Thursday, 2 May 2013
Table of Contents: Applications in
Education
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Introduction: Apps in Education
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ClassDojo by Nahaboo Solim Shuaib
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iStudiez Pro by Adam Picker
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Dropbox by Ilan Carno
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iTunes U by Levi Suttner
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WhatsApp by Kyle McGill
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Skype by Dean Mendes
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Adobe Reader by Meira Friedland
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You Tube by Natalie
Tranchina
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Penultimate By Ariella
Blumenthal
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Background to Survey
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Survey Results
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Survey Recommendations
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Introduction: Applications in Education
This multi-author blog contains research regarding
applications that are useful in education. The blog contains contributions and
research done by a wide range of authors that have investigated and explored
the different uses for apps and how they can be useful to university and school
students as well as educators. The blog also includes an analysis done on a
survey sent out to students. The information contained in this blog is useful
to students as they can explore and decide what apps might or might not be
useful to them in student life. The blog can also be useful to educators as
they can begin to understand the mind-set and working ways of their students.
This will allow teacher to allocate types of assignments and work-loads more
accurately.
ClassDojo
ClassDojo
educational application software was launched in 2010 to help teachers in
improving students’ behaviour. 10 months later, there were already 3.5 million teachers and students across 30 countries using the
service. The app also won the top prize at the
‘Innovation Challenge at Education Help’ in September 2011. It is free
and can be accessed by using a Smartphone, laptop, or tablet.
Through the app,
teachers create a free account, add their students’ names and customize the
behaviors they want to encourage. During class, positive behavior is
reinforced by dishing out feedback points to students; these feedback points
are displayed in real-time in the classroom with audio-visual cues allowing
students to see how they are progressing, both individually and as a class. The
software is also made in a way that it promotes good behavior while the
students have fun. For example, to
start off, the entire class with the same avatar monster image and then allow
students to personalize or choose their favourite monster avatar once they've
met a goal.
The underlying
platform automatically compiles this data into reports, letting teachers
monitor progress, trends and share information with parents and administrators.There’s this whole other half of education that is currently unaddressed by education technology; the half that goes beyond just building good test scores to building character strengths that are essential for lifetime success. Academic research, as well as practical evidence from some of the best-performing schools in the country, that show while building character and behavioral skills, it leads to two to four times the improvement in academic results, graduation rates, health outcomes and other socioeconomic measures.
Website
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Author
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Date
Accessed
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Sam
Chaudhary and Liam Don
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16
March 2013
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Paul
Sawers
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16
March 2013
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Student Name: Nahaboo Solim Muhammad
Shuaib (569763)
iStudiez
Pro
iStudiez
Pro is an app exclusively for Apple products that allows high school and
university students to organise and plan all of their work and assignments in
just one app. Many students are unable to achieve their potential at school or
university as they are unable to gather their information successfully and cannot
keep up with the enormous workload despite having the raw knowledge to succeed.
The Schedule Planner feature allows students to keep detailed schedules of all
classes, lectures, venues and holidays while the Notification and Badges
notifies students when a class begins or when an assignment is due. The Cloud
Sync feature allows users to sync their information with other Mac or iOS
devices and can thus access their work on a number of different devices.
Students
can keep track of their progress in a certain subject with the Grades and GPA
feature while the Assignments Review feature allows users to manage their
homework and assignments by the date they are due making it easier for students
to stay up to date with the work that is required of them. In conclusion,
iStudiez Pro plays a major role in assisting the student with keeping up to
date and ultimately, achieving higher results due to being organised and
informed at all times. Furthermore, the app will ease the burden of teachers
who constantly have to remind their students of upcoming tests and assignments.
Users
of iStudiez Pro acknowledge that the use of the app has allowed them to become
more productive and organised. Rather than having scattered sources of work
such as notes and books which are easily lost, this app allows users to store
important information on a single app. The Calendar feature helps users stay up
to date with their schedule and store information about their classes,
lecturers or teachers, assignments and tests. The iStudiez Pro app also allows
users to track their progress as they are able to add the grades that they
received for tests or assignments onto the app. conclusively, this app is able
to assist students to the extent that their marks and productivity improve and
their schedules become easier to manage.
