Quizlet is very simple; it's a basic framework that students fill with their own information. Therefore, its quality depends on the accuracy of the user-created flashcard sets. On the whole, they're pretty good, sometimes great, but there are some unhelpful and sometimes inappropriate sets floating around, too. Quizlet's social perks are nice: Kids are able to compete against their friends, discuss sets, and entire classes can share teacher-created sets. The ability to choose flashcard photos from Flickr's pool of Creative Commons licensed photography really adds to the efficacy of Quizlet for subjects like anatomy.
When it comes to education, Quizlet takes a different path than other online learning platforms and learning management systems. Unlike Khan Academy orLynda.com $25.00 at lynda.com, which relies on video tutorials, Quizlet employs user-generated sets of terms and descriptions. While those sets lack the glamor of videos, Quizlet has systematically added features to its repertoire for rote learning. With access to literally millions of sets, students can practice up on just about any topic, from intermediate Spanish to early American history.
I looked at Adobe
Illustrator on my PC, and it has the same feel as Photoshop,
but there is a significant difference.
Adobe Illustrator is an advanced vector-based software. So, unlike Photoshop’s
pixel-based format, it uses mathematical constructs to create vector graphics.
In Illustrator, a line is composed of two dots connected by a computer
algorithm, instead of just a line of pixels. Because of this, Illustrator is often used to create logos or anything that may
need to be printed or displayed at different sizes. A vector graphic will never
lose its quality if it is scaled up or
down. Illustrator will also give you a
better print output since it is not resolution-dependent.
Adobe
will definitely help students in the graphics designing programs. It is the standard
for graphic design. Most of us have very little knowledge of this technical tool,
but mastery of it can accomplish some pretty impressive stuff.
Common Sense is dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. They empower parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives.
They state that Media and technology are at the very center of all our lives -- especially children. Kids today spend over 50 hours of screen time every week. The media content they consume and create has a profound impact on their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. Learning how to use media and technology wisely is an essential skill for life and learning in the 21st century. However, parents, teachers, and policymakers struggle to keep up with the rapidly changing digital world in which our children live and learn. Now more than ever, kids need a trusted guide to help them navigate the world where change is the only constant.
Common sense media offers a portion of their site to certifying in Digital Citizenship for an educator, school and district. Digital Citizenship Certified Educators are dedicated to teaching digital citizenship to young people and engaging parents using Common Sense Education materials. The certificates are not test focused, but instead, ask a series of questions based on your experiences as an educator. It asks a few paragraph based questions such as: “What impact do you think teaching digital citizenship has had on your students? Their families? School culture?” This is a novel approach to these types of certifications, although I am not sure some certificate in this type of program is completely necessary. Certifications can be beneficial to the educator, but I would like to see more of the site emphasize, the sense of being a good digital citizen. A certificate is great, but the landscape is constantly changing to keep up.
THIS IS A LINK TO EXAMPLES OF ONLINE NETIQUETTE GUIDELINES:
Distance education can give a false sense of anonymity regarding the consequences of what we are doing. As a result, many people feel less inhibited in online situations than in their everyday lives. This heightened sense of inhibitions sometimes leads people to use less than their usual sense of personal respect for each other when communicating online. As a result, online communication guidelines have developed over the Past few years. This informal set of guidelines for online behavior called Netiquette. Three simple understandings can summarize netiquette: remember that there is a human being on the other end of your communication, treat that human being with respect, and do not transmit any message that you would not be willing to communicate face to face. Email is public domain and is not considered private information. The same goes for information shared in our classroom discussion and chats (Examples of Online Netiquette Guidelines, n.d.).
References
Examples of Online Netiquette Guidelines. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://wnmu.edu/: http://wnmu.edu/old/facdev/files/SC_netiquette/NetiquetteGuidelines.pdf
Edmodo is an educational technology company offering communication, collaboration, and coaching tools to K-12 schools and teachers. The Edmodo network enables teachers to share content, distribute quizzes, assignments, and manage communication with students, colleagues, and parents. Edmodo is an online networking application for educators and students. Think Facebook, but in a safe and controlled environment appropriate for school. Edmodo is primarily a tool for within-class communication, but it also provides several ways for teachers to connect with other teachers. Over 500,000 students are using Edmodo worldwide (Executive Summary- What is Edmodo, n.d.).
