Useful+Tools

Self Assessment The following is a list of educational technology tools than can be incorporated into classroom lessons or used in a professional setting. These tools provide educators and students with ways to meet the [|NETS Standards] :
 * __ Useful Educationol Technology Tools __** home Technology in Education Sample Lesson Plans

1) [|Delicious] Delicious is an online bookmarking tool that can be used for a wide array of things. When an individual creates a Delicious account, they can bookmark any site that they wish and add it to their Delicious page with tags. Other people can then access that person's page to view their bookmarked sites OR find useful sites by searching for specific tags. Through Delicious, students and parents could access a teacher's page to navigate to sites used in class, or for assignments. Teachers within a department could access other teacher's pages from any computer to find and share new and useful sites. If a secondary social studies teacher, for instance, were to look at my Delicious page ([]) they could find sites that they may be able to incorporate into their classes and determine what lessons they may be useful for by reading the tags that I have provided.

2) [|Wikispaces] Wikispaces is a web 2.0 tool that has endless uses. Educators can use this as a tool for collaboration (between students, parents, other educators, etc.), an instructional tool, and a tool for formative and summative assessments. Within a Wiki students and teachers can embed images, videos and audio making it incredibly versatile. This tool also provides the ability for students and teachers to give feedback to individual and group assigments. A good example of a potential student assignment using this tool can be found in sample two in the Sample Lesson Plans section.

3) [|Audacity] Audacity is a tool that can be used for students to create their own podcasts. Podcasts provide a good medium for students to express their creativity in a way other than writing essays or papers. It can also be used as a good way to differentiate an assignment for those students who may be unable to produce a written assignment. The following is a sample of a podcast in which a student explains the role of technology in education:

4) [|Inspiration] Inspiration is a digital mapping tool that allows students to demonstrate their understanding of content in a creative way. It can also be used as an instructional tool for teachers. Teachers can create an Inspiration map and allow students to explore the class materials in this way. Inspiration can be accessed free for 30 days, however [|MyWebspiration] is a free alternitive to this program. Attatched below is an example of an Inspiration map that looks at the pros and cons of technology in education.

5) Digital Stories Digital stories can provide teachers with an alternative and engaging way to present materials to students, all the while benefiting those students who learn better through visual or auditory mediums. It also can be used as a different way for students to demonstrate their learning, allowing for them to be creative in doing so. A popular tool for creating digital stories is [|Windows Movie Maker], but there are other options available. Students for instance can use Flip cameras to create their own movies. Below is an attachment that contains a digital story explaining the Universal Design for Learning.

6) [|Blogging] Blogs provide a good forum for class discussion and collaboration. Teachers and students can use blogs to stay communicated with one another outside of the classrooms. With blogs, the administrator has the ability to control who has access to a particular blog, ensuring that only those individuals who should have the capability to participate in the discussions do. In my ISTC301 class, we utilized a [|class blog] for both individual and collaborative purposes. In a blog, entries appear in reverse chronological order, making it convenient for users to access the page and see the most recent materials immediately.

7) [|Google Docs] Within Google Docs, students and teachers can create documents, spreadsheets, presentations and forms that can be accessed from any computer with internet capability. Students and teachers can share access to any of these things with other individuals, making it a useful tool for collaborative work. Perhaps the most interesting capability that Google Docs allows for is the creation of questionaire forms. This can be a great tool for teachers to use as a formative assessment (anonymous or not) to see what students know going into a lesson, or to determine whether or not they came away from a lesson with a good understanding of the material. As students respond to the questionaire, the teacher can receive immediate feedback in the form of a spreadsheet like the following:



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