Discussion post: Unit 1
I believe that using cloud tools would be extremely beneficial for online courses and face to face classrooms. I am a face to face teacher, so I do not know all the ins and outs of building a fully online course, however, I think that anytime we can use a tool to enhance learning, we are only going to enrich the learning environment for our students.
I loved the “TedEd Lessons Worth Sharing” (http://ed.ted.com/) tool. I started to put together a lesson for my grade three class. TedEd is so easy to use and has many benefits for students. I was able to find a video and start adding questions within minutes. What a wonderful timesaver. I found it to be highly engaging and thought provoking. I can see this tool also working very well for students who do not like to write or who have small motor difficulties that inhibit their ability to hand write answers. Also, students can go back to the questions later if they can’t finish the questions in one sitting, as I had to do for the TedEd lesson about Adora Svita. TedEd can be used at various junctures of a course of study. It can be used at the beginning of a course or lesson to introduce a topic by evoking interest from the students. The questions that are posed can be ones that are comment based to promote ideas about the topic. It can be used as a part of a series of lessons within a course of study as a summative evaluation. It can also be used at the end of a unit of study as an extension of thinking.
I also liked the “Voicethread” (http://voicethread.com) tool. I thought this tool was great because it allowed students to collaborate in a different way than with “Blackboard Collaborate” (https://www.blackboard.com) or “Google Docs”. Voicethread was easy to set up and would be easy for students to add their thoughts and ideas to. I see this tool as a great way to engage students who are reluctant to write or type answers or comments. The ability to respond to another’s comments is a great way to extend the activity to receive feedback from fellow students in a meaningful more personal venue than with text based tools. Again, as with TedEd, Voicethread can be used throughout a course of study at different intervals for different outcomes. It is not tied to one use.
I feel that cloud tools can be more beneficial than not, in online and face to face learning environments. There are so many tools in which can enhance learning. Collaboration, as an example, through the use of cloud tools such as Google Docs, Blackboard Collaborate, and Voicethread, to name a few, are wonderful examples of the different ways that students can work together to further their thinking. They have the same idea in mind, but use different platforms to facilitate the collaboration of students.
There are, however, some drawbacks. Some of these drawbacks are if the tool is not used to enhance learning, but as something to put in, just because. I think we need to be careful to make sure that the tool that we are using is relevant and useful to what we are teaching. Also, we need to make sure that all learners are engaged. I can see, as with Voicethread, that some students may feel intimidated by having to record their voice. I think we need to be cognizant of how cloud tools, and any other tools we may use, may cause some students to be disengaged rather than engaged. Careful understanding of our students and their learning styles is important for full engagement.
In conclusion, I am on one hand very excited about discovering and using the myriad of amazing cloud tools that are out there. On the other hand I am a little overwhelmed by the vast amount of tools that are available. I wish I could have a good chunk of time to just play and discover all the tools that I would like to use in my classroom and have time to fully immerse them into my program.
Jane C
I believe that using cloud tools would be extremely beneficial for online courses and face to face classrooms. I am a face to face teacher, so I do not know all the ins and outs of building a fully online course, however, I think that anytime we can use a tool to enhance learning, we are only going to enrich the learning environment for our students.
I loved the “TedEd Lessons Worth Sharing” (http://ed.ted.com/) tool. I started to put together a lesson for my grade three class. TedEd is so easy to use and has many benefits for students. I was able to find a video and start adding questions within minutes. What a wonderful timesaver. I found it to be highly engaging and thought provoking. I can see this tool also working very well for students who do not like to write or who have small motor difficulties that inhibit their ability to hand write answers. Also, students can go back to the questions later if they can’t finish the questions in one sitting, as I had to do for the TedEd lesson about Adora Svita. TedEd can be used at various junctures of a course of study. It can be used at the beginning of a course or lesson to introduce a topic by evoking interest from the students. The questions that are posed can be ones that are comment based to promote ideas about the topic. It can be used as a part of a series of lessons within a course of study as a summative evaluation. It can also be used at the end of a unit of study as an extension of thinking.
I also liked the “Voicethread” (http://voicethread.com) tool. I thought this tool was great because it allowed students to collaborate in a different way than with “Blackboard Collaborate” (https://www.blackboard.com) or “Google Docs”. Voicethread was easy to set up and would be easy for students to add their thoughts and ideas to. I see this tool as a great way to engage students who are reluctant to write or type answers or comments. The ability to respond to another’s comments is a great way to extend the activity to receive feedback from fellow students in a meaningful more personal venue than with text based tools. Again, as with TedEd, Voicethread can be used throughout a course of study at different intervals for different outcomes. It is not tied to one use.
I feel that cloud tools can be more beneficial than not, in online and face to face learning environments. There are so many tools in which can enhance learning. Collaboration, as an example, through the use of cloud tools such as Google Docs, Blackboard Collaborate, and Voicethread, to name a few, are wonderful examples of the different ways that students can work together to further their thinking. They have the same idea in mind, but use different platforms to facilitate the collaboration of students.
There are, however, some drawbacks. Some of these drawbacks are if the tool is not used to enhance learning, but as something to put in, just because. I think we need to be careful to make sure that the tool that we are using is relevant and useful to what we are teaching. Also, we need to make sure that all learners are engaged. I can see, as with Voicethread, that some students may feel intimidated by having to record their voice. I think we need to be cognizant of how cloud tools, and any other tools we may use, may cause some students to be disengaged rather than engaged. Careful understanding of our students and their learning styles is important for full engagement.
In conclusion, I am on one hand very excited about discovering and using the myriad of amazing cloud tools that are out there. On the other hand I am a little overwhelmed by the vast amount of tools that are available. I wish I could have a good chunk of time to just play and discover all the tools that I would like to use in my classroom and have time to fully immerse them into my program.
Jane C