The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” ~Bill Gates
The world wide web has changed how our society operates. in every facet: politics, journalism, entertainment, government, advertising, and of course education. This day in age it is vitally important that teachers incorporate technology in their classroom. They need to use technology to keep the younger media involved generation intrigued, and they also need to use it to teach technology to the students in this new global village. There are many tools that are available to teachers to use in the classroom. Using http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ I used websites for presentation, slideshow, writing, organization, and creative. All of these websites would be useful in the classroom.

Roxio PhotoShow: http://www.photoshow.com/watch/Wi3Mh5jH
Overall, Roxio PhotoShow makes great photo shows. It was time consuming to make to make the photoshow, but I think that students would enjoy the show. I just made a slideshow for fun about a concert I went to on Saturday. The quality of the slideshow is very desirable. If you pay the subscription fee there are many more options and tools to use. I could see using this in the classroom to showcase photos from a field trip to jog memories before the students write an essay about it. Also, it would be great to use to showcase what the students will be learning over the course of the year at the beginning of the year or as a wrap-up at the end.


Vuvox: [[@http://www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/0297b2ce4d|**http://www.vuvox.com/collage/detail/0297b2ce4d**]]
Vuvox is a good presentation tool. I used the collage setting to make a presentation for fun of a night of fun with my friends when we went to see the Sex and the City 2 movie. I thought that uploading pictures was easy and you could also use text and video. I had planned on having a video clip from the movie trailer, but could not download a file to upload to my presentation. I think the side movement of the slide would make it easy for children to follow. It would be nice to have appropriate learning music on the presentation and present text. I think this would be easier to read than some of the cameras used in the classroom now.


MixBook: http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/nature/best-friends-forever-4798925?utm_campaign=share_project&utm_medium=email&utm_source=MixbookMailer
MixBook is a fun to use website that allows you to insert pictures and text and make a book. The tutorial makes it user friendly. I made a book about my best friend, Kim, and myself. This could be used for a number of uses in the classroom. I think this would be a great website for the students to get on and use. It is important to include technology activities in classrooms because it is vital for students to be technologically savvy. One activity would be to have students make a book for Colorado History and pretend that they are in that time. This website will be a great tool for the classroom.


Webspiration: http://mywebspiration.com/view/472073a100e
Webspiration is a website that allows you to organize information. You can create brainstorms and diagrams. This website could be used multiple ways by teachers. You could use it to present information to students in a different format. You could either present information linearly or in a more organic free flow way. I made a brainstorm diagram about the Civil War. This could also be used by students to organize information prior to a writing assignment.


Invention at Play: http://www.inventionatplay.org/playhouse_cloud.html
This is a website that has different activities that enhances creativity. I did an activity where you create clouds and launch them into the sky. There are a lot of other activities that would activate thinking. These could be great warm up activities. Also, many younger students struggle with using mouses and it would help them work on that. This would also be great on indoor days when children need to be inside. Using creativity in the classroom is so important.
Using technology in the classroom is necessary in our society today. Today’s technology savvy younger generation needs technology in order to be reached, and taught technology to succeed in this world wide web world. One of the great benefits to using many of these websites is that teachers can easily share with parents and guardians what their children are being taught and what they do. This exercise was extremely beneficial to me and I will definitely be using these tools in my classroom.