One way to use Edmodo is as aTeacher Lounge. Setup a “Teacher Lounge” (a comfy sounding staff room) where you can share ideas, files and links that would seem like spamming if we sent it via email to “all teachers” on staff. Edmodo does not have to be for learning exclusively. A teacher's lounge can be one way to set it up so that teachers can discuss things unrelated to the school, or to make announcements for events or parties happening in their areas. It can be as easy as a casual environment.
Another way is for students to create specific groups for themselves and create a “Diversity Day” Typically this is done via real life using foods, and traditions and customs of a particular ethnic group. By Using Edmodo, you can turn that experience into a virtual one. Now students can get together and collaborate on a particular country and build their Edmodo page to reflect the traditions, customs, cultures, and food of a particular nation. Students can focus one aspect and then teach all the other students about it.
Easyclass is a Learning Management System (LMS) that allows educators to create digital classes whereby they can store the course materials online; manage class discussions; give assignments, quizzes and exams; monitor due dates; grade results and provide students with feedback all in one place. Our tools provide unique opportunities for the instructors to engage students in various activities and offer a new dimension for interaction and efficient learning.
Easyclass sets out to disrupt the Learning Management System (LMS) industry by creating an easy to use, yet powerful solution that will be the new standard for open technology in education. We believe that an LMS shouldn’t be a closed system; rather, it should be a platform that connects everyone in education and promotes anytime, anyplace learning (About Us, n.d.).
One way an instructor could make use
of easy class is to ease their administrative work. No more
photocopying, carrying and grading stacks of paper and writing comments out.
All of this can be done online for the
assignments, tests and quizzes whenever wherever you want.
Easy learning is a Great platform for Blended Learning
initiatives. If you are looking to
incorporate more digital content in your
curriculum and looking for a robust platform that is affordable (like, free!), then Easyclass may be a perfect fit.
References
About Us. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.easyclass.com: https://www.easyclass.com/about
Executive Summary- What is Edmodo. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://edmodoteacherhub.wikispaces.com: https://edmodoteacherhub.wikispaces.com/file/view/Exec-Summary-Edmodo.pdf
This week I talked about Hitman 2016 as a video game that can be used to learn cognitive skills needed to accomplish a goal. Th goal being killing a target. Certainly this is a really interesting concept, and there is much debate about the value to these types of games, but I will take a stand and say that the game is simply more than just about “killing.” It involves various skills, roles, and decision making for how to carry out your mission. Think of it as a game where your project is to “assassinate” someone, and the choices you make really impact and influence how that is carried out.
Hitman is a third-person stealth video game in which players take control of Agent 47, a genetically enhanced, superhuman assassin, travelling to international locations and eliminating contracted targets. As in other games in the Hitman series, players are given a large amount of room for creativity in approaching their assassinations. For instance, players may utilise long-ranged rifles to snipe a target from a long distance, or they may decide to assassinate the target at close range by using blade weapons or garrote wire. Players can also use explosives, or disguise the assassination by creating a seemingly accidental death. A common method to approach a mission is to incapacitate other characters and wear their outfits as a disguise, which allows the player to gain access to restricted areas more easily. Actions of the non-playable characters influence the game. For instance, players can gain more information about the position of their target through listening to a nearby news reporter (Hitman (2016 video game), n.d.).
In class, this game could be used as a primer to AI, or for project planning. In a project planning class, you have to make sure you have all the right tools for the job. In the game, there are various side missions for which you can carry out. However choosing them can have an impact on how you assassinate your target, or simply escape undetected. Additionally, there are also challenges which increase in difficulty which allows the player to choose different ways to kill and different areas to explore.
In AI, we might see how each of the NPC (NonPlayer Characters) reacts to your disguises, or what you are doing in certain restricted areas.
What’s the best way to teach a kid about the forces that shape the Earth? You could let her read about the subject, or give her some diagrams to look at. Alternatively, you could just let her have a go at doing the shaping herself. That’s the thinking behind Earth: A Primer, a new interactive book for the iPad. It covers the basics of geology—how volcanoes form, how erosion works—but instead of simply telling you about these processes, it actually lets you control them (Vanhemert, 2015). Earth Primer feels like a curiosity. It is part textbook, part-toy, but perhaps not enough of either to find a huge audience. It is, however, an instantly intriguing thing, and I do not doubt a handful of learners will come across it and think, “Wow, Earth is pretty cool. Who knew.”
