Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers- Get there!

• Do you have a blog?
• Do you twitter?
• Do you use Youtube in your lessons?
• Have you got an active e mail?
• Do you have Facebook?

If you answer no to two of these questions, I say GET THERE PEOPLE!! Despite feeling incapacitated sometimes when it comes to technology in my own school, I try my best to keep abreast with the latest  in technology. Ask yourself when was the last time you use power point in your lessons to provide that variety? Huh? Powerpoint? Are we still talking about this age old tool? I read somewhere that people are just tired of powerpoint (read 'Death by Powerpoint'). This reminds me of that particular lesson where a good twenty minutes was wasted just trying to get connected to an LCD (sweat and all) and one of the students commented in our class journal that she preferred if I didn't use powerpoint at all! Well, who can blame when getting connected itself was a real pain. Having said that, we all know that technology is important to improve our repertoire as teachers and  it is effective especially for the slower learners (I believe there are no good or weak learners, just fast or slow).

Hence,we need to embrace new technologies so learning can be more fun and effective.

'New tools are emerging all the time, many not originally intended for education, but which can be put to good use by students and teachers alike to extent opportunities, enhance learning potential and develop the level of digital literacy that students will need for the 21st century.' (nikpeachey.blogspot.com)

Some of these tools are free and they are very useful tools for the language teacher. For a good explanation of freewares using Web 2.0 technologies for teachers you can download the E-book here- Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers. Happy reading! I've also linked the e-book on the left sidebar.