Online Tools for School: Technology Tools Assessment



RATINGS SYSTEM:

TOOLS:

Open-source learning management system

What I liked: (Student perspective)
         - Easy enrollment. Students search for the course and input an access key provided by the instructor.
         - Easy to navigate, simple interface design.
         - Organized.
         - Online classroom. Assignment and quiz submissions virtually.
         - Calendar. Upcoming events (due dates) notice.
         - Keeps track of assignments and projects, due dates, grades, and progress.
         - Can message instructors and classmates directly from the site. So, there is no need trying to figure out
            what their emails are.

What I did not like:
         - Grades are not always updated. However, that is a problem more on the instructor rather than the website.
         RATING: 5 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮  

Web browser
What I liked:
         - I have access to all the sites I used. Did not need additional download of other applications for the sites to open.
            (Ex. Adobe flash)
         - Quick and easy browsing.
         - Tabs. User can open multiple tabs for different websites and also drag the tab to another open window.
         - Offers incognito mode. Private browsing options. Users can have private window and regular window alongside
            and will work independently.

         RATING: 5 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ 

Linked with Google account

 What I liked: 
         - Free services!
         - One-stop featured. Gmail account includes Drive (Doc, Slides, Spreadsheet, Forms), Blogger, Maps,
            News, Youtube, Calendar, Classroom, Hangouts, and more.
         - Drive. Carry all files with you anywhere you go.
         - Hangouts. Online communication. Users can chat, video call, send images and group call.
         - Additional features: 
              - Google scholar. Find academic journals and sources.
              - Google translate. Translate texts into different languages.
              - Google books. Full-text or partial-text of books and magazines.
         - Offers 15GB free storage.
         - 25MB email file attachment capacity.

    --- Blogger a.k.a. Blogspot
         What I liked:
                  - No additional account is needed. Comes with Google account.
                  - Journal. 
                  - Offers template designs. No need to worry about how to make your site visually appealing.
                  - HTML and CSS code customization. User could add a background of their choice, add music, and more.
                  - Customizable fonts and colors.
                  - Able to insert photos, videos, GIFS, animations and more.

         What I did not like: 
                  - Design and customization freedom. Users could edit a good amount on their page, such as
            HTML and CSS codes, but the design remains as a traditional blogging layout.
            No drag and drop feature, like Weebly for instance.

         Rating: 3 ✮ ✮ ✮ ☆ ☆ I loved the website, but the customization was a deal breaker for me.
         Overall RATING: 5 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ Users can do so much with the applications Google offers.

ePortfolio
What I liked: 
         - Simple.
         - Organized.
         - Users can create several binders.
         - Tabs and subtabs. for organizational purposes.
         - Could include media: photos, videos, links. I was able to include a Voki character, which was great.

What I did not like: 
         - Certain website would not be displayed and viewed through the binders. Visitors would have to 
            click the link in order to view the site.
         - Background customization. Can only change the color, which is fine for me.
         RATING: 4 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮

Presentation tool

What I liked:
         - Animated presentations.
         - Offers good amount of free features, such as characters and objects.
         - Offer free use of all paid features, such as extra characters and animations, for 4 days.
         - Animation and transitions. Enhanced the presentations and made it cool to watch.
         - Text boxes. Several to choose from aside from the standard.
         - Backgrounds. Several to choose from, such as certain settings (classroom, office, etc), abstract colors,
            plain colors, and more.
         - Able to include your own media: photos, videos, music and voice recordings.
         - Customization freedom. Able to move characters and objects to play at certain times of the slide.

What I did not like:
         - Video I included would not play properly.
         - Placement of voice recordings and music at certain times of the slides was not as flexible as 
            the characters and objects. The media was automatically placed at the beginning of the slide. The music was fine for me,
            but the voice recording was a bit frustrating. 
         ** A solution would be to include the voice recordings and videos using another tool.
            However, it would have been better if users could do all of this using just one tool.
         RATING: 3 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮

Game-based reviewing tool

What I liked:
         - Easy to use.
         - Visually appealing.
         - Promotes classroom engagement.
         - Tracks wrong answers. Teachers are able to see, which concepts need to be revisited and reviewed more.
         RATING: 5 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ 

Communication tool

What I liked:
         - Available for Apple, Android and Windows users. Commonly used on cellphones.
         - Quick response. 
         - No need to sign in. Simply click the application.
         - Solo and group conversations a.k.a chats.
         - The application will notify the user if they have received a message or will have number at the
            top of the application if you missed any messages.
         - Starred messages or media. Users can keep track of what is important.
         - Users can send photos, videos and GIFS from their gallery.
         - Users can directly take pictures and record videos with their device camera to send.
         - Voice recording feature
         - Users can share contacts, location and documents. 
              - Share location. Users can simply share their current location with a desired contact if they
            do not know where to go, vice versa. There will be a trail leading to the locations and the 
            point (you) will move as you go. Once the location is shared, the map would work offline 
            (Internet not needed) as well, which is great.
         - No ads.
         - Support from Siri. (For iOS users) Siri can read recent messages, send messages and place calls.
         - With the recent update, users are able to unsound a message, which is very convenient.

What I did not like:
         - Stories. Similar to Snapchat and Instagram. I do not see the need to include the option, where users 
            share what they have been doing in the last 24 hours.
         - Cannot send video files that are more than 16MB and documents 100MB.
         RATING: 5 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ 


Presentation tool

What I liked:
         - Creative presentations. Different from the typical slide-to-slide presentation. Similar to a web map design. 
         - Freedom to customize. Users can move slides around.
         - Customizable fonts and colors.
         - Able to insert media: photos, video, links and Youtube videos.

What I did not like:
         - Can cause motion sickness. Zooms in and out of each bubble slide.
         - Not so easy to navigate, but once you get the hang out it. It is a great tool.
         RATING: 3.5 ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ 
References:
         Alextvalencic. (2016, July 8). Triple crown GIF. [GIF]. Retrieved from 
                   https://media.giphy.com/media/Xobx4QYkmW9s4/giphy.gif

         Justinstallings. (2014, August 28). Educator's guide to LiveBinders. [Image]. 
                   Retrieved from https://www.theedublogger.com/files/2014/08/lb_feature-108rg0q.png

         Moodle. (n.d.). Moodle logo. [Image]. Retrieved from https://moodle.org/logo/

         Powtoon. (n.d.). Presentations. [Image]. Retrieved from 
                   https://v.fastcdn.co/u/421cc712/19581011-0-powtoon.png

         Prezi. (n.d.). Prezi logo. [Image]. Retrieved from 
                  https://d2pj2twnjx3fya.cloudfront.net/cms_images/production/press_kit/prezi-logo-lg.png

         Teja Chedalla. (2016, June 28). Photos Apple GIF. [GIF]. Retrieved from 
                   https://media.giphy.com/media/pPbcqcLelFmj6/giphy.gif

         Theshizpie. (2015, September 1). Logo Google GIF. [GIF]. Retrieved from 
                   https://media.giphy.com/media/TK4yMeRswlKWA/giphy.gif

         Thomas Pomarelle. (2014, September 19). Google chrome liquid icon. [GIF]. 
                   Retrieved from  https://dribbble.com/shots/1732633-Google-Chrome-liquid-icon

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