Web 2.0 Tools

 "The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow."

Bill Gates

 If we observe what and how internet is helpful in learning, we must ask 'what is not available on the internet'. Web 2.0 tools provide ample amount of opportunities for teaching and learning. It makes it easier for teacher to make the teaching smoother and learners can curiously engage themselves with creativity and innovation while learning. 

“By the early 2000s, the notion of interactivity went from linking and clicking to creating and sharing. Now individuals not only find and read information but also create and share their own in real time. It is a new Web, known as Web 2.0.”

― Lynne Schrum, Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools

 Web 2.0 tools change the way people interact (Anderson, 2007) offering a wealth of learning opportunities for students. Indeed, Web 2.0 which centers on the idea of a collective intelligence, changed the role of the World Wide Web; it is not only a way to bring information any more, rather it has been configured around activities of people. Web 2.0 Tools are online software programs that allow users to do a number of different things. They can be used to teach curriculum content, store data, create/edit video, edit photos, collaborate and so much more. 

 One of the most efficient ways of learning along with self learning is learning with group, the collaborative work, tasks not only improves the quality of the targeted work but also it also enhances the interactive and communicative skills. Web 2.0 technologies provide rich opportunities for both educators and students in English learning and teaching processes, collaborative uploading.

There are many reasons to integrate technology in Language Classrooms and some of them are mentioned in the above image. 

Webtools allows the students to participate in a global level content generation. It helps them to create and share the content on web where teacher evaluation and peer evaluation can be effectively possible. Hence, if a learner faces any issue while creating, s/he can learn from internet and continue the learning. Creativity is the most necessary thing in content creation because all other things are already available in the ocean called internet. It enhances creativity and develops critical skills. There is a huge possibility of learning from internet while working on internet. The assessment can be transparent and the discussion can be done in the physical classroom where after-lesson thinking or beyond the book thinking can be possible. By using webtools not only teachers but also the people from the world can view and respond to the activity by participating in online discussion forums. Some of the audiences provide a proper and constructive feedback to the students. 

If students and teachers work at global level, the outcome of learning can be measured and the data can be helpful in researching and mapping the intelligence of students. The use of online networking tools can also improve the teaching quality of the teachers. 

Blog- 

A blog has been defined as “a web application that displays serial entries with the date and time stamps” (Throne & Payne, 2005). Blogging is a good virtual platform for creative people especially for students who can write and practice their thoughts and can try to apply major theories of literature with different narrative texts. According to Huffaker (2005:94): “In the classroom, students can have a personal space to read and write alongside a communal one, where ideas are shared, questions are asked and answered and social cohesion is developed”.

Hence, a blog is a simple webpage consisting of separated blocks of texts, hypertexts, photos, videos, or other media, called posts, and arranged in a reverse chronological order, with the most recent post to appear first. By everything integrated at one platform audio+ video+ texts, this platform can increase the language skills of students of English Language. By watching the videos embedded in blogs, learner's can watch them and benefit from the audiovisual method of learning. They can read the text in the blog and by practicing the summary writing of things they have learnt, they can improve their writing skills. 

YouTube-

YouTube provides numerous videos on an explanation of English Literary theories and the analysis of major texts in the English language. Furthermore, it has BBC or Ted videos to offer plenty of product information on any field. Students watch these videos and are gets motivated to make their own videos. Students can access videos in a cheap and rather easy way. YouTube is also a ubiquitous portal that can be accessible anytime and anywhere. It also enhances academic speaking skills. In Hwang’s study, he found that the videos were mostly used to empower students’ listening proficiency. The results revealed that pause and rewind buttons on YouTube sites serve as functional and effective tools for learners when they need to make use of the concrete facilities to pick up particular details in a video.

The most valuable feature of YouTube which students found is that they can access anytime without any hesitation. Watching videos and inspiring from the same as well as going through the same process for being an uploader, the researcher found that this process has helped in increasing students’ English language

Flinnt (Flipped Learning)-

The definition of Flipped learning says that- “Flipped Learning is a pedagogical approach in which direct instruction moves from the group learning space to the individual learning space, and the resulting group space is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment where the educator guides students as they apply concepts and engage creatively in the subject matter.” This provides unique ways of self-learning which slowly and gradually develops mastery in learning. Flinnt application provides an easy access in producing a flipped learning environment. 

From the very childhood, students are conditioned in the pattern of asking questions but they are never given specific space to think doubtfully or maybe because of their shyness, many students tend to avoid raising doubts in the class.  Flipped learning makes a student a ‘student’ in a real manner, a ‘student’ in a sense of doubting things and not in the sense of merely acquiring information but to apply all the learned things in and around the real world. On the application, students can freely ask their doubts which can be discusses with face to face interaction in class. Furthermore, it generated a self-learning attitude for students. 

Thank you.