Scratch

Wow that video make Scratch look great!!
But what about using it in a classroom, is it practical? Will my students learn anything?

Unfortunately through extensive research and hours of playing I would have to say NO it is not practical nor will your students learn anything and YES it is extremely time consuming.
Scratch looks at programming skills and the creation of animations. It is a great concept and it fun and interesting to play with however students can only learn programing skills from it.

After reading several wiki pages and blog spots I was excited to use this program. I was extremely disappointed and confused when using the program.

I would recommend teachers use Scratch as a tool within the classroom using animations made by others or provided on the various support sites and discussion forums. I think Scratch could be beneficial in this way however is only really designed for those students who are interested in computer and programing and those who learn through patters.

Frankly, I would not create Scratch animations for my classroom or asks students to create them however I would use Scratch animation to teach concepts and consolidate student learning in a fun, interactive way.

Scratch Wiki Page: http://curtineducation2009.wetpaint.com/page/Scratch
Created by Scratcher 1 & 2

Twitter

The Twitter Tutorial

View more documents from David Griner.

Why can't people just communicate with one another?
Why do they have to do impersonal posts and status updates on websites to tell people about their day and lives? If they have a life why are they on the Internet or wasting their time on their phone sending twitters all day?
I think these programs are silly and are why today's society youth aren't very good at communicating and have real issues with bullying especially cyber bullying!

I think it can be a great tool to talk to parents in a classroom situation! However it does require the parents to have the Internet and a computer... It is also quite public which could cause issues within the classroom.

There are practical ways to employ twitter in the classroom, catering for those students who are technologically minded but it is quite limiting as you can only write 140 characters.

I wouldn't employ twitter in my classroom, I think that it is more harmful to the students than it is good! Would it really be worth the trouble?

Jing

Jing! Now that is a software I would use in the classroom!

It is practical, it is a teaching and learning tool. It can be used in and out of the classroom, I am amazed with the functions of this software and the quality of it in relation to how new it is. It is extremly typical however of other software with the PRO version costing money with this version ironing out the glitches that have been found using the free downloadable version.
The idea you can email, blog and pass on vital information to others through video and pictures is an important aspect for today's society as we are becoming very digitally and visual minded.






It does need improving in some areas such as time and accessibiltiy but doesnt everything?

GoogleDocs

Google Docs.. like Wikis are working documents which invited members can edit, upload and create their own documents. Google Docs to me is an online version of Microsoft Office tools and is a practical means of working on assignments with peers rather than attaching documents to emails and going back and forth. However as great as I think this tool is it is laking as I cannot access it using my uni email which is the only email I bother to check. Having to log onto GMail all the time deters me from using this tool as I have adequate skills, attaching documents to emails. The idea of using it with parents in a school context is a very exciting concept however not all families have access to the Internet which could cause problems if this is the only resource used. Overall this is a great tool but using it in schools with students I think could cause some issues due to privacy issues and I would have to consider if it is worthwhile.