Teaching and assessment go hand in hand. With the help of clever online quiz tools, the two can be practically seamless and--believe it or not--even fun. Web 2.0 turns testing into a game, a challenge, an interactive experience that teaches as much as it tests.

Multiple choice, multiple learning styles
A quick tour of some of the latest Web 2.0 quiz makers (see links below) will give you a sense of the features, benefits and interesting possibilities. Many have built-in quizzes for subjects like math and science, language arts and social studies, most of which can be customized. You can adapt length and level of difficulty, choose from multiple languages, and modify multiple versions for differentiated instruction. You can also use the tools to create their own quizzes from scratch.

Some tools let you add pictures and sound and even embed video and animation to test questions. Many offer multiple types of questions--from true or false and fill-in-the-blank to multiple choice, multiple question, short answer and even essay.

Tried and tested
Web 2.0 means you can create, administer and grade your quizzes online. Then you can analyze the results and store for future reference. The next time around, you can reuse the same questions or mix old and new based on your experience, your analysis and the composition of your class. There's no reinventing the wheel, no wasted paper, no red pens to lose and locate.

You can access quizzes from anywhere with an Internet connection and share them via email, social media sites, or your own class or school website. All in all it's a more expedient, intelligent approach that will get you thinking about more and more creative ways to teach and assess.

Give and take
It takes innovative new approaches to assess 21st century skills in today's classroom. But along with student portfolios and projects, peer reviews and personal observation, testing plays key role in evaluating knowledge and skills. There is still a vital place for tests and quizzes, one that thus far can't be matched.

Assessments allow teachers to measure more than their students' knowledge. They can also measure the success of their own instruction and curriculum. If the end goal is the meaningful understanding of concepts and facts, then meaningful quizzes are one of the most effective ways to make sure students are getting what they need.

Testing doesn't have to be completely teacher-driven. With Web 2.0, students can take more ownership of the learning process and become more invested in the assessment process. In the old days teachers would "give" a test and students would "take" a test. With this new approach the lines are more blurred. Practice and self-grading quizzes are simple to create and give students the tools to see what they need to master where they need to improve. Knowledge becomes valued for its own sake, not just as it relates to test scores and grades.

Turning the testing model on its head
By making the whole process more interactive, you put students in greater control of their learning, so they're more invested. Rather than top-down, it's more back-and-forth. It's more about learning for the sake of learning, not just for the sake of the grade. Getting the right answer is fun and rewarding; making mistakes is part of the learning process – less punitive, more forgiving, more encouraging.

Interactive multimedia quizzes keep students more engaged in the learning process They're less intimidating, more fun. Students are more motivated to learn

Practice tests are easier to create and administer, so you can do more of them. If student understanding is the ultimate goal, then more quizzes can be more beneficial. And with Web 2.0, quizzes may actually become something students enjoy--rather than dread.

Are you game?
Speaking of practice tests, there are many educational online games that are useful for assessment (see links below). Search for games that reinforce the content you're teaching, then let students have some fun while honing their skills. Just remember to make sure you're not just assessing how well someone plays the game, but how well they have mastered the content. Always keep your eye on the objective, not on the bouncy ball!

ONLINE QUIZ TOOLS

Google Docs
Create online quizzes with the form application for free. This tutorial shows you how.

ProProfs Quiz Maker
Create a quiz, share it with others, and view results instantly. Analytics feature lets you obtain stats on the difficulty level of each question, time taken to complete, quiz popularity and more. Share via email, Facebook, Twitter or embed on your class website.

Quiz Center
A free and comprehensive quiz-making application from Discovery Education. Create and edit customized quizzes using multiple languages and multiple user-friendly options.

QuizStar
Use QuizStar to create online quizzes, disseminate to students, automatically grade and view the quiz results online.

Testmoz
Features include four question types, automatic grading, a really simple interface and detailed reports.

ThatQuiz
Math test activities for K-12.

Zoho
A comprehensive tool for customized, multimedia-enhanced quizzes. Free, Basic, Standard and Premium packages available for a nominal monthly fee.

ONLINE GAMES (for practice and assessment)

Braineos
Flash card games and quizzes

FunBrain Science Games

FunBrain Language Arts Games

NeoK12 Quiz Games
Creative quiz games categorized by grade level.

QTopia
Free online access to thousands of ready-to-use activities, motivating games and avatar features. Educators can use 'as is' or customize the learning experience.

