Running Head: MANAGEMENT OF WEB 2.

0 TOOLS

Management of Web 2.0 Tools

Lauren Blanton
EDET 746: Management of Technology Resources
September 29, 2015

On my honor as a University of South Carolina (Aiken) student, I have completed my

work according to the principle of Academic Integrity. I have neither given nor received
any unauthorized aid on this assignment.
Lauren E. Blanton

September 29, 2015

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As a math teacher, I am always trying to find a way for class to not be the
dreaded class. Majority of students that I teach already have a pre-conceived notion
about math class before they ever walk into my classroom. I have to fight to change
attitudes of students before they have ever experienced my teaching or my class. I
research ways to get students involved and learning and many of the recommendations
involve some form of technology. Technology is prominent in todays generation than in
any previous generation. From school, to work, to McDonalds, there is some type of
technology in almost everything. With the popularity of technology growing, the ways to
use technology is also growing. We are living in a society where people cannot wake up
without the use of their smartphone alarm. With the virtually endless technology in
todays time, there are being more and more Web 2.0 tools created. Web 2.0 tools are
interactive, online software applications (Brown, 55). Technology is no longer email
and AOL Messenger, technology can be used to do so many other things and Web 2.0
Tools is a way to expand the possibilities.
I have discovered that students will be more willing to complete assignments if
technology is somehow involved. I am always surprised at the difference of attitude
students have when they are allowed to use technology. After all, this generation of
students is web natives and with Web 2.0 tools, students are able to access online
mathematics tools to further assist them in their attempts at accessing the general
education mathematics curriculum (Brown, 55). One of my favorite Web 2.0 tools that I
use often is called Doceri. I learned of this tool during my time as an undergrad from a
professor who used Doceri to record additional help videos to post online. I used Doceri
off and on while completing my undergraduate degree. I recently started incorporating
Doceri into my classroom and using it as a vital tool to my teaching. Doceri is an
application and desktop download that allows the user to mirror their computer screen
through a tablet.
For the tablets, there is an application that is free to download through the Apple
store and Windows store. For desktop computers, there is a Doceri Desktop download.
This download has a free, thirty-day trial. After the thirty-day trial, the user must
purchase the Doceri Desktop for a one-time charge of thirty dollars. I have exceeded my
thirty-day trial and have been coerced to pay for Doceri Desktop. This is definitely thirty
dollars that I did not mind spending. The advantages to Doceri are beneficial to my
students and their learning. Doceri allows me to screencast and export that screencast
as a PDF. I can also record myself talking and record my screencast simultaneously. A
neat feature that I like about the recording portion is that I can pause and resume the
recording. Being able to export the screencast as a PDF makes it easy to upload each
days notes to my class website. This is very helpful to those students who were absent,

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or who just need to be refreshed. This not only gets the notes to my students that were
absent, but it also allows me to keep up with exactly what I have taught my students.
There are very few downfalls to Doceri, as long as you pay for it. I started using Doceri
every day to teach my five classes. With the free desktop trial, I kept receiving an error
message that would eventually not allow me to do anything. When the trial did work, I
had to close out of a pop-up window that told me I was using the trial of Doceri Desktop
about every fifteen to twenty minutes. Avoiding pop-ups is a great reason alone to pay
for the thirty dollars license charge. My students love that I use the Doceri app. My iPad
died one day and I was forced to use my document camera and the students
complained. They did not complain about having to take notes or celebrate the fact that
my iPad died, they simply complained about me not using Doceri. The students also
love it because I allow them to work problems using my iPad. They love playing with the
different options on the application and I have to make sure they stay on task and write
only what they are supposed to. Giving them the opportunity to use my iPad and the
Doceri app helps my students remain focused and on task in class.
Another Web 2.0 Tool that I have become familiar with is Remind, formerly known
as Remind101. Remind is offered as a downloadable application for iOS or Android or
as a website. Remind allows for pre-planned communication to occur (Teaching Tips,
77). Almost every student these days is not just a student. They are an athlete, a big
brother or sister, an extra curricular club member, and more. They do something more
than just come to school to learn. With their busy schedules, and their parents busy
schedules, sometimes students and parents just need a little reminder. Remind is a
great way to remind parents and students of important upcoming dates and assignment
due dates. In the past, Remind has been a successful way to remind students of their
homework assignment or quiz that is the next day. It allows us to avoid those zeros that
no one likes to see in the gradebook. One of the things that I do not like about the
Remind application is that I am limited to 140 characters in the messages I send. With a
desktop computer, I have a little bit more room and I am able to include 300 characters
in the messages. Remind has a check box that says all of the students are over the age
of thirteen. Technically this means Remind should not be used with younger students
but teachers do because this is such a great way to communicate with students and
parents. Remind is quick and easy to sign up. All students need is the class code and
they will text that class code to the Remind number. While this is a messaging site, all
cell phone numbers are kept private. The only thing that users are allowed to see of
each other is their name. Remind is also extremely efficient. I know some days I hardly
have time to breathe, much less send out a reminder to my class. Remind allows
teachers to schedule a message to be sent at a certain time. For example, if I know that

