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Smore is could be a website tool for all ages, I believe.

I think it would be more beneficial for adults to use it more, but it could also be used to teach students about making a web page.

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Smore | Communicate effectively with interactive school newsletters

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Cut through the noise and communicate effectively with Smore. Create interactive newsletters that parents and staff actually read. Get started with free school newsletter templates.

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Smore is a great tool to use for educators that want to set up a website for their parents. Many teachers use this site to create a website for teachers to share with their students parents about what is going on in their classroom. Smore does cost money but many districts have already payed the educator fee. If your school district does not it is not very expensive to buy it for a year and you will get a tax deduction!!

This website is great to use because you are able to customize it to fit you! You are able to make instant newsletters through it to send emails out to parents or share them on social media. With smore you are also able to upload pictures and videos which is a great feature.

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Google Hangouts makes it very easy for the teacher to grade for participation points and group discussion. The teacher can also easily track the work that is being done and if every group is staying on task and pace

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Padlet is free. It is easy to access.  This would make it a great tool for schools to use.
Google Hangouts is also free and can actually be downloaded on an Android or Apple device.

Smore does cost money but is very affordable. For educators it is only $15 a year!!!!

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Google Hangouts can be used for any subject area. It can be used to help get through math homework or used to collaborate on a research assignment.

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Google Hangouts is not for elementary children. I think it would be more beneficial for middle school and high school students. These students tend to work on more group projects and I think this app is best used for group work.

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I really like Padlet and how it aided us in our collaboration project. It allows for information sharing but also allows for creativity (minus the ability to change the font and make it pretty).

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This does sound like a good tool to use for group projects. That way the students can keep in touch with each other and the teacher can monitor their discussion.

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Google Hangouts allow for video calling, phone calling, and messaging. The teacher can create a class discussion while the students can create group chat rooms. This is a great tool to use in the classroom because it can be a way for students to communicate while working on a group project. The teacher can have access to their conversations and answer questions in the discussion part of the app. It even has a status update part where a student can share their plans, ideas or mood with everyone involved with their "hangout". The teacher can share her status to let the students know she is online and can answer any questions that they might have. This is a great tool to use because students often have questions when they are at home working on projects and no way to ask the teacher. This often leads to them not completed the assignment in time so Google Handouts will be an excellent way to make sure that does not happen.

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Jessica Bennett:  Padlet reminds me a lot of Pinterest. I can upload pictures, links, documents, videos, etc. I really like it so far. One thing that I do not like is that you can not make the text different or pretty. Also, Padlet is not compatible with Firefox. This could cause a problem for some students or teachers.

I really like that you can organize the threads and posts however you want. I could have one Padlet be private for myself and have another visible to only the people with the link, and then have another Padlet page be visible to anyone that could find it. I really like that I can choose which level of privacy I want. This way parents that wish to access the page can.

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Edmodo link

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Edmodo is an easy way to get your students connected so they can safely collaborate, get and stay organized, and access assignments, grades, and school messages.

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I have not ever used Edmodo before. When you log in, it looks a lot like Facebook. There is a home button at the top and the main thread is in the middle while there are other options on the side. I like that students can upload their picture. I am bad with names and good with faces so this would be very helpful for me. Edmodo has a notification center and will notify you when the teach has uploaded a new assignment (a lot like blackboard). I am using the student version so I am not able to see how it would work on the teacher side. I feel like it is an easy way for teacher to get short responses from students as assignments. It would be a great way to give fast feedback to students on these submissions. I also think this could be very useful for online class discussions. The student can post links, upload files from their "backpack", and attach files. The downside (or plus side) is that students can not post directly onto each others profiles. You can only post into your group thread. But, you can join multiples groups.

There is a parents feature as well. They can make an Edmodo account and join the group. I like this because parents can feel free to monitor and check students progress on assignments and make sure they are posting to the group thread.

One downside that I can see right now would be that it looks too much like Facebook. It could feel too casual for them and they could end up using it as more of a social networking tool instead of collaborating with peers for educational purposes. Also, there is apps that you can add onto your page. This could cause a distraction when they are trying to submit assignments through this web tool.

I believe that this could have a place in my classroom. Students can also download the app. I could have students doing experiments and post their findings onto their group. Or, I could use it for an English classroom and have students publish their stories to the thread to be read by others. I also really like that everything can be in one place. As a teacher, it is easier to grade things when they are all in one place. It would be appropriate for students in grades 7th through college. I would not use this app for students younger than that because there are steps to submitting assignments and I feel that it is just too complicated for them to use.

Have you all used Edmodo before?