Quiz Hub
Strengthen core knowledge of English and foreign language arts, geography, history, math and science through interactive quiz games.

What is Google Docs?
A. It's like Word, Excel and PowerPoint rolled into one.
B. It's a suite of cloud-based productivity apps.
C. It's a web platform for blogging and multimedia publishing.
D. It's a real-time, online collaboration tool for group projects.
E. It's a secure, convenient place for teachers and students to store work.
F. It's a free set of online tools that's saving school districts serious money.
G. It's all of the above.

You guessed it...
The answer is G: all of the above. Google Docs is a lot of things to a lot of people. It's part word processing program, part spreadsheet and presentation editor. Plus it has cool Web 2.0 features for real-time collaboration and multimedia publishing. It's out in the cloud (meaning it's entirely web-based), simple to use, and absolutely free.

With Google Docs you can create new documents from scratch, search from a library of pre-designed templates, or upload existing documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Then you can edit, enhance and share online. There's no software to install, download, manage or upgrade; no hardware to purchase. All your work is stored safely and securely online and can be accessed from any computer--whether at home, school, your local library or your favorite coffee shop.

What's it good for?
You name it. Here are some top uses:

Tracking & tasks: Keep all your admin files and class notes in one safe and convenient place. You can give students access to things like assignments, class notes and practice quizzes, and even set up a drop-box for homework. In a separate folder you can securely keep grades, student records and other files tucked away for your own use. You control access privileges and can even track who has visited the documents.

Blogging & publishing: Dabble in social media and online publishing without ever leaving the Google family of apps. Encourage students to create and share blogs, book reviews, journals, art and photography portfolios, videos and other creative work.

Collaborating & sharing: Here's where this Web 2.0 tool really shines. Group projects go from ho-hum to lively, interactive learning hubs when everyone has a key role and a stake in the process as well as the outcome. Real-time, online collaboration means students can work and communicate instantaneously with kids across the globe. How cool is that? Plus, through peer review and visual editing tools, students see how everyone's hard work and trial and error builds upon and improves the final product. Try Google Docs for projects in social studies, science, language arts...pretty much any subject you can think of. The possibilities are endless.

Project management: For group projects, teams of students can create their own spreadsheets with roles, assignments and deadlines to keep themselves organized, on task and on track. Individuals can then update the spreadsheet and track progress as they go along. Teachers can also check spreadsheets to make sure students are keeping up, view the revisions history to see who has helped, how often and how much. All this is useful in evaluating individual participation as well as the quality of content.

Create, store and share
Let's say you're sitting at your desk at school. You create a new form, document, presentation, drawing or spreadsheet from scratch in Google Docs and save it. Later at home you go back online and add video to your project or presentation, or create a graph (pie, bar, line or scatter) from your spreadsheet. You save it again. A week later, at the end of your tropical dream vacation, reality begins to set in while waiting at the airport. You take advantage of the free wifi, go back online, polish up your work, and then share it with your students/parents/teachers/the world--your pick.

The ultimate writer's tool
Google Docs is useful for any class that involves writing and revision. For a creative writing or journalism class, it's the perfect app. Click on the link below to learn about a special project Google Docs has going with Weekly Reader's Writing for Teens magazine. You'll find reproducible articles with tips and techniques for revision, along with a teacher's guide.

Teach Collaborative Revision with Google Docs

Templates from A to Z
Use the Google Docs search option to access a variety of templates, lesson plans and other user-created forms, many of them for K-12. There are templates for recording data for science experiments, creating storyboards, making quizzes, recording grades, and much more.

Here's a sample to give you an idea:
20 Google Doc Templates for K-12 Science and Math

Collaborate online in real-time--and on your own time
These days we're all juggling busy schedules--teachers, parents and students alike. The ability to work when it's most convenient for each individual is valuable indeed. By eliminating the need for so many meetings, Google Docs lets you collaborate and contribute from the comfort of your own home, whether at 5 p.m. or 5 a.m., without having to coordinate with everyone else's schedule. You're able to get feedback and edits easily from teachers, students, parents, peers and teammates, and enter updates anytime from anywhere.

Lost zip drive? Assignment left at home?
No problem. Students (and their parents) especially appreciate this tool. It cuts down on last-minute scrambling, lost files, lost pen drives, anxious students, distraught parents. Everyone involved is less stressed and more organized when able to safely store and easily access documents on Google Doc's web-based server. What could be better?

