Online tools and resources have made it easier for teachers to instruct students, and for students to collaborate with those teachers and with other students and parents. These "Web 2.0″ teaching tools aren't magical, but they may seem to defy definition at times since they save time, help you to stay organized, and often take up little space on a computer.

Social media provides a variety of tools, commonly referred to as Web 2.0, that educators can use to engage students and enhance essential skills (communication, collaboration, creativity, media literacy, technological proficiency, global awareness. Other tools can be leveraged to become more efficient and effective at what we do in education.

A comprehensive list of the best web 2.0 tools and links, sorted via category, for teaching and learning with technology.

A Web 2.0 site may allow users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to Web sites where people are limited to the passive viewing of content.

Find all Online tools and applications on one page, get a short description, compare, read reviews, see what people are saying about each one on the web, see screencasts and more...

If you're not an avid follower of #edchat on Twitter, you may be missing out on a great opportunity to learn about some new Web 2.0 tools that are currently being used in classrooms around the world. That's because @chickensaltash posed a simple question to the PLN and there has been a huge swell of support ...

Technology has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last few decades, and the benefits of technology are there for all to see. One of the biggest arguments against technology is its sometimes ridiculously high cost which limits its usage and places it out of reach of many people.

Research paper highlighting the benefits of technology in the classroom.

Research supporting the use of technology in the classroom

When students are using technology as a tool or a support for communicating with others, they are in an active role rather than the passive role of recipient of information transmitted by a teacher, textbook, or broadcast. The student is actively making choices about how to generate, obtain, manipulate, or display information.