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Toolkit for Communication and Collaboration in K-12 Settings Edmodo http://edmodo.

com/

Edmodo is a web site/mobile app that creates a virtual classroom to support the real classroom. Teachers can post readings, assignments, calendars, tests, student polls, embed videos and create learning groups. Assignments can be scheduled to appear on the site at date and time determined by the teacher. Students can upload completed assignments and teachers can provide immediate feedback on submissions. Teachers can send alerts to parents about school events and missed assignments. Parents can access through their childs account, or create their own where they can view grades and teacher comments. Communication is enhanced between teacher and student, as well as teacher and parent. Collaboration is enhanced by the ability to create learning groups. I have used edmodo as a substitute teacher when the teacher was out of the classroom for a week. He scheduled assignments for 7:00 am daily with the answer key to be visible to students later that evening so that they could check their work after completion. He embedded videos to actually teach new material while physically absent from the classroom. I was able to co-teach with the smart board rather than just pass out worksheets. Edmodo is free.

Educreations

http://educreations.com/

Educreations is a web site and mobile app. With it a teacher can create, save and present lessons in video format that can be accessed by itself or embedded in other programs. This is the program the teacher used to embed videos in edmodo while he was away from the classroom (above.) A teacher can view and use lessons created by other teachers (and they can use yours.) There are lessons in Social Studies, Science, Math, Language Arts, Computer Technology, Health & PE, World Languages and other areas. It reminds me of Paint, as you can draw a picture or write text; or, make marks on a graph, map or picture that you have downloaded. You can record voice to accompany the lesson. Its very easy to use. I havent used it with a lesson, just a trial demonstration. It seems like this site/app would be beneficial in communicating material to auditory and visual non-verbal learners as a supplement to lessons usually oriented to visual-verbal learners. Most importantly, students could easily learn to use the site to create their own presentations. It seems ideal for small group work to enhance collaboration among students. Educreations is free.

StoryKit

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/storykit/id329374595?mt=8

StoryKit is an iTunes app with which the user can create their own story. Its free (thats good) and pretty fun to use. Ive used it once, just playing around with it. The story writer can use iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to take pictures, use existing pictures, record voice or sounds, type text, and draw using a tool similar (but very limited) to Paint. Then the author can edit any of this, and rearrange pages. Once its complete, the story can be uploaded to the internet and shared. The app also comes loaded with 4 childrens books that can be read as is or changed using the app tools. This seems like a quick and easy communication tool for allowing students to create using their imagination and communicate their story using technology they probably already have. Drawback is that its limited to these specific c devices, but on the other hand, there are plenty of these devices around. And, while using it I kept thinking, theres got to be more to it than this. I personally will probably not use this except for demonstration or to kill time, as Id prefer to create on a computer. But thats just me. I can see lots of students utilizing this app. StoryKit was developed by the International Childrens Digital Library (http://en.childrenslibrary.org/ .) The AppStore for iDevices also has free childrens ebooks for download.

aMap

http://www.amap.org.uk/

aMap is a web site that you use to start an argument. Really. It stands for argument map. The concept is this: the user starts with a statement, builds his or her argument, and the debate is on. First, state the Big Question. Next, state your position. This is followed up by adding to the proposition made in your position, because, add supporting argument as and followed by supporting evidence supported by These followups give meaning to and back up your argument. When you are finished making your case (my claim was that National League baseball is better than American League baseball,) you submit and open yourself up to argument from anybody all over the world. This site could be useful in helping students communicate their ideas and beliefs. Analytical and critical thinking skills are enhanced as students are required to support their statements with logical statements to build their case for their position. They must create and

structure using reason and evidence. A print version can be used in the classroom by individual students or in teams. Collaboration, in addition to Communication, would be enhanced by using the team approach as different sides of various positions are argued. I had some difficulty using the on-line version, as the instructions were not very clear and I had to re-do my argument a couple of times before I got the hang of it. All in all, an interesting activity. And, its free.

Easy Chart

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/easy-chart/id359795075

Easy Chart is an iTunes app where the user can create simple bar, line, pie and sidebar charts. With this tool, the student can communicate findings from research or observation in the field and collaborate with other students by sharing the information via email, social media, or just save the chart to my pictures. The app is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. It is useful to record and display multiple items: I recorded 10 observations and the data was still discernible even on a small screen. It is simple to use, but I found no way to precisely quantify the data I put into the chart. You use a slide button, and must estimate the position on most graphs. The pie chart seems to have the most accuracy, but its not 100% accurate. For instance, on the pie chart, you can slide the button and it shows a corresponding number; but I couldnt get it to go up one number at a time. It went from 16 to 18 to 20. I found no way to register a 17 or 19 on the chart. However, since the pie chart mode seems to be most accurate, you can start there and then switch to bar graph mode if thats how you want to display the data. Another downside is that I emailed charts to both of my accounts, and 30 minutes later the chart had showed up at neither. I was able to successfully store the charts in my pictures on my iPod. The app is free, and has an advanced version (not sure what it does) for $0.99. No internet connection is needed to use that app after download.

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