To use Earth Primer in Class, use it as an exploration application. Earth Sciences is a subject which covers various aspects of the science of the earth. Image if all of that was condensed into a simple app, where exploration and sandboxing was the name of the game. Simply by allowing students to explore how the earth reacts to weather conditions, or how earthquakes form, even about oceans could they get a better understanding of the earth.
References
Hitman (2016 video game). (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitman_(2016_video_game)
Vanhemert, K. (2015, February 3). A Gorgeous Geology App That Explores New UX Territory. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/: http://www.wired.com/2015/02/gorgeous-geology-app-explores-new-ux-territory/
We’re in the midst of yet another exciting chapter about how technology will impact our everyday activities. Consumer tech is leading the way by teaching us that both big and “little” data can transform fundamental patterns of behavior. Education may not be far behind. We know that the interaction between faculty and students is the lynchpin of educational success. Faculty are in the best position to observe and influence student engagement, which research tells us is the number one determinant of a student’s success. For example, are students persisting through difficult content? Participating in class? Revisiting course material after class? The Fitbit approach to educational data gathering may be a key missing link. They say what gets measured gets improved. By paying closer attention to great teaching, we stand to make powerful advances in how we understand and improve learning. Sometimes revolutions can happen in evolutionary ways.
One way we can obviously use FitBit in online learning is with physical education. FitBit offers a comprehensive fully customizable user interface. You can adjust goals, steps, heart rate, calories, as an example of flexibility with the device. In PE, students do a bevy of physical activity, what if we incorporated FitBit as a method of behaviorism. FitBit collects a lot of data, and that is a good thing for statistics, and mathematics courses as well.
With so many students, email addresses, decks, classes, and shared devices, it’s no wonder teachers sometimes run into trouble finding their students’ projects or accounts. Thankfully, Haiku Deck helps make one part of this equation a lot easier by explaining the best ways to use Haiku Deck for education. Haiku Deck makes it easy to follow the best practices recommended by experts: simplify your message, use images to amplify emotional impact, and keep formatting clean and consistent.
In Class, we often have to write up a little bit of an introduction for our classmate. What better way than to use Haiku Deck as your personal calling card. With Haiku deck you can creatively describe yourself to others, I a clean and aesthetically pleasing way. Haiku deck is easy to navigate, and simple to implement as well as share. It comes available on mobile devices so you can instantly make changes on the fly, and it will populate the changes across your account.
Another example of Haiku Deck that could be used in class is to teach visually. As access to the creation and consumption of digital media increases, educators must embrace an expanded view of literacy. Teaching the skills of reading and writing is no longer enough. Students need to be able to use images as a currency for exchanging feelings, stories, and opinions with the world at large. So... maybe a picture is not worth a thousand words. Perhaps a picture is worth a thousand ideas?
References
Byrne, R. (2013, February 25). 76 Examples of
Using Haiku Deck in School. Retrieved from
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/:
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/02/76-examples-of-using-haiku-deck-in.html#.VvTLDvl96Uk
With PaintCan, anybody can paint. PaintCan
helps you paint beautiful artworks from your favorite photographs within minutes. Sure,
this is essentially cheating, and no one gets messy, but imagine using this tool
as an adjunct to your art history class, or some sort
of self-improvement/career enhancement
class. Adobe PaintCan takes your photos that
you have shot and helps add an artistic flair
to them.
As an example in art history, the
challenge can be to replicate and emulate or mimic some of the great painters
brush strokes. Adobe PaintCan offers varying styles of oil paint and brush sizes so that you can create your
own painting using your photos. Advanced level students can certainly
fool anyone into thinking the photo they took is a painting.
Another example is the idea of brushstrokes,
intensity and depth with which they are used
in painting. Adobe paint uses a preset of various paint styles so that the user can emulate such greats as Picasso, or VanGogh,
essentially painting in their style.
Instagram
is an online photo-sharing and social
networking service. It enables users to take pictures and apply digital filters
to them and then share them on social networking sites. Instagram was launched in October 2010 by Kevin Systrom
and Mark Krieger. The service has been immensely popular with people
active on social networking. At present, Instagram has over 90 million users
worldwide. Instagram supports all Apple products like iPhone, iPad, iPod and
all camera phones having the Android operating system.
As an example in class, Instagram
can be used to assign homework, or assignments for your lessons. Instagram can offer opportunities for students to
share photos, apply filters, and make comments. Instagram is all about sharing
pictures, after all how long will you will you
be cherishing your beautiful memories with only yourself.
