Web 2.0 tools are becoming very popular among educators who want to integrate technology in the classroom. These tools are readily available to anyone with an Internet connection and are often one of the easiest ways to engage students and encourage collaboration in the classroom. This list of free web 2.0 tools is by no means complete, but it does provide a wide range of tools that would be useful to educators:
Claroline - Teachers around the world use this open source software to create and manage online courses and learning environments. Claroline supports 35 different languages.
Wetpaint - Wetpaint can be used to create free social websites. This tool is excellent for classroom projects. Sites are easy to build and can include text, videos, photo galleries, tables, polls, attachments, and other types of content.
mind42 - Mind42 is a free mind mapping (visual brainstorming) application that works in your browser. The app offers impressive features and works well for classroom collaboration.
SnapGrades - SnapGrades is a web-based gradebook. Teachers can use the free version of this book to print grades and store grades online.
RubiStar - This free online tool helps educators create rubrics for different types of class projects. RubiStar can be used alone or integrated into class management systems like Moodle and Blackboard.
TU Lesson Planner - Teacher Universe offers this free lesson planner to help teachers plan standards-based lessons and 2.0 learning experiences.
Quiz Center - This free online tool from Discovery Education creates, administers, and grades quizzes online. The tool is simple to use and fully customizable.
ProProfs - ProProfs provides an amazing selection of web-based tools for teachers. The free tools can be used to create online quizzes, polls, flash cards, and brain games.
Flash Card Machine - This web 2.0 tool creates web-based flash cards that can be placed on customizable pages for individual students or entire classrooms. Cards can be text-based or audio-based and support image insertion.
World Lingo - WorldLingo is an excellent tool for language learning classrooms. This free translator can translate text and web pages into multiple languages.
Twiddla - Twiddla is a web-based whiteboard. Classrooms can use Twiddla to brainstorm, share images and text, or browse the web together.
Gickr - Gickr instantly creates animated photos and slideshows using basic photos. Completed Gickr projects can be imbedded into web pages or blogs.
EduSlide - This free software allows teachers to create online courses and web-based lesson plans. Content can be presented through wikis, slideshows, blogs, and testing modules.
Web-Chops - This free 2.0 tool is perfect for teachers who want to share bits of the web with their students. Web-Chops allows users to clip web page sections and reorganize them on a single topic page that can be shared with other people.
Jing - Jing is free, cross-platform software that can be used to add screen shots and videos of on-screen action to online conversations. Recorded material can be shared over the web, through email, and via IM chat.
Vyew - Vyew is a live web conferencing tool that can be used for online meetings, presentations, and real-time collaboration.
Vocaroo - This free voice recording service couldn't be any easier to use. You simply click one button to record, another to stop, and a third to play back the recording.
Yahoo! Media Player - Yahoo's free media player makes it easy to imbed and play audio recordings on web pages and blogs. This player is great for language teachers, music teachers, and other educators who want to share audio files with students.
Edutagger - This social bookmarking site for K-12 teachers is a good place for educators to find web 2.0 tools that have been reviewed and implemented in the classroom.
The Apple - The Apple is a social network where teachers come together to talk about technology, web 2.0 tools, lesson planning, and other education topics.
Guest post from Karen Schweitzer, the About.com Guide to Business School. Karen also writes about online classes
for OnlineClasses.org.