EDUC 649 Final Paper

4 This summer was the first time that I made a Prezi, which is an interactive presentation tool. Other classmates and a couple of teachers have used Prezi to present information and projects to the class. I have always been amazed with Prezi because of the interactive factor, the presenter is able to zoom in and out of their slides, add videos, graphics, documents, voice, and many other things in a more interesting way than a normal PowerPoint. I was afraid to use Prezi before because I was comfortable and familiar with PowerPoint. Prezi was very easy to figure out how to use and their website had step by step directional videos for members to follow.

Another great tool to incorporate into the classroom is the Google custom search. This allows a teacher to create a custom search engine that pertains to the topics that students are learning about and appropriate material and sites for students to come across through research.

Students are learning how to use the internet which is a positive and a teacher can avoid awkward situations with unwanted sites and advertisements or questionable resources.

Portaportal was another website that would be very helpful to use in the classroom for the students, parents, or other colleagues. Portaportal is a web-based bookmarking utility that allows you to store links to your favorite websites online. This could be very useful for parents to use because they can see specific links such as the California State Standards to see what the standards are for their grade and student. The teacher could also link resources for parents to use such as online games that help students with different subjects. This can also be used with other teachers. Many teachers have different resources that they pull from but by sharing it can benefit everyone. There are so many useful likes for teachers such as classroom management techniques, ideas, lesson plans, etc. All of the websites are in one place so it is easy for students, teachers, and parents to find and can use with ease.