for MFL lessons.

Twitter at College: on encouraging two-way communication between lecturer and students.

Net Savoir: A guide to teaching with Twitter : fantastic ideas! Revision tool, why not?

25 Ways of Using Twitter in the Classroom: great list of practical ideas for use in your classroom by @tombarrett

Professors experiment with Twitter in classroom : on how  students have increased understanding of the potential of social media in education and business

Using Twitter to facilitate discussion: interesting post on group work and Twitter

Micro-blogging in education (BECTA March 2009) : brilliant and thorough article on micro-blooging by @NeilAdam

Videos:

Teaching with Twitter from Chronicle.com

Twitter in Plain English

Twitter Search in Plain English