21 Web 2.0 Tools for Lecturers
I have now attended 4 Universities in a few different States (both physical and mental) and have come to the conclusion that most lecturers use the tools available to deliver their content in a way that either “gets the job done” or “attempts to engage” the students. It takes a particular type of lecturer to go out on a limb, use new tools, and attempt to engage students in University life, with tools that they may use regularly in their social life(or may never even heard of). It is a risky strategy due to the negative outlook of many of our society(no matter what the situation), but a particularly rewarding outcome if significant impact is made in the field in which they lecture. I have identified some Web 2.0 tools which can be used, no matter what the subject content
- Confluence Wiki is one of the leading collaboration tools available – for Lecture material, communication, project management – essential
- Mediawiki for those who have no resources – free and no more excuses
- Wikipedia is the first point of contact for most assignments – adding references directly will often guide students in their search
- Tweetdeck is an aggregator of Twitter content – enabling up to date data to be accessed on any subject
- WolframAlpha the most semantic search engine available in the sciences/technology/engineering fields
- Google search is often ignored as many users fail to understand detailed or more in depth functionality
- Podcasting Tools is a resource in keeping content available in perpetuity
- Delicious is a resource that not all students use – why? they aren’t aware – having an online resource for lecture material is invaluable
- Flickr pictures add interest, and browsability to online content
- 12seconds is a short video service – fun content fast
- WordPress is an alternative to students submitting assignments formally, ongoing assessment visible to the world
- Mindomo mindmapping online
- Twitter can be a great resource, or a stadium full of people shouting, depending on how it is structured and used
- Google Docs is a free collaborative office suite, which enables users to create and share content – also allows concurrent editing
- meebo is a multinetwork instant messaging service running in the browser, allows one-on-one chat or rooms to share media and web sites
- stumbleupon “discovers” web sites based on preferences,a nd allows collaboration of interesting sites
- basecamp is a leading web based project management tool
- Bloglines is an aggregator of any blogs – makes the search easy
- prezi is a great alternative to powerpoint, operates in a similar way to a whiteboard – yet online for free
- Google street view what or where in the world are we talking about
- web 2.0 tools and applications great resource for many web 2.0 tools
It’s pleasing to note, that QUT has several lecturers that are leading the way in content delivery and engagement
3 Comments
Hey pete,
Nice post. I think you’ve compiled a great list there.
I agree that it is pleasing to see lecturers like Jason Watson trying to actively engage the students via tools such as those you’ve listed. Take for instance the Twitter conversation students were having in the lecture with the librarians.
I fear however that using online tools like Twitter in that way can also have a negative affect on students. Being an IT student, it is somewhat sad that students are often shy and not willing to engage themselves in class discussion. I suppose the online Twitter conversation gave students otherwise unwilling to offer a contribution an outlet to do so, but it also gives them the ability to shy away even more instead of being brave and speaking out.
What do you think?
-Ben McCallum
thanks for the comment Ben
I have spent a bit of time over the weekend discussing this with a friend, and we both agreed that a lot of IT students are introverted, so their personality does not often encourage them to openly engage in conversation or get out there in the community(online or real)
Twitter does give another opportunity at engagement, and if some students who would not normally comment or participate start to contribute, then this tool does have some value – but definitely agree that is is best used as an addition to other tools
Perhaps as a reference type tool (e.g linking to more detail), or information distribution tool again referring to other areas
Awesome blog!
I thought about starting my own blog too but I’m just too lazy so, I guess I‘ll just have to keep checking yours out.
LOL,