-+INTRODUCTION+TO+WEB+2.0

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**Introduction to Web 2.0 tools**
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=What is Web 2.0?= = = Below you will find some resources to get acquainted with Web 2.0 tools and their applications in ELT. We will add more material shortly.


 * 1) PowerPoint presentation on Web 2.0 tools**

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 * 2) A particularly interesting video by Graham Stanley about Web 2.0**

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=**What is a wiki?**=

A wiki is a website which allows users to easily add, remove, or edit content. The best-known example is the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia.


 * Watch //Wikis in Plain English// by CommonCrafts, a simple and entertaining video about wikis.**

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**Wiki websites**
You can start off by taking a tour of these wiki websites:

Wikispaces WetPaint PBwiki MediaWiki

=Blogs vs. wikis=

Both blogs and wikis have features in common, but there are differences as well. Let's take a look at them:

§ Blogs are updated daily or weekly and are published in chronological order. § Blog posts are usually followed by users’ comments. § One-to-many content. § Blogs may combine text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, etc. § Good for generating discussion and debate ||  ||  § Created and edited by multiple authors collaboratively. § Articles are updated as new information becomes available. § A wiki can host a blog, but not viceversa § Many-to-many communication § Images, audio, video, other wiki pages and Web pages can be included § Good for generating discussion, collaborative writing, etc || Adapted from Wikipedia and WikiAnswers
 * **Blogs** ||  || **Wikis** ||
 *  § Created by a single author.

= = =**How to make the most of a class wiki**= (Excerpted from 50 Ways to Use Wikis for a More Collaborative and Interactive Classroom)


 * Wikis are great tools for encouraging student participation, collaboration and interaction. Here are some ideas to use wikis with your students: **


 * ~ Virtual field trips **: Have your students research far away places they would like to go on a field trip, and get them to share images and information about the location.
 * ~ Study guides **: Ask students to create study guides for a specific part of the unit you’re studying.
 * ~ Glossary **: Get your class to create a glossary of terms they use and learn about in new units, adding definitions and images.
 * ~ Exam review **: Encourage students to share review notes and other helpful pieces of information on your classroom’s wiki.
 * ~ Peer review **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Allow students to draft their papers in a wiki, then ask other students to comment it.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Student portfolios **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Assign portfolio pages to each of your students, and allow them to display and discuss their work.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Correction competition **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: You can post a document riddled with mistakes, then have students compete to see who can fix the most errors fastest.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Peer editing **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Ask students to edit each others’ work for spelling, grammar, and facts based on a style guide or rules you’ve defined.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Vocabulary lists **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Encourage students to submit words that they had trouble with, along with a dictionary entry.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Get feedback **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Ask students to post comments on wiki pages.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Share notes **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Let your students share their collective information so that everyone gets a better understanding of the subject.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Fan clubs **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Start fan clubs for your students’ favorite figures from history and ask them to contribute their favorite quotes, photos, and other tidbits together.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Track projects **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: With wikis, it’s easy for students to see which tasks have been completed and which ones still need to be fulfilled.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Multi-author story **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Start a creative writing unit, and get your students to write a short story together, each writing a small amount of the story.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Choose your own adventure story **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: A twist on the multi-author story could be a choose your own adventure story, where each student branches out into a different path.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Share reviews **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Post articles for different movies, books, and TV shows, encouraging students to share what they thought about them.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Literature circles **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Host a book club on your wiki where students are required to read the same book, then discuss it on the wiki.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Classroom scrapbook **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Share news, photos, and current achievements in your classroom on a wiki page.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Calendar **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Create a calendar on the wiki and encourage students to add their own personally important dates.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Classroom newspaper **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Create your own news outlet on a wiki.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Hall of fame **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Highlight students’ exceptional achievements on the wiki.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Classroom policies **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Encourage students to draft rules and policies for the classroom.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Local history **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Document historical buildings, events, and more from our community. You can ask students to perform interviews, and encourage parents and other adults to contribute their knowledge in the wiki.
 * <span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">~ Share achievements **<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">: Let parents log in to the wiki to see what their children have accomplished.

Articles and resources about educational wikis = = =**Examples of educational wikis**= Examples of educational wikis in Wikispaces Examples of educational wikis in WetPaint <span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Collaborative writing Ideas for story-telling
 * You can also go to this link for further reading about educational wikis:**

=**Creating a class wiki in Wikispaces**= media type="custom" key="5446311"
 * Video tutorial on how to create your own wiki...as easy as ABC!**

=**What is a blog?**= (From Wikipedia and S. Huette's //[|Blogs in education]//)

A blog (or weblog) is a website in which items are posted and displayed with the newest at the top. Like other media, blogs often focus on a particular subject, such as food, politics, or local news. Some blogs function as online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. Since its appearance in 1995, blogging has emerged as a popular means of communication, a ffecting public opinion and mass media around the world. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called blogging. Individual articles on a blog are called “blog posts,” “posts” or “entries”. A person who posts these entries is called a blogger. A blog entry typically consists of the following: • Title - main title, or headline, of the post. • Body - main content of the post. • Comments - comments added by readers • Permalink - the URL of the full, individual article. • Post Date - date and time the post was published.

//**Blogs in Plain English** -// Nice YouTube video to grasp the basics of blogging

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=Some free tools for creating blogs= ​ Blogger WordPress TypePad

There is a wealth of blog tools on the Web -all you need is browse through!

=** Using blogs in your classroom **= ** If you've never blogged and/or used blogging as a teaching tool, you can follow these simple tips:  ** 1. Start your own blog on any subject of your choice and update it regularly. 2. Start a class blog with simple announcements, homework assignments, and external links. 3. Have students to read other blogs. 4. Ask students to respond to posts on your own blog. 5. Ask students create and maintain a group blog. 6. Ask each student to start and maintain their own blog on a subject of their interest that related to the syllabus. a) post class -related information such as calendars, events, homework assignments and other pertinent class information. b) post class assignments and have students respond on their own weblogs, creating a kind of portfolio of their work. c) communicate with parents if you are teaching elementary school students. d) post prompts for writing. e) provide examples of classwork, vocabulary activities, or grammar games. f) provide online readings for your students to read and comment on. g) gather and organize Internet resources for a speci fic course, providing links to appropriate sites. h) post photos and comment on class activities. i) publish examples of good student writing done in class. j) create an online book club. k) make use of the commenting feature to have students publish messages on topics being used to develop language skills. l) post tasks to carry out project -based learning tasks with students. m) build a class newsletter, using student -written articles and photos they take. n) link your class with another class somewhere else in the world
 * How to use blogs in the classroom** (adapted from Anne Davis’ //EduBlog Insights//.)
 * You can start a class blog to…**

• their reactions to questions posted by you. • their reactions to photos you have posted. • journal entries. • results of surveys they carry out as part of a class unit. • their ideas and opinions about topics discussed in class.
 * You can encourage your students (either on your weblog using the comments feature or on their own weblogs ) to blog… **

• complete project work in small groups, assigning each group a di fferent task. • showcase products of project -based learning. • complete a WebQuest. = Examples of class blogs = Splash In! Bogdan Bosoanca’s English Class Georgetown Elementary School blog Room 9 Nelson Central Room 9's Writing Spot
 * You can also ask your class to create a shared weblog to…**