Web+2.0

I think today’s amazing social media and Web 2.0 will have an enormous impact on education of the future. Although Web 2.0 tools can be used a great deal in education for children of any age, it would be harder to use for younger children, especially those who are not yet reading or writing.

Younger children would need many more visual clues as to how the programs work, and may need a lot more adult assistance. This may or may not be easy depending on a classroom setup and the parental level of involvement in the home.

Older children, though, who are reading and writing could make much more use of Web 2.0 than a younger child. This is not to say that a younger child could not get something out of Web 2.0, because there are many tools that would be accessible for them to use.

On the Website Cool Tools for Schools, there are many tools that an early childhood education teacher could incorporate into the classroom. One program I liked was Tux Paint, especially because every button is labeled with a picture, which would help children who cannot read.

I also like Tux Paint because children can express their own creativity on the program. Using the program to draw pictures or fill in a “coloring page” would be excellent for demonstrating the use of a mouse, the development of eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.

The stamp tool is especially neat, since most children already love stamps. The children could use the stamp tool to create patterns if we were doing a lesson on patterns. The children could also try to replicate a scene I have presented them with.

There were so many programs under Writing Tools that I liked I really couldn’t decide on just one! I think children would be ecstatic to make their own stories online and be able to share them with friends and family across the world!

This tool could be used in a preschool or kindergarten classroom, with a LOT of adult assistance. However, I feel these writing programs would be more suitable to older children in second or third grade. It would be especially neat to use if doing a unit on creative writing, or a science unit. Children could create their own presentations and give them to the whole class.

I also like the Diary/journal link on the page. Some children need a private place for their thoughts, and they may not have this at home. I think it would be an excellent place for children to go to express their feelings in a confidential matter.

Under “Creativity Tools”, there is a program called Diffen. This program allows children to compare and contrast two different things (like alligators and crocodiles). Comparing and contrasting things is an important thing for children to be able to do in the early childhood years, and one of the state academic standards.

A younger child would need more adult assistance to use this program, but an older child would have no problem using it. If, for instance, the children were doing a report on the solar system, they could use Diffen to compare and contrast different planets to Earth.

Under “Quizzes and Surveys” there is a fun tool called Quibblo. On this site, students can create their own quizzes/surveys to share with others, or you can create quizzes or surveys for the children to do. This would be useful if you wanted the children to make a decision as a class (who should be the next class president?) but wanted the voters to remain anonymous. Of course, this tool would be more appropriate for children in the first, second, and third grades.

Under Music Tools, I found a program I really liked, called Classic Cat. I am a huge lover of classical music and would want to share classical music with my children. I could do a unit on classical music and have them “draw” the music as they listen to it, or record how each piece of music makes them feel.

I know I shouldn’t have been surprised at how many educational tools there were for teachers, but I kind of was! The Internet is an invaluable resource for teachers and students as well!