7 I NNOVATIVE W RITING T OOLS FOR T ECHNOLOGY N ATIVES Dr. Roland “Buddy” Weldon 2012 Gulf Coast Conference on the Teaching of Writing Technology in Motion Specialist Southeast Alabama Regional Inservice Center Troy University

C HALLENGES FOR E DUCATORS Today, teachers have several challenges to harnessing the vast web resources that would make teaching writing vibrant and intrinsically exciting for the students of today. Marc Prensky coined the term, "Technology Natives" in 2002, to describe the students of today. Today's students are born into a digital age of learning, spearheaded by the Internet (social media, collaborative tools, and instant access to information). It is the goal(s) of this session to inform participants of the free tools available to them, how to incorporate them into the learning process, and identify the process of effectively integrating technology into the writing curriculum and instruction.Technology Natives

W ALL W ISHER Using WallWisher you can set a research question as the title of a wall and then ask children to submit individual 'stickies' to it to present their answers. The wording is limited so it encourages them to be concise. Here is an example of a WallWisher. Have a go and join in the discussion about today's training!WallWisher

G OOGLE D OCS Use Google Docs to collaborate with spreadsheets, drawings or presentations. These projects can be done my multiple users who edit at the same time. Obviously this could be used out of school as well as in lessonsGoogle Docs collaborative

P REZI Mind maps or Prezi's allow children to see how particular ideas can be connected together. If you limit them the amount of words and encourage them to be concise, it helps with summarizing information effectively. Try 2Connect for mind map software.Prezi's2Connect

P HOTO S TORY Using PhotoStory children can combine photos and text captions they have found on the Internet and display it as a video with possible backing music, audio narration and cool transitions between the images.PhotoStory

I NTEL T HINKING T OOLS Intel® Education thinking toolsIntel® Education thinking tools are based on research that demonstrates the value of visual representation in constructing and retaining new information. Teachers create online workspaces for students to engage in robust discussions, analyze complex information, pursue investigations, and solve problems.

P RIMARY P AD Online text editors like Primary Pad let a number of children create and edit text live at the same time in their web browser. This can be particularly useful for letting them collaborate research ideas together as a team.Pad

P LACEMARKS /M AP M ARKUPS Placemarks can be added onto digital maps such as Google Maps to add spatial data to researched information. This can be particularly useful for geography or history projects where children have been investigating about a range of places/buildings in a given locality.Google Maps