Sunday, November 22, 2009

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.