{"id":474,"date":"2009-12-25T17:26:45","date_gmt":"2009-12-25T17:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mengos.net\/wp\/?p=474"},"modified":"2009-12-25T17:26:45","modified_gmt":"2009-12-25T17:26:45","slug":"tools-of-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8211; tools of engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The number of tools on the web now is overwhelming, and it is difficult to know which ones to use in classrooms, and which ones are worth spending the energy and time on.\u00a0 Some tools\u00a0 have steep learning curves and others are simple but not appropriate for our discipline. I have noticed, for example, that there are hardly any tools for teaching technology and programming although we use the technology and programming to teach other disciplines.<\/p>\n<p>We don&#8217;t have to learn everything all at once. The first thing we need to do before using a tool is ask the following questions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>what is my goal? what do I want to accomplish in the end?<\/li>\n<li>will this particular tool help me accomplish my goal?<\/li>\n<li>if so, is it an intuitive tool or does it need a steep learning curve? [if the latter then I need to assess whether I have the ability to spend so much time on it or not]<\/li>\n<li>how much will it cost? most good tools are free unless you want additional features which might need you to pay].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As this year comes to a close, I would like to show my top 14 tools that everyone must have no matter what the discipline:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Flashcards: <a href=\"http:\/\/smart.fm\/\" target=\"_blank\">Smartfm<\/a> <\/strong>flashcards with audio. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ediscio.com\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.ediscio.com\/<\/a> flashcards. Students can even download them to study offline. You can let students create their own flashcards and they will learn more as they create them<\/li>\n<li><strong>Voice collaboration<\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.voxopop.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> voxopop<\/a> &#8211; great for language learning in particular and <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.podomatic.com\/\">PodOmatic<\/a> Like voicethread but in audio\u2014 It only needs a microphone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Video\/interview tool <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/wetoku.com\" target=\"_blank\">Wetoku<\/a><strong> <\/strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/wetoku.com\/\"> <\/a>. Let your students conduct interviews with others. It only needs a webcam and registration and you&#8217;re all set to go.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Messageboard\/forum:<\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/voicethread.com\" target=\"_blank\"> Voicethread:<\/a> the best alternative to a forum or messageboard because it is visual and incorporates audio\/video and text.\u00a0 Suitable for all disciplines.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mindmapping<\/strong>: <a href=\"http:\/\/mindomo.com\" target=\"_blank\">mindomo<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mind42.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">mind42<\/a> Just online thinking tools that could be used to map ideas and structures. Drawing to express complex ideas.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wallwisher.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wallwisher<\/a>: virtual <strong>post it notes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.wordle.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wordle.<\/a> A great tool to generate discussion based on <strong>keywords<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Animation<\/strong>:<a href=\"http:\/\/sploder.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"> Sploder<\/a>: creating animation; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.miniclip.com\/sketch-star\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\">SketchStar<\/a> creating cartoons and animation. Or create your own beautiful animation puzzle with this great tool <a href=\"http:\/\/www.halfbakedsoftware.com\/quandary.php\" target=\"_blank\">Qunadry<\/a> software.\u00a0 Only issue with this is that it requires a slightly more advanced knowledge of technology and requires download of the quandry software but the results are outstanding. &#8220;Action mazes can be used for many purposes, including problem-solving, diagnosis, procedural training, and surveys\/questionnaires.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Timelines:<\/strong> <a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.xtimeline.com\/\">xtimeline<\/a> &#8211; multimedia timelines with videos, photos and text<\/li>\n<li><strong>Documents<\/strong>:<a rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.writewith.com\/\"> writewith<\/a>: upload documents, share with other people, chat, assign tasks, and track everybody&#8217;s actions with a comprehensive history. Or create a virtual book with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bookrix.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Bookrix<\/a>. <a href=\"http:\/\/embedit.in\/\" target=\"_blank\">Embedit.i<\/a>n a tool to let you <strong>embed docs<\/strong> in your site with markups and analytics.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Collaboration:<\/strong> besides wikis, there is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/etherpad.com\" target=\"_self\"> Etherpad.<\/a> Even though Google recently bought it and its fate is unknown, it continues to be a great tool for collaboration. Students may collaborate on research papers and documents they are writing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Website builders:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hipero.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Hipero<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.wix.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wix<\/a> [flash-based designs].<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quizzes:<\/strong> create your own quizzes and share them at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.proprofs.com\/quiz-school\/\" target=\"_blank\">proprofs<\/a>. Also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.educationalpress.org\/index.asp\" target=\"_blank\">educationalpress<\/a> where you can Create free educational worksheets such as flashcards, game boards, and quizzes to print directly from your browser.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.teach-nology.com\/worksheets\/\" target=\"_blank\">Worksheets:<\/a> from teachnology. While it is not a free tool, the worksheets are free and maybe used for different projects. It also has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.teach-nology.com\/web_tools\/work_sheets\/\" target=\"_blank\">worksheet generators<\/a> to create your own specific worksheets.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If you want more tools, please visit my <a href=\"http:\/\/socialnets.wikispaces.com\" target=\"_blank\">social networking wiki<\/a>. One tool I have not tried but seen at work is a free online content management system called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcampus.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">RCampus<\/a>. Definitely worth a second look because it provides a complete CMS similar to Moodle.<\/p>\n<p>Any other tools? certainly there are plenty more, but if you have some must haves, please do not hesitate to let me know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The number of tools on the web now is overwhelming, and it is difficult to know which ones to use in classrooms, and which ones are worth spending the energy and time on.\u00a0 Some tools\u00a0 have steep learning curves and <a href=\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/\" class=\"read-more\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>- tools of engagement - Education and Technology Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"- tools of engagement - Education and Technology Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The number of tools on the web now is overwhelming, and it is difficult to know which ones to use in classrooms, and which ones are worth spending the energy and time on.\u00a0 Some tools\u00a0 have steep learning curves and Read More ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Education and Technology Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-25T17:26:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mtadros\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mtadros\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/\",\"name\":\"- tools of engagement - Education and Technology Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-25T17:26:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/#\/schema\/person\/a58d2f8787e73e2be26217913d0bd72b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/tools-of-engagement\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/virtualactivism.org\/education\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"&#8211; 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