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Apps for Students
This wiki site focuses on Web 2.0 tools for college instructors. However, it might be helpful for you to also know about some of the tools available for students. Some apps, you may simply want to be aware of as an instructor in higher education- it can be very enlightening. Others apps may be useful for you to mention to your students (maybe even boost your ratings a little).
(If you add to this page, please make the changes using Explorer- otherwise, the widgets sometimes disappear!)
The apps listed here should meet the same criteria as those described throughout this wiki:
1) Free (or extremely low cost + a compelling reason why someone should pay for the service)
2) Based on the web 2.0 model
3) Directly related to higher education
The "FYI" Section- Some sites that your students are probably already using:
RateMyProfessors.com...
What it is:
This website enables students to post reviews about their professors. Students provide amazingly candid reviews about their professors. Here's an example: "Boring, she may be good looking but smart she's not. Anyone can teach a lab. Shes a lab assistant, not a professor. I don't recommend her." Because students are rating the instructors who teach their classes, they review professors, TAs, lab assistants, adjunct faculty- anyone who teaches any aspect of a course they are taking. The "stats" provided for each instructor are (emphasis added by me):
No. of Ratings: 32 Average Easiness: 4.4 Average Helpfulness: 4.5 Average Clarity: 4.4 Hotness Total: 38 Overall Quality: 4.4
Yes, "hotness" is a characteristic that today's students are looking for and instructors are evaluated accordingly on this website. Students can also post comments (and reply to other students' comments) and specific information about whether the textbook was actually used in the course, their level of interest in the material before taking the course, whether the instructor is still teaching or not, what grade they received, what section they were in, and whether attendance was mandatory or not.
It's not all negative, though, the website does provide a Top 50 list including:
Also, professors can post a video response to their reviews in a section called "Professors Strike Back".
The listings on the website are quite extensive and include listing of most faculty at most institutions, including all of the Maricopa Community Colleges.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
First, students use the site primarily for two reasons: (1) to praise/vent about their professors and their experience in the course and (2) to browse through reviews to know which sections to enroll in for a particular course. A concern there is that students will choose course sections for reasons like "easy" or "hot professor". Secondly, instructors sometimes enjoy looking up each other's ratings on this website for various friendly or nefarious purposes. A concern there is what the impact may be on collegial relationships and/or the possible influence of the reviews on professional evaluations.
Cost:
Free
Pick a Prof.com...
What it is:
This website offers several VERY unique capabilities. The most interesting is that the website provides data about how many A's, B's, C's, D's, and F's the specific professor has given in the past, in addition to reviews and comments posted by students. According to PickaProf, the grading history data comes from the colleges themselves, not student entered data. There is also a built in degree planner, schedule planner, and book exchange.
Although this website is new and doesn't have nearly as many listings as RateMyProfessors.com, it also plugs into Facebook, which means that it is likely to become very widely used. Currently, there are 2 Facebook plug-ins: 1) students can post professor reviews to Facebook and 2) students can post their current school schedule through this website into Facebook. I anticipate that the ability to share their opinions and schedules in Facebook will make this an extremely popular application. If they manage to create a book exchange plug-in, I think that would be even more the case!
Ideas for Higher Ed:
Clearly, the main purpose of this website is to provide students with as much information as possible when choosing a professor or section for a particular course. However, the main implication of this website seems to be that students want to choose courses where they are most likely to get an "A" in the course. While this may be true, I think this speaks to a growing problem in higher education that will not be easily solved, especially given the characteristics of the Millenial generation + the shifting foundation of higher education.
Cost:
Free
wePapers.com
What it is:
A free social knowledge sharing web application which allows college & university students and lecturers to share their papers, notes and other materials. Users can browse by category, institution, or search for papers. Every paper has a flash preview, and can be downloaded for free.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
1. For students- A platform to find, manage and share lecture notes
2. For lecturers and others- Easily publish papers for students, instead of using the current platforms (emails, blogs, websites etc). Get reviews on papers, and promote themselves.
Cost:
Free
The "Helpful Tools" Section- Some tools that your students might not know about:
eCalc...
