Exploring Technology Tools
- 1. This technology course has offered so much learning for me. It has introduced me to many tools I can use in the classroom and for my personal use. Though I found some tools easy to use, others took time to explore. I am still learning how to be an efficient technology user. I assessed eight technology tools in which I listed some features of what each tool has to offer. Also included is a brief description of my experiences exploring with these tools. I rated the following technology tools using a scale from 1 to 5, five being excellent. ~~~~~~~~~ Communication with instructors and classmates is easily done via email or using the Moodle messaging system. Variety of content from instructors are provided: audio and video lectures, files such as pictures, presentations and links to other websites. Able to have discussion forums with classmates. Can upload and submit assignments. Includes a grade book to check your progress at anytime. This tool provided numerous features to help keep me updated in the classes I was taking in the university. When changes are made to assignments or class schedules, the Moodle is the best way to get the information. The only thing you need is a computer and internet connection. Moodle Rating: 5 http://campus.uogdistance.com/login/index.php ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- 2. Free web browser Advanced security Browsing is easy and efficient Browse multiple sites at once, each new site appears as a new tab (not a new window) Features include spell check, private browsing, tabbed browsing, one- click bookmarking and many more Has a Firefox Support Site if you need assistance I have used web browsers such as Internet Explorer and Google Chrome and I recently tried Safari a few times. It was only the latter part of last year that I started using Mozilla Firefox. The big difference and probably the most important for me is the speed. Through experience, Firefox has been fast, safe and secure. Firefox Rating: 5 http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- 3. Can create documents, calendars, presentations and spreadsheets Share your online documents Contains blog searches Contains image searches For business use: online office tools for any size of business For educational purposes: tools for educators and students at all levels For personal use: gmail, calendars and more This is one of my favorite tools! I say this because since I enrolled into this technology class, I have had the opportunity to learn about this amazing tool and all the extra things it had to offer. I only recently opened a gmail account because it was a requirement for this class. One of my favorite features of Google Apps is the shared document. It took me awhile to learn how to create a document, so when I began sharing documents with my group members, I felt a bit of accomplishment. The shared documents proved to be helpful when doing group projects. Google Apps Rating: 5 http://www.google.com/apps/index1.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Organize resources in a binder Organize binder by tabs and subtabs Can edit binders anytime View links like pages in a book instead of URL's on a page Saves time and is paperless FREE Livebinders is a great tool for teachers to put their resources together in one place. This tool holds important information that can be edited at anytime. One of my first assignments in technology class was to create a livebinder, being a non-technology person I had a difficult time with this assignment. I had to spend extra time learning how to use this tool. LiveBinders Rating: 4 http://www.livebinders.com/welcome/learn_more
- 4. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Video chat room Group video up to 12 people Video call recording Send video messages Instant messages Screen sharing Send files Available on desktop and mobile Some services are free, other services have a fee Oovoo is a web conferencing tool that allows people to video chat and send instant messages at the same time. My group members and I used the Oovoo tool to communicate when we were not able to meet face to face. We were able to complete our assignment with the help of Oovoo. On the negative side, we did have connection problems at times. The picture and sound were sometimes unclear. Oovoo offers many features but some premium services require a fee. ooVoo Rating: 3 http://www.oovoo.com/FeaturesList.aspx ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- 5. Animation Effective language tool Website offers lesson plan ideas Use as a motivation for learning Create and customize your own character Provides fun in learning The Voki tool lets you create an avatar character using colorful animation and various sounds. Your Voki character can be posted to any blog, website, profile and be used in class presentations. This effective learning tool can motivate students to participate and help them develop language skills and comprehension in a fun way. Though Voki includes text to speech in over 25 languages, there are some words and names that are pronounced incorrectly. Features for the Voki classroom management system for educators include a 15 day free trial. Voki Rating: 4 http://www.voki.com/create.php ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Easy to use Easy to import videos and photos Easy to share with collaborators and friends Smooth transitions from slide to slide Free
- 6. Slide Rocket is an online presentation tool that allows you to do great class presentations. Though I have not yet used this tool in any of my projects, I did spend some time exploring this tool. Like any other tool I explored, it took me awhile to learn what the rocket can do. Automatic saving of work done is a plus. On the downside, I did have some difficulty when I wanted to undo a certain slide. I'll be exploring more about this tool because I am considering to use this for an upcoming presentation at my workplace. Another great feature is it's free! Slide Rocket Rating: 3.5 http://www.sliderocket.com/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Website builder Includes a variety of creative designs and templates Customizable (style, color, text, background) Drop and drag editor User-friendly Free, secure and reliable Wix is a website builder and another great tool for doing presentations. Creating a Wix account is easy if you just follow the given simple steps. This tool provides a variety of creative designs and templates to choose from. I was able to use this free tool for my group presentation. I was able to edit my work and make changes with little difficulty. The steps to add tabs and images were also easy, a user-friendly tool.
- 7. Wix Rating: 5 http://www.wix.com/