Technology Review

For the purpose of this assignment I utilized the following symbols to annotate my rating of the application being reviewed:

I based my rating off of several factors to include but not limited to: Ease of use, Accessibility and Affordability.

#1 MOODLE:

 is a wonderful tool to utilize in the classroom and is the only Learning Management System (LMS) that makes my list of top technology tools for educators. Moodle features a method to organize assignments in a multitude of ways, it's easy for both the teacher and the student to download and view work. You can also hold discussion groups, message other participants, submit assignments electronically and view grades and attendance all in one platform. The benefits of Moodle include that it is FREE, open source (so it can be manipulated to best suit your needs), it easily integrates with other systems you may be using, it's simple and organized allowing you create and manage an online classroom environment that suits your needs. It is password protected to meet your security needs and it has the ability to track all activities occurring on your site.  However, on the flip-side of the coin you have some drawbacks, including that it can be very confusing to the participant initially, especially since the platform is only as good and efficient as the teacher running it wants it to be. Also, because it is open source the debugging process isn't as smooth as applications normally are. Based upon my utilization of this technology tool I would rate this a 4 out of 5 because I highly recommend and utilize LMS in my classroom and free is always the best way to go in my opinion. 

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:

Saxena, S. (2013, November 6). Why is Moodle the Best LMS? Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://edtechreview.in/news/742-moodle-the-best-lms

Stencel, P. (2011, September 10). Moodle pros and cons. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.slideshare.net/stencel/moodle-pros-and-cons 

#2 GOOGLE CHROME:

Google Chrome is an extremely fast to launch, stable platform in which we can browse the internet in the educational world. It has features such as a built in search bar / address bar, tab views, and you are able to close the program and start it back up right where you left off. Chrome also utilizes Sandboxing and auto-updates so you don't have to worry about remembering to keep up to date on any security issues. It has the full integration of a plethora of Apps, Extensions, and Themes that you can choose from. Lastly, you can take the browser with you on any mobile device and as long as you are signed into Chrome your history, bookmarks, forms, etc. will travel with you. Some benefits to using Google's Chrome include that it is simple yet elegant. It is by far the fastest browser that I have utilized both in processing speed and start up speed. The ability to customize your experience with the previously mentioned Add-on's and Extensions really create a personalized touch. However, the issues that I have discovered with Google Chrome are it does not have a very friendly Help & Support, instead everything to me seems kind of like an onion, you have to peel back layers to find the information you are looking for. I also don't like the fact that there are minor incompatibilities still found when utilizing Chrome that aren't there in say FireFox or Internet Explorer. Don't let the criticisms fool you though, I gave Chrome a 5 out 5 as far as my rating is concerned. I utilize Chrome personally on a daily basis and love that I can be doing something on my laptop and continue it on my iPad or iPhone and not miss a beat. I am also a huge fan of the tabbed browsing in the classroom because myself and my students can be looking at multiple sources of information at once without having to flip from browser to browser.

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:

Explore the Chrome Browser. (n.d.) Retrieved June 28, 2015 from https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/features.html

Godinho, A. (2015, June 1). Google Chrome Pros and Cons. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://ajgodinho.hubpages.com/hub/pros-and-cons-of-google-chrome


#3 GOOGLE APPS:

The Google Apps suite is SUPERB. As an educator in the public school system we often encounter students who don't have resources. Google Apps can help with this because it is a completely free platform that can be used from a PC, Mac, or mobile device for free data storage, word processing, presentation platform, spreadsheets, and many other web based programs. On top of the cost effectiveness, the ease of use is fantastic. It allows the easy transfer of files, collaboration on work with other individuals, editing of images and video, and the ability to video conference. Did I mention, this is all FREE? There are more benefits to utilizing this suite as well, it saves automatically into Google Drive so that you don't have to worry about losing your work. This comes with 15GB of free storage and you can utilize Google's CloudPrint to print your documents to any printer in the world that you have configured. However, there are a few drawbacks. Because this isn't a traditional piece of software you need to have internet access in order to utilize the features. There are issues concerning formatting, especially if you are utilizing the Microsoft Office platform and going back and forth. Lastly, you need to be cognizant of potential security risks with storing all your data in the cloud. Overall however I give the Google Apps suite a 5 out of 5 in my rating. It is a wonderful collaboration tool and it makes life infinitely easier in the classroom both as a teacher and as a student. I would recommend this to anyone.

