Kelly McCaffrey presented on wikis, blogs, and web publishing tools for her final course project in August 2011. She found Wikispaces, Kid Blog, and Animoto to be the most useful tools to incorporate into her teaching. While creating the final presentation on Google Docs posed some challenges, Moodle was an easy to use platform for the online course. McCaffrey feels more knowledgeable about online resources she can use to improve communication with students, parents, and colleagues.

1. Wikis, Blogs, and Web PublishingFinal PresentationKelly McCaffreyAugust, 2011

2. Wikis, Blogs, and Web PublishingThere were 3 specific tools which I found to be most useful:1. Wikispaces2. Kid Blog3. AnimotoThese tools are very user friendly and easy to manipulate.I can incorporate these tools in my profession to increase communication with my students and parents.

3. Wikis, Blogs, and Web PublishingChallenges:This being the 2nd course I’ve taken of Rich’s, I found that I had fewer challenges this time. I know now that the best way to learn how to use these new online resources is to just dive right in and start exploring.One challenge I did face, however, was using Google Docs for this final presentation. I began creating a “Presentation” on Google Docs but there seemed to be some glitches which ended up costing me a lot of time. I switched over to Power Point since I am familiar with this but not before giving Google Docs a fair shot!

4. Wikis, Blogs, and Web PublishingSuccessesI had many successes throughout this course but overall I am more knowledgeable about several new online resources which I can use with my students, my parents, and my team members. I feel confident that I can introduce some of these great tools to the teachers in my school and that we can use them to broaden the way we communicate as well as better our students’ educational experiences.

5. Wikis, Blogs, and Web PublishingMoodleMoodle was a great tool to use for this online course. It is a great virtual learning environment which is easy to manage. The set-up of our Moodle was very user friendly and the sequence in which things were presented were well organized. Moodle is really only as good as it’s creator.

6. Wikis, Blogs, and Web Publishinghttp://firstgrade-valley.wikispaces.com/- I plan to use this tool with my first grade team this year as an up-to-date website for our parents. Parents can view upcoming events and activities that we have planned.http://kidblog.org/ValleyJoggingClub/ - The students in my Jogging Club are going to blog this year. Hopefully they will use this tool not only as a way to boast about their accomplishments but encourage each other as well.http://animoto.com/play/TiUgRY9giGkyoaFIhgv4Ig - This was a great piece to add to my web page! Check it out… http://www.bensalemsd.org/1448208284946710/site/default.aspI also subscribed to several interesting educational blogs using Google Reader.