Resources:

Google Apps
Google Docs
Using Google Docs in the Classroom: Simple as ABC
Docs for Teachers page

Tell it to me straight....

To be honest, digital storytelling is not the most dazzling form of multimedia presentation out there, compared with some of the popular rock-video–style projects students like to make with Web 2.0 tools.

But take a closer look (and check out some examples in the Links section below). When done well, with well chosen images, well written narration, a well thought-out structure and just the right sound and effects, digital storytelling can surpass many flashier, faster-paced formats in terms of effectiveness.

As a medium for storytelling it's a powerful art form to be reckoned with. What is a digital story?

It depends on who you ask.

• It's a story told through the creative use of digital tools.
• It's like a slide show or media collage turned into a short film.
• It's used to tell a story (fiction or nonfiction), explain a math problem, or document a science experiment.
• In short, it's a format of presentation used for stories and a whole lot more.

It mixes voice narration (usually your own) with still images (photos or hand-drawn artwork), and often weaves in music and moving images as well.

To many, Ken Burns' "Civil War" series on PBS is the quintessential example. Archival photos mixed with recorded narration and period music made for vivid, poignant storytelling and created an effect that many have sought to replicate ever since.

For K-12 classrooms, digital stories range from simple to complex. Here's a clip that explains the concept and process well:

Digital Storytelling in Plain English

What's a Web 2.0 digital story?

The same as above, but with exciting new possibilities for collaboration and sharing. The latest online technology is taking this decade-old genre to a whole new level with multiple prongs of participation, rich layers of collaboration, and innovative ideas like GPS-enabled place-based storytelling.

Today's digital stories can be created by individuals or collaborative groups and shared online with parents, peers and people all over the world.

What if I'm not ready?

Again, you can keep digital storytelling as simple as you like, based on time factors and grade level (and your own comfort level)--or you can kick it up a notch with added features. The latest online tools make it easy to test the waters.

What's it good for?

Digital storytelling advances literacy (multiple kinds) in multiple ways. Traditional writing, reading and listening skills are reinforced while 21st century ones (digital, information, visual and media literacy skills) are developed along the way. Core subject matter is explored from different angles for deeper understanding; interdisciplinary connections add new layers of context for critical thinking. It's all good stuff.

In addition to first-person narratives and a variety of fiction and nonfiction projects, the digital storytelling format is also used to chronicle historical events, explain step-by-step problems and procedures in math and science. Teachers can also use it to introduce a new unit or liven up a lecture.

Check out these examples to get your own ideas flowing:

All About Abe Lincoln (elementary social studies)
An Egg-cellent Experiment (middle school science)
VoiceThread Digital Library (K-12 examples categorized by subject)

Stories first...

In this animated clip on Digital Storytelling (scroll down to the yellow box), "Miss Hoffman" teaches a valuable lesson: [ http://hubforteachers.discoveryeducation.com/taking-it-digital/examples.cfm ]"A great digital story doesn't come from the computer, it comes from the story itself."

Rule number one: Focus on the storytelling first, then move on to the technology. Your tech tools are there to support the content you want to teach and stories you want to tell--not the other way around. Storytelling is about words, ideas, emotions, spinning a yarn good enough to make people want to hang on 'til the end. There are no bells or whistles, tricky transitions or split-screen effects grand enough to turn a flat story (or presentation) into a compelling one.

Which brings us to rule number two: the audio-visual effects should never overshadow the story. Engage your viewers with the content, don't distract them from it.

Technology comes second

Don't get me wrong. Of course the technology is critical and integral in both the process and the product. It's just that with digital storytelling, the story is paramount, which means the technology takes second place. Okay, a close second.

The process incorporates many useful tech skills: scanning photos and hand-drawn pictures, using a digital camcorder with finesse, experimenting with different online applications, recording (and re-recording) narration, importing music, carefully editing the final product.

The great thing about Web 2.0 is that the technology is now so easy to use, it's become an integral part of the creative process, rather than a separate and potentially frustrating exercise with a steep learning curve.

Best tools for schools

You'll find a range of online tools and software for digital storytelling. But not all have that ability to add voice narration, which is what often makes digital storytelling so effective and authentic.

VoiceThread is one tool that seems to have it all. Along with the audio component, it has clever features for sharing and collaboration. You can add text, images (hand-drawn pictures or photos) and video to build a creative media collage, narrated in your own voice. Next the project takes on new layers as visitors (peers, teachers, parents, relatives) add their own comments by recording voice with microphone or cell phone or even adding video with a web cam.

