Evaluating Communication Tools- Audible

Audible

Audible is an Amazon company. The app is basically a library of books, songs, and collections.  Audible is discussed in a variety of educational blogs and podcasts. For the purpose of high school students, I think audible could be a great app for listening to books but there does not seem to be an interactive component of this app at all, besides active listening.

Evaluation of Audible

Criterion	Score (1-4)	Notes
Engagement	3	Easy to use.  Student can use the app and help others.
Relevance	3	Could align with learning objectives. Audio learning
Developmentally Appropriate	2
Safeguards/Monitoring	1
Ability for User Feedback	1
Cost/Accessibility	1	14.95 per month

Evaluating Communication Tools- Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest is another online bulletin board full of ideas. Users can create boards to then pin ideas, images, webpages from any place on the web.  The boards can be shared to multiple users and permission can be granted to pin collaboratively.

Evaluation of Pinterest

Criterion	Score (1-4)	Notes
Engagement	3	Easy to use.  Student can use the app and help others.
Relevance	3	Could align with learning objectives. Audio learning
Developmentally Appropriate	3
Safeguards/Monitoring	1
Ability for User Feedback	2
Cost/Accessibility	4	Free. Available as an app on multiple platforms and on desktops.

 Pinterest can be a way to virtually engage students in the planning process. With intentionally, this app could align well to classroom expectations. 

Evaluating Communication Tools- Evernote

Evernote

Evernote is note taking tool that is mentioned frequently in education blogs and educator updates.  The draw is the it syncs between all devices.  So you do not need to rely on having your computer to jot something down.  In terms of classroom learning, I am not convinced how this app is different than an google doc. 

Evalation of Evernote

Criterion	Score (1-4)	Notes
Engagement	3	Easy to use.  There are multiple options for engagement.
Relevance	3	Could align with learning objectives. Real time abilitiy
Developmentally Appropriate	2
Safeguards/Monitoring	2	There are more safeguards for paid subscriptions
Ability for User Feedback	3	Feedback could be available from others.
Cost/Accessibility	3	Paid subscriptions offer more functions.

Evaluating Communication Tools- Padlet

Padlet

Padlet is another communication tool which with a subscription allows users to collaborate virtually.  For the purpose of this evaluation I looked at the Padlet for school option. There are a variety of different subscriptions available. 

Evaluation of Padlet

Criterion	Score (1-4)	Notes
Engagement	4	Easy to use.  There are multiple options for engagement.  Both student paced and teacher paced.
Relevance	4	Could strongly align with learning objectives. Real time abilitiy
Developmentally Appropriate	4	Multiple opportunities to engage with students.
Safeguards/Monitoring	4	The school option has a ton of safeguards for students.
Ability for User Feedback	4	Multiple options for sharing with other students, teachers and teams.  Feedback is specific.
Cost/Accessibility	2	Free for students, teacher accounts cost $45 a year. Only available on apple at the moment.

The only downfall to Padlet was it’s availability on multiple platforms, it does look like they are expanding to googleplay for android devices in the near future

Evaluating Communication Tools- Socrative

Socrative

Socrative is an app that turns any device into a student response system and works on just about any smart device like ipads, smart phones or browser.  The product itself is based on two platforms one for teacher and one for student.  There are so many layers of function to this app, but being a visual learner there are so many options that really appeal to me. 

Evaluation of Socrative

Criterion	Score (1-4)	Notes
Engagement	4	Easy to use.  There are multiple options for engagement.  Both student paced and teacher paced.
Relevance	4	Strongly could align with learning objectives. Real time abilitiy
Developmentally Appropriate	4	Multiple opportunities to engage with students.
Safeguards/Monitoring	4	There is a student app and a teacher app. There are multiple layers of safeguards.
Ability for User Feedback	4	Multiple options for sharing with other students, teachers and teams.  Feedback is specific.
Cost/Accessibility	4	Free for students, available on multiple platforms including laptops.

Socrative seems like it was designed with the teacher in mind. I really appreciate the layers of options to customize the learning experience for youth based on what is happening in real time in the classroom. 

Evaluating Communication Tools- Google for Education

Google for Education

Google+ is a social networking site with the user in the forefront. It is meant to bring all of the google applications together in one space.  For schools already using google for education including googledocs and gmail, using google+ is a natural fit.  Students, teachers and parents can collaborate and stay in touch using this platform.  It is free, user friendly and very accessible.

Evaluation of Google for Education

Criterion	Score (1-4)	Notes
Engagement	4	Easy to use.  There are multiple options for engagement.  Both independent and team collaboration options.
Relevance	4	Strongly could align with learning objectives.
Developmentally Appropriate	2	Limited communication with student users – hard to measure.
Safeguards/Monitoring	4	Specifically Google for Education has multiple layers of safe guards and monitoring options.
Ability for User Feedback	4	Multiple options for sharing with other students, teachers and teams.  Feedback is specific.
Cost/Accessibility	4	Free for students, available on multiple platforms

Google for Education has the clearest safeguards and protection requirements for students compared to other communication tools.  As part of their contract with schools parents are informed and comply with COPPA. For schools that are not using Google for Education it seems like a natural way to engage students with useful technology.

Evaluating Communication Tools- bubbl.us

bubbl.us

Bubbl.us is a collaborative working space where teachers, students and teams can collaborate on planning and brainstorming ideas around specific topics.  It is essentially online mapping.  The user can sign on in and out of the classroom allowing teams to collaborate on new projects anywhere.

Evaluation of bubbl.us

Criterion	Score (1-4)	Notes
Engagement	3	Easy to use.  There are multiple options for engagement.  Both independent and team collaboration options.
Relevance	4	Strongly could align with learning objectives.
Developmentally Appropriate	2	Limited communication with student users – hard to measure.
Safeguards/Monitoring	1	Too many variables to evaluate.
Ability for User Feedback	3	Multiple options for sharing with other students, teachers and teams.  Feedback is specific.
Cost/Accessibility	1	Available on web and IOS only. Multiple subscription options. Free version or paid version for 59 per year.

Bubbl.us is geared towards high school and college aged students. There are many different options for this tool, but as an educator, I struggle with the relevance unless using the team membership of this tool. Although this app is quite slick, I believe there are other communication tools that would align that had better safeguards and more accessibility.