Deviant Art

Deviant Art (deviantart.com) is an online community where artists can share their works in a community setting. People upload pictures and other forms of media to the website in order to share, comment, and get feedback from other artists and users alike. Unlike other forum based sites, Deviant Art allows artists to choose how their works can be used by others (i.e. allowed to be freely copied and used or not) giving a safer haven for copyrighted material. In the past, Deviant Art has held real life galleries which featured user submitted content. One specific gallery was a worldwide tour of user content.

For students, using Deviant Art will be fairly easy. Instead the difficulty will rest with the instructor. When implementing a forum based tool to a classroom restrictions come into play. There will be some inappropriate content on Deviant Art through nude pictures and other questionable content. As an instructor it is very important to set up an avenue where students cannot accidentally stray into said questionable content. Students will be able to see artwork from all walks of life and all methods of art expression. Analyzing different artistic styles and techniques can be a very useful application of Deviant Art. The applications of Deviant Art, although helpful, is a bit localized to an art based classroom so for all teachers to educate themselves would be frivolous.

Google Sites

Second Encyclopedia of Digital Tools Entry:

Google Sites, as its name implies, is part of the Google series of tools. It allows anyone to create and manage a website. Users are permitted to create a name for the site. If the site name is unavailable, Google will prompt you. They can also choose a template and theme. In order to ensure privacy, users can choose to allow everyone in the world to view the website or just people that they specify.

There is a home page, sidebar links, and options for adding images. There are many different additions one can add to the site. Also, there are multiple formatting options. For a new user, there may be too many. The colors, fonts, alignments, etc. have multiple options to choose from. One of the other nice benefits is that you can give access to edit to others.

My first experience with Google Sites was with a premade template. It was a bit difficult to navigate at first. The blank template seems a bit easier to use. If there were specific sidebar items and or layouts you want to use, I would recommend using a blank template rather than alter the premade templates. For a user with basic/intermediate computer proficiency, I would say that there is quite a bit of time necessary in order to get acquainted with this digital tool. There is not a lot of explanation or step-by-step processes.

I would say that this could be a very useful tool in a classroom. Teachers can collaborate easily since they can all have access to edit the website. They could provide links to useful references. They could manage a calendar and post assignment due dates. They could also have a section dedicated to discussions (student-student, student-teacher, parent-teacher, etc.).

I believe this is a tool worth learning, especially for teachers. It provides a great way to communicate with parents, display upcoming activities/projects, and organize resources available to students and parents.

For one of my other classes, we have begun to create a website using Google Sites. Here is the link to our website in progress: https://sites.google.com/a/albany.edu/assessments-in-education/

Evernote

Evernote



Main Features: Evernote is tool that serves as a digital notebook. You can save word documents, power point presentations, videos, and web links all in one place. An additional feature is that is portable. You can sync devises so that they can all access your Evernote account. This means if you find a good resource on your home computer, you can access it on your smart phone and school computer. You would then put a tag on the file so you can find it later (i.e. labeling a video ‘Science Experiment’). You can also easily share files with friends, colleagues, and classmates for collaboration.

Level of Difficulty: This tool is something that comes naturally to young people. For adults and children who are already used to working with Word documents, youtube, and other internet resources, there would probably be little to learn. It is only a matter of saving it in the Evernote tool. I think it might be more challenging for those who are not so media savvy, particularly older teachers. If they are struggling with more common tools like Excel and Outlook for email, it might be a tall task to learn and use Evernote.

Classroom Applicability: Evernote is the kind of tool that will make the spiral notebooks we grew up with obsolete. Students can take notes and share them with the class. One example on the website for Evernote has the teacher posting lecture notes to a place the class can view, therefore the students don’t need to focus on writing notes and can just focus on the lesson. It is a way for the teacher to disseminate information to the students, but also for the students to work together and share information they find.

Conclusion: This tool is worth learning because it is a step towards making education more interactive for the students. Instead of being passive recipients of information, they can find and share information just like the teacher does. As long as the resources are available for enough computers in the school, and the teacher has enough computer skills to use it, Evernote will be a great tool. I think everyone in this online class would have the ability to get the most out of it. However, I would not recommend this tool to teachers who are not computer savvy.