Other popular tools come courtesy of Microsoft and Apple. PhotoStory 3 lets you add panning and zoom effects, voice recording, and background music. Movie Maker has easy-to-use templates, a drag-and-drop feature that lets you draw pictures and add music or video from your own files. iMovie comes with numerous features plus tutorial videos to walk you through each step of the process.

These and other tools are surprisingly easy to use, even for elementary students. See the links below for more digital tools, creative ideas, classroom examples, and step-by-step instructions to get started.

Tips

• Do prep work upfront. Don't make it up as you go along!
• Outline your story idea on a storyboard or a plain piece of paper. Or try an online storyboarding tool. Make sure you have a beginning, middle and end.
• Gather all your print and digital images, drawings, props, video clips, audio files, etc. Make a list of all your media assets and then try to explain why you chose each one. Make sure images are purposeful and relevant, not gratuitous.
• Pare down your media assets (teachers might want to set a limit for number of images and number of transition effects, so that students put more thought into the selection process).
• Okay, now get started with the digital storytelling tool of your choice and create!

Cool 2.0 Concepts

Digital Storytelling with Google Maps Tips and instructions on place-based storytelling.
Flickr: Six Word Story Collaborative word-based storytelling.
Flickr: Tell a Story in Five Frames Collaborative photo-based storytelling.
Google Lit Trips Collaborative place-based storytelling brings literature and world geography together for K-12 classrooms.
"Life Round Here" Digital Storytelling Project A collaborative project designed to help students around the world understand what school is like for others.
ShowBeyond A multimedia slidecast creator, online publishing platform and story-sharing community.
Storybird Collaborative art-based storytelling tool that reverses the process of visual storytelling by starting with the image and "unlocking" the story inside.
StoryMapping Place-based storytelling projects using GoogleMaps, Flikr, Windows Live virtual tours, GPS, cell phones and more.

Cool Tools

Audacity (sound editor)
iMovie (Apple)
iPad Apps for Digital Storytelling (Apple)
KidsVid (storyboarding tool)
Mixbook
Movie Maker (Windows)
MyBrainshark
Photo Story 3 (Microsoft)
VoiceThread
Yodio

Teacher Tips + Resources

Art and Digital Storytelling in Education
Digital Quill
Digital Storytelling Cookbook
Digital Storytelling Guide
Down and Dirty with Digital Storytelling
KQED's Digital Storytelling Initiative
Microsoft's Digital Storytelling eBook
Sample Rubrics and Storyboards for Digital Storytelling (Discovery Education)
VoiceThread 4 Educators Wiki
VoiceThread Digital Library of Projects
Web 2.0 Storytelling: The Emergence of a New Genre

EXAMPLES

Elementary
K-2 VoiceThread examples
Grades 3-5 VoiceThread examples
Movie Maker – elementary student examples
The Monster Project
Weather Picture Writing

Middle/High School
Grades 6-8 VoiceThread examples
Streetside Stories – YouTube channel – 6th grade?
Tech Tales – digital stories by 7th graders
Grades 9-12 VoiceThread examples
The Journey – 9th grade student
Book Trailers by high school students

There are many, many reasons to use animation in the classroom, but let's be real. The biggest reason of all is that it's just plain fun.

And is there anything wrong with that? Animation captivates students and keeps them on task. It might even make them laugh, which is no bad thing. Integrating cartoons in your lessons is a smart way to break up the regular routine and make students look and think twice. Compared to a still presentation or static piece of paper, it's much more likely to pique their interest and keep them engaged. And isn't that the whole point?

Comic Relief

There are countless ways to take advantage of Web 2.0 animation tools in the classroom. You can jazz up lessons and lectures, illustrate creative stories or scientific concepts. Liven up otherwise dry content with a quick cartoon or two; break up your usual pattern with something off-beat and unexpected.

Serious Stuff

There are just as many (if not more) ways to cover serious, complicated subject matter with Web 2.0. Science is one of the most popular areas for animations, and it's easy to see why. Having visual simulations of complex scientific processes is invaluable, whether you're a visual learner or not! For instance, on EdHeads.org you can design a stem cell line or a cell phone, conduct virtual brain surgery, examine animations of simple and compound machines. How cool is that?

