Web Tools

I enjoyed exploring all of the web tools this week. I found some of them to be extremely useful in the classroom. When narrowing my list down I concentrated on the tools I would be most likely to use.

I would love to see SmartBoards being used more in the classroom for interaction rather than a fancy dry erase board. So the first tools I looked at were about using interactive whiteboards with students. I downloaded Triptico and explored the free resource. Some of them I could really see myself using in the classroom, I liked the Word Magnets for ELA and phonics to create sentences using the words in the correct order, or they include 42 other backgrounds like a Venn diagram or graphic organizers. I would definitely use the timers and selectors in the classroom for multiple subjects. The quizzes tools would be good to use for review before a test. This tool is user friendly and I was able to enter the information very easily and save my creations to the computer. The Plus version offers so many more options and isn’t that expensive, this is a tool I will definitely look more into.

Organization can be a challenge for students and I think graphic organizers are a great resource. Text2MindMap was one of the graphic organizing tools I like because of the simplicity. This program was very user friendly and the organizer could be color coded. I like how easy it was to create another branch, by pressing the Tab button. To preview your graphic organizer, just click the create button and you can go back and edit it. This tool could be used in any classroom because the graphic organizer can be made very simple or more complicated. I would have students use this tool in many subjects to organize their thoughts.

Another tool that could be useful in the classroom is creating timelines. Xtimeline is a good tool for online timelines because the user is able to add more information, which shows up as a separate box when that event is selected. When the timeline is complete I liked the look of it. For example, the dots are spaced based on the time they occurred. I would use this in the classroom to have the students can complete timelines about history, themselves, and ordering events in books they have read. Really the possibilities are endless.

I have been introduced to so many great web based tools during the class that will make my classroom a technology hot spot. I can’t wait to start engaging learners with these tools!