Open Office

Open Office



Main Features: Open Office is a free alternative to Microsoft Office Suite. It features a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a power point presentation program, and a graphics program. Open Office can open, edit, and save files in the format of Microsoft or to allow sharing and reading of documents made on other programs. As the name suggests, Open Office has an open software license, meaning it can be used by anyone for any purpose with no threat of action from the developer.

Level of Difficulty: All of the Open Office programs are easy to use. They are no more difficult than the comparable Microsoft Office programs. Writer, the word processor is the easiest to use with easy options to edit your text. Calc, the spreadsheet program, is easy to use to great charts and tables, but would require some more knowledge to perform math functions like Excel. Impress, is very similar to PowerPoint, you can make basic presentations with little prerequisite knowledge. Draw, the graphics program would require some basic visual arts ability.

Classroom Application: Open Office can be used in a classroom by teachers and students. Teachers can prepare presentations to go along with lectures using Impress. Students can use Writer to type their homework assignments. Calc and Draw can be used for other assignments that require more than typed work. Since it is compatible with any computer operating system (Widows, Mac, or Linux) it can be used by everyone in the class.

Conclusion: Open Office is a great tool and worth using. Buying licenses for Microsoft Office can be expensive for a school and students. Open Office provides a free alternative that is just as easy to use. It is the kind of tool that you will get out of it what you put into it. If you only want to type documents, you can; but if you want to do more than that, the program is capable of it and you just need to learn it.

Video Chatting: Good and better

Skype: How to connect no matter where you are

Skype is a video conferencing tool,which combines video and audio along with screen sharing to communicate across the globe. This tool allows for you to not only chat in real time and be seen, but also allows you to share information.

Skype has few main features, making it simple, but also capable for use in the office. The video feature allows for you to see your conferees, enhancing communication. Screen sharing is the other feature that takes Skype beyond regular video chat. Through the screen sharing function, you view media on the other person’s computer. This can allow for collaboration between chatters on documents, however this feature is limited. There is no way for both conferences to edit media and it cannot be edited in real time, a significant set back.

Skype can be a great tool to connect students who are learning across the globe. A great application could have been used for the cross education between U Albany and students abroad this semester. This would allow for students to communicate more effectively across the globe. It can also be used for students traveling abroad to communicate back to their home school, talking with students about their experiences as they are happening.

Skype is a great tool to keep in contact with people and brings video conferencing to a new level with screen sharing. Although this is a useful tool, it does have limits. Therefore, I searched to see if there was another tool that would be more useful and interactive for remote meetings and conferences. Here’s what I found.

Unity: Bringing people and media together

Unity is an up and coming tool that combines video, audio and media technologies on one place. This tool is used in real time, allowing you to share and edit media from pictures, to presentations to video in real time with anyone across the globe.

Some may compare it to other video chatting devices such as Skype or Facetime, however this tool actually moves beyond these simple video chats to allow for true virtual collaboration. Media can be annotated, edited and shared in real time, making instant connections in real time.

Main Features

Unity has several features that make it a unique research and teaching tool, including:

• Video – video conferencing allows you to see those you are talking to and can allow 25+ participants to join the conference.
• Audio – audio feed lets you communicate to others in real time.
• Screen sharing – screens can be shared to show rich media and interact with it (see below).

• Chat – A chat option allows you to instantmessage those in the conference anonymously, increasing communication.
• Notes – a note function allows you and others to type notes during a session that can easily be saved reviewed later (see screen shot left).

• File Transfer – files can be easily transferred to your computer and are automatically saved to your computer, allowing for faster collaboration (downloads can be completed and reviewed before a session takes place) and review of the documents after the session with completed edits.
• Editing Function – allows for all media, video, text, photos, etc. to be edited in real time by all participants and saved as a final document for later use.
• Moderation of Sessions – Each session has a moderator that controls who can edit what and when, controlling interactions but also limiting distractions.

All of these features combined bring this tool beyond the usual video chat and make it a true collaboration tool.

Level of Difficulty

I was able to learn this tool fairly quickly, having been born in the technological era. Older generations who do not use Skype or other video conferencing tools may need a quick tutorial to get them started. Media sharing is very easy with the drag and drop option, allowing you to simply drag files from your desktop and drop them into the viewing area where all participants can see and interact with it.