What it is:
This is an online calculator with a "basic" and "scientific" version of the calculator. Because it is an online calculator, it has features like: a unit converter, equation solver, and decimals to fractions. There is a demo that shows many of the functions and capabilities of the calculators. There are also reviews of the different types of "real-life" calculators ("editor" reviews only). They also offer a sidebar gadget calculator to download for use with Microsoft Vista.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
The main use of this is for the ability to access a full-featured calculator anytime that you have internet access. Also, the calculator reviews may be helpful for students trying to decide between the different versions of calculators.
Cost:
Free
Textbook Revolt...
What it is:
This website attempts to solve the problem of high-priced textbooks. The premise is simple: students post textbooks they are willing to give away (for free) and search for the textbooks they want to receive (for free). It works on a simple credit system: give and you can receive (you start with 1 credit). It tracks your "gives" and "receives" and calculates how much money you've saved cumulatively. It even has a Facebook plug-in!
Ideas for Higher Ed:
The problem for most students is two-fold (1) the textbooks are expensive and (2) after the course is over, they may not want to keep the textbook and feel "ripped off" when the buyback price from the bookstore is 15% of the original price. The approach is unique because it works on a system of credits and students receive the textbooks completely for free versus other book exchanges where they can sell their books (theoretically) for more than what the bookstore would pay for buyback. This would be a great site to mention to students the next time they complain about the cost of a textbook!
Cost:
Free
GradeGuru...
What it is:
This website enables students to post their own notes and download other students' notes in virtually any subject area:
Students get "points" for uploading their notes that can be redeemed for a wide variety of "rewards" like: cash (through Paypal), vouchers for Amazon, Starbucks, STA travel, donations to Amnesty International, and even job and internship interview opportunities.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
The most apparent use of this website is for students to access notes if they missed class or want supplemental material on the subject. Also, students can put the notes they take to good use and get some extra "rewards" for them. Most importantly, this website could be an excellent resource for students who need special accomodations like a "note taker" for the class.
Cost:
Free
LiveMocha...
What it is:
This website connects students who are learning another language. It is essential a study/tutoring/social networking site for language learners!
Ideas for Higher Ed:
Students who are learning a foreign language can create a profile and teach others their native language while learning another language themselves. For example, I am a native English speaker and I would like to learn Hindi. So, I can help a native Hindi speaker with their English skills while they help me to learn Hindi. There are built in courses... but, connecting with other people across the world using a variety of communication tools is really the best part!
Cost:
Free
(If you add to this page, please make the changes using Explorer- otherwise, the widgets sometimes disappear!)
The apps listed here should meet the same criteria as those described throughout this wiki:
1) Free (or extremely low cost + a compelling reason why someone should pay for the service)
2) Based on the web 2.0 model
3) Directly related to higher education
The "FYI" Section- Some sites that your students are probably already using:
RateMyProfessors.com...
What it is:
This website enables students to post reviews about their professors. Students provide amazingly candid reviews about their professors. Here's an example: "Boring, she may be good looking but smart she's not. Anyone can teach a lab. Shes a lab assistant, not a professor. I don't recommend her." Because students are rating the instructors who teach their classes, they review professors, TAs, lab assistants, adjunct faculty- anyone who teaches any aspect of a course they are taking. The "stats" provided for each instructor are (emphasis added by me):
Yes, "hotness" is a characteristic that today's students are looking for and instructors are evaluated accordingly on this website. Students can also post comments (and reply to other students' comments) and specific information about whether the textbook was actually used in the course, their level of interest in the material before taking the course, whether the instructor is still teaching or not, what grade they received, what section they were in, and whether attendance was mandatory or not.
It's not all negative, though, the website does provide a Top 50 list including:
Also, professors can post a video response to their reviews in a section called "Professors Strike Back".
The listings on the website are quite extensive and include listing of most faculty at most institutions, including all of the Maricopa Community Colleges.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
First, students use the site primarily for two reasons: (1) to praise/vent about their professors and their experience in the course and (2) to browse through reviews to know which sections to enroll in for a particular course. A concern there is that students will choose course sections for reasons like "easy" or "hot professor". Secondly, instructors sometimes enjoy looking up each other's ratings on this website for various friendly or nefarious purposes. A concern there is what the impact may be on collegial relationships and/or the possible influence of the reviews on professional evaluations.
