Web Based Tools

I just want to start off by saying I had no idea how many web based tools there were...AMAZING!

The first web based tool that I explored was Voki. Voki is an exciting way to have each of your students create an avatar to speak for them. An avatar is not only fun for the students but it is a nice way to keep them from being distracted by what they are doing or look like and focus on the content of what they are saying, not to mention the privacy. Voki is a fun and creative way for students to express what they are learning. It helps the students want to participate and allows them to have evidence of their comprehension of the task at hand. The only downfall is that the avatar can only talk for 60 seconds. However, this is a good way to help teach students time management as well as summarizing rather than rambling their sentences.

Kidblog was another really exciting web based tool that I found. Recently becoming a blogger myself, I was intrigued to discover how a child would be able to benefit from writing and reflecting as I have been. Kidblog is for students from Kindergarten all the way up to high school seniors. It is nice to have a writing trail for your class to go back and see how much they have grown throughout the school year. It is also a great use of evidence for the teacher and parents! A pro would be that this tool can be accessed from anywhere at anytime. This is helpful for students to foster relationships with each other and rely on one another regarding questions or findings withing their learning experience. It is also a nice way for a class to read what other students there age are thinking and writing. The only concern I have would be to make sure that the kids are not using shorthand like they would in a text message but rather using a correct use of grammar and language.

Classdojo was the third web based tool I explored. Being able to have a behavior chart at the palm of your hand is very convenient. In my personal experience, I know how hard it is to create a behavior chart and then have to find the time to fill it in once the student with said behavior is having an "episode". The ease of the tool was what originally drew me to looking into it. It is also a great way to show parents what is happening and when in the classroom regarding their child. I liked that it could also be used for positives, such as helping to keep a child on the right track or show them how well they are doing. Classdojo is a nice tool to use to see if there is a trigger for a behavior or a specific time of day that it occurs by keeping track of the time for you.

Typing adventure brought me back to my childhood. When we first got a computer installed in my living room (yes, I remember a time without computers in my home...how bizarre!) the first game I remember playing was a typing game. Typing adventure is a wonderful tool to help students with multiple areas such as: fine motor skills, letter recognition, and of course typing. You start with your fingers on the 8 key letters on the keyboard and guide your avatar towards a treasure, how exciting! It is a fun and engaging tool to use with younger students who haven't had much access to keyboards, which lets face it with tablets and phones becoming so popular keyboard typing is a skill that may not be a child's strong suit immediately.

Last but certainly not least I discovered Trendsmap. Trendsmap is an incredible tool that keeps real time of what people all over the world are tweeting and hashtaging. This is a very useful tool in the classroom when talking about other cultures as well what is happening in the world around us and how it is affecting the people in the area. It is a way to feel connected to people on the other side of the globe and become interested and involved in world affairs.

Web based tools are definitely something that should be incorporated into every classroom for the benefit of both the students and the teachers. Their possibilities seem endless and they are definitely a way to help students become interested and engaged in hands on learning.

Microsoft Excel

Honestly, Excel has always been the Microsoft application that I have tended to avoid. When I think about Excel all I remember is inputting formulas from a math class in high school. However upon being guided through the tutorial, Excel isn't quite as "scary" as I remember it to be.

Excel can be used in many ways that Word can, however it has the option to (as I mentioned earlier) insert formulas. This is so beneficial to education in particular because it can help teachers save time when it comes to grading. Many educators use Excel spreadsheets as a grade book, and now I understand why. Why would you complete each individual math problem by hand and risk making a mistake when Excel will do it for you with the click of the mouse?

When reading the assignment to make a crossword puzzle, I wondered why I had never thought to use Excel to do so before. It seemed like an obvious use of the application, yet I had never done it. That is when I became interested in how many other uses of Excel I had been ignoring, mainly because I thought I didn't understand it or that it was "too complicated". 