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Website
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Author
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Date
Accessed
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iStudiez
Team
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21
April 2013
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Nathan
Snelgrove
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21
April 2013
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Student Name: Adam Picker (740039)
Dropbox
Dropbox is a free application that allows you to
bring all your work, files, movies and music to the same place. This is what is
now commonly referred to as syncing data.
Any file saved in Dropbox will now automatically be saved in your computer, smartphone, and other forms of technology, which means the information, cannot get lost or accidentally deleted. Dropbox is useful in education in that it is very easy to share your files with others and they are always readily available, making student life much easier. Teachers and educators can also make use of Dropbox by sharing files with their students, this ensures the students receive the information and it is now backed up and cannot get lost. Teachers can also plan lectures on Dropbox, which makes lecturing easier for them, and these lectures can be shared with students over Dropbox. Dropbox can also do some really amazing things that were unthought-of in the past such as scanning important personal documents, for example your driver’s license birth certificate, marriage certificate, Identity document, and any other relevant documents. All these documents will be permanently saved into your Dropbox account and can be accessed whenever you need them. It also allows you to download in PDF form the manuals of certain products, and they will be permanently saved into your Dropbox. Dropbox is proving to be the future technology for storing, saving and retrieving information both quickly and easily and over time its storage space will surely increase and the demand for Dropbox will too.
Any file saved in Dropbox will now automatically be saved in your computer, smartphone, and other forms of technology, which means the information, cannot get lost or accidentally deleted. Dropbox is useful in education in that it is very easy to share your files with others and they are always readily available, making student life much easier. Teachers and educators can also make use of Dropbox by sharing files with their students, this ensures the students receive the information and it is now backed up and cannot get lost. Teachers can also plan lectures on Dropbox, which makes lecturing easier for them, and these lectures can be shared with students over Dropbox. Dropbox can also do some really amazing things that were unthought-of in the past such as scanning important personal documents, for example your driver’s license birth certificate, marriage certificate, Identity document, and any other relevant documents. All these documents will be permanently saved into your Dropbox account and can be accessed whenever you need them. It also allows you to download in PDF form the manuals of certain products, and they will be permanently saved into your Dropbox. Dropbox is proving to be the future technology for storing, saving and retrieving information both quickly and easily and over time its storage space will surely increase and the demand for Dropbox will too.
Website
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Author
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Date
Accessed
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The
Macworld Staff Team
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22
April 2013
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My
Android Apps
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21
April 2103
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Student
Name: Ilan Carno (681284)
iTunes U
iTunes U is the world’s largest online
catalogue of free education content. It contains more than 500,000 free lectures, videos, books, and
other resources on thousands of subjects. It also allows you to listen to the
most recent lecture or review the latest presentation as well as to stay on top
of your assignments and check them off as you complete them. When an instructor
sends a message or creates a new assignment, you’ll receive a push notification
with the new information. From the iTunes U app,
you can play video or audio lectures and take notes that are synchronized with
the lecture. You can read books, view presentations and see lists of all the
assignments for the course and check them off as they’re completed. iTunes U integrates with iBooks and other apps
to make it easy to keep up with your coursework. It keeps your documents,
notes, highlights, and bookmarks up to date on all your devices. With
iTunes U, it’s easy to create your own custom courses for iPad and teach or
learn from them in the classroom. It puts all the materials you create for your
course—syllabus, videos, apps, books, class assignments, and more—all in one
place. Anyone can create courses using iTunes U Course Manager, an easy-to-use
web-based tool. This app has the ability to enhance education greatly. It makes
information easy to access and provides all the necessary functions to keep
work neat and orderly.
Website
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Author
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Date Accessed
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Jeffrey Selingo
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15 April 2013
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Apple Inc
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15 April 2013
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Student
Name: Levi Suttner (720113)
Whatsapp
Whatsapp can be
very useful for educational purposes, being an instant messaging application
students can interact with each other and lecturers instantly. You can also
send pictures and videos over whatsapp, making it perfect for students to send
pictures of assignments and rubrics to each other.
