Week_13 The End Is Near

The snow outside is finally and it looks like together with it the discovery of so many fascinating new tools that Avraham has taught us is winding down, but that doesn't there is no room for one last of interesting new toold and discussions. 

I would like to begin with sharing my opinion on two tools I am a little less fond of, one from this week and one from last. The first tool is ClassDojo (in this link there a short video that explains about the site). Before raising the problem I have with the site I would like to point out that I do appreciate the attempt to integrate teacher feedback (positive and negative reinforcement) in such a fun way. The main problem I have with this tool connects to the point that I have raised in the past, and that is human interaction. I have already discussed the dilemma of how much human interaction in the classroom should be replaced with technology, and the difficulty of finding the right balance. To me ClassDojo is already way over crossing the line, the one I can not even imagine giving up to technology is my personal feedback with my students, if a student did something I want to give him a high five or a hug not click on a "+1" on my iPad!

The second thing I would like to discuss is from last week, and also connects to crossing the line with technological replacement of human interaction. I felt that the video about Katy school district's project showed a lot of really amazing things, but it just felt like like too much technology and not enough human connection.

Okay, on to the good stuff. Here are a few tools I bumped into that really appealed to me:

1. TED-Ed (this link has a video explaining hoe to use the tool) - I very much like simplicity, and this epitomizes just that. It's a tool that helps create very effective and productive lessons online, and it is very simple to use.

2. Collaborize - This is a great tool that is exactly it sounds like - it integrates collaboration in a fun way. It gets students to discuss and share on interesting topics that the teacher wants to bring up. It gets students to open share on an even playing field (as the video explains).

3. Educreations - A nice tool that can be used by T or S to create presentations that include voice thread, image and animations such as underlining a piece of information you are discussing.