Productivity+&+Collaboration

Productivity & Collaboration Tools

Jill, Stacy, and Kim

Each group is responsible for 2-3 Web 2.0 tools in their category. Be sure to answer all of the following questions for each tool on your wiki page.

[|Storybird] by Stacy Rosenbaum
 * 1) Create an operational definition for the tool. ﻿This site is an exciting and imaginative Web 2.0 tool that allows emerging writers/artists to create their own story. Registered users (creating an account is a very simple 3 step process) can create their own storybirds and share them with others through this website. What it is even more fun, is that you can create your own storybird or start a storybird and then invite someone to collaborate with your story. Once the story is completed, users can share their stories with everyone on storybird (or you can remain private). Users can even bookmark their favorite storybird reads for simple archiving.
 * 2) Does the technology promote student engagement or merely entertainment? This site can really do both. If students are actively engaged in the storymaking process then they are using the technology engagement of Web 2.0. However, if students are using storybird as a place to read literature, then it is used for the purpose of entertainment.
 * 3) ﻿﻿﻿Analyze whether this technology adds some demonstrable pedagogical value to traditional instruction. Using storybird certainly does enhance the approach in teaching kids how to write. Storybird allows children to utilize a computer format as opposed to the traditional paper/pencil method. Giving children this alternative can make students who struggle with penmanship an opportunity to feel successful, or it can also helps those who struggle at getting thoughts on papers. It also opens the door for greater creativity with their illustrations. Younger children are not always able to create detailed drawings, but with storybirds numerous images, children could be inventive in the way the pictures tells the story. Finally, I believe it encompasses the way teaching and learning is headed towards. The future of education might not be with the traditional tools that we all used, but rather with the tools of the 21st century and beyond.
 * 4)  ﻿Assess the use of this particular technology to aid students in the acquisition of knowledge and not just information . Using storybird is not going to teach a child how to use a computer but rather it shows students another avenue to demonstrate their skills. It is a way for students to become creative and build self-confidence.
 * 5) Suggest some educational uses for this tool in the K-12 classroom. ﻿I would definately use storybird for my 1st grade students. We teach writing using the 6 Traits method and incorporating storybird would be a huge motivator for kids. They would be very excited to engage in this process since they would be able to share their story with family and friends.
 * 6) Discuss the pluses and minuses of using this tool with students. Plus: It allows them to show off their talents to the world and even learn what it is like collaborate with others. It is very easy to use and navigate.﻿ ﻿Minus: If they collaboroate with someone they have to accept what someone else would like to add to their story. ﻿Spell check is not a feature when in the creating process so children must edit their work before publishing it (good use of 6 Trait concept).

Zoho by Kimberly O'Rourke 1 - Create an operational definition for the tool. Zoho is a web-based is a web-based online office suite. Zoho is much like Google docs. It contains word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, note-taking, wikis, project management, and more. Zoho applications are free to use at the entry-level and require a fee for more extensive use.

2 - Does the technology promote student engagement or merely entertainment? Yes, the technology promotes student engagement through discussion.

3 - Analyze whether this technology adds some demonstrable pedagogical value to traditional instruction. Zoho definitely adds value to traditional instruction. Students can communicate and collaborate globally on a project. They are can work on solving and researching real world problems with other students not only in their class, but around the world. Zoho gives the students an authentic audience and the ability to publish their work

4 - ﻿Assess the use of this particular technology to aid students in the acquisition of knowledge and not just information. Zoho Writer in particular is an online word processor that allows a student or teacher to write, share, and collaborate on projects. What makes Zoho a collaboration tool to use in the classroom? Some of the basic features are: the ability to post documents to a blog, import and export documents in a variety of formats. Access, edit, and share documents online from anywhere with whomever you choose and lock documents while in shared mode.

5 - Suggest some educational uses for this tool in the K-12 classroom. Students will be involved in co-creation of a document and must determine the propose of their work and brainstorm approaches. They have to negotiate shared meaning and teach each other through the sharing of multiple perspectives and divergent idea. The students work together to create an end product and engage in mutual peer evaluation. These activities reflect the very strategies that teachers can utilize to enable and promote the type of dialogue and collaboration needed to support student lifelong learning skill development. It is through collaborating and co-creating using Web 2.0 tools, that students can begin to learn different and more effective ways to collaborate and co-create with each other and therefore learn, unlearn, and relearn as effective lifelong learners. Students could invite others to edit their work. Students can easily complete assignments at school or at home with having to take anything with them. All they need is the Internet connection. Students could use Zoho chat to communicate with students in another country. Teachers can use Zoho to make review tests and put a time limit on the test if they want. Zoho writer, show and sheet allow teachers to leave documents online for students to review, print, study. this can be helpful when a teacher is absent or school is cancelled because it allows for contact with students.

6 - Discuss the pluses and minuses of using this tool with students. Pluses....free online word processing software, the ability to collaborate in real time, your data stays behind the firewall, ability to access your documents anywhere, transition between Microsoft Word and Zoho is easy, support for multiple document types, customizable.

Minuses...needs a continuous Internet connection, there is always some sort of risk when saving on an external server, when you log in you find a clutter of user options which can be confusing, limited help.

[|PBworks] by Jill Hanson

1. Create an operational definitionfor the tool. PBworks is a wiki that gives you quick, easy way to create a website that allows multiple people to collaborate.

2.Does the technology promote student engagement or merely entertainment? The site clearly promotes student engagement. The amount of entertainment students will get from the site will depend on the teacher. Most of the cites I have looked at have had links to documents, notes, PowerPoints, files for collaboration assignment and YouTube videos.

3.Analyze whether this technology adds some demonstrable pedagogical value to traditional instruction. Using PBworks like other wiki sites can add value to tradition instruction. It will allow students a place where they can collaborate on assignments, but work when they want to work. PBworks keeps a log of recent changes to documents. Like other wikis it will give students who are absent and parents to keep up with what is going on in class 4. ﻿Assess the use of this particular technology to aid students in the acquisition of knowledge and not just information. This tool would be used to demonstrate knowledge. When used as a collaborative tool they will be creating project that would be used for assessment. It would work for any project as a tool to keep files, webpages, etc. in one spot. 5. Suggest some educational uses for this tool in the K-12 classroom. This could be used in many different ways as a connection to the classroom. I could see using it as a collaborative tool, a site to keep parents and students up-to-date, and place to keep important links that my students may need. 6. Discuss the pluses and minuses of using this tool with students. The biggest plusses are that the basic version is free and students do not need an email address to be added. When using as a collaborative tool you can see who is making changes to documents and put a document back to a previous version. Cons the sites I have seen do not have the same ability to personalize like with wikispaces. [] []