Edmodo

Try out Edmodo! It is touted as the Twitter of the Education world. I would say it is a very basic version of Blackboard. It has the ability to create a class and distribute the group id to your students. They log in without needing an email. Then they can chat with the entire group- not each other. The teacher can create a calendar and post assignments. You can also have students upload their assignments here. It then emails the teacher to let you know the student has submitted their work. It is a great tool. Try it out.

Kick You Tube

This is the coolest. I discovered this Web2.0 thanks to some fellow plurkers.
Kick YouTube is a way to convert a YouTube video to another file format. Zamzar is a great tool but has several steps, this is faster and does not require the wait time.
Directions:
Find a YouTube video you like.
In the URL, replace the www. with the word kick Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q Replaced http://kickyoutube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q
Hit enter
Select the file format you want- examples are mp4, flv, avi, etc.. then click the green GO button to the far right.
When you see the Blue Down button right click and do save target as and save your file.

VozMe.com

Want to hear your text converted to speech? Here is a great tool to see if your students have written their words clearly enough to be read correctly. Go to http://vozme.com and then copy this text into the box. Then click the button Create MP3. You can select a male or female voice.
You can add speech to your browser or your website. You can add Spanish or English. Have fun.

JamStudio.com

Playing with JamStudio.com. I have no idea how to write music or play an instrument, but this is a great site for students to create their own music and it is free. I am working on how to save the song I have created. It is really fun to play with adding the scale and then the instrument. You start in the upper left area and select the notes you want to play such as A, B, C, C, B and then select the instrument below. You can select from guitar or piano as well as other instruments. You can preview your audio as you go.
Try it out.
Again, thank you to Tammy Worchester at Podstock 2009 for showing me this Web 2.0 Tool.
Velma

Vocaroo Audio Email

Here is a Vocaroo audio file. It is simple to create.


Go to Vocaroo.com
Click on Record and simply record your audio.
Then select email or Post on the Internet. If you want to embed your vocaroo on a blog as I did here. You select Post on the Internet. Then it provides you with a data path. Copy the data path and then open your blog. Find the edit html area and paste the data path directly into the text field.
This should embed your file into your blog!
Enjoy.
Velma

Web 2.0 new tools, new schools

You might want to check out the book Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum. We did!

Web 2.0 Blog

Want more Web 2.0 tools? There is a list on this blog. Additionally, we would highly recommend the book called Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools by Gwen Soloman and Lynne Schrum. It is published by iste, International Society for Technology in Education.