Creative Release

Students really get a kick out of creating their own animations. It puts them in control of their characters and creations (and hence of their learning). It teaches about the power of storytelling and visual communication. Students learn to look at things from more than one perspective, and to experiment with different ways to visually represent ideas and concepts.

Wearing their movie-producer hats, students can create a short movie in GoAnimate or a talking avatar with Gizmoz or Voki. They can "cartoonize" themselves (or anything from a historical figure to a family pet) and animate their mouths with Blabberize. Avatars can recite a poem or deliver a book or history report.

Building Skills

Working with online animation tools, students get immersed in several areas of the creative process: storyboarding, scripting, character development, cartooning, sound effects, music mixing, editing and recording. These can all hone reading, writing and listening skills, along with the four C's: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creative problem-solving.

To get a glimpse of the possibilities, check out what the folks at MIT are up to at Scratch.com. Using this clever site, middle school kids can create their own cartoons and collaborate on group stories and projects. Teachers can use it as a resource to teach computer programming, math, science, social studies and language arts.

"Night at Dreary Castle" serves as a stellar example of what's possible with Web 2.0. Produced by a team of nine Scratchers, it is collaborative storytelling at its best. For two months, the team continually revised and improved the project, creating more than 30 different versions before releasing the final project.

Beginning, middle and end

Kids can use online tools to create short video clips or grab and edit existing clips. Or they can create a complete video of their own from scratch. This is a valuable learning experience indeed. The key is to approach the process in a systematic way so they're not thrown in a loop somewhere in the middle.

The most valuable lesson of all for kids of all ages? Don't make it up as you go along! Have your story outlined in advance! Learn what's involved in scriptwriting and storyboarding, and build in adequate time for both. And before you dive deep into the project, get your media and ducks all in a row: video clips, still images, music, sound effects; plus scenery, props, costumes, puppets and whatever else strikes your fancy.

Brainstorm, assign tasks, work as a team, and have a blast doing it. Just make sure to have a beginning, middle and end. Keep your eye on the big picture and the little details at the same time.

The rest is easy (thanks for Web 2.0). Choose one of the many free video tools available online (see resources below). Edit scenes, record narration or sound effects, mix it all up, add music and credits. Share with parents, peers, teachers and kids in different countries throughout the world by uploading to a class or school website.

Th.Th.Th. That's all folks!

Actually, it's just the beginning. Check out the resources below and take some time to play around with a few of them. After all, teachers need to have fun too!

Animation Examples

Telling Stories with Scratch
Three Little Pigs (starring elementary students)
The Rock Cycle (animated by an 8th grader)
Macbeth (animated Shakespeare!)

Web 2.0 Animation Tools

Blabberize
GoAnimate
DomoAnimate
DoInk
Scratch
Kerpoof
Voki for Education
Gizmoz
ImaginationCubed
Make Believe Comix
Flipbook
Zimmer Twins – (for elementary students)

Tools + Resources for Teachers

BrainPop
EdHeads
EduMedia Junior – interactive simulations for science teaching
Science's 10 Most Beautiful Physics Experiments
Scratch Animation in the Classroom
Drawing Together (creative ideas for teaching kids about basics of animation)
How Animation Aligns with Learning Standards

Once upon a time, students and teachers relied on an A/V room full of cumbersome equipment to produce, edit or show video. The process was time-consuming, clunky, and intimidating to those who didn't consider themselves "technical."

Thanks to Web 2.0, this is no longer the case. The playing field has been flattened--meaning that pretty much anyone can produce, mix and mashup video with minimal training. And then share it with the world (via email, on a blog or class website, uploaded to YouTube or downloaded to a computer).

In short, video no longer has to be such a big production.

To see just how simple it really is, check out this 60-second overview from the popular online tool Animoto.com. This is just one such tool that works magic to create unique video pieces from your photos, video clips, audio and music.

Redefining video

The term "video" is used for a wide range of creative applications in the world of Web 2.0. It can mean moving still images with audio and music added; a multimedia mix of video clips, animation and still images; or video clips in the traditional sense, which are incorporated into projects or presentations done on computers or interactive whiteboards.

Online video tools are used to:

• create video clips from scratch
• import and insert existing video clips into a web 2.0 project or presentation
• edit video clips together to produce a unique multimedia presentation
• set still images to motion with sound to create a video-like experience

What's the goal?

To enhance teaching and learning. Video is a powerful way to engage students, to deepen understanding of core content and concepts, to build new levels of collaboration among students and teachers. Video grabs attention and engages students in ways few other mediums can match. And for visual learners, it's invaluable.

