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Jeopardylabs

Jeopardylabs allows you to create a customized jeopardy template without PowerPoint. The games you make can be played online from anywhere in the world. Building your own jeopardy template is a piece of cake. Just use our simple editor to get your game up and running (www.jeopardylabs.com).

This is fantastic as I currently create my own powerpoint “game” to review key terms and time periods with my Intro to Fashion students. Using Jeopardylabs creates such a professional looking game that I think the students would become even more engaged than they already are. It’s also great that there are templates already created so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. As it also notes on the website Jeopardylabs is Awesome as it has No fees, No registration, and No Powerpoint. This makes it so much easier to jump right in and start creating.

Terraclues

Terraclues is the ultimate Google Maps scavenger hunt game (www.terraclues.com). I recently created a Fashion Scavenger Hunt for my first year face to face class students. Using Terraclues could be an excellent option for online students. This would allow the online students the opportunity to learn about some of the fashion landmark sites and locations in NYC. From what I can tell after testing out a few clues, Terraclues allows you to enter detailed clues with answers and the key is adding an address so the spot can be located on the map. Finding the address for each clue could be time consuming but I think would be worth it in the end.

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Pinterest

According to Wikipedia, Pinterest is a free website that requires registration to use. Users can upload, save, sort, and manage images-known as pins-and other media content (e.g., videos) through collections known as pinboards.

Content can also be found outside of Pinterest and similarly uploaded to a board via the "Pin It" button, which can be downloaded to the bookmark bar on a web browser, or be implemented by a webmaster directly on the website.

Some websites include red and white "pin it" buttons on items, which allow Pinterest users to pin them directly. In 2015, Pinterest implemented a feature that allows users to search with images instead of words.

I’m an avid Pinterest user as I plan lots of events. Creating boards from so many images and ideas helps with keeping everything organized. Being able to see options visually as you go is also a major plus. I also enjoy cooking so the opportunity to see so many recipes out there and creating boards for specific types of foods or meals is golden. Pinterest is pretty user friendly and so many companies and brands are adding pins to their items. It’s becoming a very global tool.

Reference:

Pinterest. (2017, December 26). Retrieved December 27, 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinterest

Padlet

According to Kassondra Granata from education world, Padlet is a free, online "virtual wall" tool where users can express thoughts on topics of their choice. It's like a piece of paper, but on the Web.

She also notes there are five ways to use Padlet in the classroom. They are as follows:

1. Book Reviews- Padlet offers a great space for students to share their thoughts.

2. Topic Summary- Useful for any subject. Padlet can help teachers summarize a large amount of information and present it in a visually pleasing way.

3. Greeting Cards or “Thank You” Wall- Padlet is a great tool for sending a group "thank you" note. Each student can post an individual message, and the platform offers many interesting designs and other tools for personalizing the card.

4. Questions Board- Students can access a "questions" board 24/7 and anonymously post questions.

5. Opinion/Forum- Educators can post a particular topic or issue, and students can post their opinions on the subject.

While the author was writing from a K-12 perspective I can totally relate to the use of Padlet. I’m currently using it right now for this course. Initially I was a bit confused on setting up my page and using the dashboard however once I got the hang of it, I started to enjoy it. The space is great for writing and is very user friendly. It saves your work automatically and is pretty seamless in updating posts. My only concern is the timestamp of when a post has been added. I may have missed an edit but right now my page only tells me how many days (or months since my last month). I don’t see the actual date.

Reference:

Granata, K. (2014). Five Ways to Use Padlet in the Classroom. Retrieved December 27, 2017,

from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/using-padlet-in-the-classroom.shtml

Yammer

Yammer is a freemium enterprise social networking service used for private communication within organizations. Access to a Yammer network is determined by a user's Internet domain so that only individuals with approved email addresses may join their respective networks (wikipedia.com).

On Yammer’s website homepage, it says: Work Smarter, Work Together, connect with people across your organization to make better decisions, faster (yammer.com).

This idea alone is phenomenal. I know from experience working in the fashion industry prior to coming to FIT it’s a very fast paced environment. With that being said decisions have to be made immediately and it can sometimes become very difficult if all pertinent partners aren’t around or perhaps in another meeting. A tool like Yammer could alleviate that problem and have decisions being made in a timely matter which in the end would probably be very productive for business. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to sign up and test as the system kept asking me for a Microsoft Log in. I don’t recall having one and I couldn’t move forward without it.

