Web 2.0 in the Classroom

Yiseul Shin & Bex Kentfield

What is Web 2.0? Web 2.0 refers to the second generation of

the World Wide Web that came out in 2004. Unlike Web 1.0, the focus on Web 2.0 is

writing and self-publishing your own information.

Web 2.0 allows users with no technical knowledge (e.g. HTML) to create their own websites, self-publish and share videos, photos and other documents with the world.

Examples of Web 2.0

Social-networking: Facebook, MySpace Video-sharing: YouTube, Google Video,

AOL Video, Yahoo Video Blogs: Xanga, Blogger, Wordpress Tools & Applications: Survey Monkey,

Google Maps

A Brief History The development of the World Wide Web took place from the

late 80’s to the early 90’s. At first, only scientific departments of universities made use of the web because not many people used computers at the time.

As computers became more common and more companies started using the web, more work was put in to develop the technology – thus the introduction web browsers. In the past, the web only consisted of HTML and Gopher protocol that use text menu interface rather than using a graphic one. Mosaic and Netscape are the earliest web browsers, which led to the development of Microsoft Internet Explorer, the major web browser used in the late 90’s.

From the introduction of web browsers, it was easier for users to create their own websites, which led to the commercialization of the World Wide Web during the late 90’s.

Software such as Java and RSS lead to the development of Web 2.0, the new generation of the web.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Language A

Teachers can set up a blog or a wiki as an online classroom where they can post the assignment overviews & online copies of the short stories/poems/novels for the students to use incase they forgot their hardcopy.

Teachers and students can have discussions about the piece of literature through posting comments on the blog or wiki. An example of a blog used as an

online classroom. This is a blog for a Grade 9 English class, focusing on the novel Lord of the Flies. The teacher posts about different literary devices that are used in the book, as well as homework and assignments.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Language B

Students can watch TV shows and video clips on video-sharing sites. This will give them an idea of how the native speakers talk, and therefore improve their accent and oral skills.

Teachers can set up a blog or a wiki as an online classroom. Here, they can post such videos as well as the assignments which students can access easily. If daily homework is as simple as conjugating several verbs, students can post a reply as their homework.

An example of an online classroom. This is the blog for

Spanish at OSC.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Physical Education

Students can watch technique tutorial videos and game plan/strategy videos that are available on video-sharing sites to improve their game.

Teachers can set up a blog or a wiki as an online classroom, and post these videos for the students, as well as any other useful information and theory. This information can appear on the Criteria A Unit Test and students can easily revise by accessing the blog and reading/watching the posts.

This is a video tutorial of a basketball tutorial on YouTube.

Students can watch this and incorporate this technique in their

game to improve their skills.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Arts

In Visual Art: If the student wishes to create comic strips, they can use the Web 2.0 tool Comeeko. They can create animations by using tools like XtraNormal. They can also manipulate/edit photographs using Web 2.0 and upload through Flickr, Photobucket and others.

In Performing Art: They can use audio-editing tools such as BBC Virtual Studio and Jam Studio.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Humanities

In History: Students can create timelines using Web 2.0 tools such as Dipity. For example, this can be used to show the progress of WWII.

In Geography: Google Maps is a useful tool to use when showing the location of Sri Pada, for example.

In Economics: Students can create graphs and charts to show the stock market using Web 2.0 tools.

A map of Pelawatte, Battaramulla. The Overseas School of Colombo is highlighted, showing exactly where it is in a satellite photo of the area. Students can also choose to view in a map or terrain format.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Technology

Students can create online surveys using Web 2.0 tools such as Survey Monkey and Ask 500 to test the final product in Evaluation.

Students can create concept maps easily by using Web 2.0 tools Mindomo to show their understanding how the unit of work links to the AOI in Investigation. A screenshot of a survey created

using Survey Monkey.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Mathematics

Students can create charts, databases and graphs by using Web 2.0 tools such as iChart and Google Chart. This can be used in units such as statistics.

Web 2.0 in the Classroom: Sciences

Teachers and students can debates on Criteria A One World on issues of Science in society. They can use Web 2.0 tools such as Quick Topic and Debate Graph.

Students can use blogs as another source of information for One World essays – there are many informative blogs focusing on these issues.

Students can use Web 2.0 to create graphs, databases and charts to show the data collected from their investigations.

This is a blog focusing on the stem cell research in California, and provides links to news articles,

informative websites, etc. This could be a very useful source for research.

We believe…

Web 2.0 is a phenomenon in society today. Most of us use it in our daily lives, whether through using a blog, or social-networking site such as Facebook, or watching videos on YouTube and MSN Video. However, there are also many useful Web 2.0 tools that can be used in for educational purposes, as shown in this presentation. Therefore, we wish for the school utilize Web 2.0 in the classroom for hereafter.