Reflection #5: Stormboard

Link to the Website: https://www.stormboard.com/

The tool that I will be sharing with you this week is Stormboard.  This site allows you to brainstorm, organize, prioritize, and act on the best ideas in the same room or around the world on a real time sticky note whiteboard. You will need to create an account to use the site, but it is very easy to set up because it gives you the option of signing in through your Google account which we all have for this class.  There are two versions of this site, you can either have a free or a paid account.  With a free account you are going to have many options available, but some features such as the ability to add a stack, files, or a sketch will be blocked to you unless you get a paid account.  If you will be using the account all the time, it really would be beneficial to get a paid account which is $5 per month.  Basically Stormboard is a virtual white board where you can place sticky notes with text, pictures, and video.  One of the nice features that I really enjoy is that the sticky notes can be color coded which would allow for greater organization.

This is a collaborative tool in the learning category and once you share your board, people can come in and read your sticky notes and then they are able to leave comments on what you have posted.  People can also go in and vote on ideas.  One of the down sides to this website is that anyone you want to collaborate with also needs to create an account to be able to view your boards, but that is the case with most collaborative sites.  In a lot of ways this site operates similar to RealtimeBoard.

Here is a review that was created about Stormboard that I found helpful when I was learning to use the site:



One of the other neat features of Stormboard is the ability to use templates.  There are dozens and dozens of templates that overlay the board to help provide better organization for thoughts and ideas.  Here are some examples of what Stormboard looks like with templates:

This is another board that I saw that I really liked and I tagged it with Thinglink to talk about how it could be used in the classroom.

I would use this in the classroom with my students.  Assuming that access to a computer is not an issue for my students I would have them add their ideas about things that we have been discussing in class outside of class time.  This would also be a great way for students to collaborate for group projects.  Personally, I could also see me using this as a way to communicate with other members of the Boards that I serve on.

Reflection #4: Quozio

Link To The Website: http://quozio.com/

The tool that I will be sharing with you this week is Quozio.  This site allows you to turn meaningful words into beautiful images and then they can be printed or shared via Facebook, Pintrest, e-mail, etc.  When you go to the website, two boxes will appear.  The first box is where you type in the quote you want to use and the second box is where you type in the name of the person who said the quote.  Then using the text you entered, you will be shown a plethora of images that enhance the quote by changing the font and the background that the text is displayed on.  You can also use the Bookmark feature which lets you create an image simply by highlighting text from a webpage or document. In order to use this feature, you do have to install it. Once you find an image style that you feel best matches the quote, you are able to share it very simply and easily.  There is no need to create an account to be able to use this website.

This is a video that shows you how to use the site:

This website could be used for Information Processing in the Learning phase.  It can be used to visually share inspirational quotes to hang around the classroom.  It could also be used to create a nice way of presenting classroom rules, procedures, and agreements after the class comes up with them at the beginning of the school year.  Students could use it to share a quote with the class that was said by someone they are researching for a biography project.  In this way, it is very versatile.  I will definitely use this to enhance inspirational quotes for my classroom.

Here are a few quotes that I made with the site:

Reflection #3: Bubbl.Us

Link To The Website: https://bubbl.us/

The website that I will be reviewing for this reflection is Bubble.us.  This site is a brainstorming tool that helps you to organize your "thought bubbles" by drawing links between your thoughts and refining your thinking.  This is a fun way to create "mind maps" that you can use to help organize your own thoughts or help communicate to others about what you are thinking.  The site is very easy to log in to and get right to work.  The site for the most part is easy to use.  I ran in to some confusion when I first started to organize my first mind map when I was trying to figure out how to connect bubbles to each other.  Ultimately I was able to figure it out and I was able to organize my thoughts on the SAMR readings and links.  I will include that mind map here as an example.

This website would be used for Information Processing in the Learning category.  It would be a great tool to use as a "pre writing" exercise before students are asked to write a paper or essay.  It would also be a great tool to let students know about when they have a project or they are working on researching something.  This would be a nice way to organize their research as they do it and it would help them to come up with a way to present their information to the class.  This site could be used by both teachers and students to organize their ideas about any subject and so in that way it is very versatile.

I can definitely see myself using this website in my classroom in the future.  I will introduce it to my students as a way that they can organize their thoughts and while I am still in school myself I will use it to help me organize my current research.