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7 Post 3: Tool Exploration

 This week, I spent some time exploring two of the tools from the list that I had never heard of before. Those tools were Piazza, and Hypothes.is. Piazza was a great tool to learn about as it provided an interactive space for teachers, students, and other relevant affiliates to interact on one platform. I love the informal aspect of this tool as it showed the participants exchanging information, such as questions and answers relevant to what they needed help with. This platform is helpful in that it provides a normal space outside the classroom and unspoken email etiquette that is usually needed to communicate with professors or others. 

Hypothesis was another interesting tool focusing on the writing aspect in education as it has to do with annotation. I can see how this type of tool would be beneficial in helping students understand complex material while also providing commentary as the text progresses. This tool would be especially helpful in getting reviews and ideas for continuous changes in papers that may need editing. At the same time, I think only a handful of students would probably participate if they knew everyone would be contributing. I'm not sure how this would be controlled in a way that prevents some students from taking advantage of the annotations from others. Professionally, though, this tool seems to be great for collaboration amongst colleagues or other researchers. 

Knowing that these tools exist, I am surprised that I have not seen them used in some of the classes I have taken in Higher Education. 

Comments

  1. Thanks for the recap of these tools! I agree with you. I am surprised that these are not more widely used in higher education settings. They have some great features! I have learned so many new tools this semester. I need to create a list so I don't forget about them!

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