MapWing.com is a free tool that makes it easy to build, share, and explore virtual tours. Students can take pictures of important or interesting sites in their community and create a virtual tour and share it with others around the world. Many virtual tours are available on the site for browsing, such as this medieval village in the south of France (although it might be a good idea to keep Google Translate open in another window).
ePals is another Web2.0 tool that allows you to connect your classroom with others across the nation or across the globe. You can search for other classrooms by students' age, content, language, etc. ePals provides you with student email accounts, blogs, etc. that are free and easy to use. The tool also provides free translation in eight languages. The free email, SchoolMail, can be monitored by teachers, administrators, IT staff, etc. and can be set up to automatically block teasing, hate speech, sexual harassment, cursing, etc. It includes virus scanning, spam protection, and even a Spell-checker. The SchoolBlog allows you to set up classroom only portions, parent only portions, and public sections of your blog.
Rock Our World is an excellent resource for teachers who want their students to engage with other students around the world. It is a great collaborative tool. It engage students globally and develops 21st century skills. It allows students to interact with others around the world. They can post blogs as well. I would use this without any hesitation because it broadens students' horizons. It also introduces other cultures.
Suggested by Takesha Murray
Ask 500 Questions is a polling Web site where members can ask questions and poll participants from around the world. While some questions may get only a few responses, many questions get hundreds. The creators base their site on the premise of James Surowiecki's book The Wisdom of Crowds that diverse, decentralized people voting independently are better at predicting future events or trends than individuals or small groups. In Belgium thousands of high school students are using Ask 500 Questions to focus on finding solutions to real-worldd global problems.
