BP15_2009102_Media_Asset - TeacherTube

Here is a one minute video on the Web 2.0 tool - TeacherTube.

BP14_2009103_Web 2.0 Comment to another blog

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2009

BP10_2009102_Flickr

Flatbobby

When I discovered this activity, I’m not certain which rush came first, being excited about the potential project or impressed by the simplicity of the idea. Flatbobby (http://flatbobby.blogspot.com/) combines two web 2.0 tools, blogger.com and flickr.com.

Flatbobby is reminiscent of “Where’s Waldo?” in that there is a character, Flatbobby, who is found in a variety of scenes and places. The genius and twist of the project is made possible by the interactive nature of web 2.0 tools. Flatbobby, originally mailed from place to place and host to host can now be “cloned” or printed and posed for pictures complete with stories of adventures and comments from around the globe. The pictures are posted on flickr.com by Flatbobby’s hosts and are collectively brought together into a blogger account so that everyone can see, share, and comment on the travels and adventures of Flatbobby. Did I mention this project was done by a K-8 student?

BP13_2009103_Web 2.0 Tools - TeacherTube

BP13_2009103_Web 2.0 Tools

TeacherTube

TeacherTube is a video hosting site, similar to YouTube. The videos and files art designed to be used for educational purposes. Creating an account was very easy and straightforward. Once created, there is some basic user information that needs to be added, and then you can begin uploading videos when ready.
Uploaded videos may also be stored in personal Video Albums, which would be very handy to categorize items uploaded at TeacherTube. The categories could be either by date, subject area, class, whatever you desire. Once you have selected or created a category, videos may be uploaded. TeacherTube allows a variety of video types, and states that there is no maximum length or file size. It does point out that if there is difficulty uploading a large file, that it may be better to split it and put it into two or more separate video files and then try the upload. When an attempt was made to upload, it did show a 100MB limit on file size.
I have used TeacherTube in the past as a viewer to present things at school, and decided to signup and try a download. For this testing purpose, I created a category, chose a one minute video that I had previously created that was a 5.5 MB mp4 video that was 60 seconds in length.
The file uploaded quite quickly and without any problem. When the video had finished uploading, a message popped up stating that it had completed and would be available shortly. The video did not show up on my site for quite some time. Two hours later it was still not showing that it was available. So I tried a .mov file for upload. The Estimated Time Left had little meaning as it show less than one minute for at least three minues, and the seconds could not be read as they flashed around. It took about 3-4 minutes to upload a 32 MB video. The message is “Successfully uploaded! Your video will be reviewed by the TeacherTube staff and displayed within a couple of minutes.”
I had the file set as private. There is a section to invite people to view videos, and to save trusted users for the private videos. I tried viewing the files after it had processed the video, and did a search to find the video.
TeacherTube may also be followed in Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds, and by email.
Overall, the process worked quite well, the website did seem just a little sluggish in terms of speed, but not bad enough to prevent one from using the site.

BP12_2009103_Web 2.0 Tools - Classtools.net

BP12_2009103_Web 2.0 Tools
Classtools.net

Classtools.net is a website that lets users create a variety of applications all from the classtools.net website. Once the application has been created, you may save the application to your local hard drive. From there, the application may be added to a personal website, blog, or other Internet area where the user has control to add content to the page. Classtools.net does not host any of the applications that are created, but they will host and have available templates that are created.

There are a variety of applications that are created and can be modified including:
• Arcade games
• Countdown timer
• Random number selection
• Post it
• Venn diagrams
• Timelines
• Target diagrams
• Jigsaw diagrams
• Living graphs
The tools found here seem more as a method of creating applications to be used, rather than any form of direct collaboration. Once the application has been created, then they may be shared via blog sites, web sites, or even RSS feeds built into either type of site.
There are many sample lesson plans available in each area; many have multiple examples for a variety of subject areas. In the ‘Maths’ section, yes it does appear that the English used may be a little off; there are seven sample lessons. Using the sample lessons could give the user an example of what can be created with each of the templates that are available.
All of the templates are created in Flash, which should keep the file size relatively small, and should allow most sites the ability to handle each activity created without running into problems with file size.
A couple of confusing aspects are when you save, it does create an html document that is directly downloaded into the downloads folder, but when looking at the file, it seems that it links directly back to the classtools.net website with a coded web page. So I can see that if this tool were to be used, there would have to be much more investigative time spent to fully utilize the applications created here. Overall, I would say that it has some good ideas behind it, but it is not quite ready for the average user.

BP11_2009103_Web 2.0 Tools - EDU 2.0

BP11_2009103_Web 2.0 Tools

EDU 2.0

EDU 2.0 is a Web 2.0 school, teacher, classroom, and student management system. This system is free to use at this time, and allows creation of an umbrella site that is calls a school, where creation of administrators, teachers, classes, students, and parent access can be created and controlled.
When first setting up the site, it was easy to select a school name, and create a unique URL for the school site. The new URL will be created as yourschool.edu20.org as the main URL that is used to access the site.
Creating accounts was a little confusing at first. There is an option of using a form to create these accounts, but you must type in how many users you plan on creating at that time. I left the default value of five (5) there, and created a single account for myself, and then pressed the Save button. My account was created easily and quickly, however it also filled in the other four accounts with the same name as the first account. It also can create a unique password for each account. I found it necessary to go in and delete the four accounts I did not want.
Another area of confusion is the fact that while doing this initial setup you are logged in as a Demo User. I had to logout, then login with my user name created above, and then delete the demo teacher account. Once your teacher account is created, I would recommend also setting up an Administrator account(s) that would be able to control the other areas of the site.
Once a class is created, there are suggested options including:
• Add syllabus
• Set schedule
• Add resources
• Add lessons
• Create assignments
• Enroll students
In the resources section, teachers are allowed to add materials to any created classes. These resources can include web resources, files that include word documents, PowerPoint, and multimedia files. The multimedia files will allow video files up to 10 MB, so there can be no longer, or higher quality videos directly loaded. It will allow the use of YouTube videos to be embedded, so that is an option for longer videos. The resource section also allows text and html to be added, along with any files kept in a list of favorites.
The Edu 2.0 site may be a good option to start using the Web in classrooms that provide a low-cost (free) option to get started in online Web 2.0 tools to be used in any classroom that wants to expand what they are currently doing.

BP10_2009102_Media_Asset - LucidChart Video

This video is a one minute pitch of why we need Web 2.0 tools like LucidChart in our schools today.

BP9_2009102_Flickr

When teaching Web Design or Digital Multimedia classes, students often need photographs to use in the projects we complete in the classroom. By having students sign up for and creating a Flickr account, it would be an easy process for students to do a couple of things in these classes:

1. They would have an easy method to have access to personal photos that could be used in these projects.
2. A Flickr group would allow me as a teacher to allow students access to starting photos that are used in many projects.

By using Flickr along with google docs, much of the class material would allow students access to many of the in-class projects to work on outside of the school.

An example of this is combing photographs to create a montage of photos of a related subject. If students put the majority of their personal photos on Flickr, they could determine which ones to use in the class by adding the photos to the group created for the class.