Productivity+and+Collaboration

Productivity and Collaboration
**__PBWorks__**
 * Definition: PBWorks is a tool that allows for easy collaboration and communication among teachers, parents, and students.
 * When used properly PBWorks promotes student engagement. PBWorks is an advanced wikipage that can be used as a webpage that supplies information, assignments, handouts, links, files etc. PBWorks can also be used as a collaboration tool for students and teachers. As a collaborative tool students can use PBWorks to complete group work. PBWorks can also be used as a means for students and teachers to collaborate on individual student work and projects. Another use of PBWorks is as an electronic portfolio of student work.
 * This tool can be used as a supplement to group projects. Students can easily collaborate with eachother on group work from the comfort of their own homes. This tool can also replace paper portfolios and journals.
 * This tool can help students acquire knowledge in the areas of team work/collaboration and higher-order thinking skills. This tool can also be used as a resource bank in which instructors can share information and resources with students.
 * This tool can be used as a means for group members to communicate and collaborate while working on a group project. PBWorks can also be used as webpage, portfolio, online journaling, or group discussions.
 * The advantages of using PBWorks is that it is free, available to all students, can promote communication and collaboration, is versatile, secure and user friendly. The down side is that there is a learning curve to becoming familiar with the program and some features are not available in the free version.

[|Wikispaces] http://mrmancheskisenglish.wikispaces.com/ Aaron Mancheski Wikispaces What is wikispaces? Wikispaces is a space of your own typically used for one purpose or devoted to one topic. Each space can hold many pages, files, and images.

Wikispaces promotes student learning through student learning and discussion. A teacher can set up a wiki page on wikispaces for their class. A teacher can link documents to their wiki for the students to look at. Students can also discuss teacher posts on the wiki. A teacher can monitor students discussion to make sure that it is school appropriate it.

I think wikispaces adds a lot to traditional instruction. You can put files, documents, and video on your wiki. This all helps when you are presenting information to your class. You can have files, documents and video right at your finger tips to click on. You can also replace lecture with the use of wikispaces.

Students are able to use the discussion section of the wiki page to discuss topics with other students. A teacher can evaluate what a student has learned about the topic through peer evaluation.

A teacher could use wikispaces in their English class to teach the 6-traits of writing. A teacher could create a page for each trait. Then the teacher could put documents and/or files on each page giving an example of a good trait and a bad trait.

Wikispace pluses – You can link documents, files, video to your wikispace. Another plus is that you can have students discuss a topic with each other on the wiki. The wikispace is a great resource for a teacher to use when they are teaching a class. Wikispace minuses – Some school districts will not let you use a wikispace in the classroom. Some school districts feel that students might misuse the wikispace. Another minus is that some of the tools on wikispaces can be hard to use for the first time users.

=__**[|Prezi]**__= Aaron Rettler

Prezi is a nonlinear slideshow that can be produced online without the use of other software.

I have answered the rest of my questions in my prezi.

media type="custom" key="7813713"

** Survey Monkey ** Harvey Knutson

** 1. Create an operational definition for the tool. ** Survey Monkey is a free easy-to-use tool for the creation of online surveys.

** 2. Does the technology promote student engagement or merely entertainment? ** This technology promotes student engagement. Teachers can create surveys to get student feedback, or to quiz students on what was learned.

** 3. Analyze whether this technology adds some demonstrable pedagogical value to traditional instruction. (Can this replace something you already do?) More work? **  Yes. It can save time by creating these documents on paper, administering them, gathering data on the results, etc…

** 4. Assess the use of this particular technology to aid students in the acquisition of knowledge and not just information. ** This tool can be used in collaboration with a group inside and outside of class. Students can use pre and post surveys to learn or gather information for research or projects.

** 5. Suggest some educational uses for this tool in the K-12 classroom. ** Teacher feedback, online quizzes, student understanding.

** 6. Discuss the pluses and minuses of using this tool with students. ** This is an easy to use online tool. It can create great feedback for teachers to see what their students are learning or how they feel about it. By using technology to get the feedback, students may be more engaged to participate in the survey vs. paper and pencil. Also responses can be anonymous, so students may be more inclined to give honest responses. For Example, if you were asking a question in health class about if they have ever tried alcohol.

Most popular places to include survey links: · Emails · Websites · Facebook Pages · Blogs · Banner Ads · Twitter Posts

** Sample Survey ** media type="custom" key="7692677" align="center"

__ Storybrd: Ann-Marie King __ A literacy tool used to make on-line stories/books. Story bird is easy to navigate and allows teachers to set-up classes and assignments for students.

This technology certainly promotes student engagement! Teachers can create lessons and assignments for their classes. Storybird can inspire reluctant writers and readers. It can give a student the confidence and feeling of accomplishment from creating and publishing a piece of work.

I believe this tool can inspire traditional instruction. I did use it in my classroom and witness the engagement with the students. It was exciting to watch my students fully engaged with the assignment. Students were collaborating with each other, sharing ideas, and inspiring one another.

Students can improve their reading and writing skills using this tool effectively.

This tool can be used to inspire students to read, write, and create on-line books. On-line books can also be purchased in a soft cover, http://prezi.com://prezi.com://prezi.com, or premium hardcover.

I see many pluses in using this tool. For example, reluctant writers and readers will be more inclined to participate and learn when they know their work will be published. I really liked the option to publish privately or publicly. I also like the “tags” you can add to the stories. “Tags” offer another opportunity to teach about technology. ESL students and Special Ed students can benefit from using this tool too. I like the fact that a teacher can set up a class account and create lessons and assignments for the classes.

I did not see an option for students to illustrate their books. I felt this to be a drawback. **__ Voice Threads-Kyle Heeler __**

1. Create an operational definition for the tool. -Voicethreads are slide shows that may include images, documents, and videos that allow people to leave comments and collaborate with others.

2. Does the technology promote student engagement or merely entertainment? -This technology promotes student engagement by allowing students to create their own voicethreads and comment on other people’s voicethreads.

3. Analyze whether this technology adds some demonstrable pedagogical value to traditional instruction. -This technology adds value to the traditional instruction by allowing the use of slides, voice, images, documents, and videos in one format. This type of technology seems more user friendly than other forms of the similar technology, such as powerpoint. Students can then provide comments by using this type of technology and ask questions if they become confused or missed something.

4. Assess the use of this particular technology to aid students in the acquisition of knowledge and not just information. -This particular technology provides another teaching strategy that can help teach to the student’s different learning styles. By including many of the features of voicethreads you are able to reach out to students with different learning styles.

5. Suggest some educational uses for this tool in the K-12 classroom. -This tool can be utilized a number of different ways in a K-12 classroom. First, teachers could use this type of technology in place of powerpoint for lectures and demonstrations. This tool could also be used as a single or group research project for students. The students would then be able to comment and provide suggestions to other student’s projects along the way.

6. Discuss the pluses and minuses of using this tool with students. -A few pluses to this tool include the collaboration feature and the ability to include images, documents, videos, and audio all in one. This technology is also free to use. The only minuses that I have come up with so far when looking at voicethreads are that you need to be on the internet in order to work on the voicethreads. Also, students may provide inappropriate feedback to other student’s projects, but here is a feature that does allow the creator to monitor the comments posted on the voicethread. This technology may also take a little time to understand and learn.