ECETECH

Gail Lovely's list of Top Ten Web 2.0 tools for young learners. Should be interesting to check this out.

#6. Glogster EDU- This is a great way to incorporate the school into the home. This program allows teacher to show caregivers what is being done in the classroom (i.e. uploading class calendars, posting students' projects, etc.). If teachers post educational practice links, students are able to practice certain skills learned in the classroom at home. This program also allows parents to connect with the teacher, it will allow parents and teachers to communicate via blogs.

Wonderful that someone put together a list of the top ten tools for young children,their parents and teachers. Several sites would be helpful in working with young children or counseling are: 1. Wordle - students could create a poster of words they know and continue adding new words. 2. Yola - a user friendly software that allows teacher, parents, student to create a web site.to share information with others. 3. Blogs - the KinderKids Blog published class projects that could be view by parents or serve as means of communicating with classrooms around the world.

This would be a good site to use with toddler/preschool caregiver training. It is an organized module introducing one to the power of internet and presenting a variety of technologies. It is written so indivduals can complete at comfortable pace.

Another of Niel Swidey's excellent exposés on the Doman Institute (outside Philadelphia more commonly known as the Better Baby Institute)

educational videos reviewed and organized.

A Teacher's Guide to Using Facebook

Floorplanner is a resource that I discovered in my EDIT 2000 class and have used numerous times since then. It is an interior design software that helps create layouts and floorplans, as the name might suggest. What does this have to do with education, right? My original use for it was to create my ideal classroom in the land of unlimited resources. If I wanted to, I could go back in and create a more realistic classroom so I could visually lay out how I wanted to conserve my space. This tool would be useful for anyone trying to visually plan out how to lay out a space, whether it be a classroom, bedroom, hospital room, cafeteria, etc. This resource taught me a lot about classroom layout and the way to make a classroom more efficient and user-friendly, which is huge in any educational setting.

Yonkly is a resource very similar to Twitter. To quote from its website it "allows you to create a white-label microblog community that is fully customizable". This resource would allow someone to keep up with the user of Yonkly. It's extremely easy to navigate, and while complicated when you read into all the technical aspects of it (like I did), it really is a good alternative tool for social networking.

An online directory that connects people through social networks.

This was one of my tools that I used for the tech project. As a teaching tool in an increasingly computerized world, I think it is important to use what people know and are comfortable. As one of the most used social networking sites worldwide, facebook is a great tool for this use. I know I've used it in education settings (setting up meetings, chatting with classmates, making a schedule and sending messages, and having a group dedicated to a class or group project). In using facebook in the classroom, you use a powerful tool that students will use whether it has educational content or not. The educational information might as well be embedded in this site that would be more commonly checked and utilized than just about any other technology tool (with the exception of email).

Webstarts allows users to create a webpage for sharing photos, videos, and information. A classroom teacher could create a class webpage that parents can access, increasing the parents' classroom involvement. My favorite part of this website is that there are preloaded templates to make designing a page simpler. One option even looks like a page from a scrapbook, allowing the teacher to make a "scrapbook" of her class.

Webs is a website creation tool that allows users to blog, share videos and photos, and engage in discussions in forums. The teacher could create a class website with pictures and videos of the children engaging in various activities. Parents could access this website to see what their children have been doing in class each day.

Skype created a little piece of software that makes communicating with people around the world easy and fun. With Skype you can say hello or share a laugh with anyone, anywhere. And if both of you are on Skype, it's free.

This program is not suited well in servign as a web2.0 tool for children. This site can, however, be used as a tool of communication between caregivers and teachers. Though it does not have a direct influence on children, it can also be used to connect with other professionals to gain insight and advice.

Jimdo allows you to make a free webpage. The homepage includes an instructional video with a brief overview of website creation. Overall the website is very easy to navigate. Jimdo can be used to create a class or teacher webpage. Photos or videos of class activities can be uploaded onto the webpage as well. The table creation tool could allow the teacher to create a class schedule for parents to access online.

This is a very useful site for those interestign in learning more about using web2.0 tools within the education realm. With this site you are able to connect with others and share experiences and ideas in using web2.0 tools.

This site is used primarily to share presentation slides, documents and PDFs for getting ideas from others who might have similar interests. SlideShare is most useful for an older age group such as high school or college students and businesses. This can also be used for young children such as when teaching numbers, colors, days of the week, months, seasons, etc.

Totlol is a site that caters movies to a younger audience that sites like Youtube tend to neglect. Users can upload videos and moderate each other's videos. The downside to this is that you must pay in order to have a membership, which is necessary to view the videos. Examples of the videos include videos of children's songs and stories.

Snapfish has a really neat way where teachers and parents can communicate with each other by posting thier pictures to a secure room. It is a really great way for parents to share pictures of their vacations, outings, or fun adventures they experience with the class. There is also a way that parents can take their child's artwork and turn it into calendars, purses, etc.

Snapfish is an online place to print, share, and create with your digital photos. Post and share your photos with a group, class, team, or club. All photos and students' work can be posted and published in one convenient room. This is a great way for teachers, parents, and students to get to know one another by sharing their photos, in a safe and secure room. There are also great tips and ideas for taking pictures, projects, and gifts.

Tikatok is a website where you can create your own book using your own pictures scanned into the computer. You can order a copy of your completed book so that you can have a hard copy of what you or your children have created. This is a great tool for teachers or parents to inspire a child's imagination to create a story with both words and pictures.

I really like this site and would definitely use it if I had children. It makes it so easy to make a story and actually get a hard copy of it. I reviewed Storybird, which is another site that allows you to create stories, but it doesn't have the option of ordering it. I think this is a step up from Storybird!

The idea of this website is a great one--it allows you to create animations and work off of ones created by others. Creating animations is made very easy with DoInk. By being able to see the work of others, it's a good way to get ideas and inspiration. I think that children could have a lot of fun with this; however, the content of the site isn't very appropriate for young children in that some of the animations posted by others may be disturbing for them. There is even a minimum age of 13 to be able to use it. If DoInk were to make a kid-friendly site with this same idea, I think it would be a lot of fun. It's very interactive and allows for an endless amount of creativity and expression. It could be a great website for children to work on by themselves, with friends, or even family members. Once an animation is complete, it can be posted anywhere on the web. This would be great for a classroom blog or to share with family members.

It would have limited use. Other avenues accomplish much the same thing.

This site seems like it would be useful for families to stay in touch if there is a serious illness. The idea seems solid. It's a good way to keep a family in contact when they may not be able to be in the hospital or visit the child all day everyday.

I have kept up with a friend who was in a serious car accident through CaringBridge. Her dad posted updates daily, so it was a great way to stay informed. The guest book was also good to send your thoughts and prayers to the family.