Web+2.0

Web 2.0 The number of Web 2.0 applications is almost overwhelming when trying to select only five which will be used in the classroom, but the five that appear to offer the best content and accessibility are Twiducate, PBWorks, YacaPaca, WikiSpaces, and Prezi. Each offers a unique set of features that will hopefully excite and motivate students while simultaneously educating them in the course content and encouraging them to explore further into topics that may only be covered superficially in class. As a Spanish teacher, Web2.0 tools offer really exciting ways to enhance the way that the material is taught, acquired, and evaluated because of the collaborative and international nature of many Web2.0 applications.

Twiducate is a branch of Twitter, which many students (parents, teachers, and celebrities) already use to stay abreast of what other friends, family members or celebrities are doing. While there are many social networks and many teachers are choosing to connect with their students via social networks such as Facebook or MySpace, Twiducate offers a higher degree of control over the content, privacy and accessibility of the network. By creating a network for a specific class and having students subscribe to it, updates regarding homework, tests, etc would be more readily accessible to students and their parents. Twiducate also offers a platform for discussion amongst students regarding assignments, notes from missed classes, etc as well as providing an easily way to manage contact with parents regarding their student(s).

PBWorks offers a simple platform which allows students to easily collaborate online. Documents created by each student would be uploaded for peer review, as PBWorks tracks changes made by each individual user and allows for comments or notes to be inserted as well. This would enable the students to improve their compositions while improving their understanding of sentence structure, grammar, vocabulary, etc. Additionally, class notes can be posted to the site, allowing students who missed class to review what was missed and ask questions prior to returning to class. Creating and customizing their projects via websites will help motivate students and further engage them in learning the material. Ideally students will also be able to collaborate with students in a Spanish-speaking country, fostering a higher level of interest and understanding while motivating students to engage in the learning on a more frequent basis as they develop friendships with their collaborative partners.

YacaPaca is an innovative platform allowing teachers and students to seamlessly collaborate with each other as well as other teachers and students worldwide. YacaPaca allows teachers to create simple yet engaging quizzes, surveys, eportfolios, etc while also being able to collaborate with other teachers around the world. Assignments can be shared with other teachers for use in their own classes. This helps to provide a source for higher level information to be used with students as their knowledge of the Spanish language increases, as well as providing content for the continuing education of the teacher. This site would mostly be used by students for quizzes, while the teacher’s role would be in collaborating with other professionals to enhance and supplement the teaching material and techniques already in use in the class.

WikiSpaces is a really cool site where teachers and students (or anyone else) can create their own website. One is able to personalize their website adding content including pictures, videos, music, etc. The privacy of these sites can be controlled by the person who created the WikiSpace. As a teacher this means that each class can have its own WikiSpace, allowing information to be tailored specifically to the students, parents, etc. Throughout the school year students would be maintaining their own WikiSpace as a way of 1)presenting the information in a portfolio for review at the year, and 2) tracking their own progress. The main WikiSpace (belonging to the teacher), would be updated with assignments, important dates (ie exams, field trips, etc), and information for parents. The discussion area of this site would allow students and/or parents to voice concerns or ask questions for clarity, while simultaneously allowing students to share the information they know with each other helping to foster a deeper sense of classroom community and collaborative learning. There will also be a section of the site which is dedicated to celebrating what the students have learned and are learning, sharing video clips, pictures and examples of student work.

Prezi is an amazing application allowing presentations to be made in a non-linear way. Prezi grants the user the ability to embed videos, graphics, sound, etc, which then flows together without the need for the presenter to control the “slide show.” Prezi allows students to exhibit their ideas in a unique and personal way, engaging the student in not only the content of the presentation but also allowing them to engage their creativity in order to present the information in such a way that captures the attention of their classmates. Students would be asked to present 4-5 brief individual presentations and 1-2 group presentations throughout the school year using this platform. The uniqueness of this platform and the unlimited possibilities in the way that information can be shared will motivate students to express themselves creatively while simultaneously causing them to think critically about their particular topic, further engaging them in their own learning.