Web 2.0 tools are making a huge impact on how we learn together and work together. One of the most powerful attributes of Web 2.0 tools are their collaborative applications. These tools can be used by students to plan group projects and study material. These collaborative tools bring students together to share in learning in ways that were not possible before.
Student created wiki environments are giving entire classes a chance to share in the creation of projects. News feeds and threaded forums give groups a chance to make plans and keep members up to date on changing information. Interactive and shared mind mapping tools allow a class discussion to continue long after the actual school day has ended. All of these collaborative types of Web 2.0 tools allow students to learn together.
Having taught team building and communication skills on a ropes course for 10 years, I have seen first hand what team work can accomplish. One person, all alone, is pretty smart. However, when you link the minds of a group of people you can accomplish things that individuals could not have done.
I found a great Web 2.0 tool that is a collaborative application that allows students to work together in organizing data, ideas, and information. It the WriteBoard and can be found at www.writeboard.com. With this tool members of a group can log in to a blank page and fill it with whatever information the group needs to share. In my classroom I would use it for students to share rainfall totals that are recorded in different parts of the city—or any data-collecting project. I might also use it for students to use in script creation. It is like all of these collaborative tools in that it tries to connect human brains so that ideas can smoothly flow between them.
2 comments:
Writeboard is a good tool and is helpful for many uses. I am familiar with the built-in writeboard functionality in the web service basecamp that is used both in the school that I work for and also for organizing tasks and projects at my synagogue where I serve as a board member. i actually used the writeboard on basecamp (both products of 37 signals) to take minutes for the annual business meeting at my synagogue. Which involved setting up a new writeboard, taking notes of the meeting and now all the board members can access the notes, edit them, add to them for anything I missed and forward them on to other people for reading.
Writeboard is a cool Web 2.0 tool, thanks Jason for mentioning it and hopefully other people can use it to collaborate with others.
It is great that you can find these types of tools since you have such an interesting group this year! A 4th and 5th grade combo. is a sure fired way to ensure the students WILL be doing group work! I think it is great that you have all these tools to use with them. You will like Delicious or Symbaloo so you can keep them all organized.
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