Web+2.0

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Using technology is a great new way to allow students to have hands on interactive learning in the classroom and from home. With the new web 2.0 programs, teachers are allowed to be creative in ways never allowed before to teach material to their students. Allowing students to go beyond paper, pencils and reading gets them into the subject matter in new ways. When there are more ways for the students to process the material the better they will understand and learn more.=====

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The first page I explored was www.slide.com. This web page allows for wonderful graphics presentations. Making lessons visually appealing is very important for keeping the interest of students in the visual world we live in. This program would allow for both the teacher and students to make profiles for themselves. When students have the opportunity to make something personalized about them selves they are more invested and interested in it. By allowing students to customize their profiles it makes it easier for the teacher to see what the student is like. The teacher can look at what the students includes on the page and it lets the teacher learn more about each specific student. This page would allow the class to be joined as a social network. Social networking such as facebook and myspace is extremely popular for kids. This page allows teachers to utilize this trend to their own advantage.=====

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I feel that this program could be very useful in my future classroom. This page is very kid friendly. I would love to have my students create personal profiles for themselves. This would be beneficial for me because I could get to know my students on a different level then face to face in the classroom. This would also allow for my students to make visual projects for my class and allow them to show the class graphics in a way that is visually appealing. This site would also let me create a social network for each of my classes. This would create a fun way to be connected with the class and let classmates communicate together outside of the class. This could create a stronger bond between my students.=====

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The second page I explored was www.blogger.com This webpage is designed to allow students to create blogs to share with the teacher classmates and parents. This program allows for the blogger to add photos, videos, audio clips and other graphics to their blogs. This program would allow for school work and learning to continue outside the classroom. Blogging is an easy way of monitoring progress in students.=====

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I would really like to utilize this type of program in my classroom. Having my students do daily or weekly blogging would allow for me to judge how well they are mastering the subject material I am teaching. Having online forums can let my students do more work from home. The students would always have access to their blog unlike materials in a classroom. This type of program would also let my students parents be active in their learning and the classroom. They would be able to follow their students blog and read about what we are studying. By letting students blog, it is like a diary. They may be more open to writing about their struggles and concerns than they would be voicing those issues in face to face conversations. It would give me as a teacher a better view of how the student is doing.=====

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The third page I looked at is www.oddcast.com PhotoFace. This program uses both visual and audio to reach out the the users. This page allows the user to create an avatar or upload a picture that is made into avatar. You can then upload your voice and other audio clips that the avatar then says. This is an interesting site and could be useful for talking to students, and giving feedback to them.=====

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This program would allow for me to give assignments over the internet, or talk to student who have missed class. It is a fun and interactive way to communicate with students. I would love to make an avatar to use as a digital teacher. I could make videos and send them to the class for clarification on projects. It would also let the students create avatars to talk with me. Having the visual and audio of me makes the program more realistic and opens more avenues for differentiated learning styles. The possibilities are endless with a program like this.=====

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The fourth page I explored was Hot Potatoes. This is an interactive page that lets teachers make quizzes, short answer problems, word jumbles, crosswords and a variety of other assignments. It gives a teacher many resources to create customized projects and assessments for their classroom. It also gives students fun and different ways of studying materials in anticipation of testing.=====

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I would definitely use a program like this in my classroom. It always for more ways of assessing my students learning. By giving my students several ways of working with the subject materials It will help them master the material better. It would also be a fun way of teaching. Using different ways of teaching reaches more students by catering to their specific style of learning. Making a crossword puzzle sounds like a great way to give clues towards what is important from a certain unit.=====

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The fifth page I explored was Pirate Pad. This program allows for students and teachers to edit and collaborate on a project in real time. The edits and changes made by each person show up in different colors. Because of the use of internet it allows for these changes and conversations to happen instantaneously. This is extremely beneficial for proof reading and quick corrections on papers. It also allows a teacher to comment on a paper before it is graded.=====

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I would love to be able to give my students the help they need on assignments. This program will help boost their grades and performance in my class. It will allow my students and I to communicate from our homes, after house, when my students are likely to be doing their homework. I think the clearer my expectations are for my assignments and the more input I give them in their writing process The better the results will be for everyones grades.=====