Making the Technological World Easier with a Couple of Tools in my Belt

As the incorporation of technology in the everyday classroom continues to expand from devices to online tools, awareness of technology tools available for educational use is very important in providing the most optimal learning environment for both students and teachers in the classroom. Whether it be assisting a teacher to make his or her life a bit easier or creating an online environment to hosts online classes, technology tools are great to have in anyone's tool belt. Thus, the following is my personal evaluation of the 8 technology tools—MOODLE, Firefox, Google Apps, LiveBinders, emaze, Rubistar, Cisco WebEx and PowToon—using the following rating scale.

		
Excellent	Acceptable	Unacceptable
I highly recommend	I recommend	I do not recommend

 

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 Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, more commonly referred to as MOODLE, is a learning management system (LMS) that provides a variety of users all over the world a free open-source learning environment online. Since my first semester as an undergraduate, MOODLE has always been the online LMS. Almost five years later and I can honestly say that MOODLE has grown so much in terms of what it can offer as an online classroom. First, as MOODLE is an online LMS platform, it can be accessed from anywhere around the globe. That is, as a student I can enroll in a UOG online class while visiting family in California or as a professor I can teach online courses while doing research in New Mexico. Secondly, the features on MOODLE allow for a great learning experience online. Features include hosting/sharing documents and multimedia files (course syllabus, course schedule, handouts, lecture notes, videos), submitting assignments, grading and providing feedback for assignments, grouping of students into designated groups for the course, notifications to your main email address to always keep you in the loop, messaging with professors and classmates, and posting and replying on discussion forums. Personally I have found the features of MOODLE to be very effective as an online classroom. However, in the very near future, UOG MOODLE classroom will have the ability to include video posting and replying in discussion forums. This new feature will definitely increase the interactivity amongst participants in an online classroom, especially for language courses. Lastly, for all the semesters I have used MOODLE, as both a student enrolled in an online course and as a teaching assistant grading assignments, I have always found it to be very user friendly. From its global accessing, great features and user friendly design, I highly recommend MOODLE as a technology tool and give it three apples!

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Mozilla Firefox is one of several Web browsers that has been available for users since its launch in 2004. Firefox has been my go-to Web browser for as long as I can remember, whether it be my personal laptop or another computer that I use. Although I am an avid Apple device user (MacBook, iPhone 5, iPad) and Firefox is associated with Android devices, I find its features to surpass its inability to sync to my preferred mobile devices. One of Firefox’s amazing features include the Do Not Track option that lets third-parties know users choose to opt-out of sending them browsing data. Other features include its ability to customize, available add-ons and address bar capabilities. Its ability to customize allows users to personalize their Web browser window to match their personality and choose what buttons are most important for their unique needs. I personally love how I can easily add my frequented websites onto my toolbar along with their corresponding logo for accessibility. I have not personally used the add-ons feature on my Firefox, but add-ons could include applications such as the weather forecast downloaded onto your Web browser for easy access. Lastly, Firefox’s address bar capabilities include suggestions for what you are searching for based on your history, bookmarks and current browsing tabs. I do have to share that recently Firefox has quit unexpectedly several times on my laptop, and although this might cause other users to be wary and choose another Web browser, the fact that Firefox apologizes and gives me the option to restore all my current browsing tabs, I still choose Firefox over all the others. I have dabbled with other Web browsers throughout my academic years, but my loyalty will remain with Firefox. In my opinion, choosing a Web browser is similar to choosing a search engine—it all depends on the preferences of the user. That being said, I would recommend Firefox as a technology tool and give it two apples!

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Google Apps are online collaborating application tools that are completely free and easy to use on any device. Google Apps include Google Classroom, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drive, Google Sites, Maps, Blogger and many, many more. Once users create their free Gmail account, they have access to all these free Google applications. Google as a company has definitely always appealed to online users around the world due to its user-friendly graphic design and functionality. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are an amazing set of applications everyone should learn to use as they are completely online (easy to save and easy to use when on the go), shareable with other Gmail accounts, and most importantly editable by all who have access to them ALL AT THE SAME TIME! This simple ability to edit simultaneously makes the world of a difference and surpasses all the other online sharing tools (i.e. Dropbox). Although Google Apps are very user-friendly, if a user ever finds him or herself in need of some trouble shooting, there is a library of helpful tips online that will come to the rescue. Google Apps have so many positive features that I have yet to find a reason why anyone should not use them. Let me remind you once again that they are all free and all on the Internet! That being said, without hesitation, I would highly recommend Google Apps as a technology tool and give it three apples!