Cost:
Free
Pick a Prof.com...
What it is:
This website offers several VERY unique capabilities. The most interesting is that the website provides data about how many A's, B's, C's, D's, and F's the specific professor has given in the past, in addition to reviews and comments posted by students. According to PickaProf, the grading history data comes from the colleges themselves, not student entered data. There is also a built in degree planner, schedule planner, and book exchange.
Although this website is new and doesn't have nearly as many listings as RateMyProfessors.com, it also plugs into Facebook, which means that it is likely to become very widely used. Currently, there are 2 Facebook plug-ins: 1) students can post professor reviews to Facebook and 2) students can post their current school schedule through this website into Facebook. I anticipate that the ability to share their opinions and schedules in Facebook will make this an extremely popular application. If they manage to create a book exchange plug-in, I think that would be even more the case!
Ideas for Higher Ed:
Clearly, the main purpose of this website is to provide students with as much information as possible when choosing a professor or section for a particular course. However, the main implication of this website seems to be that students want to choose courses where they are most likely to get an "A" in the course. While this may be true, I think this speaks to a growing problem in higher education that will not be easily solved, especially given the characteristics of the Millenial generation + the shifting foundation of higher education.
Cost:
Free
What it is:
A free social knowledge sharing web application which allows college & university students and lecturers to share their papers, notes and other materials. Users can browse by category, institution, or search for papers. Every paper has a flash preview, and can be downloaded for free.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
1. For students- A platform to find, manage and share lecture notes
Cost:
Free
The "Helpful Tools" Section- Some tools that your students might not know about:
eCalc...
What it is:
This is an online calculator with a "basic" and "scientific" version of the calculator. Because it is an online calculator, it has features like: a unit converter, equation solver, and decimals to fractions. There is a demo that shows many of the functions and capabilities of the calculators. There are also reviews of the different types of "real-life" calculators ("editor" reviews only). They also offer a sidebar gadget calculator to download for use with Microsoft Vista.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
The main use of this is for the ability to access a full-featured calculator anytime that you have internet access. Also, the calculator reviews may be helpful for students trying to decide between the different versions of calculators.
Cost:
Free
Textbook Revolt...
What it is:
This website attempts to solve the problem of high-priced textbooks. The premise is simple: students post textbooks they are willing to give away (for free) and search for the textbooks they want to receive (for free). It works on a simple credit system: give and you can receive (you start with 1 credit). It tracks your "gives" and "receives" and calculates how much money you've saved cumulatively. It even has a Facebook plug-in!
Ideas for Higher Ed:
The problem for most students is two-fold (1) the textbooks are expensive and (2) after the course is over, they may not want to keep the textbook and feel "ripped off" when the buyback price from the bookstore is 15% of the original price. The approach is unique because it works on a system of credits and students receive the textbooks completely for free versus other book exchanges where they can sell their books (theoretically) for more than what the bookstore would pay for buyback. This would be a great site to mention to students the next time they complain about the cost of a textbook!
Cost:
Free
GradeGuru...
What it is:
This website enables students to post their own notes and download other students' notes in virtually any subject area:
Students get "points" for uploading their notes that can be redeemed for a wide variety of "rewards" like: cash (through Paypal), vouchers for Amazon, Starbucks, STA travel, donations to Amnesty International, and even job and internship interview opportunities.
Ideas for Higher Ed:
The most apparent use of this website is for students to access notes if they missed class or want supplemental material on the subject. Also, students can put the notes they take to good use and get some extra "rewards" for them. Most importantly, this website could be an excellent resource for students who need special accomodations like a "note taker" for the class.
Cost:
Free
LiveMocha...
What it is:
This website connects students who are learning another language. It is essential a study/tutoring/social networking site for language learners!
Ideas for Higher Ed:
Students who are learning a foreign language can create a profile and teach others their native language while learning another language themselves. For example, I am a native English speaker and I would like to learn Hindi. So, I can help a native Hindi speaker with their English skills while they help me to learn Hindi. There are built in courses... but, connecting with other people across the world using a variety of communication tools is really the best part!
Cost:
Free
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knicker |
Latest page update: made by knicker
, Nov 17 2008, 11:36 AM EST
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94 words added 1 image added view changes - complete history) |
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