References:

Yammer. (2017, December 26). Retrieved December 27, 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yammer

Work Smarter, Work Together. (n.d.). Retrieved December 27, 2017, from

https://www.yammer.com/

Scribblar

Scribblar is a simple and innovative browser-based online tutoring platform that permits public and private whiteboards to be utilized by users to demonstrate or teach. Scribblar is popular amongst online trainers, learners and schools across the globe, offering various features such as chat, live audio, whiteboard, image sharing and document sharing amongst others (Noorani, 2014). Scribblar is free of cost for a limited amount of time. Two major benefits noted are:

Multi-user collaboration- enables multiple users to join the rooms and is designed for creative thinking, brainstorming and real-time collaboration amongst multiple users, regardless of their location.

Seamless communication- Scribblar’s collaboration tools are likely to be more effective than some competitors, because it provides text and voice chat features, enabling users to seamlessly communicate with each other throughout the project’s lifetime.

At first try I had no idea what I was doing. I searched around to find out how to get started and came across a good youtube video. I probably wouldn’t use Scribblar often however I do think it could be useful when I attend annual department strategic planning meetings. As this meeting normally takes place on a Saturday, Scribblar could be a good tool to use for faculty who isn’t able to physically make the meeting but could work from home. We tend to use white boards for brainstorming ideas and this option would be ideal.

Reference:

Noorani, M. (2014, April 2). Scribblar Software Review: Overview – Features – Pricing.

Retrieved December 27, 2017, from https://project-management.com/scribblar-software-review/

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A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slideshow that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or telephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam) (Hawken, M., 2015).

The main features are as follows:

Creating

Upload, share and discuss documents, presentations, images, audio files and videos. Over 50 different types of media can be used in a VoiceThread.

Commenting

Comment on VoiceThread slides using one of five powerful commenting options: microphone, webcam, text, phone, and audio-file upload.

Sharing

Keep a VoiceThread private, share it with specific people, or open it up to the entire world. Learn more about sharing VoiceThreads.

https://voicethread.com/about/features/#feature-voicethread

As a voicethread user I find it very helpful for presentations with students and colleagues. Adding a voice to an image creates a much more engaging way of presenting. It does take a few practice runs to get use to as you want your voice to be used with the correct image.

Animoto is a cloud-based video creation service that produces video from photos, video clips, and music into video slideshows. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animoto)

As I had never tried Animoto, I’m now somewhat addicted. I like the idea of using pictures I have and creating a slideshow that I can add music too. I know there are other sites that do this but from what I’ve tried, Animoto is a clean, sleek site that makes your presentation look like it was professionally done. Animoto does allow a trial period that will allow you to create videos that will have a watermark applied until you subscribe. From a professional point of view this is an excellent option to promote your business. The cost at $22 per month seems like a reasonable expense to advertise one's business in a creative way. I think I would use it a great deal personally at $8 per month if I’m having a major event such as a wedding or baby shower.

References:

Hawken, M. (2015). What is VoiceThread? - Find Help (FAQs). Retrieved November 07, 2017,

from https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=63802080

Communicate, Collaborate and Connect. (n.d.). Retrieved November 07, 2017, from

https://voicethread.com/about/features/#feature-voicethread

Animoto. (2017, October 29). Retrieved November 07, 2017, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animoto

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Weebly's free online website creator uses a simple widget-based site builder that operates in the web browser. All the site elements are drag-and-drop,and it automatically generates a mobile version of each website. Android and iPhone apps are available that allow users to monitor their website traffic statistics, update blog posts and respond to comments, and add or update products if the user has an e-commerce online store (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weebly)

I’ve used Weebly and it’s a sleek looking website that is user friendly. Weebly allows the user to create their own site with great background pages and the ability to create an info, blog, and contact pages.

Doodlekit is an online website builder tool and content management system that allows you to manage your website with ease from anywhere. As I’ve never used Doodlekit I did do some additional research and found some very interesting reviews. Site Builder Report notes:

The Doodlekit website editor is made up of red buttons that link to form-based editors. There is no actual editing of your website in place— instead these buttons just link to forms. These red buttons look bad and they also get in the way of actually seeing your website! (www.sitebuilderreport.com).

The Doodlekit website editor is really bad. It’s not thoughtfully designed at all. Some time ago, Doodlekit told me they were in the process of a major overhaul that would launch spring 2015. It still hasn’t launched. Doodlekit needs a lot of work and it’s not at all clear that they are trying to improve it (www.sitebuilderreport.com).

