Larry Ferlazzo's Mambo #5

After reading the descriptions for the Web 2.0 tools that educator Larry Ferlazzo had added to his top 20 list, I stumbled upon his #5 pick, a handy little site called Tripline.  The class that I am currently working with, is a group of 3 girls and 2 boys ages 11-12.  They are a highly academic group, but sometimes need visual stimuli or other means of representation to keep them focused, interested, and understanding.  Recently, we have been learning about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  When I stumbled upon the Tripline description and saw that there was a link to a Lewis and Clark Expedition map, I had to check it out for my munchkins.
Tripline, is a Web 2.0 tool in which you can make your own maps of local locations, famous places, well-known historical trips, or even maps of your upcoming field trips.  You are able to add pictures and text to the video map, as well as a soundtrack.  I checked out the Lewis and Clark map and it was quite amazing.  I knew instantly that my kids would absolutely love this tool.  Though my class is a self-contained classroom, I believe that inclusive, general education rooms would benefit even more from a tool like Tripline,
Tripline helps to make history come alive.  You can see actual pictures of events and places where expeditions, wars, the underground railroad, etc took place.  This tool would be perfect for the inclusive classroom because it would give ALL students a closer look at the topic material, and would present the topic in a different way for those who learn differently.  The information on these maps are incredibly organized, easy to read, easy to navigate, and just plain fun for students who might have some difficulties with learning, reading, listening, focusing, etc.
Also, the fact that this tool can also be used to plan out class field trip itineraries is fantastic!  From experience, I have witnessed that many children with special needs do not do well when forced to deviate from their normal, everyday schedule.  A tool like Tripline would help these particular students to stress less about upcoming trips, as it would map out exactly where the class would be, at what time the class would be there, and would familiarize the students with the area they would be visiting. 
Tripline is a marvelous tool than can be utilized in any classroom from self-contained to "regular ed," and from grades K-12 and beyond!