So what do we gain from sharing? The pictures we share increases our language skills, we interact, give feedback and much
more. Surely this App is more than what it looks.
Another example, in one class, I took a professor mentioned how he was a High School
instructor. He used Instagram to assign math
work. He also accepted assignments via Instagram using hashtags. He did various
hashtag rubric levels, Students who made a certain
grade were divided by their prospective hashtag. It was akin to the grading
system we know and love, but it was made modern by the use of hashtags.
IFTTT: An acronym for “If This,
Then That,” IFTTT helps you combine multiple products and services. Automate
tasks that you frequently perform with this app’s “recipe” function. You can, for example, set the app to save
attachments you receive via Gmail
messages to a Dropbox account as a convenient backup. Create your own recipes
or use those developed by other users; the combinations are seemingly endless (Venable, 8
TOP PRODUCTIVITY APPS FOR ONLINE STUDENTS, n.d.).
The reason I choose IFTTT is because
it helps automate many apps for you. Especially
important is the ability to choose from a long list
of apps that collect data and post them to an excel or word document. I believe IFTTT, can help students in a programming
or data intensive class where they simply collect data.
Another example is taken from the blog Ipad Jedis about how they use it in their classroom:
I have a contact form that sends me an email anytime a parent or student has a
question. The problem is that I do not
always check my email, and I may miss a submission. The solution is to
create an IFTTT recipe that says every time I get an email with the subject
“New Form Entry: Contact Form” send me a text message. Since I always have my
cell phone handy, I set up this recipe
and am immediately alerted.
Another
recipe that I use a lot in my classroom is "every time I take a
screenshot upload a copy of it to my Google Drive". This allows me
to have material handy that I may want to
use for a presentation. In my classroom,
the students can bring their own device,
so I can use IFTTT for the ticket out the
door. I created a hashtag of #TOTD which stands for ticket out the door. The
students put that in their email, and it
will automatically save all responses with that hashtag to a folder I created
in my Google Drive.
If
students have to bring a book to class every Friday, for example, you could set up a “Recipe” to tweet out
"IF Every Thursday at 8:00 PM to Post a new tweet to @mytwitter reminding
students to bring a book".
One
of the things that make the IFTTT app really
useful is that there are literally
thousands of “recipes” already made and shared. At this time, there are over
3000 pages of shared recipes from IFTTT users besides the great ones that you yourself
can create. The IFTTT app allows you to
create all of these great actions on your portable device (IFTTT, n.d.).
Moxtra: Chat, screen sharing, and
audio capabilities allow student groups to interact in real-time with any device. Additional features include
to-do lists with task assignments and
voice recording of comments on stored documents. If you have group assignments in multiple courses, Moxtra allows you to create separate binders to organize
materials (Venable, 6 TOP COLLABORATION APPS
FOR ONLINE STUDENTS, n.d.). Moxtra allows you
to work smarter, not harder, with a multi-layered
collaborative workspace that provides meetings, conversations, and content on
demand. Moxtra makes teamwork easier and
faster – whether your project lasts one
hour or one year, with five people or fifty. It
is just that simple. Moreover, best
of all, Moxtra’s suite of features can be embedded into any application.
In the online classroom, I think we are all too a bit familiar with the online
team group work. Instead of relying on the discussion board and CMS to solve your teamwork issues, send your students offsite to this app. Let them explore
and learn the functions that can increase groupwork. To prove everyone is active
in the app, have the team members take a screenshot of it on their device to prove
everyone is working as a team. This way everyone can be certain he or she have the app and are collaboratively working. Additionally,
the Moxtra app already has partnerships by linking with various other apps,
which can lead to more fluid control of what you
want your students to do.
IFTTT.
(n.d.). Retrieved from All about apps in YOUR clasroom!:
http://www.appsinclass.com/ifttt.html
Venable, M. (n.d.). 6 TOP COLLABORATION APPS FOR
ONLINE STUDENTS. Retrieved from http://www.onlinecolleges.net/:
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/6-top-collaboration-apps-for-online-students/
Venable, M. (n.d.). 8 TOP PRODUCTIVITY APPS FOR
ONLINE STUDENTS. Retrieved from http://www.onlinecolleges.net/:
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/8-top-productivity-apps-for-online-students/
