We can group and arrange Web 2.0 creativity tools in ways based on your skills.
Learning words and being creative with words can be achieved, for example, using Visuwords, to show the structure and history of a word and its relation to other words.
Learning words and being creative with words can be achieved, for example, using Visuwords, to show the structure and history of a word and its relation to other words.
Other Web 2.0 tools like Wordle creates word clouds from text you paste in a text
box.
And Tagxedo allows you to create word images in different shapes. These tools are
useful when you want your students to be creatively involved with words.
Working with visuals is another creative way to nurture learning. An
English teacher can encourage creative writing in students through pictures
using the Web 2.0 tool Bookr.
Students look at given pictures or collect their own pictures, and write
stories that connect each picture, and finally convert the story into a book.
Other Web 2.0 tools like Sketchpad, allow users to create
their own sketches and drawings. Another tool, Graffiti Creator,
helps students expand their creativity by using colours and fonts that look
like graffiti.
There can be a combination of words, visuals, and sound. For example, using
a tool called WeVideo students can use pictures, texts, short video
clips.
With StoryJumper, users can create stories that look like comic strips.
So as you explore more tools and use them in your class instruction, you
will find creative ways to implement the tools depending on what you want to do
and your level of expertise.
The Hour of Code is celebrated in
classrooms every year in order to interest students and help them see the
creative side of computer programming. But maybe the students are not
interested, or they hesitate to take part because they can’t visualize what
programming and codes can actually do. If we want to help students to not only write the codes, but
understand what each line of code means and how to translate that to what you
can see and hear, we might need a specific Web 2.0 tool. Since students are not
interested in programming due to the lack of visuals, sounds, and words, the
type of instructional issue is related to creativity.
Scratch is a Web 2.0
tool that supports the creation of interactive stories and games and also helps
students to understand the basic concepts of programming using building blocks
of code. It’s a fun way to see and hear what the codes on the right side of the
screen do to the objects and pictures on the left side of the screen.
Etoys is another great web 2.0 tool that
teaches programming through a media rich environment. Like Scratch, it fosters
creative and critical thinking skills about programming through visuals,
sounds, and words. Both these Web 2.0 tools provide the specific features
you’re looking for and solve the instructional problem presented.
Tools Review
Evernote – A creative tool for
note-taking and organizing notes. It is relatively like Microsoft
OneNote. You can also try it to create class notebooks for collaborative
purposes.
Thinglink – A tool to make
images and videos interactive. The tool is like Genially
which is another tool that can be used for the same purposes.