After looking into Excel and finally opening it again after (I confess) years, I realized how user friendly it really is and that using it was as natural for me as Microsoft Word. The difference being that you are given the option to use Excel for more different tasks or calculations. I am excited about my new found interest for Excel and hope to continue to play around with it and see what else I have been missing out on for quite some time now.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word has been a staple in my education process. I immediately think of the numerous papers I have written using this program, and well they may be the most common use of Microsoft Word, there are multiple ways in which this program is beneficial to education for both the student and teacher.

Using Word prior to now, I felt confident that I had a pretty good handle on the program. However, after doing some research and looking into all of the functions that Microsoft Word has to offer, I see that I simply knew the basics of this program. I knew how to use spell check to check the accuracy of my vocabulary, and the thesaurus to try to build and expand it. I also was comfortable with changing the font, font size, color, and position; all things that Word offers to help personalize your piece and make it unique.

Beside using Microsoft Word for documents it can be easily used for a variety of other tasks, especially for education. There is easy access to templates that can help with classroom assignments such as: brochures, flyers, letters, calendar's, cards, etc. We are also given the ability to help make a document interactive by inserting a hyperlink. Hyperlinks can be used in multiple ways: whether it be allowing the reader to click and become connected to the desired website, or click and be navigated to a different part of the document that you are searching for.

Looking into more ways to apply Microsoft Word into a classroom, I was happily surprised to see all of the ways in which the program is progressing education forward. Style wise, there are now even more options besides Clip Art, fonts and color. With Drop Cap, we are given the option to make our document look like an authentic novel written with a quill pen and ink. A text box can be inserted anywhere within the document, limiting your words to stay right where you want them to be, even if that means within a photograph! Another  really cool feature is Watermark. Watermark gives the user the option to blend a word or image in the background of the document. This is ideal for paper drafts, do not copy's or invitations.

Besides just looking professional and clean, Microsoft Word 2010 has also helped to make documents more interactive. With the option of track changes, the writing process has become a whole less messier. Track changes allows for editing and suggestions to be put in a side bar next to where the document needs more thought or grammar changes. It also allows the user to see what changes have been made and you are given the option to use them or return your document to its original form. You can even use the comment bar as an electronic "post it" to help yourself remember where to go back and make changes. This is ideal for education when it comes to editing with teachers or within a group project.

Word should be used in every classroom by both teacher and student. It allows for student's engagement and a hands on approach to learning. Microsoft Word opens door for diverse learners with unique needs, while promoting fun and interactive learning.

Google Apps in Education

After navigating through the various websites for Google Apps, it is easy to see that Google Apps has opened doors in education that used to be unimaginable. Google for Education has given us learning without limitation; the convenience of a school setting that can be reached anywhere, anytime. I began using Google Apps in college, where I signed up for my first Gmail account. From there I noticed that many school webpages incorporated Google Apps within their sites, whether it be Mail, Calendar, Contacts, almost anything you could think of was Google related.

During my undergraduate work I used Google Apps to help differentiate lessons for various students with disabilities. I learned how to record my own voice while recording the pages of a story, creating a "read to me" type book for students with visual impairments. Google Apps was also helpful to me while completing my student teaching. Pages has a variety of different options to work with compared to Microsoft Word or Office; being able to insert video or a photo anywhere within my document allowed me to add necessary visuals without complication.

It wasn't until recently that I worked with Google Drive. I work as a Pre-K teacher, in a classroom that was fortunate enough to be given four Ipad's this year. I have been working with Ipad's for about four years, but never in the sense that I am using it now. Having an Ipad in my classroom has given me endless tools to enhance the learning of my students. However, it has not only benefited my class, but it has given me endless evidence of learning as well. I have been able to pick up an Ipad at any moment in my classroom and take photographs or videos of students engaged in learning; something so simple that has translated to so much. Having Google Drive at the touch of my fingertips, and having the ability to share and print photos with coworkers and families has connected school and home in a way that I have never experienced before.

I can only imagine where Google Apps will bring us next, but I know that keeping learning and life connected will bring us to a place in education that we have never seen before. A type of freedom in learning that will help us to soar as both students and educators.