50 Web 2.0 (iPad) Sites for (iPad) Schools

With all the hubbub and bustle around iPads - or as some folks call them, this year's SmartBoards - we are forgetting about the many, many other tools FREE out there for both teachers and students.  

Here's another buzzword . . . Common Core Standards.  The good news is it's more than just a buzzword.  I have heard so many teachers say how much better this is going to be and that they will be able to get back to really teaching.  I agree.  This seem so much more realistic. As many of you may have noticed, there is a technology component to the CCS at every level. I hope that for some of you, Web 2.0 tools will make your curriculum and student learning a little more efficient and engaging. 

Just Sharin'
Lee Anne

Even Culp from ORU shared this post from David Kapular's blot, so I am sharing it forward. 

Recently I've been experimenting with a number of curation sites that are beneficial for creating and sharing lists. While exploring these tools, I've been "fine tuning" my Web 2.0 list for schools. I created a list of 25 Web 2.0 sites for education over a year ago -- but a lot has changed since then. More sites have been developed and more tools are available to students and educators than ever before. This list is in alphabetical order.

50 Web 2.0 Sites for Schools

1. 19 Pencils - 19Pencils is the easiest way for teachers to discover, share and manage web-based educational content with students. A teacher can create quizzes, websites, track students, and more.
2. ACMI Generator - This is a great site for older students for digital storytelling and creating a storyboard scene with a script.
3. Animoto - Create wonderful looking slideshows that includes, video, images, music, and more.
4. Aviary Education - A safe private environment to use Aviary's suite of online tools for: audio, video, and image editing.
5. Boom Writer - BoomWriter is a supremely engaging creative writing website that has students reading, writing and assessing content in ways they’ve never done before!
6. Classtell - A nice site for teachers to create an educational website.
7. Diigo - Social bookmarking for teachers where they can create free student accounts.
8. Dropbox - A great way to share and collaborate on documents on a number of different electronic devices.
9. Edmodo - A wonderful safe/secure learning environment for teachers and students. A nice all-in-one solution for education.
10. Educaplay - A excellent way to create interactive multimedia educational activities.
11. Every1Speaks - A learning platform where students learn through collaborative enquiry-based learning.
12. Gaggle - A excellent suite of online learning tools for filtered: emailing, messaging, forums, and more.
13. Glogster - Creating collaborative and interactive posters in this safe environment. A wonderful and very popular web 2.0 tool.
14. GoAnimate - A terrific way to create custom animations with an educational portal.
15. Google Apps for Education - Does it really get much better than this?
16. Gnowledge - A wonderful site to create collaborative online quizzes, share resources, view others quizzes, and more. Excellent tech support and tutorial videos as well.
17. Grockit Answers - A great teaching tool to create a Q/A session for any YouTube video.
18. Kidblog - A fantastic way to create a safe environment for students to blog in. Everything is controlled by the teacher as a moderator.
19. Kerpoof - Lots of educational activities can be found here such as: make a movie, draw a picture, and more.
20. Kubbu - A free site for teachers to create games, quizzes, or crosswords and then share them with students and view/analyze their results.
21. Little Bird Tales - A wonderful free site for digital storytelling that allows kids to record and narrate their story.
22. Live Binders - Is an excellent site for creating an online binder to collect and share resources with others.
23. MentorMob - One of my favorite new sites for curating the web into learning "playlists." This is an innovative way to teach a lesson, unit, or any given topic.
24. Mixbook - A great site for digital storytelling in a safe environment. Educators get a discount on printed books.
25. Musicshake - Legal, copyright, free music for every student in your school - created by students, right from a browser.
26. Myths & Legends - One of the best free sites around for digital storytelling in a safe environment with lots of characters, themes, and objects to choose from.
27. PhotoPeach - An excellent site for creating slideshows and creating and managing student accounts.
28. PikiFriends - A fun safe environment for online pen pals for middle school and high school students.
29. Pixton - A great way to motivate students by creating digital stories using this comic creator.
30. PresentationTube - A nice windows app for creating presentations out of PowerPoint slides.
31. Prezi - A excellent site for creating zooming slideshows and presentations.
32. Primary Access - A free suite of online tools for students and teachers to create digital movies, storyboards, and other activities.
33. Primary Wall - A real-time collaboration tool that allows students and teachers to create a page of online sticky notes. Great for mind mapping and brainstorming!
34. Skype in the Classroom - A great collaboration tool for classrooms to video or audio chat with other educators and students.
35. SideVibe - Turn bookmarked web content into blended classroom lessons.
36. SlideRocket - All you need is a Google Apps account to use this free tool to creating stunning presentations.
37. SpellingCity - One of the best sites around for teaching and learning Spelling and Vocabulary. A very user-friendly and engaging site to use.
38. Storybird - A fantastic site to inspire students to read & write through the use of digital storytelling.
39. StoryJumper - A great site for digital storytelling where students can incorporate their own art, publish online, share with others, or order a print copy.
40. SymbalooEDU - A wonderful way to organize educational sites into one location for students.
41. Triptico - A great free tool for teachers to help create, share, and edit interactive lessons.
42. ToonDoo Spaces - Create a private and safe environment for digital storytelling through the use of an online comic.
43. VoiceThread - One of the most popular web 2.0 sites around for creating dynamic and interactive slideshows and presentations. Also, another great tool for digital storytelling.
44. Webspiration - From the creators of Inspiration comes this excellent web portal for creating mind maps, brainstorms, outlines, and more.
45. Weebly - Create a free class/student blog or website.
46. Wolfram Alpha - There is now an educational portal for Wolfram's computational search engine. This portal contains dynamic textbooks, lesson plans, widgets, interactives, and more.
47. Yacapaca - A nice free all-in-one solution for schools for creating quizzes, surveys, assessments, and more.
48. YouTube for Schools - Access 1000s of YouTube videos in a controlled environment without having to worry about comments.
49. Zimmer Twins - A great site for digital storytelling with an educational portal.
50. Zoho Wiki - A nice site for educators to create online interactive content.

David Kapuler is an educational consultant with more than 10 years of experience working in the K-12 environment. For more information about his work, contact him at dkapuler@gmail.com and read his blog at cyber-kap.blogspot.com.