Ramble #2

As promised, here is another video I really enjoy...

I love Casey Neistat! Okay, now on to more related content matter...

This week in class we focused on two main concepts: curation and collaboration. During class, I learned a lot of valuable websites and platforms to curate and collaborate online. 

For me, the most interesting stuff we talked about was google: drive, docs, slides, forms, sheets, etc. This is because, as mentioned last week, I was already briefly aware of these online applications. However, during Tuesday's lecture I became aware of so much more that these online applications could offer us as teachers. 

For instance, I did not know about the live playback feature that allows the teacher to watch back, in real-time, who added what to the document and specifically when they added to the document. That is an amazing feature! I was also not aware of the google forms application. Using Google forms, teachers can gather data and information pertinent to their class in a very simple and expedited manner. Teachers could use this application in so many different ways. For example, a few weeks into the term, teachers could poll their class on their performance so far and ask for suggestions to make the class better.

On Thursday I played around with these various online google applications. I tested almost all of them out to see what they do and how they function. The biggest thing that stood out to me as I was tinkering with these applications was their ease of use. For me, all of these applications were extremely simple to pick up and use. They do not overly complicate things. Instead, the way in which you design your document or presentation is thoroughly intuitive.

I honestly, look forward to incorporating these various Google applications into my classroom. I believe that these application will make the learning experience of my student's more rich and fulfilling all the while incorporating fun and interactive activities into their classroom work.  

Until next week,

Justin