Technology and Computing Services

Web 2.0 Resources for Instructors

A number of web-based resources are available for use in the classroom, whether virtual or physical, and many are free. The links and descriptions below can help you get started.

Social Bookmarking: Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to store, organize, search, and manage bookmarks of web pages on the Internet with the help of metadata, typically in the form of tags. In a social bookmarking system, users save links to web pages that they want to remember and/or share. These bookmarks are usually public, but can be saved privately, shared only with specified people or groups, shared only inside certain networks, or another combination of public and private domains (Wikipedia). Blackboard contains a built-in social bookmarking application, and three other examples of free social bookmarking applications are listed below. There are many others!:

Blackboard Scholar (Log on to Blackboard and access Scholar from the My Homepage tab)
Delicious
Digg (social news bookmarking)
Diigo

Social Networking: A social network is a social structure made of nodes (which are generally individuals or organizations) that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige (Wikipedia). The My Homepage area of Blackboard contains a Building Block that syncs Blackboard with Facebook. Here are three other free examples:

Blogs and Wikis: Questions often arise as to the differences between blogs and wikis. A blog (that word being a combination of the words weB and LOG) is usually a person's (or group's) public journal, containing entries by the blog owner/s, and comments by others when allowed. Blogs might contain images, video, audio files, text, or a combination of all. A wiki (wiki is a Hawaiian word for fast, according to Wikipedia) uses collaboration software to allow multiple user contributions to a community website. Both tools can be powerful in engaging students and creating/maintaining virtual conversations. Some free sites for blog/wiki creation:

Photo Sharing: Photo sharing is the publishing or transfer of a user's digital photos online, thus enabling the user to share them with others (whether publicly or privately). This functionality is provided through both websites and applications that facilitate the upload and display of images. The term can also be loosely applied to the use of online photo galleries that are set up and managed by individual users, including photoblogs (Wikipedia). Some free examples are:

Web Conferencing: Web conferencing allows for audio/visual communication across distances. Using a webcam and headset, users may communicate across distances via the Internet, at no cost to users. Emporia State University uses Adobe Connect Pro as its web conferencing application, but others are freely available for use with limited participants. Some examples are:

PodCasting and Vodcasting: Podcasts and vodcasts allow faculty and students to deliver information in an audio or audio plus video format. The created content is then posted to a podcasting site. Blackboard allows for the uploading of pod and vodcasts. There are multiple options for faculty who wish to incorporate pod/vodcasting into courses. For more information, please e-mail Sandy Valenti or give her a call at 341.6964. There are free podcasting options available outside the Blackboard environment for other uses. Here are a few:

Free Productivity Suites: Microsoft Office is an excellent tool, but not always affordable to students. Thankfully, there are alternatives available at no cost. Here are two options to consider to get students the tools they need: