Community Tools

From wikis to social networks, this range of tools enables teachers and students to communicate, collaborate and share work. Community-building and collaboration are two defining aspects of Web 2.0. A range of tools enable teachers and students to communicate, collaborate and share work.

Some, like Edmodo, are designed specifically for educators. This Twitter-like tool lets user create custom mini-communities for classes, clubs, parents, etc and push out assignments, reminders and updates. Others, like GoogleDocs, are for general use but conducive to inter and intra school collaboration in real time. All are easy to use.

                                                                    Community Tools

Video Tools

Web 2.0 makes it easier than ever to integrate video into shared projects and presentations. These are the free video integration tools in classroom for projects, presentations, parent meetings and more.

                                                                      Video Tools

Web 2.0 Tool	URL	Description
Animoto	http://www.animoto.com/	Turn your photos and videos into wow! Animoto quickly produces beautifully orchestrated, completely unique video pieces from your photos, videos clips and music. Fast, free and very easy
Animoto Education	http://www.animoto.com/education	Bring lessons to life with Animoto—specially designed with students, teachers and classroom audiences in mind.
Gizmoz	http://Gizmoz.com	Animate yourself. It's fun and easy and all you need is one photo.
XtraNormal	http://XtraNormal.com	This easy, fun and free site helps you to instantly create movies. Includes sets, actors and sounds.

Presentation Tools

       Break out of the box, beyond basic slides and bullet points. Upload, create, edit and share creative presentations anytime and anywhere. With Web 2.0 user can push the boundaries of traditional presentations, mix things up, and make learning more engaging than ever before. Web 2.0 is all about ease of use. Whether you're presenting to students, parents, or colleagues; or enabling students to create presentations themselves, Web 2.0 makes it simple and accessible.

                                                         

                                                         Presentation Tools

Web 2.0 Tool	URL	Description
SlideShare	http://www.slideshare.net/	Use this tool to upload your PowerPoint or Keynote slides (and Adobe PDF Portfolios and SMART Board presentations) and share them.
280 Slides	http://280slides.com/	User can create stunning presentations from scratch (and for free) with 280 Slides. There's no software to download—and when you're done you can share it any way you like
Prezi	http://prezi.com/	Break out of the box! Prezi.com throws the slide-show model out the window and presents a giant canvas instead. (It also throws paint brushes out the window in favor of bubbles.)
Picsviewr	http://www.picsviewr.com	Just export and upload it to Picsviewr and add some unexpected touches

Online Teaching and learning Tools

The need for online teaching and learning more widely when compared with conventional methods. To date, there are still many lecturers who are more comfortable using the whiteboard and slide power point. Online learning or formerly known as e-learning is the use of information and communication technology to facilitate the teaching and learning process. There are a lot of advantages to be gained when e-learning is adopted at each institution. The following are the advantages of using e-learning:

 i. Flexibility, accessibility, convenience
    Learners can access the materials in their own time and study at their own pace and place
ii. Cross platform 
    Learners can access the content through window-based, mac-based or unix-based computers
iii. Low delivery costs
    When e-content has been developed and uploaded on the server, it is relatively inexpensive to    
    distribute domestically and worldwide.
 iv. Ease of update 
     It enables the content to be easily and regularly updated and instantly available to all learners.
v. Collaborative learning
     E-learning promotes collaborative learning thus resulting in more engaging and richer learning    
     experiences.
vi. Scalability Content can be deliverd to a small or large number of learners with little effort

A good command of both online and traditional teaching and learning tools is important for the development of a successful combination of those tools.