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ONLINE BOOKS/ONLINE JOURNALS/99 TOOLS/VIDEO INTRODUCTION

ONLINE BOOKS/ONLINE JOURNALS/99 TOOLS/VIDEO INTRODUCTION

Online Books

  1. Watch the short video below and react to it. Do you think their predictions were accurate? Why or why not? How do you see the future in this area? Have you used any online books or periodicals and what was your experience?

 

  • I think that they were right because in the long run schools will be saving a lot of money for not replacing expensive textbooks. I like the idea of the students not having a heavy backpack to carry with them especially the younger ones. I think that the iPads are easy and fun to use and the students also have google right in front of them for any questions to be answered. I have used online books before and I do like them because i can digitally highlight and bookmark things. This whole transformation to online books is a positive one in my eyes and also everything is much more up to date and right at the touch of your fingertips.

 

  1. Find 3 online books that can either be read online or downloaded.

NAME OF BOOK:

NAME AND ADDRESS OF WEB SITE:

FORMAT OF BOOK (.pdf, word file, other, or online):

MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE BOOK:

HOW YOU WOULD USE THE BOOK:

YOUR OPINION OF THE USEFULNESS AND OVERALL QUALITY OF THE BOOK:

 

  • Introduction to Probability
    • Free textbooks in mathematics: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~chance/teaching_aids/books_articles/probability_book/amsbook.mac.pdf
    • PDF
    • The purpose of this book is to introduce students to probability and stats
    • I would use this book for the older students but it seems like more of a high level book so I would only choose parts that the students would be able to handle
    • It looks like a high quality book and it used to be in a hard copy form. The problems and writing are very detailed and it is geared towards high school and college level. I wouldn’t really be able to use this book because my students would be too young, but it seems like a high quality text.



  • First steps in Algebra
    • Free Book Centre: http://www.freebookcentre.net/maths-books-download/The-First-Steps-in-Algebra.html
    • PDF
    • Introducing basic algebra
    • I would most definately use this book with the middle school level students because it is all about introducing algebra. The book is an easy read so I think it would be beneficial to the students.
    • As I was looking through the book it seemed full of useful information on the basics of math. There were many problems and the text is big and detailed on how to solve the problems. I think this is a great book and it also has a list of the vocab words in the beginning so the students can look over what they will be learning.

 

  • Mathematics
    • Free Ebooks: https://www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/Mathematics/pdf/view
    • PDF
    • The purpose of the book is to introduce math to elementary students .
    • This book is a little too young for my grades that I want to teach however it has a lot of good information for the younger children. It gives goals in the beginning of each chapter o they can see what they are going to be learning.  
    • It has a lot of really good information and would be very useful for elementary teachers. It is all about math in the world around us and I think the children would find it very interesting. Overall it looks like a very useful book full of great information for the younger level students.

Online Journals (or Periodicals)

  1. Find 5 FREE online journals that you and/or your students could use.

NAME OF JOURNAL:

NAME AND ADDRESS OF WEB SITE:

FORMAT OF JOURNAL: (.PDF, word file, other, or online):

MAIN CONTENT/PURPOSE OF THE JOURNAL:

HOW YOU WOULD USE THIS JOURNAL:

YOUR OPINION OF THE USEFULNESS AND OVERALL QUALITY OF THIS JOURNAL:

  • More Than Pretty: A review of Visual Design Solutions

    • eLearn Magazine: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2767469
    • Online
    • The purpose of this journal is to explain how to create a beautiful looking online class ro website.
    • I would use this to look at all the tips the author is giving about making online courses and how to have them visually appealing. She gives a lot of good information and knows what she is talking about. It would be nice to have when making my own website.
    • I think this is a good quality journal and gives a lot of useful tips and tricks to making a pretty website. However, this is just the article, she has a whole book on how to make a nice visual site.

 

  • Technologies from Classroom to e-learning
    • eLearn Magazine: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2846711
    • Online
    • The purpose of this magazine is to discuss everything about online learning and all of the different things that are possible.
    • I would use this just to read because I like staying up to date on everything and learning about all of the new technologies and programs associated with online learning.
    • I think this is a great article because it covers a variety of topics and is very detailed. It gives a lot of information on the different topics in teaching online and it also covers people opinions which is interesting to read.

 

  • Online Testing, is it fair?
    • eLearning Magazine: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2893355
    • Online
    • This journal is about if online testing is fair to students or not.
    • I would use this in the classroom as a discussion starter because I would like to hear my students opinions on the topic. The whole article talks about the pros and cons of taking tests online and how it affects students so I think the children would find it interesting to read.
    • This article is very detailed and has a lot of good information while also bringing up many interesting points. I like the journal and I think it would be beneficial for all teachers and students to read and talk about.

