What a class! As a self-proclaimed "tech geek," I never thought that I would get to take an entire class dedicated to enhancing my geek skills. I really enjoyed learning more about the Web 2.0 tools that are out there. In particular, I believe that my new-found knowledge of VoiceThread and Prezi will come in handy as I strive to become a better educator.
I only wish that I had an opportunity to use and review more tools. On a personal note, I plan to continue to use Penzu as my online journal, particularly when traveling as a way to capture my thoughts and preserve the experience.
I plan to work on submitting my final research proposal to my fellow educators in the department and determine if they are interested in pursuing the project. I personally think it would be worthwhile, and hope that they think so too. I was also particularly interested in one of my classmate's proposed research studies on using Scoop.It to post updates from journals.
I really enjoyed this class, and I hope that you two go on to teach it for years to come! Thank you so much. Susan
Please
select the one, primary category for this tool: Productivity Tool
Please
describe this tool in your own words in about 150-250 words.
Evernote is an amazing productivity application that allow
you to create notes within separate notebooks that you organize. You can create notes by typing or
speaking. You can also take photos, clip
information you find on the web, make to do check boxes, and create
charts. You can access your notes from
the web, from your computer, or via mobile devices including smartphones and
tablets. If you want to share your
notes, you can email them or post to Twitter or Facebook. You can also get a URL for sharing your notes. You also have the option of sharing your
notes with anyone. Evernote is an
incredible way to stay organized and access your information on the go.
What
do you need to know before using this tool? (What skills do you need to have?)
All
you really need to know is how to use a computer, access the internet, and if
desired, how to download an application to your computer.
What
do you need to have before using this tool? (Resources)
You
need a computer with internet access. If
you have mobile devices, those will be great with this application.
How
do you use this tool? (Write the basic steps using a numbered list)
2.Click on “create account” in the upper
right-hand corner
The Evernote Account Creation Page
3.You will now see your Evernote account
a.Your Notebooks are in the left-hand column
b.In the middle column, you will see your list of
notes
c.In the left-hand column you will see the details
of each note’s contents
4.Click on “New Note”
a.Give your ntoe a title
b.Pick the notebook where you want to store your
note
c.Create your note
5.Explore the other cool options Evernote has to
offer
a.Upgrade to Evernote Premium for lots of
additional features
b.Visit the Evernote trunk to find additional
applications to enhance your Evernote experience, for example, the web clipping
tool
c.Download the Evernote app for your iPhone, iPad,
or Android Tablet to access Evernote on the go
d.Download Evernote to your computer desktop
i.If
you are using a windows-based pc, this will also give you an add-on for
Microsoft Outlook that allows you to store your emails in your Evernote account
e.Share your notes with friends or
collaborators
Here,
is an example of a note I used to store a survey that a colleague and I were
working on.
I
want to send it to my colleague so that she can review it and make any edits
necessary.
When I click "start sharing," I am given two options. I can send her an
email or I can make the note public.
Here is a Jing tutorial on using Evernote to archieve and organize your email in Outlook.
Please
describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment
(150-250 words).
Evernote
would be an ideal tool to use in education for collaboration. In fact, Evernote has a specific option for
educators that allow them to open a Premium account with a 50% discount for
groups of 3 or more. In an educational
setting, I can easily see Evernote being used by students to share research or
notes or by teachers to collaborate on lesson plans or presentations. One of the ways that I use it with my
residents is that I save relevant articles of interest in a specific notebook
that I then share with the residents so that the journal articles will be
available to them whenever they might need to access them.
What
are the advantages and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching
environment?
Advantages
are the ease of use and the ability to access notes on the go, whether it be
over the web or on mobile devices. The
disadvantages are the fact that you must pay for a premium account (though they
are really inexpensive all things considered) and the fact that there are not
as many options with regard to formatting and note design as I would like. I also do not like the fact that I have to
use somewhat odd naming conventions for my notebooks to make uploading notes
easier.
Would
you recommend this Web 2.0 tool to others, or suggest that they explore a
different tool?
Overall, I think that Evernote is an incredible program that
is an integral part of my daily life. If
you are looking for a simple, yet powerful way to get and stay organized, I don’t
think you will be disappointed.
Please select the one, primary category
for this tool: Communication Tool
Please describe this tool in your own
words in about 150-250 words.
ipadio is a tool that
can be used to podcast directly onto the web from your phone. Once you sign up, you are given your own
“channel” where you control your broadcasts. You simply call the toll free number from your registered phone number, enter your pin, and start recording. If you want to call and record from a number other than the one you registered, you can either enter the registered phone number or you can go online and enter a second phone number to register. This makes it really east to record from anywhere. Once you make your recording, it shows up in your channel on the web. From here, you can edit all the information about your phonecast and chose who and how it can be shared. One of the options you have with ipadio is to follow the channels of other users who may be phonecasting things you are interested in. Another really cool feature is the ability to post your phonecasts directly to many social media locations, such as Twitter, Facebook, blogger, etc.