Where's the connection?

It's now easier than ever to locate high-quality, curriculum-related video clips and to integrate them into everyday lesson plans. You'll find plenty of relevant content online – on any topic from history to literature to music, for any grade level K-12.

Historical footage transports students through time, while virtual field trips take students around the globe or into space. Video can be incorporated into virtually all core subject areas to illustrate difficult concepts or explore different cultures. Through the camera's eye students can now see the inside of the human body, the bottom of the ocean floor, the distant realms of newly discovered galaxies and planets.

Check out Discovery Education streaming to get an idea of the possibilities. Curriculum-based, standards-aligned video clips created by the Discovery Channel can be used in a variety of creative ways to complement your teaching.

Ready, set, go

Okay, we all know that students learn more deeply when they're more engaged with the content. They're also more likely to be enthused about an upcoming assignment when it's introduced in a fun and interesting way from the start.

Click on the triangle in the center of this screen to see how one teacher introduced a unit on the Bill of Rights. With online tools you can easily create a video like this of your own. Or, even easier, you can browse through countless such clips already created and ready to be shared.

Check out other ways fellow educators are using Animoto in the classroom to get ideas of your own.

From this page you can link to the following examples:

• The Alphabet (phonics)
• Funky Function Notation (math)
• Civil Rights Presentation (social studies)
• Bridge Building (physics and engineering)

Hands-on Collaboration

It sounds too good to be true. But for an example of how these tools truly open up lines of communication and build collaboration between student and student and student and teacher, check out this link. In this VoiceThread project, students and teachers take turns illustrating examples, demonstrating understanding, asking questions and explaining answers in their own words. There's give and take, genuine curiosity, and an authentic learning experience all around.

Triangle Scavenger Hunt

With VoiceThread you can upload or import images, record video and voices, and annotate with your own drawings and figures to make a collaborative media project.

Process over product, content over technique

Here's one of the best things about these new video tools: By making video more accessible to non-technical types, the focus is less on the technology and more on the content itself. That means that projects can focus on creative expression and skills like research, critical thinking, making interdisciplinary connections, and both traditional and digital literacy. Students can drive the project without the technology getting in the way. It becomes an authentically student-centered process, which is a wonderful thing indeed.

VIDEO EXAMPLES
Elementary

• Mathlete: Number-line subtraction with sports questions
• Tree House TV: REALLY Big Numbers
• Study of Earthworms
• Skype Book Club – MLK
• Red Roosters Don't Drink Rootbeer – reading comprehension

Secondary

• Envirothon – NJ High School
• George Washington Carver
• KeepingScienceReal: Soda Pop Experiment
• Media Arts Project
• Save Our Planet
• A Capella Festival

WEB 2.0 VIDEO TOOLS

• Animoto
• Kids' Vid
• JayCut
• Jing
• KidsTube
• Masher
• Math A Tube

INSTRUCTION + RESOURCES

• Vimeo Video School: Free lessons and tutorials
• VoiceThread for K-12 Overview
• Inserting Video into SMART Notebook 10
• Discovery Education Streaming Plus

Blah, blah, blah.

You've been there. Sitting in a conference or meeting, trying to keep your eyes and mind focused on the topic. Listening to the speaker read the bullet points on the big screen. There's nothing more boring than a dull presentation.

Now put yourself in your students' shoes. When you're presenting a lesson or outlining a new assignment, are your kids on the edge of their seats? Or looking dazed and confused...

Bye-bye, bullet points.

It's time to push the boundaries of traditional presentations, mix things up, and make learning more engaging and interactive than ever before.

Web 2.0 makes it easy to say goodbye to passive slide shows. The new generation of presentation tools allows you to collaborate and share with peers rather than reinvent the wheel. Many are non-linear, which promote critical thinking (and reflect the way we really think!) You can create professional-quality content in a snap, and easily customize it with your own creative flair. The days of tired old cookie-cutter templates are through.

To me, the real beauty of these Web 2.0 tools is this: Rather than spending hours learning and troubleshooting new technology, teachers and students can focus on the subject matter at hand. Which--unless you're teaching a tech class--is really what it's all about.

Maximize engagement.

There are so many cool new presentation tools out in the "cloud," it's hard to know which to choose and where to begin. They're free, easy to use, and accessible to all. (Check out our Presentation Tools section for links)

But the question is, why use them in the first place?

The short answer: To keep students engaged.

