Academic Skills: Web Software Tools

Website: PebblePad is much more than an eportfolio. It is a Personal Learning Space being used in learning contexts as diverse as schools, colleges, universities and professional bodies; by learners, teachers and assessors; for Personal Development Planning, Continuing Professional Development, and Learning, Teaching and Assessment.

Students can access the PebblePad software via Blackboard. Instructions for access and use are also available in Blackboard.

Online Mind Mapping Software.
Summary: Mind mapping (similar to concept mapping) is the action of writing down a key concept or idea and thinking about related ideas that branch out from the central idea. The elements of the mind map are arranged in groupings that represent connections between the pieces of information. Creating mind maps helps you to generate ideas and visualise and classify the relationship between the ideas. Engaging in the process of creating a mind map helps you understand and remember key concepts and ideas. Mind mapping can also aid in problem solving, decision making, and writing.

Summary: Prezi presentations allow you to create non-linear presentations that clearly show relationships between concepts in creative and engaging ways. They also allow you to zoom into details and time your presentation to your needs (i.e. you don’t need to skip slides if you’re running out of time). You can add text, images, plus more and zoom into them. You can draw forms and highlight information. You can add arrows, bullet points, and frame information (visibly and invisibly). You can also share your presentation with the public on the Internet and embed your presentation into your websites.

Summary: Timelines allow you to create a list of events in a way that reveals connections and clarifies relationships. Timelines are an example of putting together constituent parts to form a whole and thus require you to understand the relationship between individual parts and how they form the whole. Using xtimeline, you can collaboratively create knowledge objects working in parallel to create a series of linked events.

Movies are a creative way to express thoughts and ideas. Much like role play, creating animated movies involves analysing and problem solving because you must understand and enact the roles of others. Some might find that creating movies is less confronting than engaging in role play with others as some things are ‘easier said through the mouths of other characters’. The process of writing the script for movies also forces you to be concise and get your points across much more quickly and creatively, than if you were engaging in conversation or writing an essay.

Summary: Wordpress.com is a web software tool that that allows users to create websites, blogs, e-portfolios, or private journals. It’s an easy to use, free software that gives students freedom to be creative with the design of their own sites, write posts, upload documents and other artefacts (including jpegs, videos, audio) and share with others. Wordpress.com sites also allow users to receive feedback from other users or from the world at large if their blog is public. The way the software is used (as a blog, journal, website, or e-portfolio) depends on the tasks set to students by their lecturers.

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