Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 tools have made people active participants in technology and content creators. They have broadened the focus of using the Internet and technology as a tool to access information to a tool to access other people as well. Web 2.0 tools provide many benefits and advantages when used productively in learning environments and activities. They provide opportunities for interaction, communication, collaboration, and knowledge creation. They also are fairly easy to use after users spend time playing around and exploring their features and are flexible in the ways they can be applied. Web 2.0 tools also afford learners with writing and technology skills they will need to be competitive and successful in the workforce someday.

 As more tools are developed, it will be important to be continually evaluating their effectiveness and use in education. I think one of the key factors I will pay extra attention to will be how authentic and productive the collaboration is that the tool affords. Web 2.0 tools help learners be active participants in their education and a large part of that is being able to communicate with others, consider their viewpoints and perspectives, and then make new meaning from what they learn. 

Web 2.0 tools can have pitfalls in their application that include technical problems, easy of use, appropriateness, and how time consuming they can become. It will be important as an educator that the web 2.0 tools I use are secure, protect my students' information, and contain age appropriate material (including any ads) for my young learners in elementary schools. I think this will be part of the process of making sound judgement when choosing to use technology in a lesson that also lines up to my pedagogy and content and isn't just being used for the sake of using technology.

Investigating Hyperdocs

 

What are hyperdocs?

Hyperdocs have been largely misunderstood as documents that contain links to resources and contents. I myself was one of the many that thought this way before doing my own exploration. Hyperdocs are so much more and are an incredible tool that teachers can use for impactful and effective instruction. Hyperdocs can be used to create and package a lesson plan that includes all the elements of a successful lesson. Hyperdocs also foster student collaboration by allowing them to share what they know and learn before, during, and after a lesson. These digital documents are interactive, inquiry based, and can be easily tailored to differentiate for learners based on their needs. Effective teachers use hyperdocs to scaffold students' learning so they are set up with what they need to explore, discover, and make their learning their own meaningful experience. Teachers can use many different ways to create hyperdocs including Google Docs, Google Slides, Canva, Smore, Wakelet, and Microsoft Office to name a few. 

Hyperdoc Examples

While using hyperdocs is a highly effective teaching practice, they can take time to create. We are blessed that there are many educators who are willing to share templates and completed hyperdocs with others so that we do not have to reinvent the wheel. One website that was particularly helpful for finding examples and templates was https://hyperdocs.co/find. I have listed three examples below that I found in my searches. 

• ThingLink Animal Report Hyperdoc
  

This hyperdoc focuses on using a thinglink when creating an animal report. What I liked most about this hyperdoc is how the teacher scaffolded her students' learning by letting them first explore thinglink, then giving them tips on how to use it, and finally giving them an authentic way to apply what they learned through exploration and inquiry.

• Adding Fractions Hyperdoc 4th/5th Grade by @4evrALearner
  

This hyperdoc was created using Google Slides and is a great example of how versatile creating hyperdocs can be. The focus of this example is on fractions, and I appreciate how it embedded numerous opportunities for students to reflect and share their thinking. This provides great feedback and formative assessment for the teacher to use to know how to best intervene or accelerate instruction on a student by student level.

• Animal Habitat Hyperdoc 1st Grade by Amanda Young
  

I liked this example by Amanda Young on animal habitats because it shows how you can use hyperdocs with younger students. The versatility of hyperdocs make it such a great teaching tool because it truly can be adapted to fit any age or grade level.

Hyperdoc Tools

Hyperdocs can be created using so many different tools and websites. I decided to play around with the smore to see how I could use it to create hyperdocs. Smore is an interactive newsletter, flyer, poster, that can be embedded within your classroom website and/or sent directly to parents. While not originally designed to be used for hyperdocs, smore is a suitable option to use, and I found it to be very user friendly. I used one of the free templates offered by smore to get started on practicing making my very first hyperdoc on insulators and conductors for fourth grade science. 

Following similar outlines of lesson plans I saw from other hyperdocs and frameworks I read about, I began adding photos and video clips to my smore hyperdoc. Smore offers options for extra features such as forms, audio, gallery photos, files, and share buttons. I could see using the forms for formative assessments, audio would be great to provide oral administration accommodations for students with IEPs, gallery photos would allow students to showcase the process of creating their final work, uploading files would be handy to provide supplementary materials to scaffold learning, and the share buttons would be great to connect with parents and families and to share resources with other educators. It is definitely a tool I will consider using to make hyperdocs, especially since my school is a yearly subscriber and has access to the premium features.

Hyperdocs Reflection

Through my exploration and research this week, I realized how much I have underestimated the power and depth of hyperdocs as an educational tool. Hyperdocs represent the sweet spot where pedagogy, content, and technology can collide to produce effective teaching and transformative learning for students. Hyperdocs enable me to be an effectual lesson designer, go beyond the textbook, provide choice and diversity is student learning options, incorporate the best learning tools from the web, facilitate learning, and encourage and provide opportunities for collaborative learning. I'm sold and will be using hyperdocs more intentionally and regularly in my classroom and as part of my teaching.