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LiveBinders is a digital version of the everyday 3-ring binder we know so well equipped with tabs and so much more! LiveBinders can be very versatile in the classroom, office and at home. Features of LiveBinders are limited based on the type of account a user chooses. As a free user, one can upload as many as 10 Binders, have 2 levels of sub tabs, storage up to 100MB and file size uploads no more than 5MB. Although the free account does not allow private uploads, there are options to restrict who can view Binders using an access code as well as preventing viewers to download contents on your Binders. Besides its ability to to be a digital copy of your paper binder and accessible wherever there is Internet, LiveBinders is a great tool for organizing digital resources such as PDF documents, cloud documents, websites, YouTube videos, educational online games, and Pinterest boards, to name a few. Users can insert a website link into a Binder, but certain websites do have limitations and can only be viewed in its own browser window, not within LiveBinders. Nonetheless, LiveBinders keeps all those digital resources in one place without having to remember the URL of the website or finding that one graphic organizer handout in a pile of papers. Also, users are able to customize how their Binders appear, such as coloring options for specific tabs, layout of content of each tab and format of the Binder itself (horizontal or vertical tabs). LiveBinders is a great education tool and every educator should definitely use it in his or her classroom, but since all the features are not entirely free, I would recommend it as a technology tool and give it two apples.

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Emaze is an online presentation software that gives an entire face lift to what we used to refer to as digital presentations. Emaze actually makes listening to a presentation enjoyable! Emaze provides different plans users may sign up for based on their presentation needs. All plans include beautifully designed templates equipped with animations, transitions and 3D and HD backgrounds all accessible through the Internet. Features may differ in terms of collaboration amongst users, visibility, ability to download presentations to view offline, and ability to change or create templates in terms of fonts, colors and backgrounds. As an average person who creates a presentation now and then, I find the free account to be sufficient. The created templates allow me to spend less time on the delivery of the presentation and more time on the content of the presentation. Emaze includes formatting tools such as text, image, media, shape and chart that are very user-friendly. Inserting videos into emaze is especially easy to do as users only need to insert the URL; gone are the days of struggling to get your video in your presentation to play.  Overall, emaze is the latest and greatest presentation software that I highly recommend as a technology tool and give it three apples!

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Rubistar is an online tool that allows teachers to find, create and save rubrics for free. Rubistar provides assistance in categories such as oral projects, multimedia, math, writing, products, reading, art, work skills, science and music by suggesting category names and breakdown of each criteria. Although the graphic design of Rubistar is not entirely appealing (pink, white and red does not seem a professional choice of colors), navigation on the website tool is very straight forward. Rubistar is offered in both the English and Spanish language. A limitation of Rubistar is that there is a 40-minute expiration time that users must be aware of before data can no longer be saved. As long as users submit their rubric before the expiration time, users can continue work on their rubric in editing mode. Once rubrics are ready to be used, they are one click away from being handout ready. As rubrics are a very vital component in students’ evaluation of their work and teachers vary in their approach to using and creating rubrics, I recommend Rubistar as a technology tool and give it two apples.  

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Cisco Webex is a web conferencing tool available for free or purchased for more unique and specific web conferencing needs. Selecting WebEx Meetings Free, users are allowed up to three participants, one host, VoIP audio connection, video streaming, sharing of desktop, whiteboard and documents, collaboration tools such as commenting, annotating and chatting, recording of meetings and Active Speaker that informs participants who is speaking. When using the screen sharing feature, participants are able to let other participants have access and control of their computer files. This can be very helpful when troubleshooting, but users must be very cautious when allowing this feature as others have access to and can make definite changes to computer files when given this ability. WebEx software was very easy and quick to download. Once downloaded, meetings are accessed using any Web browser. In comparison to other web conferencing tools, WebEx Meetings appears very professional and sleek with its crisp white and grey color choices and sleek format. Given that WebEx Meetings is limited to how many participants are allowed and that there are other web conferencing tools that are just as user-friendly, free, and allowing more than three participants, I would recommend WebEx as a technology tool and give it two apples. 

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 PowToon is an online video animation and presentation software that is available for free or purchased to access certain upgraded features. Users can select templates either as an existing style or create one from scratch. PowToon allows users to access its library of animations, texts, and sounds, to insert videos from computer or directly from YouTube, and to decide how animation will enter, leave, and act during each scene. Once a PowToon is created, it can be accessed as either a video download or as a YouTube video. As PowToon is a combination of video animation and presentation software, users will need to set aside time to familiarize themselves with how to use its functions. PowToon provides several video tutorials online for users to access if ever they need assistance. PowToon's approach to capture audiences of all ages with its engaging and appealing use of animation will definitely be a plus both inside and outside of the classroom. I have spent little time on PowToon, but as I familiarize myself with the software, I definitely plan on using this technology tool in my future classroom and for personal use. As PowToon is one of many online presentation tools and that educators may vary in their ability to use its certain features, I would recommend PowToon as a technology tool and give it two apples.