Tool Assessments

In this blog entry, I will assess four tools I used in my university’s Audiovisual class. Later, I will also assess four tools of my own choosing that I came upon on the Internet or used in class.

Rating scale: 3 stars =excellent
2 stars= good
1 star= needs improvement

1. Moodle

http://gaughin.thinkingdistance.org

Overall, I found this tool very helpful. It made it easier to communicate with the teacher and classmates. The teacher and each student had a profile page where email addresses can be found. This tool also allowed the users to send each other messages and copies of the messages may also be delivered to the email addresses. I really liked how assignments and their corresponding due dates are easily posted on the Moodle. Compared to the traditional way of the teachers telling the students what their assignments are, the Moodle makes the chances of confusion and forgetting the assigned work less likely. One disadvantage is that students do not have the option of personalizing their profile pages or home Moodle page. The format of the Moodle may seem boring and too structured for students.

Rating: 2 stars

2. Mozilla Firefox web browser

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/

I have been using Internet Explorer since I fist started using the Internet years and years ago. For my Audiovisual class, we were required to try Firefox and now I’m addicted! Users can customize the browser by selecting different themes and by installing add-ons. Users can also choose to automatically save their bookmarks from Delicious and access their bookmarks easily. Firefox also has a pop-up blocker which users can cancel and a toolbar that can “guess” what users are searching for. As a student, I find the tabs helpful. I can research and do different things without losing information. Compared to Internet Explorer, I found Firefox faster, more interesting to look at, more useful, and more efficient.

Rating: 3 stars

3. Delicious

http://delicious.com/

I have never used a website made specifically for bookmarking. Usually when I find a useful site I need, I just add it to a “Favorites” folder. However, using the Delicious site made things easier for me. Instead of hundreds of sites piling up in my Favorites folder, I now have a list that I can organize and easily access. I really like how I can network with other people who share similar interests with me as well. The Delicious bookmarking site is an excellent tool for organizing web pages that need to be readily available. I definitely continue using this as I finish college and throughout my teaching career.

Rating: 3 stars

4. Google Suites

http://www.google.com

Before I took this class, I only used Google as a search engine. I also had a Gmail account but used it strictly for email. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Google has numerous applications I can use. It includes a blog, Google Documents, Gmail chat, iGoogle, and more. I never knew Google was had many features to offer. My favorite applications are the blog and Google documents. The blog was a great place to communicate – whether it was through text, videos, pictures, and even linking to other sites. Google Documents was another form of communication. In a way, it is similar to email but users can communicate in “real time”. Documents can be saved, deleted, and even printed.

Rating: 3 stars

5. Clusty

http:// www.clusty.com

Pre-audiovisual class, the only search engine I used was Google. Google was a great search engine but when it came to searching for specific subjects, the number of hits was too high and the websites given were too general. Clusty the Clustering search engine did just as its name suggests – it clustered results. For research purposes, it is an excellent site. Most of the time I used it, I was able to find what I was looking for quickly. In addition, the site shows other related, but separate results that may pertain to what users need.

Rating: 3 stars

6. Slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net

Slideshare is a website where users can share their presentations. Once the presentations are uploaded, users can obtain the HTML code and post it on blogs, web pages, and more. Users can also view others’ presentations under many categories (i.e. Technology, Education, Finance, and Health). I really liked these features from Slideshare. However, there were numerous times when I had difficulty uploading files and had to repeat doing so. In addition, it took a long time for my files to switch to Slideshare’s format regardless of the amount of KB used. There were also times when I would go to the website using different computers and at different times and places to discover that the website is not available. It irked me because it was not consistent. Sometimes the site was working and sometimes it was not.

Rating: 1 star

7. OurStory

http://www.ourstory.com

I decided to use OurStory for one of my multimedia lesson plans. OurStory allows users to write blogs and place them in timeline formats. Pictures can be added to the blog entries and timelines as well. The timeline can be exported and placed in blog sites, web pages, and other networking sites. However, I did not think this site is user-friendly. I had a difficult time figuring out how to begin my story and timeline. In addition, I did not find the help link helpful. Most of my questions were answered only vaguely or not at all. OurStory also does not guarantee that the timelines would be accepted to all blog sites, which I unfortunately found out while I was doing my lesson plan.

Rating: 1 star

8. Webs

http://members.freewebs.com

For one of my group presentations, we used Webs to create a website. It was easy to create because it was very user-friendly. Icons were large and organized in a simple format. We only had to click a link and we can insert text, pictures, or both. Other things users can add are new pages, videos, calendars, and links. Users have the option of choosing from a wide variety of templates or using HTML codes to make their site. One disadvantage is that sometimes what my group typed in the text box did now show up the same way when we viewed the site. We had to take extra time to fix it. Other than that, this is a good tool.

Rating: 2 stars