For teachers, these tools provide an innovative new way to present lessons--and even complex assignments--in a more clear and compelling way. To spark curiosity and deepen understanding.

For students, these web tools present creative ways to explore different learning styles, make interdisciplinary connections, collaborate, communicate, and demonstrate understanding of core subject matter and concepts. Plus, they're just plain fun.

Compelling, effective communication.

What makes a great presentation? Compelling images, carefully chosen words, multiple media that work together to make an impact. Design that's purposeful, not just decorative. Images that convey emotion, that speak for themselves.

Watch this contest-winning presentation to get an idea of the possibilities with Web 2.0. Then decide which you think would be more effective: Lecturing students about the dangers of smoking, or showing this Slideshare presentation?

Smoke! (Slideshare's World's Best Presentation Contest 2010)

Student samples

Check out these fun examples of elementary student presentations using Glogster, the simple online tool that lets kids create their own multimedia "posters" online.

Hot Dog Book Reviews
Volcanoes of All Kinds
Thomas Paine
Samples in all subject categories

Teacher samples

With its non-linear "bubble" approach to presentations, Prezi makes every subject seem a bit more compelling. Here are some examples from middle- and high-school teachers:

Solar System Prezi-tation
Math is Not Linear
Types of Poetry

How do I learn thee? Let me count the ways...

By now most American educators have embraced the idea of multiple intelligences--of different kinds of "minds" and different styles of learning.

Whether you subscribe to Howard Gardner's 8 kinds of minds--Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Spatial, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Naturalistic--or the broader VAK (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) categorization, you recognize that teaching and learning is not one-size-fits-all.

No one expects you to customize a lesson in 8 different ways for the 8 different kinds of minds in your class. But with Web 2.0, it's a distinct possibility.

Because of the wide range of high-quality online apps, it's possible to base your choice of technologies on your knowledge of individual learning styles in your classroom--or to suggest a selection of suitable apps and then see where students gravitate.

The goal is to find stimulating ways for students to use their intelligences productively and then to display their understanding in ways that play to individual strengths.

Example one: Interpersonal
Say you've identified a segment of your class as having "interpersonal" intelligence. "Social smart" people learn best through interaction with others--through collaboration, discussion, social engagement. In many ways, Web 2.0 is the perfect platform.

Check out the "Community Tools" sections for a range of tools that enable students to communicate, collaborate and share work. Kids can write their own blogs, create their own social networks and wikis, share SMART Board files, and collaborate in real time using Google Docs. Video conferencing (like Skype) and video tools (like Animoto) are also ideal for learners who like to act in skits and interact face-to-face.

Example two: Visual
"Picture smart" people are drawn to visually presented information. Visual learners tend to organize their thinking spatially or "think in pictures." Web 2.0 offers countless ways to engage such students and to spark ideas in all kinds of learners. Through creative exercises like digital storytelling, many individuals develop a deeper interest in subjects like history than would be possible with a plain research report.

With free online apps, kids can create storyboards, illustrate timelines, draw maps, edit photos, color-code and graphically organize presentations. Check out the "Presentation Tools" section for ideas and links to creative tools like Prezi (in which kids design on a virtual canvas) and 280 Slides (which lets kids create their own presentations from scratch.)

Reaching every learner
"Word smart" (Verbal/Linguistic) people learn best through language--reading and writing, listening and speaking. Blogs, podcasts, wikis, Nings and Twitter are all great vehicles for verbal learners. "Music smart" people learn and express themselves best through auditory means. Have them choose or compose music for presentations or be the "sound person" for movie-making projects. Check out video tools like XtraNormal and Animoto for inspiration and ideas.

These examples are just the beginning. Go explore!

Literacy redefined?
Literacy is traditionally defined as the ability to read and write. But with students and society at large now immersed in digital technology, does the definition stay the same? Yes and no.

Reading and writing are here to stay. Whether on paper or screen, the written word is vital and relevant.

Rather than changing, it's more that the definition of literacy is expanding. But when it comes to print literacy vs. media literacy, opinions run high. Will the latter diminish the former? Will the former become irrelevant? Will wikis replace Weekly Readers? Will Twitter-addicted teens have the skills to complete a ten-page term paper?

Let's take one step back.

What is print literacy?
The terms "literacy" and "print literacy" are often used interchangeably. So basically, it's about the ability to read, write and comprehend. From there, there are levels of fluency and skill. Sustained, silent reading--the type where you read a novel or "chapter book" in a quiet corner or in bed each night--is still the most widely advocated type of reading and so far the best way to measurably improve literacy skills.

