Web 2.0 reflection

I'm having a hard time believing I'm actually done with this course.  It has been unusually stressful for me, since I was travelling in Italy and France for the first 2 1/2 weeks, then I had to prepare a presentation for the LaLeche League conference.  I'm also helping to plan a retreat with a group at my church as the Mentor Director.  We are almost ready, the retreat will be next weekend.  I had to focus on revising and refining my powerpoint for the LLL talk at the same time I was preparing my last project for this class.  I did learn how to do slide transitions and animate slides on powerpoint, which I had never done before.  I'm slowly catching up to the people who are competent at using powerpoint.  By the time I'm really good at it, it will be obsolete.  The conference organizers used a program similar to Prezi to show their logistics/housekeeping information at the beginning of the day.  I did my presentation on Saturday morning, and was attending the conference all day Saturday and Sunday, so now I'm finally in a frame of mind to complete this work.

In this course I reviewed several Web 2.0 tools.  I deliberately chose tools I was familiar with if I could, knowing that it would be easier to find my way around the tool with some familiarity.  I reviewed Vimeo and Animoto first, and these were both tools that I had used at work, so I found it fairly easy to work with them.  I think Vimeo is very useful, and I actually do use one of them in education for patients and residents.  I could see myself recording an educational video similar to the ones on Dr. Jack Newman's website, though he does make his information freely available so there is not much need for me to reinvent the wheel.

I made several Animoto videos at work a few months ago for a breastfeeding class.  I think they might be very useful as an attention grabber at the beginning of a class, or a fun summary at the end.  I don't think Animoto videos are really appropriate for formal or medical education, since you can't choose what music goes with each template, and you can't record a script, you can only type short captions.

The third tool I reviewed was Stormboard.  This was more challenging since I was in Italy with my daughter, my feet were hurting at the end of each day, and the wifi was iffy in some of our hotels.  The wifi was free, thank goodness.  I didn't like Stormboard much, as it was not really intuitive to learn how to use it.  At first I felt really frustrated, then I realized that Vimeo and Animoto were really easy to learn and use, so it wasn't me, it was the tool.  I could see Stormboard being useful in group collaboration or projects in medical education, but there were other tools that were reviewed that week that were lots better.

I reviewed TestMoz after I got home from my trip, so I actually spent a bit more time exploring the tool and using it before I posted the review.  I really liked this tool and I could see myself using it to create pre and post tests.  Someone reviewed another tool that is similar to TestMoz, and it had more bells and whistles.  TestMoz is really basic and simple, you can't import video or illustrations.  However, if your needs are simple, TestMoz was really easy to use and effective, and would keep data on test scores for you as well.

The last tool I reviewed was Remember the Milk, which was supposed to be a productivity tool.  It allows you to make lists of things to remember.  I think it's just as easy to use the apps on your phone or iPad, and RTM is not really worth the time it takes to set up a list and input the data.  Of course, I'm speaking as a person that still carries a pocket calendar and pays bills by writing checks.

I feel like this course has dragged me kicking and screaming into the 21st century world, online and electronically.  I was bedazzled by the sheer volume of web tools that are out there.  I'm sure it's quite a lucrative business, starting people out with free accounts, then luring them with pro and advanced accounts when they are hooked on the app and need more to keep producing material.  Kind of reminds me of a drug dealer outside the school yard, beckoning.  Having said that, I'm also thoroughly impressed with the utility of many of the tools that were reviewed, and also humbled by the skill of the others in the class in creating the reviews.  I know that I will continue to use Web tools, some more than others, in my teaching experiences.  Maybe one of the most valuable things I got out of this course is the experience of trying new tools - I won't be afraid to open up a new one and take a test drive in the future.