Students can instantaneously interact and communicate with each other, eliminating the wasted time of waiting for emails or exchanging Fax numbers. Applications such as these are very cost effective as people no longer have the need to SMS or call each other.
The problem with whatsapp is that the company doesn't encrypt the messages so if you’re in a Wi-Fi hotspot other people can intercept phone numbers and messages sent across the server. In saying that I find whatsapp to be a very useful tool in keeping up to date with due assignments and tests and homework, it also comes in very handy when help with certain projects is required.
Students can instantaneously interact and communicate with each other, eliminating the wasted time of waiting for emails or exchanging Fax numbers. Applications such as these are very cost effective as people no longer have the need to SMS or call each other.
The problem with whatsapp is that the company doesn't encrypt the messages so if you’re in a Wi-Fi hotspot other people can intercept phone numbers and messages sent across the server. In saying that I find whatsapp to be a very useful tool in keeping up to date with due assignments and tests and homework, it also comes in very handy when help with certain projects is required.
Website
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Author
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Date
Accessed
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Student Name: Kyle McGill (741543)
Skype
Skype is a software application that allows users to communicate with
each other via voice calls over the internet. It was established in 2003 and is
now one of the largest and most used software’s in the world, with over 30
million users worldwide.
Although Skype is mainly used for communication amongst friends, it is
also an essential learning tool within the classroom. Skype is used in global
education projects, where a learner is able to communicate with another learner
to learn his/her language. This in turn develops the language skills of the
learner and allows him/her to practice these new languages with his peers.
Students are able to talk to other students, sharing ideas and also to talk to
experts. This offers an immediate way to help students discover new languages,
cultures and ideas without leaving the classroom. It creates an exciting
experience for the learners which will inevitably promote interactive learning
as well as achieving better marks.
“Skype in the classroom” is also used by teachers who will be able to
gather information from other teachers or experts around the world. This in
turn brings together an international teaching community. All teachers need to
do is create a profile which shows their interests and a project will be created.
Projects are a way for teachers to find information on a specific learning
activity. You can browse through projects or search by keyword, which makes it
easy for teachers to share expertise and collaborate on the projects.
Skype is a fun yet effective learning tool in which students and
teachers around the world will benefit from.
Website
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Author
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Date
Accessed
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Student Name: Dean Mendes
736231
Adobe
Reader
Adobe Reader represents information in an approachable and
attractive manner. This app provides the user many editing options such as text
insertion, highlighting, underling and even a signature effect which allows for
maximum productivity. Adobe reader permits the user to not only read their
information but to enjoy the additional benefits of editing features which in
turn allow students personalize their material and thus succeed in their
learning. Adobe reader is not too complicated which allows for all students of
any age and standard to operate. Adobe reader offers students the options of
separating their various subjects into different folders which helps keep the
work organised. This app is highly efficient and beneficial for students and
thus allows for maximum productivity in their studies.
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Website
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Author
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Date Accessed
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http://www.adobe.com/products/reader/faq.html
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Adobe Systems Incorporated
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12 March 2013
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Time Tech
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12 March 2013
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Student Name: Meira
Friedland 668231
You Tube
YouTube is an application that is used to upload, share and watch
videos of any kind. According to ‘YouTube facts and figures’, the average
person spends 15 minutes per day on YouTube and since the first video that was
uploaded on the 23rd of April 2005, YouTube now has over 2 billion
views per day. We have chosen YouTube as one of the useful applications in
education as there are many videos that have been useful to us throughout our
education paths. With YouTube being localised in 23 countries across 24 different
languages there is always a sufficient amount of information that is needed by
a student for any topic imaginable. Whether it is alternative lectures, videos
giving us information on a topic, or news that we need to know about for an
assignment.
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Website
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Author
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Date Accessed
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Jeff Bullas
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22 April 2013
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N/A
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22 April 2013
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Student Name:
Natalie Tranchina 719482
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