Toondoo

Toondoo will have to be one of my favorites of all our assignments! It is really cool and funny with all the editing capabilities that comes along with it. Toondoo is a great site for teachers and students to create cartoon strips. The cartoon strips could be funny enough for students to depict their learning. It is an entertaining site and all parties will not be bored or lose interest throughout the process.

The advantage of using Toondoo would be the humorous learning experience the students will explore. Even better, they get to share their knowledge with the entire class by creating funny cartoons that will surely cause a lot of laughter in class. Learning should be fun and Toondoo is where it can start.

A disadvantage with Toondoo is some minor issue with signing up for an account. This might be a problem for some of our students because of time of essence. It might take more than two class periods to have all the students signed up, so time is really a factor we must consider.


Here is my Toondoo for Math: http://screencast.com/t/yXS8da1zuw

Wikispaces

Wikispaces is a website primarily designed for social writing platform. This is not to say that it is only for Language Arts classes, because it is not. You can actually create an online classroom for your class, post assignments and assessments, and invite students to create their accounts so they can access their assignments via Wikispaces. Neat thing about this is you can also give parents access to monitor their child while using Wikispaces. All the activities involved with Wikispaces will require student interaction and writing as in commenting on each others' posts, blogging, discussion, etc.

The advantage with using Wikispaces is the fact that it is geared towards social writing via comments, posts, discussions, and blogging. This type of digital writing encourages students to use their creative thinking to respond to their classmates. In addition, it will allow the students the chance to express their thoughts through writing.

A disadvantage with using Wikispaces is the initial phases of creating your classroom. It was a bit difficult for me to navigate through the site, but as I took time to play around, it wasn't that bad after all. Just wished it was a bit user-friendly for a digital immigrant like me.

Here is the link to my Wikispace: https://benrayphand.wikispaces.com/-/Lattice%20Math/7th%20Grade/

Blendspace

Blendspace is a super cool website!!! I had such a great time trying it out, that I think I will be using this more often. Blendspace is a site where you can create digital lessons in less than five minutes. As classroom teachers, we are always challenged with time and with Blendspace, teaching a lesson is just awesome with the digital effect. Furthermore, it is a great way to introduce a new topic while keeping the students' interested and engaged with their learning.

An advantage I see with Blendspace is the ability for flipped classroom to be successful. Flipped classrooms/teaching is becoming popular in many schools, and with Blendspace, this would be the perfect site to create a flipped classroom. In addition, Blendspace targets differentiated instruction with the steps it requires for you to create a digital lesson. You simply look up video clips from Youtube, additional resources from Google, Educreations, etc., and pull them all together to create your lesson.

At this time, I can't think of a disadvantage with using Blendspace. It really is a wonderful site that I can't think of anything that would be a disadvantage. I guess I am just having fun using it.


Here is the link to my Blendspace Lesson: http://blnds.co/1nUzpNS

Wordle

Wordle is probably one of my favorite assignments :) only because it was super easy to create. I am learning a lot from these tech classes and I think I am a digital immigrant, and not a native. Thus, Wordle rocks because it is easy to use. Wordle is a site for you and your students to create "word clouds," posters, banners, build word walls, texts, etc. on any lesson you teach. The site is available free of charge, and you can also customize the fonts, colors, and layout of the Wordle you're creating.

An example assignment using Wordle would be to build a word wall on a story or lesson you are learning in class. This will allow students the opportunity to recall their new knowledge on a lesson or topic they learn in class.

An advantage of using Wordle is how simple and easy it is for both, teachers and students, to use. Just go to the website, type in a bunch of words you learned or will be teaching, and click on "Go." All age and grade levels will be able to use Wordle hassle free.

I really can not think of any disadvantage with Wordle. As I previously mentioned, it is student friendly to use. Most of all, the students will have a great time creating their projects or assignments on here.

Wordle away...


Here is the link to my Wordle: http://screencast.com/t/SvOwnPEOAoxQ

Pinterest

At first, I had no idea what Pinterest is all about. All I knew is a lot of my female friends and colleagues kept talking about this new site, Pinterest. Not to be sexist but I thought, hmmm, another one of those online shopping chick websites. To my amazement, after signing up for an account, Pinterest is my new favorite website, next to Google. I am amazed at the wonders of Pinterest. It never dawned on me that Pinterest is made out of two words- pin and interest. Basically, you are pinning websites, recipes, lessons, posters, etc. to your board of interest.

Pinterest could be used for all sorts of things. For example, I am a Special Education Math teacher, therefore, I can pin anything to my Math board that pertains to Math and the infamous Common Core Standards. Also, I have a son who is in elementary, hence, I can look up any lesson for any of his classes to help him with homework. In addition, prior to his upcoming birthday, I can also create another Pinterest board by looking up birthday ideas for my son. Cool, right?

An advantage for using Pinterest would be the fact that you can look up anything and everything that surrounds your life, and pin it to the specific boards you created. It does not have to only be about teaching, professionals, and so forth. You can definitely use it to help you get organized in life. :) Another advantage would be the fact that you can build your knowledge in preparation for teaching a new lesson. Just search anything that you will be teaching and sure enough, Pinterest will direct you to different websites or worksheets to get started.

A disadvantage with Pinterest would be not knowing if the website is legit. It might be a site that contains inaccurate information, thus, you have to be vigilant in looking up resources to use.

Overall, it's a great tool especially if you're an educator.

Here is the link to my Math Board in Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/benrayphand/pins/

VoiceThread

So what is VoiceThread? VoiceThread is a website not only educators and students could use, but even post-secondary and businesses worldwide could avail of. It is a website where you can upload documents, video clips, conduct a book talk, presentation, etc. using multi-media type of presentation. It is collaborative in a sense where you give students the opportunity to take part in a project-based learning with an embedded media.

An advantage for using VoiceThread would be the learning experience the students will benefit from. Instead of just creating a poster board for a book talk, they can actually digitalize their book talk presentation using this tool. Furthermore, it provides for hands-on learning and engaging conversation using media.

A disadvantage would be the amount of time it requires students to complete an assignment. An entire class period alone will not be enough, especially if the school is on a 50 minute bell schedule like we are here in Hopwood Jr. High School.

Overall, it is a great tool to use in class. I feel that the teachers and students will have a wonderful time using embedded media to conduct presentations, projects, etc.


Here is the link to my VoiceThread: https://voicethread.com/share/5469968/

Prezi is an online presentation tool that is like a Power Point but with a little more pizazz. It is much more exciting to use with its zooming in and out capabilities, image import features, user friendly so not only teachers can use but also students. The best feature for me is that you can manipulate existing templates, making objects bigger or small, move anywhere on the page, etc.

With all these features, the best advantage for the Prezi is that it can be interactive and students can really engage in your presentation. It becomes more student centered and not just teacher directed. This allows for more open-ended lessons.

The only disadvantage that I see is the actually that it’s web-based. I realize this is an advantage since we can access it from anywhere, but it limits it to online. If you connections happen to be down, you will not be able to access your Prezi account.

http://prezi.com/thiiagp2a7y5/edit/#1   Link to Prezi Walk Through

http://prezi.com/fwqcseeqdgno/edit/#     Link to Prezi Product