Technology Assessment

Tools You Can Use

     The following are tools that I have rated from 1-5 stars 5 being great and 1 being no good. Overall the tools I have selected are tools I do encourage everyone to try and I have enjoyed using. Most have just been introduced to me so I am still becoming familiar with some of them and a couple I have used in my daily use of computers. Great tools, great experience, and new ideas. 

1. Moodle:

 Moodle is a tool used by schools for students and teacher. It is great to monitor assignments and class activities. I was given a chance to use this tool twice since I was in school. It has been a great help but I have had to call in for some assistance regarding my account, but overall a good source online. This tool gets 4/5 stars.

 http://moodle.org/

2. Firefox:

Firefox is a web browser which is free to use. I have personally used this browser for a while and have been very happy with it. I have not run into any major problems that were not resolved right away. This source is a great tool and it gets 5/5 stars.
 http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/fx/

 

  

3. Google Apps.:

 This tool has just been thoroughly introduced to me and I become more and more fascinated by using the different things it has to offer. With the experience I do have so far the best part is that it is FREE. You get a calender, email, presentation files, chat, etc. all the tools you need as a STUDENT and a TEACHER. This app. is good 4/5 starts.
http://www.google.com/apps/index1.html

4. Livebinders:

 This tool was just introduced to me this semester and it is pretty good. I like how it can save all your sources in a binder online. NO HASSLE for copies, papers, and space. All in cyberspace. I still need to use the tool a little more but overall it is a nice tool 3/5 stars.
http://www.livebinders.com/

                                                                    

5. Moonfruit:

Moonfruit is a webmaker tool. This semester was my first time creating a web page. It was pretty fun. However I did not experience first hand this great tool. I almost tried all the recommended webmakers before this and little did I know that this was SHORT, SIMPLE, and USER FRIENDLY. I was able to use this site with no problems and enjoy it too. This tool is great 5/5 stars.
http://www.moonfruit.com/

                                                                                  

6. Bookemon:

 Bookemon is a tool to make your own online books. Also very convenient and creative. I was introduced this in another class and it is a great resource. You are your own author of a digital book. Your story, your images, or clipart, and your time and effort into a book you can share with your children, family, and students. I really like this app. this is good 4/5 stars.

http://www.bookemon.com/

7. The Super Hero Squad Show:

This tool is a comic strip tool great for making up stories with the Super Hero Squad characters. It is very fun to use and great for the students in my major which is ECE. I enjoyed this tool and trying it out. It was not too hard and great clipart to pick from. This gets a 4/5 stars.

http://marvelkids.marvel.com/shows/122/the_super_hero_squad_show

8. Wiggio:

    Wiggio was introduced to me in class. This app. is great for groups to communicate other then face to face or text messaging. For our projects we used this tool a couple of times and it helped however it did have some problems. Sometimes the site was not working causing us to not use the tool when we needed to discuss our projects. But overall this was a nice tool to use and it gets 3/5 stars.

     http://wiggio.com/

Sexting & Textual Harassment 

     Working on this project was literally an eye opener. Not only with the group assignment but the topics that were shared in class as well. The information shared was great advice and very important. Now I will keep it in mind since my future profession will be with young students who may not know the information. Personally this assignment was very enjoyable. It was full of new experiences and learning in a fun filled way. Information gathered online has enforced our presentation and what we now know. We found out that sexting is a crime on Guam and there are consequences (Public Law, 2011). There is also a bunch of information directed to educators, students, and parents (Fact Sheet, 2012) to go over so they too are informed with what goes on with their children. I had a chance to also work with great people as well. We all did our parts and added our own touches to the presentation. I really enjoyed trying out the new web maker Moonfruit. It was easy to use and really user friendly. 

    

     The other examples shared were very informative as well. However the phishing and pharming presented in class was very understandable. Since I enjoy presentations I was engaged in the class presentations more. The other examples provided to us are very informative and interesting as well. Since it was not presented reading the information was a bit much. Cyberbulling, copyright, and digital safety are all information that are need to know, but it was a lot information to go over alone. All the presentations had their own uniqueness. If I was able to watch all the presentations I think I would have enjoyed it more. Since we had to review three topics out of five it probably would be best to remove anything repetitive or only keep what was important to share. Most of the information was helpful but i would remove the longer clips and keep shorter ones, take away any information the clips are already sharing and use clips since reading does become boring. 

    

     If I have to introduce these topics to my students it would all depend on the age of the students. Which will determine the activities or lesson overall. Some of the games shared in the presentation may only be used for older students (high school) I would probably have to change some responses if I worked with the age group in my major, which is early childhood. For these students I may have to take a calmer approach and keep it more informative rather than the clips or find something suitable for their age. I can share how we respect each other in person and how we should do the same online. We can discuss how we still need to keep our important information private and not to post it up online. I can play a game asking them what type of information is important and what we can share. Also I can explain that being bullied in person is not fun and that it is just has sad as doing it online. I can take these approaches with my students when talking about some of these topics. 

      

     This assignment required a lot of thinking and depending on what was decided some time. My group did have to meet on other days to complete the assignment most especially since we decided on a clip. We did use other tools to meet like emails, Google docs, Wiggio, and text messaging however it was not as productive as meeting in person. Sometimes our systems were slow or the sites were being worked on. Since we did need to meet in person most of the decision making was done during those meet ups. As of right now I think the best way we communicated was through our phones and emails. Since we all have different schedules being on the computer for hours was really not convenient. Since the assignment was to inform the audience I do not think any changes are necessary. It requires a lot of reading and being organized which was what we had to do. 


Group web page:  http://groupamazing.moonfruit.com/#

Works Cited

(2012). Fact Sheet. Retrieved from http://www.monaro.nsw.gov.au/files/docs/kids/factsheet_text_sext2.pdf

(2011, March) Bill No. 41-31 Retrieved from

http://202.128.4.46/Public_Laws_31st/P.L.%2031-09%20Bill%20No.%2041-31.pdf