On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for Writely was 4.67.
This technology tool has been purchased by Google. Use of the Writely tool is obtained through a GMAIL account.
IMAGINE LEARNING
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for Imagine Learning was 3.89.
“This program is great for our student’s to use in the classroom and at home. It falls in line with the class that we are currently taking (ESL), thus, it has some activities for children to perform that correlates to the methodologies in which will assist in their developmental skills”.
BLOGGER
LEARN OUT LOUD
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for LearnOutLoud was 3.33.
“Learn out loud is a website where users are provided with both an audio and visual learning environment. Some of the features include educational audio books, MP3 downloads, podcasts, and DVD videos. Users can learn a foreign language, or even listen to classical music. The website has a directory of many different topics such as education, history, languages, travel, etc. For example, if a user wanted to learn more about Benjamin Franklin, he/she could easily download the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. I enjoyed this website because it had a variety of many topics to choose from, and their resources were helpful and easily accessible”.
“This software is like most search engines, it gives too many results and you have to be very specific about what you are looking for. This is supposed to be a tutorial software and that is exactly what it is and no more”.
HOT POTATOES
On a scale from ‘0’ to ‘5,’ the mean rating for Hot Potatoes was 1.25.
“The concept for Hot Potatoes is a very good one as it allows one to create learning exercises or quizzes to reinforce and check student learning, but it is very difficult to complete the exercise. There are tutorials and very detailed explanations about the design concepts with instructions, which I was initially excited about, but when I tried to navigate my way around to create a sample exercise, I kept getting stuck and couldn’t understand what I needed to do next after I completed the tutorial on a sample question using JMix. I think that the program design needs to be upgraded so that it is user friendly, efficient and easy to use. Also, it would be very useful for it to be flexible in hiding the correct answer or feedback section of the same exercise for the student’s edition and incorporating it for a teacher’s edition”.
“Hot Potatoes appears to be intended for teacher construction of tests and other forms of assessment. However, the program may be difficult for people at first glance. Hot Potatoes really does not allow for web exploration. It is designed for document creation. Hot Potatoes assists teachers and students in developing several kinds of assessments. It may not be characterized as incorporating the best use of multimedia. It really does not allow for communication between students or teachers. It is really not designed for online direct communication”.
