Web 2.0 Tools

Introduction

A wiki page is basically a web page hosted by a wiki group in which anyone can make contributions of any kind. Everybody can create a new wiki page and contribute in an existing one by editing it. A wiki is very useful in the sense that there are a lot of tools for editing. Most of them very simple to use. Another big advantage of using a wiki is that contributions can be made by anyone and permissions can be graded according to the needs of the creator of the page.

Why using 2.0 tools?

In this new era of new technological facilities, the use of the computer has become a paramount task for everyday life. Nowadays, we can see a lot of useful tools in the Internet that we can use for our own advantages. Several of those tools are for everyday uses and others can be very useful for educational purposes.

A web 2.0 tool is a site that allows users to interact and collaborate in a virtual community with the help of a website in which they can interact with the tools provided and create something on their own. In the classroom, a Web 2.0 tool can be very useful as it can help students to make a lot of collaborative learning

We will now present a task that uses several web 2.0 tools and combined can be can be very entertaining

Tools provided

Penzu

www.penzu.com

Penzu.com is an online journal creator which you can share your thoughts with your friends.

• In order to create your first journal, first you have to:
• Create an account clicking in the SIGN UP icon at the top right corner of the site.
• Once you provided your information, you can start using it right away!
• In the journal main page you will see a big picture of a book in which you have to select the first option in order to create your first journal.
• Once you’ve created it you just select it and a worksheet will appear.
• On top of the page you will see a toolbar with several options.
• You can save, share, print, add pictures and change the font of your writings.

REMEMBER! As Penzu is a daily journal, each different day you access the site, you will start a new page on your journal, so in order to see previous entries, you will have to click the arrows on the sides to go to previous pages in your journal.

You can see the edit page here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/834/penzuedit.jpg/

You can see a sample here:

1. Penzu Sample [[1]]

Podomatic

www.podomatic.com

Podomatic.com is a website in which you can upload your own podcast and share each audio file with whoever you want

If you want to start using podomatic, you have to

• Create your own account. It’s free but limited to certain options. However, you can still use the basic options so it won’t result in anything difficult.
• Then you go to the option “New Episode” and start adding the characteristics of what you will upload (title, description, files, etc.)
• It will be really simple since you will have all the steps to follow and within a few minutes, your episodes will be ready.
• You add your title and description.
• You upload the audio file (mp3 formats are recommended, if your file is not an mp3 file, you can change its format with the help of other programmes such as “Atube Catcher”),
• Add a picture as a reference,
• Finally tag it and publish it.

You can see the edit page here: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/845/podomaticedit.jpg/

You can see a sample here:

1. Podomatic Sample [[2]]

Activities

For every activity you will have to send an e-mail to the teacher with your own finished products (four in total)

In all the activities you will be tested on how well you use the tool (the more creative, the better!), the grammatical structures, and the vocabulary you use!

Penzu

You will have to start a new journal. Imagine it’s Garfield's journal and narrate all Garfield’s thoughts about meeting new friends. You can start your journal with the phrase “Today has been a very exciting day, I met two new friends called...” And think of four or five things Garfield and his friends might have done during that day.

Podomatic

For this final activity you will have to record a voice episode in which you narrate the situations you wrote on the journal. You can use the Microsoft voice recorder or you can make a video and extract the audio of it.