The best way to understand the tools is to experiment with them. If you don't experiment with the tools, you will never be able to use them in the best way possible. There are various tools for documenting and archiving learning, tools for connecting and collaborating, and last but not the least, tools for extending student learning. I believe that tools are extremely useful in today's world when it comes to improving learning and gaining knowledge and the best way to do this is to explore them even more deeply.
There are many tools for documenting and archiving learning. Some examples of these tools are social bookmarking, delicious, and diigo. Social bookmarking is a useful way to store, categorize, and archive the information you want. This tool can connect you with friends and colleagues. Delicious is a popular website for bookmarking and tagging websites. This tool can save web pages that you might want to read later. Delicious lets you search tags to find webpages that others have categorized that match your interest. Diigo is a social bookmarking community, similar to Delicious, but with enhanced features. Diigo allows you to form collaborative groups. Diigo is designed for educators to find and network with other educators to form a personal learning network.
Tools for connecting and collaborating are blogs, RSS readers, podcasts, microblogs, wikis, and Google documents. According to me, the best tool for connecting and collaborating are Google Documents. Google Documents, known as Google Docs, is a web-based document sharing tool. These documents are saved on the web, where they can be accessed by anyone and from any computer. This makes collaborating very easy. This tool is extremely useful for all the students and teachers.
There are also plenty of tools for social networking. An example of this is ning. Ning is a powerful tool that allows anyone to create a specialized online social network for a few dollars a month. TeacherTube and Netvibes are two tools for extending learning in the classroom. TeacherTube lets you share educational videos made for teachers by teachers. This allows you to expand your professional knowledge by learning from other educators. Netvibes is an all-in-one dashboard to collect everything that's happening now on the social web. This is an efficient way to stay updated with current news.
In my future profession as a physician assistant, the tools that I have learned in this chapter will help me make connections with others. Tools for connecting and collaborating will be very beneficial because I will be able to collaborate and form groups with others in my field. Collaborating with others will help me gain knowledge and make new friends. This is one of the best chapters I have read so far in this class because I learned about new tools and how useful they can be. All these tools can definitely apply to my future profession/career.
Reference:
Nussbaum-Beach, S., & Hall, L. R. (2012).
The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press
Question:
Which tool can be useful in your future profession?
Hi Kajal! To answer your question, the tool that would be the most beneficial in my field of work is Google Documents. This website allows multiple users to view and edit documents and projects. As you mentioned in your blog, collaboration is very important because it helps you gain knowledge. Working together on Google Documents is the most efficient way for investigators to gain intelligence and arrest the right person. Out of the tools discussed in the textbook, which one do you think will be most beneficial in your field of work (physician assistant)?
ReplyDeleteHi Kajal! I find Skype extremely useful. I use it every single day. It provides an easy way to communicate quickly and maintain a level of confidentiality to sensitive issues. I agree, I've also learned alot about very useful tools that I may not have otherwise experienced outside of class. Do you have a favorite tool?
ReplyDeleteHi Kajal,
ReplyDeleteYou explained chapter 5 really well and I liked how you related them to your future profession. All of these tools are different, yet helpful in their own ways. I always use Google Docs and have been for six years. This has helped me save my work and work with group members in a class to collaborate our work. As a physician, Google Docs be an essential tool in various physicians combining our research, crossing out failures, and finding solutions to issues. With a shared input brings more achievements in the med field. What other tools do you plan to use as a physician assistant?