Embedding Web 2.0 Tools

GideonWilliams
Community Champion
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Web2.0 tools are software features freely available on the web that you can embed on a Canvas Page. The benefits of using the tools is that they can increase engagement and enthusiasm in learning as many of them offer opportunities for students to interact directly with the resource. The resources can help personalise learning and also allow students to share their ideas on page. Students become more active participants and less passive consumers.

Below is a developing list of the tools that can embedded on a Canvas page which is by far the most engaging and effective way to use them.

FeatureWhat it doesEmbedding..
AnswerGardenSimple feedback tool. Students respond to question. Repeated answers are magnified on screenEmbeds fully
EtherPad

Student Collaborative writing - playback feature to see how conversations develop. Awesome for crowdsourcing exam answers with teacher making comments. 

Embeds fully
ConnectFoursBased on British TV quiz. Try to find answers that have something in common then work out what they have in commonEmbeds fully but must add in 's' to http code
OpinionStageOpinion Poll (and other features). Very visual. Can add images. Results shown on screen.Embeds fully
NoteBookCast
Real time, multi-use whiteboard. Students draw on screen. Range of tools. Good for planning, brainstormingEmbed website by adding <iframe> code
TubeChopCrop a YouTube video from start and finish and then embed on your PageEmbeds fully but must add in 's' to http code
DesmosGraphic Calculator and Simulation tool. Create formula for graph and allow students to alter variables to see how graph changes. Desmos also works really well as an External Tool via the Redirect Tool - just untick the Force open in new tab (For External Links Only) option - see Algebra 2 Embeds fully also great as Redirect Tool feature
GoConqrCreate amazing mindmaps that can be animated to show how they were developed (also has many other features)Embeds fully when made public
Padlet

Collaborative 'crowd sourcing' of ideas. Students create entries on a blank board. Can add text, links, images, video etc. Upload Office365 documents and play them as embedded features. Now with Draw feature that allows drawing with stylus.

Note: Padlet now only allows 3 free padlets plus whatever you had already set up

Embeds fully
QuizletMore than just flashcards. Whole range of testing features from this activity. Best translation feature on the market. Superb for languages. Can also add images to cards.Embeds fully with dropdown link to other activities
H5PAmazing interactive tools. Best ones on the web. Huge range of multimedia features you can add in from quizzes to presentation - see my other blogpost and comments for more detailsEmbeds fully but need javascript to resize
ProProfsFree Quiz making site. Create timed Wordsearches, Crosswords, Sliding tiles, Jigsaws, Scrambled words and Hangman. Resizes on different pages too. Wordsearch works well. Embedding features of the others less so - rather disappointingly. However. the one below.....Embeds fully but must add in 's' to http code. Can also delete extra chunks
EducaPlayA HUGE improvement on ProProfs and offering a far superior range of tools including: Wordsearch, crossword, scrambled word, scrambled sentence (good for ordering), grouping task, matching task, interactive map (labeling task - brilliant!) and Video question (questions appearing on a YouTube video timeline)Sign up and create your quiz then embed on your site. You can remove the additional links.
TriciderTricider is a voting platform with a difference. Type in a question/suggestion you want to vote on.Students can then suggest ideas to back this up whilst other students can write the pros and cons of each idea. At any stage, students can vote for the best ideaFully embeds with options to change iframe dimensions at bottom of page. Need to add an 's' to http code.
LearningAppsFree Web 2.0 quiz/feature generator. Embed or download as SCORM for gradebook? Matching, Group, Number line, Ordering, Puzzle, Crossword, Pairing, Word search, Image labelling and much more. Looks amazing! A few issues with working on iPad (dragging features). Superb.Fully embeds. You may want to alter the height to avoid scrollbars
DotStormingVoting feature. You can allow students to vote multiple times (up to 10). Voting board can be image based or text (cards) or both! Students see how many votes each item has. Options to include Chat feature or have name of person who voted (I keep this anonymous by asking students to select a number between 1 and 1000!) You can store boards for later use - Example hereEmbeds via the Share button.
pHET Simulations

These are utterly astonishing. High quality simulations for Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology and Maths.

 Amazing  variety and variation within simulations. Models are chosen well eg Conservation of Energy from KE to PE is based on a skateboarder on a ramp. Options for this include energy transfer to Heat via friction. 

The electrical circuits model also allows you to explore pupil misconceptions with ideas such as pd and current.

Many simulations also include graphical analysis and you can choose a range of ways to present the information. Lots of HTML5 options too.

Click on EMBED button, embeds as iFrame
Jigsaw Planet

OK, it maybe aimed at junior age students but it's a great little website. Upload your image. Choose the number and style of jigsaw pieces and rotation and then Create. Satisfying click when you link pieces.

Embedding via the EMmbed button as iFrame.
StudyStack

Free Flashcard site. Doesn't do just flashcards but allows you to create 10+ other quiz games from the same set. The Target game works really well as does the Test feature. 

Embeds via the Embed button as iFrame - no adverts!
Elevation Map

Plotting elevation as a 2D map on Google style map. Essential for Geography students.

Click the magnifying glass and enter your destination. Click on the pen icon in the Global Elevation box. Click the starting point on the map. Drag the line to where you want to go or click different locations to plot a journey. Double click to enter.

This creates the Elevation Map. Move the pointer along the elevation and it shows where you are on the map. You can also change the base map from the menu on the left hand side.

Embed the tool by copying and pasting the iFrame embed tag - width set to 100%
PhotoSnack

Now adding this to the list. Create amazing picture slideshow galleries for free which you can embed on a Canvas page. The free account lets you have 100 images and the range of options for the slideshow is very good - autoplay, different transitions, thumbnail gallery and music backgrounds!!!Can also view the slidesow full page. Here is an example of one I made: PhotoSnack | Testing slideshow by gideonwilliams  

Obviously with any images hosted on a different site you need to be mindful of personal data and safeguarding issues.

Embed to Canvas page - width is set to 100% and so is height?!? You need to change height to about 600 pixels
AWW App 

Some of the best suggestions come when you are not looking for them. This came from an idea for a native whiteboard feature for Canvas https://community.canvaslms.com/ideas/9120-whiteboard-for-submissions?sr=search&searchId=ea0fd19a-96...

APP in an online whiteboard that is very responsive. Create an account first. You can embed the board via Collaborations button. Not able to comment more yet as you get a 14 day free trial will all features so need to see what changes after then!

Embeds as iframe - width set to 100%  and height to 650px which can be altered. Would suggest adding a border to create definition

Do you know that you can do a sort of similar thing with PowerPoint 2016 (Office365)?

Have a read of this post to find out more - Fiddling whilst PowerPoint turns 

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