Web 2.0 - So many choices...
The first Web 2.0 tool I found that interested me was Yahoo! Answers: http://answers.yahoo.com/. This web 2.0 tool reminded me of Ask Jeeves which was a search engine for asking questions. Ask Jeeves ran from 1996-2006. Yahoo! Answers is a collaborative site where you can ask questions, answer questions and discover best answers. The concept is simple. I like that you can also search or ask by categories. There is a section entitled Education & Reference that is also broken down into subcategories. Students can ask for help with their homework, teachers can ask for advice; it is a place to share information around a specific topic.
To get set up, you simply sign in using your Yahoo email and password. You answer a few quick profile questions and have the option to create an avatar, import a picture, or use a yahoo placeholder. In your profile area you can select if you want your answers to be sent directly to your email so you know when your question has been answered. You can also choose whether your information will be displayed or held private.
I would use Yahoo! Answers as a reference tool to update my materials or technology tools as I am preparing lessons, to ask others' advice concerning parent or discipline issues, and for sharing ideas that worked well in my classroom. As a fairly new teacher, one of my mentors stressed to me the importance of helping new teachers find their way in the profession. Yahoo! Answers would be a wonderful tool for reaching out and easily assisting other teachers in need.
Yahoo! Answers could also be used with my students. This would be a fun tool to use on the projector to answer student questions. The print rich media would be a new way to embed concepts of print as students receive answers to their question of the day. Students could circle sight words, count punctuation and practice word sweeps. Kindergarteners would love to see the concrete word answers to their abstract question.
As a teacher, you could also post a comprehension question before class, read a story, and have the students answer the question themselves. They would feel a sense of pride and ownership to have their answer posted on a web site.
References
[computer]. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from: Stock.xchng: http://www.sxc.hu/
Interesting site!
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