What is media literacy?
The term is used to mean two different but related things: 1) the ability to create messages in a variety of media and 2) the ability to critically analyze messages from a variety of media. The first skill involves writing, the second involves reading and comprehension--all key components of basic literacy.

In other words, you can't have media literacy without print literacy. The former depends on the latter, which is not going away any time soon.

Once you've stopped worrying about the demise of print literacy, it's time to embrace media literacy. Read Web 20.10: Media Literacy to get up to speed in a hurry.

With the explosion of the Internet and social media, students need the critical thinking skills to assess the quality and validity of content; to weed through marketing messaging; and to digest large amounts of information from a variety of sources--both print and electronic.

What's the difference?
Aside from the obvious, much of it comes down to information flow and user experience. In the world of Web 2.0, user-generated information flows in multiple directions. With print, the information travels in just one direction--from the page to the reader. Digital information is nonlinear and organized in different ways, thus requiring new ways of navigating, using and sharing.

So is print literacy becoming irrelevant?
On the contrary, one could argue that print literacy (or just plain "literacy") is more important now than ever. In the new "knowledge economy" the emphasis will be on producing ideas, knowledge and information, rather than manually producing goods and services. Today's students need to be reading more, writing more, and engaging in higher level analysis.

The optimal balance
The most effective approach is to integrate print and digital materials--to reflect the world in which we live. Teachers should provide a range of reading experiences--both print and onscreen--and open students up to the range of writing possibilities afforded by user-generated media.

When it comes to assigning multimedia projects, teachers should keep literacy top of mind. Does the project involve careful reading, clear written expression, evidence of deep comprehension? How much text is involved? If it's mainly captions and bullet points, should the project be supplemented with a written essay?

Be mindful of the balance, and it will be a richer educational experience all around.

When it comes to Web 2.0, content is king. This cliché pops up a lot in the digital space, but was does it mean in the context of the K-12 classroom?

It means keeping your core learning objectives front and center. Making sure tech solutions support your curricular goals. Embracing the best of the web to maximize student engagement, while keeping the bells and whistles (and distractions) in check.

Subject matter matters
Unless you're teaching a technology class, the tech should be secondary to the subject at hand. That doesn't mean it's not important. When used effectively, the right web tool can dramatically enhance the lesson, and deepen student understanding of subject matter in measurable ways. You just need to be careful to stay on topic and not let the "wow" effect overshadow the academics.

Let assessment do the driving
One way to do this is to make sure content is paramount in your assessment. It's not just about how you present or share but what you present or share and what you learn during the process. This should count heavily. That way, students will know upfront where the priorities lie and put things in perspective along the way.

Older students should put themselves in the teacher's (or audience members') shoes and ask themselves:

- Does this use of technology enhance the learning? Or is it extraneous?
- Do I have a deeper understanding of this concept better now? Or am I distracted?

Analyze before you dive in
There are so many cool online tools that it's hard to know which ones to choose. Start at the Web 20.10 site to check out the range of top-pick apps. Then spend some time fiddling around with various tools to familiarize yourself with what does what. There's no need to download, and you can master many of these tools in minutes.

Then, before assigning a lesson, break it down into parts and think about what kind of tech integration makes sense. First ask if tech integration makes sense for all or part of your assignment. Are there engaging ways to enhance learning? If so, then go for it! Ask yourself: Which components are most conducive to collaboration or interactivity? How could web tools be used to engage different styles of learning, e.g., audio, visual, kinetic?

If you go with a multimedia presentation model, will you also have students supplement with a formal written essay? If not, how much text should you expect? (It's hard to display mastery of a concept with simple captions!)

Substance trumps style
There have never been so many free and easy-to-use online apps. Having too many high-quality tools at your disposal is a good problem to have. But too much choice is a time-waster and not good for anyone.

Set some limits to keep your students on task so they don't get distracted or sidetracked by the bells and whistles. You may want to set parameters on things like numbers of fonts, animation and sound effects, in order to keep the focus on the content.

Same as it ever was...
In the end it really comes down to common sense. Keep your learning objective front and center and the rest will follow. When technology is truly integrated, the tech is so routine you barely notice it's there.

Links:

Web 2.0 Tools – picks from Discovery Education

Web 2.0 Rubrics – Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators