The first cloud computing website I found is called "Sense-Language." The website offers free tutorials and games to help students practice and develop their typing skills. This virtual class allows participants to track their typing-skills progress, and even offers a certification upon completion of a test. With the various techniques the computer, as well as other technology, is serving in our schools, I believe typing is quickly becoming a necessary subject for students to master.
www.sense-lang.org
The second website I discovered is called "Mindflash." This website is a sort of study aide, allowing students to create web-based training courses. You simply upload existing videos, power points, or notes, and the website instantly creates an online studying tutorial. This is very beneficial for students when preparing for tests and exams, or even to simply engage in further learning experiences.
http://www.mindflash.com
The last website I came across is called "NoRedInk!" Students are able to master grammar and writing skills through a web-based learning platform. NoRedInk! offers exercises, quizzes, and final assessments, making the learning very adaptive to all different types of students. Teachers can use the tools offered in their Language Arts classrooms as well.
www.noredink.com
I decided to follow a group called "Sites for Education" on Diigo. This group offers an ample amount of resources for teachers. There are tons of links suggesting unique ways to incorporate math, religion, social studies, etc. into the curriculum. Many of the members in the group are teachers themselves, which allows me to gain other educator's points of view on various subjects.
Overall the information provided about tags, cloud computing, and bookmarking has been very eye opening for me. As I continue my path to becoming a future educator, I feel it is very beneficial to being regularly informed on the constant growing tools that can be used for education. "The reason cloud computing is so relevant in the near-term horizon is that it has opened doors for more flexibility, more space, more collaboration, and ultimately, more creative uses of internet resources for educators to incorporate in their classrooms," (The NMC Horizon Report, 2011, p. 12). I hope to be able to integrate technology and other methods of teaching into my classroom curriculum, with the hope to instill a broad range of standards amongst my students. In addition, I think collaboration is a huge value in the school environment. Folksonomys, cloud computing, and tags are perfect examples of this concept. "For content to be searchable, it should be categorized and grouped. While this was believed to require commonly agreed on sets of content describing tags (much like keywords of a journal article), recent research has found that, in large folksonomies, common structures also emerge on the level of categorizations," (Wikipedia). These low cost, newly emerging resources are helping to filter specific, necessary information into a more basic, simple format for students to comprehend. In addition, these tools are beneficial in the creation of a one-to-one learning environment, both at home and in the classroom. I am interested to see the advancements both technology and the Internet will make in the next couple of years, and how this will further affect the classroom and basis of learning.
I agree with you that social media has evolved into a great means of collaboration not only for leisure benefits but professional aspects of networking and communicating. The cloud computing sites you chosen seem to be great programs not only for students but also professional development opportunities. I took the time to review the websites you chose and think they would be awesome tools to use for different age groups. One aspect that I found to be very functional and appropriate for educators is the tutorials and range of video clips to walk anyone through the process of maneuvering through the programs with ease. The website, Sense Language had a variety of lessons, which is great. I chose to go through several lessons myself and I found that I may need to brush up on my own keyboarding skills. Therefore, I know this program can be beneficial for people at any level who need to improve their keyboarding skills. The website, Mindflash has worked with several well known companies, a definite positive attribute of the program and what it has to offer. It’s really good that they offer different programs and rates based on the needs of the customer. Of course, I do not work for a multibillion dollar establishment therefore I like that Mind Flash has the ability to work with basic programs like power point and word, which are common programs available for students and educators. Offering not only trainings but web-based courses are neat ways to gain schools as customers and open up opportunities for students to have options other than full time virtual school or brick and mortars schools. Utilizing these programs are so much better and faster than Googling lessons, sample plans and having students practice skills on random sites. The website, NoRedInk seems like another great idea. Thanks for sharing these sites and what they have to offer.
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