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.