Classroom Application

Although Unity is still being tested, it has many applications. For the classroom, this tool makes learning more student centered. Students interact with media directly. In addition, teachers can view, moderate and assess student work in a rapid assessment form. Unity is currently being tested at SUNY Potsdam. In the Biology lab, students are using cameras to document what they view in the microscope using Unity and can share it instantly with classmates. This instant feedback can help students determine if they have their microscope set-up correctly, if they are viewing an organism correctly and can gain instant help from other students on how to improve their microscope use. In addition, students can take screen shots of their work, saving it for later. Drawing the organism is no longer needed as live shots of organisms are taken.

To read more about how this application is used, visit the Solar Digital website.

Is this tool worth learning?

I think that Unity is definitely a tool of the future that is worth learning. It has really taken video conferencing and brought it to a whole new level. Being able to interact so instantly allows for meaningful learning and collaboration. Products are easily created for review including notes, screen shots, annotation of videos, photos and text documents. Therefore, learning this tool can open up a whole realm of possibilities for classroom use to get students interacting with media and technology as well as provide rapid assessment to students, improving their learning and teaching in the classroom.

Maple

http://www.maplesoft.com/products/maple/students/

Maple is a general non-free commercial computer algebra system. The Symbolic Computation Group first developed the software in 1980. It is now developed and sold by Waterloo Maple Inc. The latest version is Maple 15, a software tool for mathematics and sciences. Maple incorporates symbolic and numeric with a wide range of applications with over 4,000 mathematical functions. High school students in math and science are often asked to graph and solve difficult math problems. Maple provides a way for students to work out these problems.

Maple has created a user interface to accommodate every type of user. There are three different editions of maple available now, Maple 15 Professional, Academic, and Student Edition. To use Maple in the classroom I would suggest the student version. Maple has a portal which provides examples for the students to explore progressing into more difficult tasks. There are templates set up within the program to solve certain types of problems. Students can use these templates to work through difficult problems or check their final answers. Maple is incorporated with different tutors. For example, the integration tutor is used so students can practices different ways to integrate equations. Often calculus problems are long and tedious, a miscalculation can alter the final answer. Maple can identity these problems simply. Maple can also be used for students to create plots. In these plots they will be able to see trend lines and view 3D spaces. Another use is to be used to solve for large matrixes. Like most technology, Maple should not be use in place of teaching students mathematical skills to enforce them.

Teachers can use Maple to check students work, identify where there may have been mistakes in calculations, or as a resource in the classroom. Maple Cloud allows the teacher to share worksheets with students as well as allow students to share with other students. However, if Maple is not installed on the computer that the student is using the Maple files are not accessible. Help on how to use Maple is embedded within the program and addition references can be found on their website.I do believe that this program is not easy to use because it has its own computing language which should be learned to use its applications. The teacher can cover and explain how to use Maple in one to two class periods. Maple is very sensitive to cases and spaces; an extra space between numbers or command will result in an error message. I believe that the time which needs to be invested for students to learn how to use Maple will be well worth it. Its vast range of mathematical applications can be used in the classroom can be carried with the students in the future. I personally would include Maple in upper level math classes like calculus. Students often struggle with topics taught in these classes but can become clearer with an engaging technical approach.

Watch Documentary

http://watchdocumentary.com/

Main Features: This website has hundreds of documentary movies and series that can be watched online. Documentaries are sorted into many categories for easy browsing. Probably not everything in there is appropriate for a classroom, so the teacher will have to be selective, but there are a lot of documentaries on History, Politics, Science, Environment, Money, etc. which can be used. Some are full length movies; others are short 10 to 15 minute films that can be quickly integrated into a lesson.

Level of Difficulty: This tool is very easy to use. You only need basic web navigation skills to browse the listings. The documentaries plays in the web browser so there is no need to install a separate video application for viewing. Most of the documentaries require adobe flash or html5. These are standard on most computers and should not be an issue. The website will guide you to install adobe flash if need be.

Potential application in the classroom: The films available on the website can be used to supplement instruction. Including videos in instruction is a good way to diversify the learning and keep the students engaged.

Conclusion: This tool is worth learning because it is easy and will require very little investment, but have a good payoff for the teacher and students.