 

  • Can snapchat bridge the communication chasm in online courses?
    • eLearning Magazine: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2893353
    • Online
    • This journal is all about how snapchat could be potentially useful for online classes
    • I would bring this article into the classroom because I think it would be a great discussion topic and maybe the students and I can do a trial run. There are many different topics in this article that actually seem nice to have in an online course.
    • I think this is a very useful article and many professors and teachers can maybe try this method to see if it would work. There are a lot of examples mentioned that they should try and everything is well thought out as well as detailed.   

 

  • Training online teachers through a badge driven course
    • eLearning Mgazine: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=2673753
    • Online
    • This is all about how to use digital badges to train online teachers.
    • I think this would be an interesting article to look over in a blended learning environment because students can go through the same exact thing is the teacher chooses to do so. There is an online program called digital badges and this would be a nice topic in the classroom because it’s relating the teachers to the students by learning the same way.
    • 02I think this is a great article to read and it is rich with information about digital badges and how they would work with online courses for teachers. It talks about the whole program and about all of the steps so I think this is very useful.

 

99 Top Tools for Teaching Online

Explore this web site. Choose the top 10 tools that would be most useful to you. For EACH tool, identify the name and address of the web site and write a 5 to 10 sentence paragraph as to what the web site does and why it would be useful to you.

 

Turnitin:

  • http://turnitin.com/
  • This is a great website to use as a teacher because it takes the student's paper and look for plagiarism. The website will look for plagiarized work throughout the internet and the other students papers and it will highlight how much is taken from another source. It wouldn't be as useful to me because I want to teach math, however I think it would be wonderful to have in a middle school setting. The grade levels are just starting to learn about plagiarism and this would make them want to break their habit. Overall I think it’s a great tool and would be very useful for classrooms everywhere.

Livebinders:

  • http://www.livebinders.com/
  • This website allows you to keep all of your work and resources in one spot. I think it is wonderful because it is very organized and it is able to be shared with different people. It also looks very professional and anyone can use this site. The teachers and students can both have these and all of the class work can be kept here. The teachers can be all of the resources for the class and even textbooks while the students can keep all of the work there.

Moodle:

  • https://moodle.com/
  • This website is like a portal page for the teacher and student. The teacher is able to post all of the assignments and work on the page and the students post the assignments to the page. They have access to see everyone in the class and the students can collaborate with each other. All of the classwork can be done through the site and I think it is a very nice tool to have in a middle school setting. It is easy and the students shouldn't have any trouble navigating the website.

Haiku LMS:

  • http://www.haikulearning.com/
  • This website lets you create your own webpage from scratch and has many features. The teacher can create all of the class pages and use all of the tools on the website to make it their own. They can also embed youtube, google docs, skype and many more applications onto the pages. I think this is a great site to use with students because it can be shared with all Haiku users. It looks professional and there is so much versatility so I really like this tool.

Learndash:

  • http://www.learndash.com/
  • This website is full of all kinds of features and it is where teachers can create online courses. The teachers can create quizzes and assignments in minutes and it is very simple to use. The quizzes can be timed and they can also make certificates and awards for the students. The teacher can also sell their online course if they think it is good enough. I really like this site because of all the different features it comes with an I think it would be quite beneficial in a classroom.

Collaborize Classroom:

  • http://library.collaborizeclassroom.com/
  • This is a website where different forums and discussions can be created or taken from other websites for students to debate on. The website has all of the students work together on different articles and projects. The url is unique to the user so nobody else can take or see your work. It only takes about 5 minutes and the students are able to participate in discussions, tests and debates. I like this website because it has all of the students engaged in the discussion and it actually seems fun so they will not be bored.

Smartbuilder:

  • http://www.smartbuilder.com/product/smartbuilder
  • This is a website that allows you to create your own site. It comes with many features such as rich media, gaming elements, branching scenarios and powerful assessments. It is very easy and all you do is drag and drop what you want on the page and then that's pretty much it. The website is super easy and I think it would be great to have in a classroom. You can customize it to anything you want and it only takes a couple minutes.

Prezi:

  • https://prezi.com/
  • This is a site that allows you to create different kinds of slideshows. It has many features and is very easy to use. You can customize it to anything you want and you can make it go in any direction. I am definitely going to have my students use this for their projects because prezi done right can look very nice. They can also work together in groups with the website so even when they are not together they are still able to collaborate.

Rubistar:

  • http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
  • This is a free website that allows you to make your own personalized rubric. You can choose the subject and what the subheading will say or you can write in your own. It is super simple and then they are able to be printed out. I love this website and i'm going to use it as a teacher because it is very helpful and fast. Overall I think this should be used everywhere because it comes out nicely and it’s customizable.

Scratch:

  • https://scratch.mit.edu/
  • This is a website where you are able to create games and animations. After they are made, you can share them with people all over the world. It is a great teaching tool for the younger level students because it is fun but also educational. The teacher can create these for the class but also have the students create some as well to share with each other. I like this website and I would like to try and use this in the classroom because I think my grade levels would really like this website.  

Video Introduction:

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