Exploring Zoho Planner

Describe your experience as a user of the application. What functions did you like and what functions did you find frustrating? Why?

Zoho Planner takes care of my first priority/preference when it comes to my work, it provides organization. This application allows anyone to create an unlimited amount of pages that can be used for the organization and management of tasks.

The email reminder application is particularly helpful because, as someone who sometimes forgets to keep up on things through having to log into several Web areas, reminders of Zoho Planner content (to-do lists, appointments, etc) can be sent directly to my personal email account on schedule, without my que.

I did not like that I was unable to easily format text by changing the size/font or underline/bold my content. There are instructions on how to format text by using wiki text formatting syntax and it’s not simple to do.

What knowledge or skills would students need to use the software?

Students will need to know basic computer skills such as typing and navigating and should also be familiar with using Internet applications that require signing up with a username and password.

How can you share the products you create with this application?

There is an option to make your pages on Zoho Planner public, which means they can be viewed by anyone who has access to the Internet. A better option for using Zoho Planner in the classroom would be to either create one username and password for the entire classroom to use or to email out a share invite to students so they are able to access the page after it is created.

How could you see the application being used to teach a particular subject matter?

When working on class projects, teachers can instruct students to create a Zoho account together that allows them to create and set reminders for a project to-do list, upload files and images that can be used in their work, make notes, and work together on a schedule for the project. Teachers can also create a syllabus page that can be sent out to share with the entire class that includes to-do’s such as assignments and readings with due dates for each and notes that include assignment descriptions and learning objectives.

What are some things a teacher could do to help students collaborate using this application?

Teachers can create Zoho Planner pages for groups and give the username and password to his or her students for access to the page where they can edit calendars and content together. Furthermore, if each student has his or her own Zoho account, there is a chat applications for students to communicate use while accessing their work and course information.

What sort of organization or managerial considerations will a teacher have to take into account?

As I said earlier, it’s even sometimes hard for me to remember to log onto all of my Web areas such as my blog, wiki, Weebly page, etc. Teachers must keep in mind that it may be difficult for some students to remember to log in frequently to keep up with content on Zoho Planner. Luckily, the email reminder tool can help with this.

Integrating Web 2.0 in the Classroom

What instructional strategies would fit well using blogs in the classroom? Why?

Blogs allow students to work together through collaboration. They can present their thoughts and findings within their own blogs and branch out to other blogs to comment and discuss among their classmates. If a group of students are working on a project, they can discuss project details within a blog designed specifically for this classroom or this project.

Blogs can also facilitate thoughtful discourse among students and their instructors. Through a verbal (or in this case, written or “typed”) exchange of ideas, students can construct and communicate content-related ideas through reflection on their own part and on the work of other student’s work.

What instructional strategies would not fit well with using blogs in the classroom? Why?

Blogs would work best within a classroom that benefits from reflection and discussion. For example, discussing a piece of literature in an English course or discussing issues in a government course. On the other hand, a math course doesn’t require a lot of discussion unless it is to clarify a step that is usually gone over in lecture. There isn’t much to reflect and ponder when it comes to math.

Wiki Creation

Feel free to visit my personal wiki where I explore interesting issues that impact our educational system in the United States.

Integrating Computer-Based Instructional Objects in Learning

Computer-based instructional objects, such as StAIR projects and WebQuests, are technological tools that involve active learning by the students which begin with a base knowledge then go through several sources and concepts that build upon one another in order to master understanding of the next.

WebQuests typically have a target audience to ensure that the content is appropriate and effective for the students putting it to use. They include educational goals that are to be mastered by the student by the end of instruction and should also address curriculum standards of their respective content area.

The reading level of the text should be appropriate for the intended audience and the content should be legible with no interferences with the readability. Getting through the lesson should be relatively simple. If the format is confusing it can distract the learner from the main goal. Instead of focusing on the content, he or she will focus on getting from one page to another or finding his or her way back to a point.

There are additional factors consider when creating computer-based instructional objects for students. Because students are using these tools independently, the WebQuest should initially make reference to prior knowledge, give an introduction that prepares the reader for what is to be learned and then begins linking the two together and ensuring that each of the steps and activities are significant to one another.

An example of effectively integrating this concept of scaffolding is a WebQuest for secondary social studies & language arts students titled Never Again! Again?, which goes through with a student that is learning the eight stages of genocide and determines what can be done at each stage to stop this vicious cycle. This WebQuest defines genocide and from there builds onto the concept. It also contains image resources which are helpful in contributing to the understanding of the concepts, ideas and relations of the content being instructed.

There should also be factors of motivational effectiveness that is relevant to the learner by relating to his or her interest or by having social importance. It is likely that more will be achieved in a lesson that has significance to the students lives or that requires the students to become involved by taking a position rather than simply retelling information found on the web that simply requires the answering of factual questions. For example, Nueva Europa is a WebQuest that allows secondary social science students to examine the 25 European Union Countries as they enjoy traveling through the countries and even get a chance to design their own holidays throughout Europe.

Blogs v. Webpages

Blog and webpages are similar in that they are both used as a means of communication to express views, give updates & share information. However, to differentiate, you can think of a blog as a journal that is made up of a series of entires, while a webpage is typically authored and constructed as a whole all at once to include all information that is applicable to a collective idea or purpose, similar to a book. Blogs are typically much more active than webpages. Although it varies widely depending on the individual and site purpose, the author of a webpage will typically update his or her site once a month while blogs are usually updated on a daily or weekly basis.