Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 Tools and Critique

There are many wonderful aspects of technology. As these tools have developed, we have found many that are useful and have applications in education. With this in mind, I have created a rubric to critique some of the tools available to us as educators.

The five criteria I chose to evaluate are simplicity, learning support, versatility/adaptability, safety/security and availability. Simplicity means that teachers and students can quickly learn to use the tool, it is appropriate for the age-level and most students can quickly learn to navigate through the features with little to no help. I included learning support to evaluate whether or not the tool effectively supports the desired learning. If a tool does not increase knowledge or understanding or help review and solidify knowledge, then it may not be an effective tool to use. Next, I will consider the tool’s versatility and adaptability. To rank high in this area, the technology should be able to be used for multiple areas of study and/or be used in a variety of different ways to enhance learning. It may cover multiple content areas or a teacher may be able to adapt it for individual or group work, as a practice tool or an assessment, etc. Safety and security is a huge issue with current web tools. Our district now has a policy that no tools may be used that require students to create accounts with personal information and all tools must have district approval. There is a list available of approved websites/tools, but you must submit a request to the district technology coordinator to get approval before using anything not on the list. This criterion will be rated based on how much information the student must provide as well as whether or not the tool is made public or able to be completely private. Availability covers both the cost of the tool as well as the available platforms. The tool may be available on smartphones, PC’s, tablets or other devices. Also, it may be free or low-cost (open-source) or even just have a free version available versus a tool that may require a license for each user.

My scale ranges from a 1 to a 5 with one being that it does not meet the requirement and a five meaning that it is an exceptional tool in that area.

Tool:	1	2	3	4	5	Totals
Simplicity
Learning Support
Versatility/Adaptability
Safety/Security
Availability

References

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts: And Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Schrum, L. (2005, August 17). Education World: Technology as a Tool to Support Instruction. Retrieved November 06, 2016, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech004.shtml

Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New tools, new schools. Eugene, Or.: International Society for Technology in Education.