My first experience this week underscores the usefulness of distance learning. I am submitting this blog from Taos, NM. My wife had a business trip, and I accompanied her to visit the town. Even though I am remote I can still continue to work on assignments and team meetings. The only issue is winter weather. I am not sure when we will make it back due to the storm that is hitting the Midwest.
This week's assignment was to work as a group and review a number of sites that educators might find useful. Some of these sites have shown up in previous classes, but many of them are new to this class. Some of the highlights for me were the Google for Educators site. This is a group of links that cover all subject areas, but that all have some connection to using technology for education. This will be a great resource, and a constant source of new ideas for teachers. Another tool that we have used before is Google Sites. This allows a user to quickly create a web page that links other Google documents or information. It will be a great way for classes to organize data while still making it available online.
The one other tool that we were to review was tokbox. We have used this in previous classes as well, but recently we got a note saying that the service will be discontinued as of April 5th. This demonstrates one of the dangers of Internet Learning Resources. All of these tools are run by companies who may or may not succeed. When a company goes under, a tool that may have been extremely useful to your class might suddenly not be available. Teachers should always stay up on the current events that affect the resources they use most. They should also have other ways of achieving the same results. The good news is there are many tools available on the Internet, and it is almost always possible to find another option that provides a similar service.
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