Module 3

1. Give an introduction to your blog post on collaboration tools by explaining how online (and also tablet based) collaboration tools can be used by students. As you do this, realize that many readers of your blog may not be aware that it is possible for multiple students to be able to access and work on a shared online tool, so in your explanation, help them understand (in a compelling way!) how this can be done.
2. What did you know and what did you think about online collaboration before?
3. What did you learn through your preparation for and experiences within the module?
4. How did your understanding and thinking about the topic change through this process?
5. Provide an annotated list of some of your top picks for online collaboration tools that you might use with your students. In your annotation, give the name of the tool, include a link to it online (or to information about it if it is a tablet-based tool), and then describe ways in which this specific tool can be used by students to collaborate with each other (and with others beyond their classroom).

1. Collaboration tools are very handy tools that are used for many users to work together on something.  It may be a google doc which allows many people to type and add to the document at one time, or it may be some sort of study tool that allows users to play games with each other to learn the material.

2. Before I did this module I did not know very much about the possibilities of online collaboration.  I had no idea there were so many tools out there that can be used in classrooms.  I thought google docs/ slides/ sheets was it.

3. I learned that digital collaboration is a much more powerful tool than I thought.  Teachers are connecting students to other students all over the world, students are learning to work together more, students have a better opportunity to learn from each other, the list goes on!

4.I become a much bigger supporter of digital collaboration.  Part of me was stuck in the mindset of "well I got along just fine with books and no technology" but after seeing the videos and hearing the testimonies I believe that there is truly a good use for it.

-Google Docs: I think this is a great tool for group papers.  It allows each student to work on separate parts of the paper and eliminates the need to copy and paste and merge components.  Outside of the classroom it can be used to share information for parties in multiple people are in the planning committee.  I've used it to aid in planning a large event.

-Flickr: I like this site because it allows people to share creative ideas and projects.  In and out of the classroom it would be a great tool for sharing photos after field trips or vacations.  In a school setting students could go out on some sort of scavenger hunt and then share the findings over the site.