Critiquing the world of Ed Tech Resources

Diigo literally blew me away. The things it is capable of doing is amazing. It is a very good web tool for both educators and students alike to use. The only downfall I can see with this site is the need to choose plans to fully utilize their services but don't be discouraged there is a free version that enables one to use some of the vast services they offer. Definitely worth investing in.

 

Sign up for site this was fairly easy as you were given the option of linking it to your facebook account or simply filling out your email address, creating a password and agreeing to their terms of use and privacy policy. It was an interesting site and very user friendly. I'm not sure at this point if it's a tool I would be necessarily using but it could be a good tool to use in the classroom to record and start class discussions. The best part I saw about Sound Cloud is it is available on mobile devices too. 

My first impression of Scriblink was that it was a complete waste of time. But then I started to think that it could be a great tool to use if conducting flipped classroom lessons or to provide extra help for students at home. No sign ups are necessary from what I can see and it is completely free. One thing in particular I didn't like was the ad on the bottom of the whiteboard. 

WolframAlpha is your not typical search engine site. It gives far more information and examples on a wide range of topics. The major difference is that it doesn't offer a variety of sites for you to look at as the other search engines like google, bing or ask.com do. Rather it takes you to a single page with information about your topic of choice.  However, it does add in an element of related articles on the lower left-hand side.

Prezi is a technical site not suited for those who either lack patience or don't have the time to sit down and go through the motions of learning how to use it. It is not as user friendly as I originally thought it would be. Nevertheless, it is a great option for presentations as opposed to the typical PowerPoint presentations mostly used today. Also for those who wish to keep their presentations private, you may need to upgrade to the premium one as the free version does not come with that option.

Edublogs is a great tool for teachers to use to bridge the gaps between the home and school environments. It can be used to update and keep students and parents informed on assignments and other key items coming up. It is student friendly and can be completely private or open to the public. The best part of it all is it is only for education, it provides a safe and secure environment not allowing any adult content and the teacher is able to manage the blogs and users. It comes in a variety versions but I feel that the free one can be quite handy.

Xtranormal is a fun site to create interactive videos and lessons for all. It is kind of tricky to use at first but after messing around with it, you will get the hang of it. Although, you are allotted a 14-day free trial, when trying to publish your video, you are required to have points to do so. I'm not sure exactly if points can be earned but I do know that they can be purchased. With that being said, Xtranormal can become very costly to use.

I love that YouTube has made a site specifically geared towards education as YouTube is a well known site used by many. YouTube for Schools is a great tool for educators and students alike. It enables teachers to provide interactive videos in the classroom for free. The filters provide a controlled environment assuring parents and teachers that students are not accessing unrelated and inappropriate videos while in the school environment.