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SlideShare is the world's largest community for sharing presentations. With 60 million monthly visitors and 130 million page views, it is amongst the most visited 200 websites in the world. Besides presentations, SlideShare also supports documents, PDFs, videos and webinars (www.slideshare.net).

According to slideshare user Julia Seidel pros and cons of slideshare include:

Pros

Uploading presentations

Easy embedding in other websites (such as LinkedIn)

Large file friendly

Share audio and video

Customize privacy settings

File conversion for viewing (ex. PDF)

Cons

No built in way to track views

Must use other program to create and edit material

Cannot have transitions (ex. PPT)

Challenges when uploading video file types

In my experience, the ability to share a presentation publicly in only a few quick steps proves to be very helpful. Also, slideshare has so many different topics represented, it can become a very useful tool for research.

References:

Juliaseidel30. (n.d.). Retrieved October 09, 2017, from https://www.slideshare.net/juliaseidel30?utm_campaign=profiletracking&utm_medium=sssite&utm_source=ssslideview

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Prezi is a cloud-based productivity app that creates presentations that are unlike anything else. Instead of a sequence of slides or an animated video, Prezi presentations zoom in and out of a vast single canvas, first focusing in on a block of text or a set of images or videos, and then flying across the canvas to other text or images (Mendelson, Duffy 2016).

Pros-

Prezi seems to keep the students engaged when using it in class. The creativity and movement add an extra appeal to some topics that may be considered a bit dry. You can create and edit presentations either using a web browser or from the app. Teachers and students may create Prezi accounts for free with university addresses. This allows their accounts to be free from the public. This option doesn’t have help option which may cause difficulties for some.

Cons-

Free-form interface makes it hard to create consistently sized and shaped text and graphics. Chat not included for collaboration (Mendelson, Duffy 2016). I’ve witnessed at times sharing the link or opening the site having problems.

References:

Mendelson, E., Duffy, J., Edward MendelsonEdward Mendelson has been a contributing editor at PC Magazine since 1988, and writes extensively on Windows and Mac software, especially about office, internet, and utility applications.More », & Jill DuffyContributing EditorTwitterLinkedInEmailJill Duffy is a contributing editor, specializing in productivity apps and software, as well as technologies for health and fitness. She writes the weekly Get Organized column, with tips on how to lead a better digital life. Her first book, Get Organized: How to Clean Up Your Messy Digital Life is available for Kindle, iPad, and other digital formats. She is also the creator and author of ProductivityReport.org.Before joining PCMag.com, she was senior editor at the Association for Computing Machinery, a non-profit membership organization for...More ». (2016, November 04). Prezi. Retrieved October 09, 2017, from https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2371184,00.asp

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After reviewing Evernote I’ve come up with the following:

Strengths:

Evernote can be used to capture, organize and share notes from anywhere. A major strength of this app is your notes are always in sync and you can use any device to retrieve them. One can enhance their notes with links, checklists, tables, attachments, and audio recordings. Even handwritten notes are searchable. According to Evernote, users can create a free account and eligible students can receive 50% off the premium package which can create a study hub: attach and annotate PDFs, save and search handwritten notes, connect to Google Drive, Outlook and more, on any device.

"Use Evernote as the place you put everything … Don’t ask yourself which device it’s on—it’s in Evernote" – The New York Times

Weaknesses:

There aren’t that many fantastic options, it’s very similar to a memo pad. Some potential users may think why should I download this app taking up space on my phone if I can use the memo pad that’s already a part of my phone. Some people prefer apps that do one thing really well not so many things as with evernote.

Potential Uses:

Evernote is a cross-platform app that serves many purposes—it can be your digital file cabinet, note-taking tool, daily journal, task or project management system, recipe-keeper, and more (Pinola, 2012). I actually had evernote on one of my phones a few years ago. While it did offer many options, I mainly used it for my grocery list. I think with so many other app options I didn't take the time to do more research and find out what it was all about.

References:

Pinola, M. (2012, November 29). What's All the Fuss About Evernote? Should I Be Using It? Retrieved September 25, 2017, from https://lifehacker.com/5964285/whats-all-the-fuss-about-evernote-why-do-people-use-it

Rosen, P. (2017, September 20). Timeless Note-Taking Systems for Students. Retrieved September 25, 2017, from https://blog.evernote.com/blog/2017/09/11/timeless-note-taking-systems-for-students-2/

Get organized. Work smarter. Remember everything. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2017, from https://evernote.com/

Evernote - stay organized. Apk. (n.d.). Retrieved September 25, 2017, from http://www.dolphin.com/apk/com.evernote.html