Blackboard has a variety of great training resources available on its On Demand Learning Center to help instructors and students learn about a topic or tool in Blackboard Learning 9.1. We refer instructors and students to this site all the time to explain a topic in under 5 minutes typically.
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Web 2.0 essentially refers to a combination of web design technologies that have brought about dramatic changes to how Internet works. The static webpages of the past have transitioned into highly dynamic webpages where readers can actively contribute content.
As also mentioned earlier, social media portals like Twitter, Facebook etc. are excellent examples of the modern-day Web 2.0 tools.
Dropbox is a Web 2.0 tool that provides you with a huge online storage platform where you can store any file you wish, and access it anytime you want, from anyplace in the world (as long as you have a compatible device and a working internet connection). The service is hosted on the cloud implying that all data is hosted on remote servers.
All tweets have a limit of 140 characters and are sent through instant message, mobile web, web and MSN. Unlike as in case of regular text messages, tweets get routed among the network of friends of the tweeter. Even strangers (referred to as followers) can subscribe to the tweets of people they wish to follow.
It is essentially a cloud-based video-creation Web 2.0 tool that can help you produce some stunning videos by incorporating video clips, pictures and music (from your device or system) into the video slideshows.
Conventional websites used to be created with the help of technologies like CSS and HTML. The modern day Web 2.0 portals are created using HTML 5 (for development of interactive audio and video websites) and Ajax (acronym for Asynchronous JavaScript + XML). The latter offer a rich and dynamic experience to the users.
Some of the extremely popular social networking portals include Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook . There are all kinds of Web 2.0 tools available on the Internet, and majority of them have either free versions or are completely free of cost.
One of the benefits of Web 2.0 tools is their ease of use. Most students find these tools to be intuitive and user-friendly. Because of this, there is little time wasted in learning how to use the programs. The tools facilitate interactive learning and innovative responses to assignments and assessments.
Using Web tools increases students’ autonomy and engagement with content as they identify what they know, value, and find interesting about it. Because students see and hear themselves when working with Web tools they often invest more time and energy, while simultaneously utilizing multiple modalities, to engage with content.
Voicethread can be a static one-sided presentation, or a collaborative tool where multiple users interact around a topic, an image, a Powerpoint presentation or other media. Students can leave audio, video, typed, or drawn comments using a computer, tablet, or cell phone.
Joyce Gulley, Professor of Teacher Education , works with prospective and practicing teachers to identify high quality children’s literature to promote literacy and student engagement with text using technology. Her enthusiasm and student-centered teaching have led to numerous teaching awards and serving as a faculty teaching consultant across her campus.
Jeff Thomas, Professor of Teacher Education , works with prospective and practicing elementary teachers to promote integration of inquiry-based science, children's literature, and technology. His teaching focuses on providing learners experiences that use technology to organize, and make their own meaning, from material being explored.
While Web 2.0 tools offer many advantages for instructors and students alike, they are not the perfect solution for all educational challenges. The tool must actually enhance the learning process, not simply add unnecessary tasks for students to complete. If students can communicate their understanding of the learning objectives without technology, then a more traditional response assignment may suffice.
Weebly is one tool in a family of tools that users use to create websites. Like many tools it offers a free and “pay for” version. Instructors and students can easily get what they need from the free version. Perhaps the most significant limitation is the inability to upload video with the free version.