GoogleDocs

GoogleDocsallowsuserstocreatedocumentsandinvitecollaborators(Dekeyser&
Watson2006)withtheoptionofallowingthemtolook,addcommentsoreditthe
document.ItcurrentlyconsistsofaWordDocument,PowerpointandSpreadsheets.
ChangestothedocumentaresavedautomaticallythroughtheGooglecloudserverand
canhavemultipleusersatonce.

GoogleDocswasusedinthisassessmentbecauseoftheabilityfortheclassto
collaboratetogethereasilyonareadymadedocumentwhichcouldbealteredbefore
use.ThisisabigbenefitcomparedtootherprogramssuchasPrimaryPadwhereusers
cannotputinforexampleatablefortheclasstofillintogether,aswedidinour
presentation.AlsothedocumentcouldtheneasilybeuploadedtoasitelikeMoodlefor
futurereferenceforstudents.

SpiderScribe

SpiderScribeisamindmappingandbrainstormingtool.Groupsofusersareableto
shareandcollaborateintheirownspacetoshareideasandinformationthroughmind
maps,documents,videosandimagesetc.SpiderScribeisstoredinthecloudandso
canbeeasilyaccessedfromanylocation..

SpiderScribewaschosenforthisclassactivitybecauseitisanidealtoolforstudent
groupactivities.Studentscanclearlyidentifytheirownworkwhilstsharingwithother
groupmembers.Theteachercanalsomonitorthesiteandmonitorstudentsinputand
progress.

OneofthegreatattributesofSpiderScribeisthewayitaccommodatesafreeflowing
approachtoaproject.SpiderScribeallowsstudentstoeasilyexplorenewdirectionsina
projectwhichcanberepresentedbyanewbranchtoamindmap.Thisisadistinct
advantageSpiderScribehasoverotherinteractivedocumentswheretheinformation
needstobestructuredinamorefixedformat.

Prezi

I selected this ICTbecause Ifounditan interesting and eyecatchingtool fordelivering

content that washeavy,dry andboring.Prezi isa muchmore creative,interactive and
visually eyecatching alternative to Microsoft PowerPoint in that one of the interesting
features is the zoom function that allows viewers to explore a canvas of ideas by

focussingon [the]minutedetail (BBCActive,2010) ofinformation.Italsoallowsyouto

create pathways betweentheseparcels ofinformationin a quasimind map formatthat
canbeviewed fromalargerperspective,sothatstudentscanseehowalltheideasand
informationconnecttogetherandmakesense.

Childrentendto bedrawn toeyecatching andvisualobjects,aswellassomethingthat

they can control and interact with. Prezi allows them to discover large portions of
information in this way without detracting or watering down factsand information. Itis
also very easy and fun touse,andstudents should be encouragedtoexperiment with
different ICT tools for information presentation apartfromPowerPoint. On a sidenote,
teachers should be wary of usingPrezi ina way thatencourages the didacticlecturer
method of teaching rather than an interactivelearningtoolthat studentscanperuse at
theirownpace.

SurveyMonkey

Online surveys are a tool thatteachersmay use[for] assessmenttoperformindividual

diagnosis of performance problems, monitor overall student progress and to planand
improve curriculum and teaching (Bogue andMarra, 2006). SurveyMonkey wasa one
such tool used for collecting and collating data, presenting data in an easy to
understand format, and ultimately useful for analysing data collected for a lesson. I
controlled what data I needed from sources,and Icontrolled whereI sourced my data
i.e. my class.Onlinesurvey creatorsareincredibly useful learning toolsforchildrenas
they begin to learn methods for data collection, collation, visual display and data
analysis. The ease and creativity of constructing a survey with words, numbers and
images creates a creative and safe platform for children to develop questioning and
research skills. In particular when they are choosing whotheycanperformthe survey
on, children can learn how to control and manipulate data and information out of
sourcesoftheirownchoosing.

The online aspect of SurveyMonkey allows students a wider market to conduct their
research and gives them a sense of being in touchwith societyoutside ofthe school.
The choice of public or private settings for the survey allows students that safety of
denying strangers the ability to insert themselves into their research work. In the
business industry surveys are valuable market research tools that, if children learn to
utilise and understand at an earlier age, willgive students that competitive edgewhen
theyentertheworkforce.

Padlet

I selected Padlet because it was a fun way for students to interact and share ideas,
thoughts, opinions and answers quickly and efficiently. Padlet is a fast way to get a
controlled brainstorming activity going amongst the class, and it allows the teacherto
assess who is participating in class discussion. It is a greattoolto usefor students to
participateinasocialconstructivistlearningenvironmentastheyshareexperiencesand
buildonideaspresentedtothembytheteacher.

Students learneffectivelybysharingideas andbouncingthemoff eachother.Whenthis

is done on a larger scale in a class environment, where everyone is encouraged to
participate and share, the quality of discussion and thus level of learning increases.
Padletisalsousefulforthosestudentswhowishtoshareideasbutfearpublicspeaking
or do not wish tobe verbal forwhateverreasons. Itstill allows them to givetheirinput
into the class discussion and feel included. As teaching moves from
instructordominated to studentcentred, barriers to individual student participation
lowers. As Fuch (2014) mentions, we cannot remove all of the barriers, [but] we can
continue to seek out ways to support an inclusive classroom environment that
welcomes andencourages participationfromall.Padletisonesuchalearningtoolthat
providestheseopportunities.

BBC Active. (2010).

Using Prezi in Education
. Retrieved from:
http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/UsingPreziInEducation.aspx

Bogue, B., Marra, R. (2006).

A Critical Assessment of Online Survey Tools.
Proceedingsof2006WEPANConference(p.1).Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania

Dekeyser, S. &Watson, R. (2006)

ExtendingGoogle Docs to Collaborate onResearch
Papers.
TechnicalReport.UniversityofSouthernQueensland,Australia.

Fuch,B.(2014).
TheWritingisontheWall:UsingPadletforWholeClassEngagement
.
UKnowledge:UniversityofKentucky.Paper240.Retrievedfrom
http://uknowledge.uky.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1241&context=libraries_facpub