Internet+Tools+Reflection


 * Reflection**

Whilst working on this task, I explored many of the websites outlined in the module. Many of these I had not seen before and I was keen to try them out. I was aware of the difference between digital resources online that allow you to produce and print to those that allow you to produce and post. Having said that I have a personal adversity to using technology to produce something just to print it, so my take on it is always going to lean towards the produce and post online resources.
 * Awareness**

As I said, there were a few new online resources that I was keen to check out. Big Huge Labs Motivator was the first one I looked at and I found it really easy to use plus the end product looked awesome! It was fantastic that I was able to download the end product as a digital file for free so I can use this later for my blog or embed in a website at a later point in time. I can see how I am going to be using this more often in the future - for sure!
 * Exploration, Filtration & Learning**

Poll Everywhere is another new one I had heard of but never tried. I really liked that a) it was free signup for a basic plan and b) people can respond on the web and via texting, which allows so much more flexibiltiy for the respondents of a survey. I had only ever used Google Docs or Survey Monkey for creating surveys for collecting data from a wide audience. I can certainly see how I will use this more in the future.

As soon as I started exploring Letterpop I instantly fell in love with it. The only downside for me was that there was no free mode for it. All levels of access are subscription base, but with the basic plan only being $4.95 USD per year, I decided it was worth at least $5 worth of commitment. What I really liked about it was the ease that I could publish and distribute the newsletter through social media, email or RSS feed. It was very user friendly and it took me no time at all to put together a newsletter. A definite keeper for my toolbox!!

I also tried out Podomatic, and even though it was user friendly I am not sure if I will be a regular user of this site. I did like that it enabled you to register for free, and that it had the capability to combine video/images with the podcast which was nice. I’m still not convinced that this will be a regular tool for me as I am quite comfortable using Audacity, Quicktime or GarageBand to record my podcasts.

The one site I was super excited to explore was BrainHoney as I was totally stoked to learn that I could set up an online learning environment for free and place my own course in it. So I signed up for a free account and started to put together an online course for my unit for this task. Sadly the site’s server kept being down and therefore I couldn’t present the course completed online for this task. I will continue to endeavour to complete it when the server is back up so that I can have it for my consultancy business to use.

Personally and professionally I already use a great deal of online tools to produce and post, so adding a few new ones is always nice. The standouts for me during this module have been BrainHoney (despite my difficulties accessing it due to server issues), Letterpop and Big Huge Labs Motivator. These are definite keepers for my toolbox and ones I can see using in my everyday life ... I already have plans for their use.
 * Personal & Professional Application**