Integrating Web 2.0 Authoring Tools in the Classroom

After learning about various Web 2.0 Authoring Tools, I am very excited to begin incorporating them into my 1st grade classroom! My students are thrilled at the use of any technology, so I am sure that they will be equally as excited to try these new tools! I have chosen 3 of the tools to focus on for now, but will definitely integrate the others as well.

Blogs: To incorporate blogs into my classroom, I would love to create a class blog. I have recently started following many teacher and classroom blogs, so creating my own would be great! A class blog is a wonderful place to share projects and pictures from the classroom. We could also follow other class blogs and communicate with them through posts, videos, etc. Parents would also be excited to view the blog. I can't wait to create my class blog!

Wikis: Instead of having the typical classroom website, having a classroom wiki would be interesting. The class wiki would be great for viewing by other educators, parents, students, and the community. Student work could be displayed and kept for years to come. Because viewers have the option to contribute to or modify the content of a wiki, this would allow for collaboration with the viewers!

Podcasts: I can't wait to try podcasting in my classroom. I plan to work with my students to help them create and record podcasts related to different units of study. After completing AMSTI science lessons, I think it would be a great idea for students to reflect on the experience in a podcast. Another way that I would like to use a podcast is after reading various stories. There are many things that could be done for a reading based podcast. Creating podcasts allows for the students to have a global audience, which should encourage them to do their very best. By subscribing to other educational podcasts, the students could become more familiar with podcasting. I would love to try using podcasting in my listening station using iPods. The students could listen, discuss, and reflect on what they heard! Digital storytelling is another way that I am interested in using podcasting in my classroom.

I can't wait to let you know how these tools worked in my classroom!