Top 10 ICT-tools voor gebruik binnen de onderwijspraktijk.

I decided to present my top-10 list for learning professionals in English rather than in Dutch. Inspired as I am by Jeroens’ recent post, I think English will represent my ideas better than my native Dutch language. And of course, English is the main language of many of these applications in my list. Furthermore, it might just be possible that I contribute this list of mine to Jane’s website.


Here it goes:


Youtube


I use YouTube, and links to YouTube, to show my students particular interesting history-clips. Nothing shows a better picture about slavery in the Roman Empire than a 5 minute clip of Spartacus. Learning by experiencing is one of my main motto’s, and what better way than to let students experience an invigorating clip instead of a regular textbook?


Googlesearch


Nominally search engines are like gunpowder. If you do not know how to use them the results are horrible. If you do master the search quarries you’ll be able to find enormous amounts of intelligence on versatile subjects. I primarily use GoogleSearch to look for information about books. The paradox here is uncanny. One of my saying is that I was “born in the wrong time”, me preferring books to the internet that is, but I frequently use the internet to scout for new books on my favorite history-topics.


Usb-stick

The one item in my list that stands out from the rest. A handy piece of hardware on which I store all kinds of information. Lesson-preparation forms , presentations, movie clips, you name it. The old-fashioned cd’s and dvd’s have given way to this convenient piece of hardware that will fit in your wallet.


Word

Still the basic literary device pur sang, Word has helped me to create numerous reports, tests, letters and articles. I use it as the basic program for creating texts. A brief deluge to other types of document-writers has brought me only one certainty: Word is the most versatile text-magician out there up to this point in time.


PowerPoint

Whenever I have a presentation I use PowerPoint. The ease with which you can use this program easily outstrips the competition. Not having a real digiphobia, but certainly not the best of ICT’ers around, I still manage to make decent and even rather nice presentations with this application.


Wikipedia


A great repository of knowledge, or a cesspool in which an unlikely observer is likely to drown? Opinions differ, but I use this website for sniffing out information. Although many people say Wikipedia is an unreliable source, they dismiss this site to rapidly. With its numerous diversions to other, more orthodox (thus, in some opinions, more reliable) websites it works as a “starting place” from which to look further from.



Hyves

Being 24 means that you can’t go around this website. Every friend (and all people with social contacts for that matter) uses this site to stay in touch. I make appointments using this website, as most people check it more regularly than their own cell phones! Furthermore, it’s a great way to stay in touch with students. Although the site also harbors dangers, for example the public aspect of it (everybody can reads everyone’s messages) it is still a great tool to inform your students about various topics. For example, I once used this application last year to warn my students to an upcoming test on my internship-school.


Adobe Acrobat

I use this tool to work with images. Cartoons are a perfect tool for picturing a certain time in history, and Adobe has the best program for shaping and constructing a page with cartoons on it.


Google Maps


Whenever I am in need of a visual representation of certain areas I use GoogleMaps. Although I rather like atlases, maps and globes, I can’t ignore the fact that this application is much more versatile. With one click of the mouse I can transport my students to a certain place. By using a beamer-projector I only need one website instead of 25 atlases.


Skype

To stay in touch with fellow-students at my highschool I use this great program. Instead of spending lots of money on cell phone costs, I use this program to call my colleagues and fellow students. Sometimes the spoken word is better than the written word as old philosophers often said. In this case I agree with them.


MSN

If quick interaction is needed though, MSN stands on a lone pinnacle. Quicker than either Skype or Twitter it is still the most used chat-application in the world. With this tool I contact fellow-students, and not only in the Netherlands, but over the entire world. One example: I made some friends who study history at the university of Michigan, in the U.S., using this program.



Thats it for now! See you next week!


Berry Groot