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:

Burnham, K. (2014, July 14). Google Apps: 5 New Features For Businesses - InformationWeek. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.informationweek.com/software/productivity-collaboration-apps/google-apps-5-new-features-for-businesses/d/d-id/1297157?page_number=2

Google Groups. (2013, July 13). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/drive/cPTEFKsZNHw


#4 LIVEBINDERS:

LiveBinders is a free online bookmarking site that allows you to share information with others, it is essentially the digital version of a three-ring binder. It can be set to either public or private with a paid subscription where the public binders are searchable via any search engine. Some benefits of LiveBinders is that it is simple to utilize with different layers of tabs and subtabs that work best when addressing a specific content then unit. You can add website URL's, PDFs, Word documents, etc. so that you do not need to print out all information for your students, therefore saving paper and being environmentally respectful. However, some negative aspects of LiveBinders is that you are only allotted 100MB of storage as a free user (believe me it goes quickly) and have to pay for more storage space and more tabs and subtabs. Besides the lack of storage, there doesn't seem to be a viable and reliable source of help and support for the platform and at times it can be confusing, especially in the beginning. I gave this platform a 4 out 5 stars due to the fact that you have to pay for the storage capability and the lack of support for the site. I plan on utilizing this next year with my class to list all my documents, i.e. Syllabus, AUP, etc. as well as homework assignments, class notes, everything a student could possibly need if they miss school. It will also help me keep their parents in the loop easier.

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:

LiveBinders - 21st Century TIPS. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from https://sites.google.com/a/barrow.k12.ga.us/21st-century-tips/this-just-in/livebinders

Wiebe, G. (n.d.). Teaching History.org, home of the National History Education Clearinghouse. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://teachinghistory.org/digital-classroom/tech-for-teachers/25517


#5 PREZI:

Prezi is a cloud based multimedia presentation software platform that competes directly with Microsoft PowerPoint. With it you can present a rich environment of videos, photos, audio, etc. with the ability to zoom in and out on content to add depth to the content. Some positive aspects of Prezi are that it is completely free unlike some of the other multimedia presentation platforms. It is web based so you can access it anywhere including a smart phone, and it is appropriate for all ages. Utilizing Prezi versus the traditional PowerPoint will demonstrate your "withitness" to your students in regards to technology while capitalizing on great visual potential. However, like all good things there are some downsides to Prezi as well. Prezi is cloud based so that means you have to have an internet connection to work on your presentation or to play it. Prezi has been known to cause motion sickness as it zooms in and out on content to give it the depth that it is known for. Lastly, Prezi has an extremely steep learning curve making it unsuitable for some individuals. I gave Prezi a 3 out of 5 because of the steep learning curve. The time it took for me to effectively learn the software and be able to efficiently use it was not worth it in the end for me as an educator to teach or encourage my students to utilize.

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:

Barrett, R. (2012, October 25). Key features of Prezi. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from https://prezi.com/m6mp36ys9yb-/key-features-of-prezi/

Herb, J. (2012, December 29). Prezi - Advantages and Disadvantages - Instructional Tech Talk. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://instructionaltechtalk.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-prezi/ 

#6 WIX:

Wix is an extremely easy to use, graphic interfaced, drag and drop website development platform with 100's of designer made templates ready to be used. It is an intuitive website builder that is optimized for both mobile and traditional browsers and EVERYTHING is customizable. The image and text editing functions are truly simple and powerful and you can add and organize pages quickly and easily. It is simple and quick to add a blog or link social media to your website. Want eCommerce? Not a problem, Wix supports platforms for hosting stores. There are 1000's of free images built in so you won't have any problems finding what you're looking for. If you upgrade to a premium edition you can also get a Google email address for business accounts and all the app content that goes along with it. Some additional positive aspects include that Help and Support for the website and development is EVERYWHERE on the page, you can't escape it. It utilizes a drag and drop function as well so you don't have to know any Java or HTML or any other type of language to design your site. Most importantly however from a business perspective is it utilizes Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to make your site visible in search engines. Some downsides of Wix are that you have to pay for certain more advanced features as well as pay for the upgrades. Overall I rated Wix a 5 out 5 because of its easy, simplistic approach to website development, but yet professional appearance when complete.

