Doctopus: A new Add-on for Google Docs

Reveles, Jana

 

Atwood, Jay, and Jennie Magiera. Drum roll, please! Announcing the newly released doctopus, An add-on for google docs." Web log post. New Visions for Public Schools. New Visions for Public Schools, 8 Mar. 2014. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. Retrieved from http://www.newvisions.org/blog/entry/drum-roll-please-announcing-the-new-improved-doctopus.

 

This blog post discusses a new add-on the Google Docs entitled Doctopus. Doctopus works with Google Spreadsheets to help teachers create rosters, enter rubrics, customize feedback, and share documents. The post goes into some detail about how this add-on can be used. The blog also includes a screencast about the product.

The authors call Doctopus “the educator’s virtual personal assistant”. They seem to be really excited about this product. After reading their blog, I really want to try it out!

eduClipper - for Teachers & Students

Nicole Myerscough

Bellow, A.  (2013, September 18).  Increase teacher effectiveness with eduClipper.  Retrieved from http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2013/09/increase-teacher-effectiveness-with.html

Yes, eduClipper is another social, collaborative, and sharing website for content curation. If used as an entire class the ability to collaborate on individual assignments and offer anytime assistance to the students from their teacher or fellow classmates improves. Collaboration has proven to be highly successful in learning in addition to other skills necessary to succeed as members of our society. eduClipper meets many of the AASL standards necessary for the 21st century learners and even uses the Charlotte Danielson's framework for teaching (see The Danielson Group from more information) The article nicely charts components of the education framework used to design eduClipper and how this free online tool meets each component as well as providing an information video trailer.

eduClipper can also be used to set up or improve upon current personal learning environments/networks.

Content Curation

Nicole Myerscough

ELC 012: Content Curation for Learning from the eLearning Coach Podcast

Collaborative curation is definitely used in a variety of ways. It can be used to supplement basic textbooks/materials provided by the schools and go beyond the basics of common core to promote intrinsic learning. Curation is a way to help other and/or ourselves and encourage collaborative work. This idea is a part of a personal learning environment/network. Content curation probably comes natural to most students, particularly the millennials, but maintaining organization of what we curate is essential so that it can be accessed with minimal effort when needed.

This podcast explores ways in which different groups curate, and provides an extensive list of tools available (free and paid) for individual and/or collaborative work (ie. images, lists, archiving). I found the suggestion if curating for others (ex: classroom of students), that the topic for curation is of just as importance as the intended audience. One needs to take into account preexisting knowledge, often the case with different age groups, and this will then determine the variation of materials curated.