Blog Three

For my example of desktop publishing, I decided to include a brochure I did when I was working to promote my sister's business a few years ago.  This was before smartphones when people still wore watches. (yes, I know, they still wear watches, a few of them, anyway.)  This isn't something I would use in a classroom, but it is a good example.  We printed thousands of these from home and mailed them all over the country. Outside and inside pages:

 Here are my tech explorations:

Assistive Technologies

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Gpat.org is the site for the Georgia Department of Education’s Project for Assistive Technologies which aims to define Assistive Technology devices and aid schools in implementing them.  The site’s focus is primarily informing educators about the laws and definitions, and what is available to assist students.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	The site could be used as a resource for discovering what technology exists for assisting students with disabilities or special needs in a classroom setting.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	There is a long list of available devices and information about the process involved in obtaining devices, but I would recommend teachers also look at their own state’s information if they live outside of Georgia.

Zoho

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Zoho is a CRM software company.  CRM stands for Customer Relations Management, and Zoho offers a suite of applications that can be accessed online to manage sales contacts, sales campaigns and other projects.  There are also applications for enhancing collaboration,such as file sharing, and wiki creation.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	The collaboration programs could be beneficial in a school setting. Teachers could set up wikis and online forums for students to use that are strictly monitored, and protected from public view.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	I am pleased to see that the program is entirely online and integrates well with Google Apps, which is free and universally available.  Teachers could have students set up google accounts and have one main login for all of the programs and projects.

4teachers.org

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	The 4teachers.org website provides online tools to assist teachers with classroom tasks, such as assignment calendars, rubrics, quizzes, classroom floor plans.  Rubistar is likely the most well-known program from the site.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	Rubistar is a wizard for creating rubrics. Teachers can use the online forms to type the criteria for an assignment at different levels of performance, so students have a strong understanding of expectation for that assignment. As students get used to working with rubrics, they can have input on what criteria are included. Classroom Architect allows the teacher to design a floor plan for their classroom using premade shapes on a grid.  The plan can be saved as a cookie on the site and printed for later use.  Web Poster Wizard lets teachers produce and publish a web page on a topic very quickly.  The tool lets teachers or students produce worksheets or poster documents with text, pictures, and links.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	There are several tools on this site that teachers will find helpful, and it’s easy to create a class and student logins for that class.  A teacher can create a class and assign projects, with the instructions published immediately, then students log in and work at their own pace, and their work is saved online.

Dimio

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Dimio is a computer programmer that has developed tools for converting text to speech and exporting it in a number of audio formats. Teacher can use the software to create audio files from printed material using text to speech technology.  Users can customize the scripts to use different voices to simulate dialogue.   Dimio does not distribute the voices directly, but has links for downloading them from various sources.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?

PowerTalk

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	The site fullmeasure.co.uk has a free program, Powertalk, that will automatically speak the text of a powerpoint presentation (or other slide show).  It uses the computer voices that come with Winsdows Xp/Vista/7/8 or other high quality voices from third party software companies. It is interesting to note that the program was written in reponse to an open letter from a person with Asphasia who wanted better access and use of technology for persons who cannot speak.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	The site offers dozens of general uses for the program, but there are some more specific uses in a classroom: Teachers could allow the students to review powerpoints on their own at a computer with headphones without disturbing others. They can use it present a slideshow when they have lost their voice, as this inevitably happens sometimes!
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	Powertalk is free so anyone can download it and use it for their own individual needs.

Webquest

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	The site WebQuest.org claims to be the" most complete and current source of information about Webquest model," which is an inquiry-oriented lesson format where most of the information that the learner works with comes from the internet.  Webquests are still available on this site and elsewhere, but  Webquest.org looks like it is no longer being maintained.  The founder's blog does not have a post since 2007, and the latest news section does not have any posts past 2008.  The online webquest creation software Questgarden is still running, and the founder, Bernie Dodge, is still involved in its development.  www.questgarden.com The software is available for a 2-year subscription for $20, but there is a free trial for one month.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	The site could be used to develop new web quests, or find ones that already exist.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	This may be from the creator of the Webquest model, but there are many other free sites for creating webquests that also do not require any knowledge of html.

Read the Words

1.	Describe what you learned from exploring this resource.  Be thorough in your response.
	Readthewords.com is a site that will convert any document into speech, and you can download the speech files for later use.  The site also has custom animated avatars that read the texts.
2.	How could you use this resource in a school setting?  It does not matter if it is in your field or level, you need to understand how the resource might be used in educational settings.
	This site is appropriate for creating audio files from any printed document or webpage, so its uses correspond to any need for a custom audio file.
3.	Would you recommend this resource to other educators? Like/Dislike; Ease of use, fee or not, and so forth.  Why or Why not?
	The free account only allows audio recordings up to 30 seconds in length.  The $10/mo. /$40/yr plan allows recordings up to one hour in length.   The $15 mo/$70/yr plan allows audio recordings up to 8 hrs in length and more features .   The free package will allow you to see if this is the right text-to-speech program before purchasing.