1)MOODLE
Moodle is a free course management system that is intended to help instructors build a successful online interaction course. Moodle is not only very effective but easy to use. Students are not only able to send messages to the participants but also view the class assignments, upload their assignments and view their grades online. Moodle allows the user to create a personal profile, so that the instructor and classmates can get to know other members a little better. The only problem I have with Moodle is that sometimes the Moodle page does not function properly. Other than that I believe Moodle is a great way to keep in contact with your professor and colleges and also help students to keep on top of their assignments and due dates.
Rating: Three Stars
2) Delicious List
Delicious is a free online bookmarking service that helps organize and save important websites all on one account. It not only enables me to save bookmarks but also allows us to share bookmarks with users in other networks. It also allows other users to view other member’s own bookmarks. For personal reasons, you may also bookmark a website as private on your Delicious list. Overall, Delicious is a wonderful free social bookmarking service and has become very useful to me.
Rating: Three Stars
3) Firefox Browser
Mozilla Firefox is a fast and dependable web browser. Firefox has many different features which include pop up blocking, tabbed browsing, built in search bar, and easy to use privacy controls. The users are also able to have more control over the history and cookies that are being used. Firefox is able to also notify the user if the page is secure or may contain some viruses. I like that there is an easier way to open additional tabs and if the computer froze or has to reload there will be an option that will ask if you would like to restore the last tabs that were being used on Firefox. Overall, Mozilla Firefox offers a faster and safer browsing experience.
Rating: Three Stars
4) Google Suite Apps (Applications)
Google Applications has really great features for its users. Google is not only an amazing search engine but it also allows the user to check the calendar and Gmail. Through Google Apps, the user is able to chat and work together on documents. Google Docs makes it easy for students to share the same document with other users and publish and make changes at the same exact time. Google also has spreadsheet, where you can keep your websites, usernames, and passwords stored. The user is able to view maps, videos, and images. It is also capable to translate the text to other languages. Honestly, after I first got my Gmail account I hardly ever used any of my other emails. I was really impressed by what Gmail can do.
Rating: Three Stars
5) Read the Words
Read the Words is a free online service that offers text to speech technology. It can read any text, document, or website and can produces a voice that can be customized which reads the words out loud at the users’ request. I believe that Read the Words can be valuable to people with special needs, most especially to those who are deaf and mute. Read the Words is also very helpful to those who are trying to learn to speak other languages. The only problem I had with Read the Words is that sometimes it pronounces some words wrong.
Rating: Three Stars
6) TokBox
Tokbox is a free and fun video chat website that allows users to have live video conferencing online. Creating personalized account that is quick, and easy. Tokbox has many features such as instant messaging, video calling, and video conferencing. I was surprised at how I was able to record a video and then send it to my professor’s email. The users are able to share pictures, videos and documents through the video chat. Users are also able to put certain document on private. (Depends on the user)
Rating: Three Stars
7) Web-conferencing Tool: Twiddla
Twiddla is a free web conferencing. Twiddla’s meeting area was a whit page where you can draw, adding shapes and texts, and images that can be uploaded from the computer. Twiddla can upload images or documents that can be viewed by those participating in the meeting and are able to audio chat with each other. Twiddla was very complicated and not very user friendly. There was no video chat service and the audio did not work properly.
Rating: One Star
8) Picnik
Picnik is a free online photo editor that is fun and easy to use. No programs needed to be downloaded. The website is really exciting and the graphic work is very engaging. I was amazed at how fast it was to upload and edit photos. The user is able to upload a photo as a guest and create an account to access more features. Photos can be uploaded from any website, your computer or using your webcam. I really enjoyed playing around with the different effects this photo editor had. I was really impressed with how fast we were able to preview pictures that were just edited. I was also able to play around with the many fonts, frames and shapes. I also loved that we were able to undo all of the editing on a picture. Overall, I had so much fun using this photo editor. Picnik made editing photos really enjoyable.
Rating: Three Stars
