Twelve+Web2.0+Tools

A list of 12 web2.0 tools and their potential usage with links to outcomes and how they might be used in the classroom.

1: Prezi


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Website: http://prezi.com/

Prezi is an interactive format for the creation of presentations. It is easy to use and save your work so that it can be easily accessed with an internet connection or downloaded and stored on a portable device. Students can use Prezi as a tool to help them condense their work/research and place with in a way that is easily accessible to all, with the Prezi students can easily incorporate videos from other web links like Youtube as well as uploading their own picture and diagrams when making their presentations or revision materials.

An example of how Prezi can be used in the classroom, is for example the teacher showing the class a Prezi on mitosis to help students review what they have learned at the end of the topic rather than giving them a fact sheet or getting them to write down notes. Furthermore, an animation/video can be integrated to help students to better remember the processes of mitosis and how it works, it provides a dual modal approach to helping students learn and study. After the presentation the teacher can easily share it with the students by giving them the link. Similarly, Prezi can be used by the students to help them consolidate what they have learned about mitosis after the topic. Instead of the teacher showing the students a Prezi on mitosis, students can form groups to create their own Prezi and present it back to the class to demonstrate what they have learned.

Outcome 5.8 A student relates the structure and function of living things to models, theories and laws. 5.8.1 cell theory b) identify the role of cell division in growth, repair and reproduction in multicellular organisms.

2: Molecular Workbench




Website: http://mw.concord.org/modeler/index.html

The Molecular Workbench is a collection of simulations that can be used to engage students when learning a topic. It provides a platform where a student can move through at their own pace. Simulations are a combination of both written and visual representation of content knowledge, also containing questions that students can answer and work through as they progress along. Another great thing about this tool is that it is not just for the viewing of simulations already present, but both teachers and students can use this tool to create their own simulations.

Using the Molecular Workbench, the teacher can create a simulated workshop based on atomic theory. They can create a model of an atom and have student locate the neutrons, protons and electrons while providing them with questions about their locations that student have to fill in. They can then be introduced to a series of activities that involve students in identifying different atoms after reading a brief explanation of how to do this followed up by an activity where students actively put what they learned to use in the simulation. Finally for work with describing models, the students can use the Molecular Workbench to create their own simulated model and describe it in a presentation to the class.

Outcome 5.7: A student relates properties of elements, compounds and mixtures to scientific models, theories and laws. 5.7.1 atomic theory a) describe features of and the location of protons, neutrons and electrons in the atom b) distinguish between elements, using information about the numbers of protons, neutrons and electrons c) describe an appropriate model that has been developed to describe atomic structure

3: Mind Meister


Website: http://www.mindmeister.com/

Mind Meister is a tool used for creating mind maps and the documenting of ideas. Image, files, links and videos can be added to the mind map allowing it to be an interactive platform. It also allows for multiple people to edit the mind map at the same time allowing it to used for group based activities.

An example of how this can be used in the classroom is when looking at classification and developing simple identification keys. Using the Mind Meister tool, students can work in groups to develop their mind map of where and how they might place/ group animals from a prescribed list set given by the teacher. Groups will organise these animals into a system of classification that they can justify later when they present to the class about how they have grouped the animals, what features they used to group the animals and why they chose to group certain animals in a particular way.

Outcome 4.8: A student describes features of living things. 4.8.2 classification a) classify living things according to structural features and identify that they have patterns of similarities and differences

4: Mai'Nada Comic


Website:[]

Mai’Nada Comic is a comic designing platform that allows for the making of comic strips and also the viewing of work created by other people. This tool gives students a creative platform where they can create a comic strip that can be aimed at explaining a certain concept that they have learned in class and then going off and sharing their comics with classmates.

An example of how this can be used in the classroom is that after teaching students about the processes of nuclear fission and fusion and how they are linked to the release of energy and particles from the nuclei of the atom, the teacher can ask student to create a comic strip of their version of “Fission Man” and “Fusion Man”

Outcome 5.6: A student applies models, theories and laws to situations involving energy, force and motion 5.6.5 nuclear energy a) identify that energy and particles may be released from the nuclei of atoms.

5: xTimeline


Website:[|http://www.xtimeline.com]

x Timeline is an interactive tool for the creation of timelines. It also supports collaborative work on the same timeline, making it an ideal tool for students working in groups trying to document the history and development of concepts and models in science.

A task that can employ the x Timeline is to get students to trace the history of atomic theory. Getting students to focus on the different types of models developed and what they look like, right up till the current accepted model.

Outcome 5.7 A student relates properties of elements, compounds and mixtures to scientific models, theories and laws. 5.7.1 atomic theory c) describe an appropriate model that has been developed to describe atomic structure.

