Sunday, November 7, 2010

Thing #19 Web 2.0 Awards List

I created a free account at Wufoo so I could see how it worked, and it was so easy to create a form. The free version allows you to create three forms and have 100 people respond to your survey each month. A librarian could use Wufoo to create book reviews or book requests surveys. The great thing about Wufoo is that is easy to navigate; however, since only 100 people can respond a month and most schools have over 100 students, librarians could only survey smaller groups. To upgrade to 500 entries per month and receive sophisticated forms analysis, there is a $14.95 monthly fee, which most librarians would not utilized. There are so many other surveying tools on the web like BuzzDash (See survey below) that librarians could use for free. You can see the form I made at Wufoo. Click on Fill out my form!

Test BuzzDash:


Another Web 2.0 tool that I researched was Spanishpod, which won third place for SEOmoz’s Education category. There are some free Spanish instruction podcasts available on the site, but most cost a monthly fee. The company has group subscription rates for schools and businesses, but it did not say how much. There is also an Englishpod that sparked my interest. My school district has a growing Hispanic population, and many of our students live in homes where they only speak Spanish. The closest public library with ESL instruction is 25 miles away. If Englishpod was available through the school library’s internet portal, ESL students and their parents in my district could access it from home. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they could use the school library’s Englishpod subscription to brush up on their English? That might be worth looking into.

2 comments:

  1. wow! I learned a few things reading your blog. Thank you! I am glad to learn about Englishpod and Spanishpod. Do your students' families have computer access at home or would they need to use the school's computers during evening hours or during a Famiy Night event? Yes, it would be wonderful if the parents could use this resource to improve their English!

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  2. I have to say that most of my Hispanic students do not have internet access at home. Our library is never open in the evening, but whenever I become a librarian, I would like to provide this service at least once a week. Thanks for your encouragement!

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