BP8 20091102 Researching and Blogging about Web 2.0 Tool (COMMENT and ALL three web2.0 tools)

#1 Web2.0 Tool

Raylit.com is an amazing kids educational site. This site is designed for preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students. This site uses both the behaviorist and constructivist approaches in its learning.

These quotes are directly from the FAQ’s of the site, great info!!

“What do you mean by "We actually teach..." ? Yes, we actually teach! If you look around on the web, you will see many kid's websites, but most of them are focused on fun and games with content that parents can use to teach. These games and puzzles only test a kid's knowledge expecting him or her to know the answers. None of the websites actually teach, and for a good reason because teaching kids is hard. Raylit was developed with the fundamental idea of teaching rather than just testing. We make extensive use of illustrations, animations, speech driven presentations, educational videos and so on to get the concepts across to the kids. For eg. our characters speak like teachers when teaching phonetics, explain using a real life scene why 2+3 is 5, and show a time-lapse video of a seed becoming a plant to teach plant growth.” “What are some of the features that make Raylit kid friendly? Here are a few such features: • Raylit involves the kids fully with engaging characters, educational games, videos, images, music, sounds and visuals. • Raylit is fully speech oriented and doesn't require kids to read off the screen to follow directions. Our characters talk to the kids and even address each kid by his or her own name! • Raylit is programmed with in-built intelligence to detect and handle your kid's clicks, response or lack of response and take the appropriate action(s). You don't have to sit along to prompt or direct your kid. • Kids only need to use the mouse during Raylit sessions as it is natural and easy for them. • We limit kid's session to just an hour a day to prevent addiction. • Raylit continually challenges your kid to do better with metered praise and helpful suggestions.”

The pricing is as follows: “Raylit sessions are priced at just 50¢ a session. They are available in packs of 10, 50 and 100 sessions starting at just $5. To get started, Raylit offers few free sessions with every new account.”

In my time on raylit I found it to be extremely engaging, and a perfect site for K-3 educators to use in the classroom or parents to use at home. Check it out!!

#2 Web2.0 Tool

Gameclassroom.com is another great site for K-6 educators. This site is another that provides young students with fun and relevant lessons and games in an easy to use setup.

I could not find the exact pricing, the subscription pricing was very vague.

The following are directly from gameclassroom.com. These statements are found in their What is GameClassroom? link and the About Us link.

“Game Classroom is a one-stop web destination for accessing high-quality educational games, and homework help for K-6 students:

• We scoured the web for the best and most trustworthy games, and conveniently sorted them according to skill, topic and grade level.

• We spent thousands of hours creating an abundance of interactive content for parents to better understand the building blocks behind their child’s development.

• We created a comprehensive, free homework help section for parents/teachers to provide to children including learning tips, online resources and sample problems.

All of Game Classroom's educational content has been created by professional educators with over 200 years of teaching experience, and has been outlined using state educational standards. We hope you (and your kids) enjoy Game Classroom and find it a fun place to learn and play games!”

“Game Classroom was developed to address needs we witnessed firsthand as parents and educators. Game Classroom is the newest web property from Earlier Media, where we are dedicated to providing trustworthy online destinations for children of all ages to learn, watch videos and play games online.

We've thoroughly searched the web for engaging and educational games for kids, and we've collaborated with top educators to ensure that all of our games are age-appropriate, relevant and compliant with academic standards. Our team of educators has also created a vast library of "Homework Help" as an additional resource for students, teachers and parents.

As online games become increasingly pervasive in the home, we strive to offer a site that adults can trust and children will enjoy. We promote education, imagination and literacy…while always making sure kids have fun on Game Classroom!”

Overall I found this site to be another great site for K-6 teachers to utilize int eh classroom or computer lab. I think it would be great to use with a LCD projector to involve all of the students in the engaging content.

#3 Web2.0 Tool

Wiziq.com is another great web2.0 tool designed to allow teachers and students to have a free online virtual classroom. This site is similar to our “Wimba Sessions” where teachers and students can interact online with each other synchronously.

This is the marketing copy directly from the about us link.

“Anyone can teach & learn live, online

WiZiQ is a web-based platform for anyone and everyone who wants to teach and learn live, online. Teachers and students use WiZiQ for its state-of-the-art virtual classroom, to create and share online educational content and tests, and to connect with persons having similar subject interests.

Anyone can join WiZiQ
WiZiQ is FREE for everyone and takes just few seconds. Whether you are a teacher or a learner, signing up for a WiZiQ account is free and simple. Enter your log in essentials (email address, password) and name to get started with an account on WiZiQ.

Live, online classes
In the virtual classroom with all the digital benefits at your fingertips, you can interact online using

• Images, PowerPoint presentations and documents

• Full way audio and video sharing

• Live chat enhances the interaction amongst the participants

• Control Privileges with you having full control over the class like in real-world classroom

All classes on WiZiQ are automatically recorded so that you can revisit and even search for a certain topic anytime at your convenience

Build your educational network
On WiZiQ, you can enter your subject interests and discover who else on WiZiQ shares similar interests with you. Initiate contact with members around you to exchange knowledge, content and to help each other work towards common goals such as preparing for an exam or assignment.

Share content 
WiZiQ lets you produce your content online and convert it in a sharable format, with minimal effort. You can make your content semi-permanent, easy to put on blogs, and embeddable as objects and links.”

This site shows us that online education is running rampant and only promises to grow larger and larger as technology makes further strides and students from the digital age develop and grow. In my time on the site I find it to be very interactive and easy to navigate.

COMMENT

Posted on Tara Roe’s blog.

Week 3 – Researching and Blogging about Web 2.0 Tools

Woopid

A common theme when I am conducting software training is the varying skill levels of the attendees. During any given class I may have some students who have just mastered the art of email, and others who are skilled Flash developers. As the instructor, it can be quite challenging to try and keep a good pace while both keeping students engaged and not left behind.

Over the past two years I have gotten in the habit of giving my students outside resources to use in conjunction with our software program. Essentially, our product allows users to create interactive and engaging elearning content. Throughout the training course, I provide students with websites for developing storyboards, organizational charts, flash development, etc. The more comfortable the students feel on the computer, the better content they will be able to develop.

When I stumbled upon Woopid, a free online video tutorial site, I immediately thought it would be a great resource to share with my students. When students access the site, they are able to search among a series of tutorials aimed at teaching software and computer applications. The tutorials are divided into five main subject categories. These categories are: hardware, Inter

net, Mac, Ubuntu, and Windows.

The Internet, for example, is in a constant state of change. For some of our older students, who may not necessarily have a choice in transitioning to elearning, these video tutorials can be a tremendous resource for them. From learning how to navigate Facebook for corporate networking, to creating a Google document, these tutorials can quickly bring students up to speed with some basic computer functionality.

My Comment

Tara, I really enjoyed your find of woopid. I checked out the tutorials, awesome stuff!! The Mac tutorials are great for a novice of the operating system. I totally agree that some older people have a very difficult time navigating around even the internet. Some of my coworkers can hardly open outlook, even though it is located directly on the desktop. Great find!