Reflection: Group 4 Technologies - Google Documents, Google Earth & Tagxedo

Google Documents: I have already been using Google Docs through this Blog, as well as in my Glog. For example, in a previous blog posting I referenced an activity sheet I had produced using Queensland Cursive font. I really like the idea of Google Docs - an online repository for documents you want others to be able to access. You can also set the access level for those documents - public on the web, anyone with the link, or private and requiring a sign in to access. It also allows learners to easily collaborate with each other on a document, for the teacher to review learners' work, or to work with others from anywhere around the world through the online space that is Google Docs.

Google Earth: I have previously played around with Google Earth, really just for fun, looking at our own backyard, checking out the neighbours, looking at the brother-in-law's place while he was living in London. A way to use Google Earth in a teaching context dawned on me. I have been posting ideas aroudn a Mem Fox theme, and one of her books - Sail Away - is about animals that sail around the coast of Australia. I decided we could work together to plot their path on Google Earth, giving the learners some perspective of Australia and where the animals sailed. 

Tagxedo: This is a word cloud generator, and while there are a number of work cloud generators avaialble (such as ImageChef, Wordle, Tagul) many internet reviews recommend Tagxedo as it is the most flexible and has some added features. Tagxedo's creator, Hardy Leung, has even published a presentation outlining 101 Way to Use Tagxedo. I created a few of my own Tagxedos, one for Behaviourism and one for Constructivism learning theory, using the text from the Learning and Teaching website pages.