The site provides a free service as well as one that can be purchased. For the purpose of classroom or workshop use, the free version is all that is required. By signing up, if the user has a Google account this process is only a matter of linking the two, the user creates a name and password, and can begin creating. There are samples provided and a help center if needed. This site provides the presenter or teacher with speedy feedback to help monitor the lessons. Easy to use and fun, even for students.

Rubistar is a free site that allows the user to either create their own rubric or view and adapt an existing rubric. The library of existing rubrics is lengthy and best searched by topic and date. I have utilized the site many times to create a rubric for PBL lessons and real life lessons taught within the curriculum. I prefer this site over others as it is easy to use and provides the option for a printed hard copy to be used during the project.

This site allows the user to create a slide show presetnation from anywhere without having to use PowerPoint. The only thing needed is a web browser and this is compatible with IE 7, Firfox and Camino. What I liked best about this site is its ease of use and that all members can work on the same presentation at the same time. Also, there is no limit to the number or length of the presentation. You even have 250MB to store photos.

This program is free to download and use to create tutorials that can be created for a specific presentation. It allows the user to capture screen shots and add sound, explanations etc. to the tutorial. By using a tutorial that is created specifically for this workshop, participants will be able to follow along and produce the desired outcome. Also, if the tutorial is uploaded to a wiki page, participants can access the site to review at a later date.

This site is free and does not require the user to sign up like many other sites. The Creately site is very easy to use, just drag images from the sidebar and drop into working area. The user is able to generate quick graphic organizers that can be shared by exporting as a PDF file. What This product did better than many other sites was to incorporate colorful pictures and not just text.

Having had experience with using the FreeMind mapping site to create mind maps and organizers I am familiar with how it functions. Mind mapping or using graphic organizers can make identifying essential information much easier for students and teachers. Having used this site personally, I find it easy to use and effective at creating a mind map that can be converted to a jpeg file and uploaded to a blog or wiki with ease.

This site allows users to simply enter a word to find the meaning and related associations. The site provides a visual definition that can be accessed by teachers ad students. The site is free and does not require membership, making it an asset to the public education environment. I selected this site to use as a pre-training activity to have participants enter a word related to collaboration within the classroom and then share with the group the results. The participants will share (collaborate) the similarities and differences and how these relate to the classroom environment currently being reinforced and how this may change after the workshop.

Name of the site: Wordle: a word cloud generating site Brief explanation of what it allows you to do and how it can be used for essential or generative learning: By accessing the Wordle site, participants can create a word cloud from the text I have provided via e-mail. The participants will be able to create a personal word cloud that will be shared with the group as a warm-up (pre-training) activity. By providing the site, participants will engage in generative learning that will be used as a means of collaboration. Brief explanation of why this site is better than others: I had not used a word cloud creation site prior to beginning this project, but found Wordle easy to access and use. I like that there are sample clouds to view prior to creating, but also found the site easy to navigate if participants are anxious and just want to begin creating. I also selected this type of pre-training to assist with motivating participants with something that can be easily integrated into their own classroom.

This is this wiki I will use to post my multimedia project on creating and utilizing online collaboration tools at the middle school level. This project will be designed to provide faculty members with an overview of resources that can be implemented easily into their existing curriculum. I hope to provide information on wikis, blogs, google docs., podcasting and Skype. By participating in the workshop, members will have the opportunity to create a wiki and a blog.
http://dewittwiki.wikispaces.com/EDUC+7107+Multimedia+Technology+to+Facilitate+Learning