Woogi World is super fun!

All right followers… it is time for a new Web 2.0 tool! As an educator, parents often ask me about the safety of their children using computers. I have discovered a virtual world that is dedicated to the safety of children. Woogi World is a virtual educational community designed for grades K-6. Before students are allowed to play certain games, they must first complete a safety course to ensure that they are ready to play on-line. The first set of safety games requires the student to demonstrate that he/she can keep their personal information safe. I was very impressed with the design of the platform and the quality of the safety training. The following statement was taken directly from their website, “Its Woogi Cyber Hero program is universally rated the best cyber safety resource in the United States.”

As the student’s woogi moves throughout the virtual world, he/she will find different buildings to investigate. The building that I will describe here is the Readers Club. Within the Readers Club there are many different games to increase the student’s reading ability. Games such as: Vowel Hound and Grammar Crammer. The Readers Club also contains a room designated the Holo Library. The Holo Library provides a set of free books and Reading Club Member books. The student can read a book and receive a sticker for proofing that they read the book.

I am excited about the possibility of using this virtual environment in my classroom. Students will be able to join together on tasks and learn together in a safe environment. I believe that it is vital for all students to learn how to be safe on-line and this Web 2.0 tool provides students with a safe, fun educational world.










How do you feel about elementary students using a virtual world like Woogi World?

Game Classroom

www.gameclassroom.com

I finally found a new Web 2.0 tool!! I had to try many different tools before finding one that I feel that I can continue to use in my classroom. The gameclassroom.com website is very well organized. The website is designed to be used as a learning tool for students in Kindergarten through sixth grade. Each grade level has a list of math and language arts activities. These activities include printable worksheets, interactive games, and educational videos. Gameclassroom.com also has a section for teachers that includes lesson plans and extension ideas. This site provides me with a tool that will help me to differentiate my instruction. Each of the math games that I tested started at a basic level and progressed to higher levels. The progression was determined by how well I scored on each of the tasks given. For my students, this will allow them to continue to work on any tasks not yet mastered while giving the other students the opportunity to move on when ready.

I am extremely excited about the language arts portion of this web 2.0 tool. Fourth grade is a big writing year! This website provided me with several games that will provide my students with much needed writing practice. For example, Fractured Fairytales is a game that presents the students with a traditional fairytale to read. Then, they must write a new version of the same story. Students are allowed to change characters, plot, setting, and more of the original stories. I am extremely excited about finding this particular game because I was going to have my students do this next week!! Now I am going to be able to allow them to create their stories on-line.

See for yourself and let me know what you think!

Technology 101

Welcome to Technology 101! Since Edmodo does not have a blog option, this is where you can find my class blog. Feel free to make a comment on anything you see here. I am super excited to get started with you all. What is something that you are looking forward to about this course?