Tiki-Toki

Tiki-Toki- This was another tool I was unfamiliar with.  The video was easy to follow and although the necessity of having to upload pictures to a server before adding to the timeline seemed a bit troublesome, I was willing to give it a shot.  The website was easy to navigate, but the lack of options without paying for the service was a deal breaker.  This was basically a stripped down version and I did not enjoy creating my timeline.  I will not use this again.  I would generally never try, download, or even consider using a tool as limited as this.  I might see myself considering this site if I could create more than one timeline and if the site played well with flickr.

Capzles

Capzles-I had never used capzles before, but the video made it look simple enough to use and the idea of creating a time line was interesting.  The website, however, was not very stable.  It crashed on me several times and it made for a frustrating experience.  As I've stated before, time is too important to waste it waiting for a program to respond.  Sometimes just clicking on an option forced me to log in to the website again.  I don't see myself using this tool professionally or privately.  I don't know of any other timeline tools, but if I'm forced to create one, I will look for an alternative.

Spicynodes

Spicynodes- I had no prior experience with spicy nodes, but after watching the tutorial it reminded me alot of prezi.  Since I did not really enjoy using prezi, I had mixed feelings about using this tool.  I hoped I would enjoy using it more than I did prezi, but I was skeptical about the user experience.  Spicynodes had very little in common with prezi as far as user experience.  Spicynodes worked well for me simply because the structure was very linear.  The listing of nodes made the site easier to navigate though the options within each node had a definite learning curve.  The one feature I think spicynodes needs to add is the ability to review a single node.  It is a minor inconvenience, but, when time is of the utmost importance, these inconveniences can determine whether or not a teacher will take advantage of the tool.  There are so many presentation tools at my disposal now.  PowerPoint is still the default tool due to the familiarity with the program.  I hope to expand my horizons and not stay with the status quo.  The difficulty comes with the subject I teach.  Math is not just delivering materials for memorization on a test.  Math is a process that must be understood before it can be applied.  With that said, I'm not sure if the visual enhancements provided by prezi, spicynodes, or any of the other presentation tools will strengthen the amount of comprehension or lead to sensory overload.

Google Docs

Google Docs- I was introduced to Google Docs during this summer session in another class.  I don't know how long this has been along or what planet I've been living on, but Google docs is great.  This is a very easy tool to use and the similarity to Word makes it very user friendly.  Google docs also serves as a great collaboration tool since group members can chat with each other while on the site and watch each other make changes to the document as they are occurring.  It can be a little intimidating to have someone watch you make changes/mistakes in grammar, but the benefits outweigh the negatives.  As much as I love Google docs and wish it was available 20 years ago, I'm not sure how much this will play a role in my freshman Alg I classroom.  I work in an economically diverse school and I found out last year, when I introduced Edmodo, not all students have access to the internet.  This will continue to be the biggest flaw with any web based learning tool.

Google Spreadsheets

Google Spreadsheets- Google spreadsheets is the online version of Excel.  Interestingly enough, my summer job requires me to use Excel daily and my skills in the program have increased substantially.  Having Google spreadsheets makes Excel almost expendable.  I am by no means a power Excel user, and the basic tools available on Google spreadsheets will make it my default tool.  Like most people, I keep a log of expenses/bills on a spreadsheet, but I hate having it on only one computer.  Actually, I have it on a shared network at the house, but I would really appreciate being able to access it from any location.  Professionally, the learning curve for any spreadsheet tool is not ridiculous, but it would add to the already challenging task of teaching Alg I to freshman.  I don't anticipate using this in my classroom.

Google Presentations

Google Presentations- I was introduced to Google presentations in another class last month.  For users familiar with PowerPoint, this is an extremely easy tool to use.  As with all other Google tools, the availability of the tool online is twofold.  The collaboration aspect is very appealing, but there are limitations to a tool only available online.  In the event I am able to include more problem based learning, I would definitely like to include this as a part of that.  The access anywhere capabilities and ease of use makes this the tool I would probably use over tools like prezi or spicynodes.  I wonder if the tools that work with PowerPoint, such as slideshare, will also work with google presentations.

Diigo

Diigo: This was, without a doubt my favorite web2.0 tool of the week.  I had no prior experience with this tool and I assumed it was nothing more than a secondary bookmarking page.  After using the tool, as described in the class, I did not anticipate using the tool very often personally or professionally.  Then, as luck would have it, I was asked to give feedback on a project created on WordPress.  There were numerous grammatical errors and I was struggling to find a way to list them all.  That's when I recalled the highlight and post-it tools on diigolet.  I figured out I was able to highlight any errors I found and add sticky notes to the webpage, save the webpage without changing his original work, and email it to whomever needed to see the corrections I made.  As student projects shifts more towards online presentations, the diigolet tool will be incredibly useful.