Web 2.0 Tools

To start this off let me explain how this blog came to be. Today I stumbled into co-teaching a Web 2.0 course at Technoversity. I literally volunteered to help teach it at 11:30 when the class started at 12:30. Nothing like last minute. The best and only thing I could think of to present during my half was from this incredible presenter, Steve Dembo. I attended his presentation at NECC this year. He did a 1 hour session on Web 2.0 tools. Perfect, right?? So I did what any good and resourceful teacher did, I spent the next hour setting up accounts on the sites I didn't already have accounts for and getting ready to present. As I am going through the different Web 2.0 tools and explaining what Web 2.0 tools are, a few teachers weren't sure what blogs were. I took them to Barkley's site, which is a wonderful Kindergarten blog. Then one of the attendees asked me if I had a blog??? That is the million dollar question?? I have a blog for my kids, well I did, until Facebook came around. Why don't I have one for work?? In the spirit of challenging the participants to start their own blog, I said I would start one too. While summer isn't necessarily the best time to start something school related, here we go anyway.

My favorite of the 10 Web 2.0 tools in the presentation is Poll Everywhere. This site allows you to instantly set up a variety of questions and essentially poll your audience. You can poll them in multiple ways, the best is text messaging. Attendees can text in their answer while you have a live display of the answers coming in!! And for those who don't have text messaging plans they can participate via url link (We all know someone who still doesn't text).


Here is a screen capture of the quiz I conducted during my training session today. As participants text in their answers you receive a live display of data. It is wonderful!! The only downside is if you want to use more than 30 participants, you have to pay a small monthly fee for an upgraded account.

In my district, cell phones are not allowed in the classroom, but I mainly teach adults and adults can have cell phones with them at all times.


Feel free to e-mail me at amy.colucci@jefferson.kyschools.us or comment on this post.