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:

Wix Review 2015 | 12 Important Things You Need To Know. (2015, June 22). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/wix-review/


#7 STORYBIRD:

Storybird is a collaborative learning site for the creation of illustrated, interactive, story-based lessons for elementary children. Users are able to choose from three diverse formats to create their story: art-inspired picture books, serialized "longform" stories, or poetry. Storybird has many positive features to include it's free, easy to use, plenty of high quality graphics by established illustrators, the ability to interact with others to create a Storybird and it helps develop young writers and readers. You are also able to share finished products on social media for others to view and utilize. However, there are some drawbacks. There is a limited selection while in creation mode, and you must stick with one artist through the entire creation. You aren't allowed to upload any pictures or utilize self creates illustrations. You also have to pay for some of the more advanced features and you have to pay to download a story you have created. I gave this a 3 out 5 on the rating because of the lack of creative licensing and the cost to utilize it. This would be a great platform as a teacher to have students collaboratively create a story to share with the class, but it would quickly become ineffective.

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:           

Tomaszewski, J. (2011). Site Review: StoryBird. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/site-reviews/storybirds.shtml

Storybird (2015) - Read, write, discover, and share the books you'll always remember. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://storybird.com/

#8 TIKI TOKI:

Tiki-Toki features interactive timeline creation for your students. It supports multiple language options with the ability to add video, audio, pictures, etc. to enhance your timeline. The timelines are then able to be emailed, printed, or saved as a PDF to share with others. Some additional benefits of Tiki-Toki include their stylish timelines, multiple views, quick sharing methods, and the ability to export CSV values for analysis. However, some cons include many of the features of Tiki-Toki are buried and there is no import function. Teachers also need a simpler method to create a student account, as well as the constant need for the internet since this is a web based platform. I gave this a 4 out of 5 on my rating scale because it is an innovative and fun idea that I can utilize in my classroom that is completely free. I plan on utilizing this in my Social Studies content area quite frequently.

Video Tutorial or Review:

References:

Fenton, W. (2013, May 20). Tiki-Toki. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2419206,00.asp

Tiki-Toki. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://educade.org/teaching_tools/tiki-toki 

References:

Barrett, R. (2012, October 25). Key features of Prezi. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from https://prezi.com/m6mp36ys9yb-/key-features-of-prezi/

Burnham, K. (2014, July 14). Google Apps: 5 New Features For Businesses - InformationWeek. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.informationweek.com/software/productivity-collaboration-apps/google-apps-5-new-features-for-businesses/d/d-id/1297157?page_number=2

Explore the Chrome Browser. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from https://www.google.com/chrome/browser/features.html

Fenton, W. (2013, May 20). Tiki-Toki. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2419206,00.asp

Godinho, A. (2015, June 1). Google Chrome Pros and Cons. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://ajgodinho.hubpages.com/hub/pros-and-cons-of-google-chrome

Google Groups. (2013, July 13). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/drive/cPTEFKsZNHw

Herb, J. (2012, December 29). Prezi - Advantages and Disadvantages - Instructional Tech Talk. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://instructionaltechtalk.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-prezi/

LiveBinders - 21st Century TIPS. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from https://sites.google.com/a/barrow.k12.ga.us/21st-century-tips/this-just-in/livebinders

Saxena, S. (2013, November 6). Why is Moodle the Best LMS? Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://edtechreview.in/news/742-moodle-the-best-lms   

Stencel, P. (2011, September 10). Moodle pros and cons. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.slideshare.net/stencel/moodle-pros-and-cons

Storybird (2015) - Read, write, discover, and share the books you'll always remember. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://storybird.com/

Tiki-Toki. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://educade.org/teaching_tools/tiki-toki

Tomaszewski, J. (2011). Site Review: StoryBird. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/site-reviews/storybirds.shtml

Wiebe, G. (n.d.). Teaching History.org, home of the National History Education Clearinghouse. Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://teachinghistory.org/digital-classroom/tech-for-teachers/25517

Wix Review 2015 | 12 Important Things You Need To Know. (2015, June 22). Retrieved June 28, 2015, from http://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/wix-review/

Assistive Technology and a Teacher's Responsibility

The following entry is my response to the video How Assistive Technology Enables Dreams: 

          As a teacher dealing with students with Special Needs it is important to recognize their differences but not treat the student any differently. As such, we should keep in mind any Assistive Technology (AT) that could potentially benefit our students, as well as plan for it in our lesson plans and execution of the lesson. By looking at AT as a tool to benefit our students and adequately planning for these variants we can offer a successful learning environment.

