There are so many tools out there that benefit eLearning. Some require a download, new software, and others are simply web-based. I, personally, like the web-based tools because I download so much onto my computer already that I don't want to add more. Also, I like to be able to access the tools that I use from any computer since I have a personal computer and a work computer, as well. I think the is a feature that teachers should play close attention to before choosing a tool because if software or downloads are necessary, it limits where you can access your material. It might also limit who can access it, since a lot of our students are using phones or devices that cannot necessarily download. For this unit, I explored a lot of these learning objects; I had a very difficult time deciding which two to showcase in my assignment, actually.
Many of the eLearning tools I explored are very similar to D2L in the sense that a teacher can post images, videos, give quizzes and tests. One that I liked is LAMS International. LAMS affords many different options. You can view other courses to see what others are doing, but you can author your own, as well. It appears to be much like a GAVS course. Other courses include the standards and objectives on the first page, and then you go through the content just as you would on our Brightspace setup. You can build assessments, chats, you can use data collection tools, discussion forums, gmaps, image galleries, mindmaps, and many other options that I can not even familiar with! There is a demo option, but I am sure that this is limited. It does not advertise prices; I would imagine because they want you to use it and fall in love. I have used other sites similar to this, like Moodle, for example, and I like LAMS better. The setup is more user-friendly and organized. I would say that a teacher that wants to use an eLearning tool in the face to face classroom should check this out. I do not see much benefit for an online teacher, at least not through GAVS, simply because we offer most of the same options in the setup that we currently use. The second learning object site that I chose to share is Flippity. This site gives you many options, also, and it is all linked to your Google Drive, which I love! I store so many things on my Google Drive, so this helps me stay organized, actually! Some of the options include a quiz show (similar to Jeopardy, but all students answer in each round), it has a random name picker, flashcards, tournament brackets, crossword puzzles, bingo, hangman, mad libs, quizzes, and many other options! You get to fill out the questions and answers- or information in general- to match your course content and present it in whatever way you see most fit. For GAVS, I have loved to use the game show, especially for review games. Each student gets must answer each question each time rather than only answering when they choose the question. I like this because we lose too many when they have to wait to be rewarded. Each group wins or loses points with each question, so they must submit an answer, being engaged during the entire game. This is a feature that I would suggest the online teacher search for because it is quite easy to lose the students if they are not all working all the time. This tool can be used in the face to face classroom or in the synchronous classroom, all the same. I definitely suggest trying this one!
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