Weekly Report & Reflection Post #9

Welcome Back!

Retrieved from: http://www.wcpss.net/Page/7368

Another week and another digital tool (or tools in this case)! As you have probably seen this week I have been more active on my blog than usual. I have posted a page for a tool called VoiceThread (that I will discuss later) and a blog post analyzing a technology use scenario.

As I previously mentioned we were introduced to a tool called VoiceThread. I have described what it is in my page about the tool. We also used a tool called PollDaddy. These were both tools that allowed many people to voice their opinions. In VoiceThread you could post video, audio, or written comments on each slide of the slideshow presentation. In PollDaddy you answered a poll question with one of the options below the question. We explored the tool by answering questions on if technology was being used appropriately in specific scenarios. It was interesting to see people’s different perspectives on different scenarios. I found that in VoiceThread you were able to voice your opinion fully unlike PollDaddy where you were only given options.

Retrieved from: http://web20summer12.wikispaces.com/Polldaddy

I think that they would be good for different situations like teaching or lecturing. I discuss in-depth on my VoiceThread page how teachers could incorporate these tools into their lessons. I believe that they are less applicable for my PLE as a student and therefore I will not be including them, but if I were going to I would add them to the education section. These tools could contribute to my PLN, if I were to use them, because they allow you to interact with people. Even though that I do not think I will be using these tools in my future I think It is still very interesting to learn about them and I could suggest them to others to use. For example, my mother is an elementary school teacher and I believe that she would enjoy using VoiceThread in her classroom as she is always looking for ways to add digital components to her classroom. I think this would be the perfect addition to her classroom!

Article of the Week

Retrieved from: https://twitter.com/debateorg

As discussed in my last post, this week’s article (or rather voting site) is about whether cell phones should be allowed during school hours. It is called Should Students be Allowed to Use Cell Phones in School. It also related to the collective knowledge building tools we used this week as it involves the opinions of many people. It is somewhat of a combination of PollDaddy and VoiceThread, as it has a voting component, but also had a section to support your opinion on the subject at hand. I think this is a very interesting hybrid of both of the tools that we used this week! The website this “debate” was on is debate.org where they have many other controversial debates where you can voice your opinion and see the opinion of others. The downfall of this site is it does not have any reputable information to support either side of the debate and only has the opinions of others. So although it is very interesting, you should also do your own research online before you believe what others have posted on the site.

Until Next Week!