GAFE aka Google Apps for Education

I have fallen in LOVE with Google Apps for Education at HCPSS this year. I have always been a fan of Google Apps and have used them personally. This year, HCPSS purchased GAFE to use in the classroom, and my school was one of the pilots for the program last year. This year we have went full force with the program, and I have my students use it all the time in my classroom.

GAFE at HCPSS offers a Public and a Private account at the web address https://hcpss.me. They simply login in with their regular HCPSS computer logins.

On the public side, most teachers have made their class website and make documents available to the public (aka parents and guardians). On the private side, teachers can communicate and collaborate with students.

Students only have a private account but can access their accounts inside and outside of school. Students and teachers have their own personal Google Drives and have access to create Documents, Presentations, Spreadsheets, Forms, Drawings, and other GAFE. Students can also share folders and files with other students and teachers for collaboration. It is a GREAT tool to use in the classroom and is very user friendly. HCPSS has its own Wiki with support on how to navigate HCPSS GAFE and you also get all of the Google Support.

Enjoy! Has anyone else used this with their students? I've been trying to encourage other staff in the school to use GAFE in their classroom

Penzu!

The first web 2.0 tool I'd like to share is Penzu. Penzu is an online journal writing web site where students can privately write in a journal, but if they want, they can also share it with a teacher or other students through email. They can add videos and images to their writing as well as personalizations such as fonts and colors. This would be a great tool to use for any journaling or writing inside or outside of class.

The link to the website is: https://www.penzu.com

If you'd like more extensive directions on how to use Penzu, I found a youtube video you can view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3PlK0kLZkE

I know I have thought about using Penzu as an outside reading journal for my students.

First Post - Day 1

Hello everyone!
I will be posting web 2.0 tools for you to preview. This should be easy because my internship was presenting web 2.0 tools :)