     Many students with disabilities have some form of AT whether it is visible or not. According to Netherton (2006), “Assistive Technology is any piece of equipment or device that may be used by a person with a disability to perform specific tasks, improve functional capabilities, and become more independent. It can help redefine what is possible for people with a wide range of cognitive, physical, or sensory disabilities.” AT can come in many shapes and sizes from hearing aids and listening devices to laptop computers, voice recognition software, electric wheelchairs, or joystick controlled musical instruments as demonstrated in the video. As such we should be on the lookout for AT in our classroom and how students utilize it. We don’t want to make a commotion or a big deal, but we should take the proper steps to understand what helps our students.

     Once we have identified technology that is being used in our classrooms we can adequately plan. Within our lesson plans we can often make accommodations and modifications to assist our learners. For example, a student in an electric wheelchair can be grouped with individuals whose area is easily accessible or an individual with an assistive hearing device can be placed closer to the classroom area where most instruction comes from. These are just two methods that AT paired with good planning can be successful. While looking at the video we can see that lesson planning came into effect with the first individual, she was taking an exam utilizing speech to text software. This requires a separate testing area, and more time allotted, therefore the teacher had to make these adjustments and plan properly. A well thought out plan would identify the normal task, a typical accommodation and typical AT. According to Special Education Technology British Columbia (SETBC), a non-profit organization specializing in AT, a typical tiered medication would be as follows:

“Typical Task:

·         Responds to teacher and peer questions

         Typical Accommodations:

·         Provide preferential seating to enhance and encourage interaction

         Typical Assistive Technology Solutions

      ·         Use picture communication symbols to support interactions (e.g. communication boards created with        

                Boardmaker)”

We should keep this in mind in all steps of planning and execution, our special needs students are not different, and they just require different methods sometimes.

     From an educators perspective AT is a blessing. I had one student this previous year who required an enhanced listening device so he could hear what was going on in the classroom. I incorporated the AT and proximity to instructional location to accommodate the learner and I offered written assignments instead of verbal assignments when necessary. However, he never told anyone that his enhanced listening device was broken. I couldn’t figure out for the longest time why this individual was getting so frustrated over the smallest things until one day it dawned on me that it didn’t work. The CRT informed me that it wasn’t in his IEP so there was nothing that could be done so I paid for a replacement out of my own pocket anonymously. Once the AT was back in play in my classroom the student’s behavior was back to well behaved.

     It is through the proper planning and execution that we are able to make the difference and utilize the AT in our classrooms, turning our classrooms into an inclusive learning environment instead of making the student feel excluded.

References

Ellis, K. (2005). Assistive Technology: Enabling Dreams [Video File]. Retrieved June 24, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXxdxck8Gic&feature=youtu.be

Netherton, D. L., & Deal, W. F. (2006). Assistive Technology in the Classroom. Technology Teacher, 66(1), 10-15.

Special Education Technology British Columbia (SETBC). Section 6: Adapt Lessons for Technology Integration. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2015, from http://www.setbc.org/download/LearningCentre/Topics/MakingItWork_Section6.pdf

3rd World Farmer: A Simulation and Lesson in Extreme Adversity

            The realm of educational games is vast with every imaginable content area addressed. As educators, we have to utilize every possible method to get our content across to our students and this is where online educational games can come into play. I have utilized online educational games in my business classes in the past after carefully reviewing multiple games and selecting those I thought would fit my content and my students best. However, as a group process this was much more difficult, not to mention the task of creating a multimedia instructional block to teach our class about the game and how to play it. As a group, we selected a game, designed a rubric to evaluate our selection, chose a presentation platform, and agreed upon content to deliver. By assessing the aforementioned processes, I will reflect on the educational value of our chosen game in my content area, the criterion specifically selected to evaluate the validity of the game, and the effectiveness of our presentation platform.

            As a group, we evaluated many games before ultimately deciding upon 3^rd World Farmer, which is an educational game hosted by Gamesforchange.org in an effort to bring awareness to the plight of sustenance farmers in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa. As Gamesforchange.org (2015) states:

3^rd World Farmer touches on many subjects related to world hunger and poverty, such as corruption, trade barriers, armed conflict, and lack of education, sanitation, infrastructure and economic stability. These factors are brought into play through an intuitive and easy-to-play simulation, where the player makes choices primarily about crop types, livestock, tools, and structures for his farm, as well as managing the family members’ health, education, marriages and jobs.

