Classroom management software

I think that using tools such as moodle, d2l, and blackboard can be both helpful and detrimental in the classroom depending on your setting and the amount of support that you have. I think that the fact that a tool like moodle is free is extremely appealing but the fact that you have to have things set up for you by an administrator and you have to buy server space and other hidden costs makes it less appealing, also there is less support available for teachers individually. Blackboard and d2l are very similar in format and function but are very expensive to start up which can make them prohibitive for teachers to use unless a school district is planning on implementing the program district wide. I think that the benefits of using programs like these would be that it can help get students ready for college since in the college setting they are going to be doing alot of online learning and they are most likely going to be using a tool like d2l or blackboard. Additionally it is better for the environment because teachers can have students turn in papers online instead on in printed format so that they are using less paper and ink and thus have less of an impact on the environment. Also from a teacher's stand point if the teacher has the students turning in papers online then they do not have to carry large amounts of papers back and forth from work to home for correction, they can simply log into a computer with internet to correct papers and give feedback. 

Wikis

I think that the concept of wikis can be very helpful and a good way to get information and share information. I think that schools blocking wikipedia as a source of information is both good and bad. Because wikipedia is a wiki and anybody can add information the information that can be found on these sites may not always be entirely factual. I think that instead of blocking students access to information found on wikis teachers should be teaching students better information gathering techniques and to check their sources and make sure that the information that they are gathering is reliable and verifiable from various sources. 

Google Docs and Zoho

I found Google Docs to be very useful. The fact that it is free and can be used on all platforms is a huge added bonus. One of the features that I liked the most was that you could use it to work on a document with multiple people all at the same time. One thing that I thought could be added to it to make it more useful would be a chat function so that people working collaboratively on a document could talk to each other about the document without having to type into the actual document. Also because it is a web based tool you have to have internet access to use it which could be a drawback as there is not internet access everywhere. 

Compared to the Zoho suite of tools the Google suite of tools is much more basic in features. This makes the Google set easier to use but gives the user less options as far as what kinds of manipulations you can do with the documents, spread sheets, or graphs that you are working on. The added features on the Zoho tools made them much slower to load on my computer and in fact froze up my browser completely twice before I gave up for the evening and decided to try again the next day. This could potentially be a large repellant to people who may want to try to use these tools simply because they cannot get them to load on their computers because the programs are too complicated and bogged down with features. 

Overall I think that I would be more inclined to use the Google tools because of the fact that they are simpler and they load much more reliably than the Zoho tools. 

Use of Online Image Generators in The Classroom

I can see many uses for different types of online image generators in the classroom. Seeing as there are so many different types of image generators available that do so many different things the possibilities are almost limitless. The main thing that I can think of off the top of my head immediately is making posters for the classroom. The ability to make completely individualized and unique posters for your classroom can make your room a more inviting place for your students and if you use images of your students in the posters that gives them a sense of ownership in the classroom and gives them more of a sense of belonging. You could also use the image generators for projects for the students, giving them the opportunity to create a professional looking and original product that they would not have been able to create otherwise.

Determination

EE
Originally uploaded by Abbey Riordan

Even when EE fell off his bike and hit his head he didn't let that stop him.

A Really Old Picture Of Me

me
Originally uploaded by Abbey Riordan

This is a really old picture of me with crazy purple hair!

Use of Flickr Mashups or Similar Tools

I think that tools like Flickr mashups could be very useful in a classroom. For me specifically I am going to be a special education teacher working with students with emotional or behavioral disorders, many times these types of students have trouble expressing themselves. Through using tools like Flickr mashups the students could create collages and other projects to express themselves and they could explore different ways to express what they are feeling and thinking more freely. These kinds of tools could also be used to create posters and bulletin boards for the classroom.