What do you need to know before using
this tool? (What skills do you need to have?) I think that it is important to understand the concept of podcasting. However, you really only need basic computer skills and the ability to dial the phone.
What do you need to have before using
this tool? (Resources)
You need to have a
computer, internet access, and a phone.
Preferably, you will also have something to say.
How do you use this tool? (Write the
basic steps using a numbered list)
4.Once you get the email confirming your
registration, then you can go back to the home page and click login.
5.Once you login, you just dial the
number and follow the phone instructions.
6.Your phonecast then appears in your
channel.
7.Once your phonecast is present, you can
edit, delete or download it.
Please see the Snagit images below for
more details:
Here is an example of the tool being used to provide an update on English School Championships. I chose it for it's length and the speaker's great accent.
Please describe a scenario of how you
might use this tool in a teaching environment (150-250 words).
I honestly think that it would be hard to use phonecasting in my teaching environment. The one thing I thought of was the possibility of using this tool to record conferences or group discussions that do not depend on visual presentation materials like PowerPoint. One big downside is the fact that while you can prevent your phonecast from being public, I can't figure out (even from the help section) whether or not you can restrict access to your phonecasts. That would be important if you were recording sensitive information that you wanted to control access to, so this might make it hard to use educationally in medicine. I did email tech support with the question, but have not yet heard back.
What are the advantages
and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?
It is possible to allow comments to be made on your phonecast which I think would be necessary in an educational environment, if only to ensure that the learners actually listened to your phonecast. This could create some interesting dialogue. As the educator, you can receive email notifications when someone comments which would help you keep up with your students. Also of note, your channel can be followed in an RSS feed, so even remote learners could know whenever you posted a new recording just by following your channel.
Would you recommend this Web 2.0 tool
to others, or suggest that they explore a different tool?
I think overall I would recommend this tool to others given it's ease of use with the dial in option and the ability to share via social media. I remain a little concerned about the security option, but that is not a deal breaker.
The first part of my review can be seen here in this slide rocket presentation.
Check out this example of how to navigate your journal entry...
Some final thoughts about Penzu:
Please describe a scenario of how you might use
this tool in a teaching environment (150-250 words).
From time to time when I have
residents that struggle with professionalism issues, I ask them to write a
personal reflective essay and turn it in to me.
I read their submission and I provide them with feedback. I think that encouraging these residents to
journal would be a better way to promote regular reflection, and I could then
require the submission of one entry per week to me through the share
feature. Using penzu, I could then
comment on the residents journal entry.
What are the advantages
and disadvantages of using this tool in a teaching environment?
The advantage of using this
tool in a teaching environment is that it is free and very user friendly. Also, it is highly accessible since all you
need is a computer. The disadvantage of
using this tool in a teaching environment is that journaling tends to be a
highly personal experience, and many learners may not feel comfortable
journaling and then sharing that experience with others. It may be difficult to separate journal in
the educational setting with journaling for personal growth and
development. That being said, I was asked
to keep journals in college when we would go on trips and turn them in for
grading. I still have those journals
today, and consider them a wonderful memento of my college educational
experiences.
Would you recommend this Web 2.0 tool to others,
or suggest that they explore a different tool?
I think that if you are
looking for an online journaling tool, penzu is an excellent program. I plan to keep on using it, particularly when
I travel.
My group collaborated in a number of ways on this
project. We started out by using email
to develop a plan. We discussed our
question and exactly what subtopics we would address. We then each picked a subtopic. Finally, also via email, we decided that we
would use Google Presentation in a shared format to create and review our
slides. We then moved our Google
Presentation to VoiceThread and added our comments. My group worked exceptionally well together
and every member of the group contributed equally. It may have been one of the best group work
experiences I have had.
Uploading the presentation to VoiceThread is a snap. It only took a few minutes. I
provided comments on the slides in two ways, by typing and by recording using a
microphone. I did not chose to use the
webcam, but not because I thought it would be anymore difficult. Both methods of commenting
we very easy, and I was pleased with the results. It was also easy to delete the recorded
comments and start again. Overall, my
experience with VoiceThread was very positive, and I think that I will want to
use it again.
I can see a definite place for VoiceThread in my day-to-day
work life. My colleagues and I are based
at different hospital sites, and this can, at times, make collaboration
difficult. Using a tool like VoiceThread,
particularly when we are working on joint presentations would really simplify
things and obviate the need to be in the same location. I am going to introduce VoiceThread to some
of my work partners and see if they are interested in giving it a try. I also have considered that this would be a really neat way to engage the medical students and residents in learning core concepts in Obstetrics and Gynecology. I could post a presentation with my comments and then allow them to add additional comments which would give me the opportunity to evaluate their comprehension of the materials.
class! As a self-proclaimed "tech geek," I never thought that I would get to take an entire class dedicated to enhancing my geek skills. I really enjoyed learning more about the Web 2.0 tools that are out there. In particular, I believe that my new-found knowledge of VoiceThread and Prezi will come in handy as I strive to become a better educator.
