Setting up a webpage

While I appreciate the opportunity to work with Google's website tools, I don't know how well a single set of basic pages might work for a class or group of classes. I tend to think they might best be used by students who want to make promotional or portfolio sites, and they could probably be taught in classes so individual students could develop a finished site as a project with skills to transfer to other subjects or outside of school. In light of all of the exposure we have had to Web 2.0 tools, open-source online apps like Engrade or Coursekit/Lore might serve our respective classes better that constructed web pages as information clearinghouses.

Technology in education

Even with all of the installed workstations in my lab, it's evident that (a.) there are still improvements to be made in lesson planning/presentation, classroom management, and student engagement, and (b.) there are tools and work types as yet untouched that might be able to help reach one or more of these goals. Just having the cool toys in front of students doesn't guarantee they're going to play with them as directed.

Scavenger hunts and webquests

I appreciate the use of both curricular tools at different times for different purposes. Scavenger hunts might be good as part of a do-now activity, a "brain break" within direct instruction, or even an ongoing exit ticket. Webquests, meanwhile, seem like they could be adapted to fit a long-term project context in my lab. They could involve the kind of thematic research and design skills I already require in projects, or they could be more specific research projects on particular topics, or even complex task- and thought-based "scavenger hunts" themselves where the end result is a well thought out and independently designed work.

Digital storytelling/podcasts

While my students haven't been specifically introduced to podcasts—partially because of the lack of good audio capture, partially because of not having found a good and relevant spot in the curriculum for such an end product—both levels of my design classes are already exposed to iMovie for video production. The movies they are tasked with making are meant to tell specific short stories of students' own creation.

Whiteboards

Hoo-boy, could I use a whiteboard in my class. All the great computer technology in my lab and I still don't have an effective heads-up display for all the students to clearly see. The ability to immediately mark up areas on a displayed application like Adobe Photoshop, instead of pointing to an oversized paper screen with a ruler, would greatly benefit students' comprehension. And getting a system that included remote tablets or keypads would improve their engagement and interaction.

Web 2.0 applications

1. Khan Academy is a website to which I've already referred, and other teachers outside of this class have brought it up and referred to it. It's a big resource that we can only hope continues to grow.2. Bubblesnap might be a good way to introduce basic graphic storytelling to my design classes, and also serve as entree to advertising—tying interesting words and images together to get across an overarching message.
3. TeacherTube also stands as a good, large library of resources to present to students and use for reference.

I get the sense that many of the Web 2.0 apps we looked at cover a lot of the same ground—multiple brainstorming sites, targeted video sites, class information apps, presentation tools and more. The three I posted here, and on our class Wiki, all represent Web 2.0 services I might actually use in class; in the case of TeacherTube, I already have.