Course Management Tools

Course management tools such as D2L, Blackboard, and Moodle are taking the place of gradebooks and other management tools for teachers. The use of course management tools allows for teachers to streamline their work, their student's work, grades, and communications. These course management tools allow for students to take quizzes online, turn assignments in online, see their assignments online, view notes and powerpoints as well as chat with other students. The three main course management tools out there are D2L, Blackboard, and Moodle. They have similar features but seen more often in different settings. For instance, D2L is more prevelant on college campuses whereas Blackboard is designed more for the high school circuit. However in no time at all they will be sure to be used in all types of school settings. Course management systems is a relatively new trend in education and will be sure to transform how classes are ran. These systems have many benefits for both students and teachers however it does take a while to get used to. One warning.... they can be frustrating for beginning users but eventually do make life a lot easier.

Online Word Processors and Spreadsheets

This week I tried using online word processors and spreadsheets from both Google Documents and Zoho. Before this week I knew nothing of these online word processors and spreadsheet programs. I found the two programs to be very comparable in all aspects. I did not find one to be extremely easier to use than the other. Both Zoho and Google Documents had similar features both in the spreadsheet and in the word processor. They were both very similar to other word processors such as Microsoft Works or Microsoft Word. They have the basic functions that one would need to type a paper or to make a chart with a spreadsheet. However there is one thing that I noticed in Zoho that I did not notice in Google Docs (it may have been there but I didn't notice it). I noticed that using Zoho to make bar graphs, there was an option of making the bars 3-D which I did not notice using Google. I also noticed that Zoho had a greater selection of fonts and colors. All in all they are very similar programs and I am sure they will have more and more features as time goes on. If I would have to choose though, I would say I would choose Zoho. I like having more choices. I would also like to add one more thing that I noticed while using these programs from home. My internet connection at home is not as fast as that on campus and therefore it took a lot longer to load and save the documents I created on both sites. Other than that they are great alternatives to the traditional word processor and best of all they are FREE!!!!

RSS Feeds for teachers

RSS feeds such as bloglines and google reader can be useful both in a teacher's professional and personal life. RSS feeds are meant to make checking websites, blogs, etc. faster and more efficient. Instead of having to check each individual site you can just check the RSS feed to see what is new. A teacher would be able to use this in order to keep up with professional online journals or professional websites. An RSS feed can be used for instructional purposes when checking for current events which is often an activity in the social studies classroom.  In a math classroom, students could use the RSS feed to check on sports scores and calculate certain statistics from the scores.  The RSS feed can be used to check on new science technologies and social problems that are science related.  On a personal level, teachers can use RSS feeds to check the newspapers, news shows, sports scores, blogs, and even get the word of the day. RSS feeds can make life a little bit easier... something everyone can use!!!

Summer flowers

Summer flowers
Originally uploaded by nawieling

This is one of the pictures that I had uploaded to my flickr account. This picture could be used in a science classroom if covering a unit on flowers.  Students would be able to identify the parts of the flower and how plants grow.  This picture could also be used as an inspiration for an art class or could even be analyzed by an art class.  In a math class, the flower could be used to ideas such as symmetry.  A teacher could also use this photo as a way for teaching about adjectives.  Pictures have many uses in the classroom.