Web 2.0 tools for teachers

Do you like to play with words or create visual poems? A "Wordle" enables you to create a word "cloud," visually depicting the relationship between words based on their frequency of use. You can tweak your word "clouds" with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. Tip: Teach students to create a Wordle to express their reading interests or their favorite book.

Do you find it difficult to keep up with the latest Web 2.0. technologies? Join Classroom 2.0 Ning, a social network for educators who are using or want to use Web 2.0 in their libraries and classrooms. Tip: Look at the Classroom 2.0 weekly webinars, featuring leading Web 2.0 educators  - a great way to learn for both the novice and experienced educator.

Create your own social network for your classroom, your school group or your library. Share your ideas, pictures, and plans. Choose the features, a forum, a blog, members' pages, RSS feeds - whatever you would like to share and collaborate and control the membership. Tip: Classroom or library nings give students opportunities to learn how to effectively and safely be members of an online social network.

What are you doing? Twitter, a website for communication among friends and colleagues, is based on this question. Everyone who is connected to your account can know what you are doing at anytime, just send a "tweet."  This is a way for everyone to keep track of everyone else. Tip: Students working in research teams, designate secretaries to keep the instructor and librarian up to date on how the group is doing throughout the project.