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my class is going to have a test on Friday, I can go ahead and schedule a Remind text
to be sent out Thursday night. This will save me the hassle of trying to remember to
send out a reminder Thursday night. I can also attach files and photos in case I wanted
to send students a study guide or even just a funny picture to help them relax when they
start to do their math homework. I can also record my voice and send students the
recoding of my voice. This would be good to use when what I have to say is longer than
300 characters. Remind also has a chat feature where students can message back and
forth with their teacher. This is good when students have a question that cannot wait
until the next day. This chat feature can be disabled if you do not want students to
message you every time you send out a remind message. The chat feature is similar to
instant messenger or text message, which is very popular among young students today.
While Remind has amazing features, the best part of Remind is that it is completely
free! It is free for both teachers and students with no hidden fees or fees to unlock
certain features.
I can use Remind for many things in my math classroom. Remind is a great way
for me to remind students of any upcoming quiz, test, or assignment due date. Now that
I can attach files, I can send students a review from the class in case someone did not
get all of the notes copied down. I can also work a type of problem to show students
how their homework should be done. Not all students color code their notes, but I could
color code my example that I send them via Remind so they can visually see the
different steps.
The last Web 2.0 tool that I could not live without is Google Apps. Google Apps
are leading us to develop new evaluation and assessment practices (Greenhow,
Hughes, & Robelia, 255). Lately Google has come out with a new addition or update to
their applications regularly. The term Google Apps refer to all of the applications
provided by Google. The most popular Google apps that I use are Google Mail (Gmail),
Google Docs, Google Forms, Google Classroom and Google Sites. The district I work in
has gone to virtually everything Google so I have been forced to, in a way, to figure out
the various Google applications and what all they do. Google Docs is a perfect way to
have a live feed collaboration with other teachers about the upcoming math lesson
plans, even if we cannot meet in person. Google Docs can be used as a substitute
Microsoft Word. The only issue is that sometimes the formatting is off when things are
copied and pasted into the Google Docs. Google Forms is a great way to give tests or to
make surveys, etc. Google Forms will separate the responses how we decide to which
makes grading much easier and time efficient. Some people think they can only use
Google when they are connected to the Wi-Fi. This is not true not because Google has
allowed the capabilities to work offline. Then whenever you connect to wireless again,

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your work should be automatically updated. Our school district also has email through
Google, even though our domain is @spart1.org. Another important Google app to me
is Google sites. Google sites is a website builder. This is very easy and simple to use.
For our district, we are required to have a school webpage and to keep it updated with
recent information. For the reason of time management, I decided to go through Google
sites because the interface is so easy to use and because a Google site is connected to
my drive account. This allows quick and easy access to everything I have in my Google
Drive. In District One, we are also going to be using Google Classroom, especially once
our students are one-to-one with their own Chromebooks. Google Classroom can be
used for turning in assignments, posting the class notes, asking questions, etc. It is a
virtual way to manage a class without having all of the physical pieces of paper to grade.
The downside to Google Classroom is that it is limited with its capabilities. However,
there are still many features about Google Classroom that can be used in a beneficial
way. I can create a Google Form for students to take as their test and upload this form to
the Google Classroom. The form will be connected to their name and they will get the
link from the Google Classroom webpage.
There are countless Web 2.0 tools, and so many of those can be used to directly
benefit the classroom. No Web 2.0 tool is perfect, but some tools are better than others.
With all of the emerging changes in technology, Web 2.0 tools are constantly changing
and updating in order to keep up with the new trends in technology. As educators, we
need to grasp some of these changes and cultivate online lives (Greenhow, Hughes, &
Robelia, 255). Some of the tools are much more difficult to use in a mathematics
classroom than say an English classroom and vice versa. They are thousands of tools
that can be used and many of those can be used across all subjects. While there are
tools that can be used in every class, there are also tools that are content specific.
These tools have the features that are only extremely beneficial and convenient for the
one subject.

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References
Greenhow, C., Hughes, J., and Robelia, B. (2009). Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship
in a Digital Age. American Educational Research Association, Volume(38), pp.
246-259. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20532540?seq=1&cid=pdfreference#references_tab_contents.
Brown, M.R. (2013). Mathematics, Secondary Students With Disabilities, and Web 2.0
Technologies. Technology Trends, Volume 49(1), pp. 54-58. DOI:
10.1177/1053451213480032.
Using Remind101 as a Classroom Communication Tool. (2013). NACTA Journal, pp. 77.
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