u05a2 - Helping students meet the NETS-S

Explain how student use of communication, collaboration, and publishing Web 2.0 applications can help students to meet the NETS-S.

1. Creativity and Innovation

• Tangler – allows students to create their own network of discussion forums. Imagine that discussions that can develop.
• WiZiQ – allows students to become teachers and create and record online lessons, create tests and reviews through a combination of different formats. One of the best indications that someone has learned something is for them to teach someone else. Creating reviews and tests is another great measure as to whether or not a student has mastered the concepts.
• Wikispace – allows students to create their own environment in which they can express themselves. Wikispaces are like gardens – you plant a few seeds and wonderful complex gardens/ideas develop.
• TeacherTube – allows students to upload their own videos. Students deserve an audience for their videos and TeacherTube provides a safe environment.
• Moonk – allows students to enhance their blogs by letting them create slideshows of their images, videoshows from their videos and a jukebox with their own recordings. Creativity abounds in this application.
• GCast – allows students to publish and syndicate their own podcasts. Students could become innovative newscasters publish weekly news reports or panel discussion on topics of the day.
• SlideShare – allows students to upload and share their PowerPoint presentations. Student presentations deserve an audience.
• Voicethread – allows students to express themselves in a variety of different ways either through the use of voice, text, audio file, video or graphics. Students can choose how they express themselves and let their creativity shine through.
• Glogster – allows students to show off their creative and innovative side. “Glogster is a revolutionary way of expressing your mood, feelings and ideas, and it goes miles beyond text or video!” By glogging, students get points that allow them to be a top glogster so their creativity and innovation can be rewarded.

2. Communication and Collaboration

• Chatterous – allows students to participate in a group chat either through the use of instant messaging, the web, email or a phone. Students from across the globe can cat with each other.
• Diigo – allows to collaboratively researching as a team even though they may not be in the same classroom. Students share their findings and can comment on others contributions.
• Google Docs – allows students to synchronously work on the same file.
• Wikispaces – allows students to keep track of all of their files that they are working on, embed a Google calendar and create discussion forums. A wikispace could act as the main meeting and organization hub for a work group.

3. Research and Information Fluency

• Diigo – allows students access to the ultimate research organizational tool. Students can analyze and evaluate the web resources that they find in the Diigo group. Students can easily share their findings, complete with highlights and sticky notes with other members of their groups. Diigo can be used to gather, evaluate and ethically use resources from the web.

4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making

• Diigo – allows students to plan and conduct research.
• Wikispace – allows students to organize their data and findings so that they can decide what is relevant and what is not relevant. Rich discussions can take place in the discussion forums. With this asynchronous type of communication, students can take the time to reflect and develop strategies to problems that may arise during the research process.

5. Digital Citizenship

• Slideshare – allows students to share their presentations with the general public. Students can also search other presentations that may be on the same topic as their own presentations. Through viewing others work, students can learn that others with their differences may also be right.
• Blogger – allows students to establish a personal blog. Through an established routine of blogging, students should be encouraged to become lifelong contributors to the knowledge found on the WWW. Some blogs have tremendous followings and can become much more that just a description on what they did today. Blogs are the new way to create a commentary on the state of the world today. Students should know that even though they are one voice, their voice can make a difference.

6. Technology Operations and Concepts

• GCast – allows students to publish podcasts. These podcasts could be a series of how-tos associated with the use of technology.
• WiZiQ – allows students to post lessons and participate in online learning virtual classrooms.

In this unit I am sure that we only touched upon the available Web 2.0 applications, so this represents only a small portion of the possible avenues that students could take while working to meet the NETS-S. By incorporating technology into your lessons and making is a central part of PBL experiences it will allows students to become deeper thinkers, more aware of challenges and differences and more aware of the skills necessary for successful collaboration to take place.