6: Jeopardy Labs


Website: http://www.jeopardylabs.com Jeopardy Labs provides and competitive and interactive platform where students can engage in a game of jeopardy. This tool allows for both the creation and viewing of other created games of jeopardy. In the classroom, this tool can be used by the teacher to effectively engage the students in a competitive game where the teacher can test the knowledge of what the students have learned after the completion of a module, for example, a module on cell theory. Outcome 4.8: A student describes features of living things.4.8.1 cell theory

a) identify that living things are made of cells b) identify and describe the functions of the nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplast c) identify that substances move into and out of cells d) distinguish between unicellular and multicellular organisms.

7: Slideshare


Website: http://www.slideshare.net/

Slideshare is an interactive platform for the crating and sharing of presentations, documents and images. It allows for the addition of videos and music to help create a more engaging mode of presenting information and sharing them.

In the classroom, the teacher can use Slideshare in a jigsaw group task when looking at ecosystems. The teacher can assign each student a different type of ecosystem and them groups then go and produce a Slideshare that aims at showing and describing the various adaptations that plant and animals have developed to survive within the given ecosystems. After they have completed the Slideshare, each group will then present the adaptations that can be found in a specific ecosystems. This can then be gathered and entered into a final Slideshare that covers all the ecosystems and main adaptations of the plant and animals and be shared with the class.

Outcome 4.10: A student identifies factors affecting survival of organisms in an ecosystem. 4.10 ecosystems a) describe some adaptations of living things to factors in their environment

8: Voice Thread


Website:[]

Voice thread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and also leave comments with voice, text, audio files, and even video.

An application of this tool is getting student to create a digital story on a topic such as the water cycle. This can be made into a small project where the aim is to get the year 7 students to create an engaging digital story to teach younger children about the processes of the water cycle while at the same time allowing them to build and review what they already know about the water cycle and seeking to show what they know clearly.

Outcome 4.9: A student describes the dynamic structure of Earth and its relationship to other parts of our solar system and the universe.  4.9.5 the hydrosphere  a) describe the water cycle in terms of the physical processes involved

9: Dvolver Moviemaker


Website: http://www.dvolver.com/moviemaker/make.html

Dvolver is a mini moviemaking tool. It provides premade background and character settings that can be used to make short animations; all that needs to be done is to input the text that the characters will say. It is a quick and fun tool to use for making short animations that can be quickly shared.

An example of how this can be used in the classroom is that after teaching students about the processes of nuclear fission and fusion and how they are linked to the release of energy and particles from the nuclei of the atom, the teacher can ask student to create a short animation of the comic version of their “Fission Man” and “Fusion Man”

Outcome 5.6: A student applies models, theories and laws to situations involving energy, force and motion 5.6.5 nuclear energy a) identify that energy and particles may be released from the nuclei of atoms.

10: Fodey


Website: http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Fodey is a tool that allows for the creation of fake newspaper articles very quickly. The main fields as shown need t be filled out and a story added into the story box and a snippet of the article will be generated.

This tool can be used in the classroom when looking at infectious and non-infectious disease. The teacher can break down and allocate different types of infectious and non-infectious disease to small groups of students. Students will then proceed to do some research into that disease covering simple facts like what does the disease do, how it spreads/contracted, how the body responds to the disease and what treatments are available. Students will then enter this into Fodey and generate their newspaper articles which they can then share around the class and post them around the school to create an awareness about certain types of infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Outcome 5.8: A student relates the structure and function of living things to models, theories and laws. 5.8.4 humans b) describe some responses of body systems to infectious and non-infectious diseases

11: Inner Body


Website:http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html

Inner Body is a tool designed to proved a visual representation of the human body. As you explore each of the systems there is an image outlining the system which can be moused over to make the labeling appear. It is also accompanied by detailed descriptions of the role of each system and related organs.

The teacher can use this in the classroom when explaining one of the systems to the class to provide visual representations of what is involved and how they work. Similarly the teacher can employ a jigsaw task and have students look at each system and create a fact sheet from the findings and present them to the class. It is also a useful tool that can be used by the students when they want to revise the structures and the organs that are involved in each of the systems.

Outcome 4.8: A student describes features of living things. 4.8.5 humans a) describe the role of the digestive, circulatory, excretory, skeletal and respiratory systems in maintaining humans as functioning organisms. Outcome 5.8: A student relates the structure and function of living things to models, theories and laws. 5.8.4 humans c) relate the organs involved in human reproductive systems to their function.

12: aMap


Website:http://www.amap.org.uk

aMap is a tool used to create a mind map that is used for the main purpose of presenting arguments in a fun and easy to follow manner.

This can be used in the classroom by having students debate a topic such climate change and impact of greenhouse gases and the environment. Students can create an aMap of their thoughts and arguments for or against and share them with the class and others can then take part by replying with their own aMap presenting their point of views and opinions.

Outcome 5.10: A student assesses human impacts on the interaction of biotic and abiotic features of the environment. 5.10 ecosystems c) describe some impacts of human activities on ecosystems. 