Collaborative Web Tools

I am currently working towards obtaining my master's in education with a certificate in instructional technology. One of my objectives as a student is to find and assess collaborative web tools in used in education today. I had access to not only my own reviews but was able to collaborate and view the assessments of my peers. This opened up a plethora of opportunities for me to try new things in my classroom with my students but why is this important?

The field of education is continuously changing. Teachers are always having to learn and adapt to stay on top of the new trends and learning methods for students. Using technology is a huge factor in student enrichment and engagement in today’s classroom. Finding ways to incorporate technology as resources for students to learn is a must. Growing demands in the workforce for individuals who can comfortably and fluently adapt and use different types of technology are changing the ways we teach. According to the ISTE standards for students, being a global communicator entails that, “Students use digital tools to broaden their perspectives and enrich their learning by collaborating with others while working effectively in teams locally and globally” (ISTE,2016).

Collaborative web tools allow teachers to seamlessly integrate both technology and collaboration among students. Using engaging apps or platforms for students to work in teams to complete assignments or research a project allows students to think, adapt, grow, team build, and work both locally but also can work globally while collaborating. The internet is full of apps, websites, blogs, and other platforms that promote student collaboration. My peers and I have discussed and deemed that good collaborative web tools have several major points. They must be free or low cost, easy for both teacher and student to use, be credible (name of creator or site maintained), and student engagement.

Thinking of trying to use some collaborative web tools in your own classroom but don't know where to start? The three that I chose to evaluate where Edmodo, Twitter, and Diigo. Another popular one that has an easy platform to learn is Google Classroom. All of these serve a specific purpose so make sure you research and see which one would work best for what you are trying to accomplish with your students.

References

ISTE Standards FORSTUDENTS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 22, 2017, from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students