The selection of this game as an educational tool came as a result of a collaboration between two male and two female graduate students at the University of Guam in the Master of Arts in Teaching program. In making the decision on the game we discussed various aspects to include: ease of gameplay, educational potential, and age appropriateness. Once the game was selected, we played the game and graded our attempts with a rubric.

            Our rubric creation was quite lengthy. We discussed many facets and finally agreed to on the same criteria: Layout & Design, Navigation, Instructions, Goals, Interaction, and Feedback. In my opinion the Instructions, Goals, and Feedback were the most important aspects of the gameplay. Instructions are important in any game because without instructions users wouldn’t know how to play the game. Unfortunately, I felt that 3^rd World Farmer was lacking in this department and I gave it a mediocre rating in this criteria. Next we had Goals, since without clearly defined goals, the game would be worthless. Fortunately, 3^rd World Farmer has a clear set of goals: your entire family must survive and grow enough crops to be self-sufficient. Along the way you could improve your family living by saving enough money to sponsor schools, communication services, infrastructure improvements, and medical clinics. I felt that Feedback was an important part of the game because it offered a realm where individuals could receive commentary and evaluation based on their performance. Each year in game the user receives an Annual Report which shows them how their crops did and how their finances and familial life are. Other than that however there isn’t much in the way of performance indicators within the game. I once again felt this was lacking and assigned it a rating of Average.

            After creating the rubric, we decided to utilize Prezi for our multimedia presentation. We looked at a few other platforms including Haiku Deck, Google Slides, and emaze and initially decided on Google. However, after playing around with the platform for a while we decided it resembled Microsoft’s PowerPoint too closely and moved on to Prezi. Prezi was a great platform that allowed us to do everything we wanted to include embedding a video from YouTube and our Rubric from Google Sheets. The creation of the presentation was seamless due to our simultaneous collaboration via Google Docs and Google Sheets. We even went as far as to continue utilizing Google Slides to place pictures into that we could then copy and paste into our Prezi. The usage of all these interactive tools made our work much more enjoyable and fiscally feasible as we didn’t have to drive around the island to meet with one another. Being a tech savvy individual I prefer online collaboration as I often would use Skype to conference call when working in the financial sector before I became a teacher.

            I will continue to utilize educational games in my classroom and in my content Social Studies. There are many games out there for my content but I strongly believe that 3^rd World Farmer is one that I will continue to use. I like the fact that the game was created by students in Denmark to bring awareness to situations where people are as 3^rd World Farmer states:

…dying from starvation in desperate situations that they never asked to be put in, all it takes for things to go wrong in this game is one bad harvest, an unfortunate encounter with corrupt officials, a raid by guerillas, a civil war, a sudden fluctuation in market prices, or any of the many other game events, that might never happen to families in industrialized countries (“About 3rd World Farmer,” n.d.).

I can utilize this game in the Social Studies arena to bring awareness to the plight in Sub-Saharan Africa, or to many other causes such as civil war, genocide, world hunger, climate change, etc.,  in either a World History or World Geography course (both of which I greatly hope I teach as this is my passion).

            This assignment was an eye opener for me on many level. Since I am normally a very introverted individual who prefers working alone than in groups, it was a positive experience to step out of my comfort zone to share both my experiences and expertise in the technology arena but more importantly, to learn from my group members. I feel our group did an excellent job despite a few bumps in the road to presenting. I can’t wait to utilize 3^rd World Farmer in my content area and bring awareness to this topic.

References:

About 3rd World Farmer. (n.d.). Retrieved June 12, 2015, from http://3rdworldfarmer.com/About.html

Play: 3rd World Farmer. (n.d.). Retrieved June 16, 2015, from http://www.gamesforchange.org/play/3rd-world-farmer/

Voki

I've made a Voki in my Technology course for Dr. Cyrus. I know I have a leprechaun as my avatar but hey, I'm Irish so it's okay :-)

Good Morning EduTechnicians!

Just getting started with blogging, I have never done this before so please bear with me. I am currently sitting in ED609 with Dr. Cyrus learning about Educational Technology! I hope you follow this as it will surely be an experience!

Thank You!