Plannr

Our group did our Web2.0 presentation on Plannr, which is an application that helps you create a trip. Plannr was very easy to use, and worked very quickly. After choosing a city from the list, the user will be given a wide range of activities that will be available on the dates selected. The user can also specify how active they would like to be on the trip, pick out locations, and map out their entire trip. Plannr could be used in various ways in the classroom. Such assignments might be to plan a class trip, create a budget, create a travel agency and much more. The fact that there were only a limited number of cities was a downfall, but altogether, Plannr proved to be a great tool.

I have just found out, however, that Plannr was purchased by Google and shut down, so there is not actual web address for this application!

Book

The book project was done using Microsoft Word. The book page layout in Microsoft Word allows you to print out pages for a story in a book format. It separates the page into different sections, which represent the different pages of your book. You can insert images, colors, and change your font. It allows you to be creative while creating your book. In a classroom it would allow students to be creative with their writings. I would use this in my future classroom, because it's fun and easy to use. I would also use it, because it allows students to create story books without using multiple pages.

Web 2.0 Voicethread

My group did our Web 2.0 presentation on Voicethreads. It's free and easy to use. A voicethread is a collaborative, multimedia slideshow that holds images, documents, and videos. It allows people to navigate through slides and leave comments in 5 different ways, using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Users can share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too. Users can doodle while commenting, use multiple identities, and pick which comments are shown through moderation. VoiceThreads can even be embedded to show and receive comments on other websites and exported to MP3 players or DVDs to play as archival movies.

Voicethreads is a great way for students to do group presentations, because they can comment on their group members work. You can also do a classroom voicethread where all the students put their work onto one voicethread. Voicethread is also a great way for students that have a hard time reading, because teachers can use the voice comments to help. I intend to use voicethreads in my future classroom, because it's fun and easy to use. I think that my future students will enjoy using voicethreads as much as I did.

Web Site Creation

Google sites is a great way to create your own site. We used this as if we were teachers. It was a way for us to show the public or parents what we are doing in class, what upcoming events we have, or anything we want to show or tell. I posted pictures of my class doing various activities. You can also use this site creation for other uses. You can make a site for ANYTHING! It is very easy to learn how to construct the web site. I will most definitely create more sites.

Bubbl.us

Bubbl.us is a great web tool. The more our group used this, the better and easier it got. It is a simple way to map your thoughts and ideas. This mind mapping tool would be useful in the classroom, for writing papers, or even for something as simple as deciding where to eat. It just puts all of your ideas in one simple location. It also had many shortcut buttons that you could use. If you remember the short cuts, it can cut down on your planning time. It a quick tool, and i would definitely use it again.

Website Creation

The website creation was a neat idea. I was extremely intimidated by it at first because the thought of creating a website just sounded so beyond my technical capabilities. After fooling around on Google Sites, the site creation tool we used, I found out creating a basic website wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I appreciated the simplicity of Google Sites, however, there was one major thing I would have changed. I wish I could have had more appearance options. For example, I wish we could have had more font and color options. Also, I wish I could just click on an area of the screen and be able to place an image there, rather than only have a few places where I can place the image. Being able to change the size of the picture to small, medium, large, or original size seemed a little old school after normally being able to size an image however I want.

As a project, I'm glad I learned about this. I knew people in high school who were creating websites and always thought that was something I would never do. It's nice to be able to say that I am capable of making a website. I think if I would have put more time into the website, I would have become more familiar with the different tools and options and would have had a better site. However, I can take this basic information and use it in my classroom. There are so many teachers who have websites that I don't want to be left in the dust. This is information I will definitely take advantage of and I will probably use Google Sites again in the future.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a very useful site. It is great for individual use, but even better for group use. When we used it we did an M&M activity. It was really nice because the whole class can be on their individual computers and see what everyone is recording. It is used for keeping track of information, planning trips, making graphs/tables, etc. This would be useful in classrooms and for personal use. I would definitely use this. I could make an activity for my students to do, or just for my own personal use.