The web 2.0 tool that I discovered today is called Nicenet. It is a web-based communication tool for teachers that allows a lot of the functionality of distance classrooms for free. The tool gives teachers the ability to create assignments, make a calendar for students to view on-line, and even allows students to “turn in” assignments through the site. The whole thing is hosted on the Nicenet server, so the teacher does not have to provide the URL for the course work. This is a big plus for me, since I am working “around” my IT department and can’t get permission to use our server fast enough to meet my purposes.
Nicenet was simple to set up. In just a few minutes I was able to sign up for this service and create a class. I can create conference topics, assign homework that is either perpetual (ugh!) or with a due date. As the teacher, you can decide whether to allow the students to see each other’s submissions and comment on them, or whether you want that limited to you and your teaching assistants. Now if they would only provide the teaching assistants, I would have it made!
Here is the list of features from the Nicenet web site:
• Conferencing: Create your own private, threaded conferencing on topics you make for the class or opt to allow students to create their own topics.
• Scheduling: Put the class schedule on-line. With a seven-day advance view on your class homepage, students will have a heads-up display of upcoming assignments and class events.
• Document sharing: Students and professors have the ability to publish their documents on the site using simple web-based forms. No knowledge of HTML is needed. Automatically integrated with scheduling, students are one click away from turning in their assignments on-line, giving their peers feedback on published papers and receiving professor’s comments.
• Personal Messaging: Similar to traditional email but fully integrated with document sharing and conferencing, personal messaging is a great way communicate with and between individuals in your class, comment privately on conferencing postings or give private feedback on published papers.
• Link Sharing: Share links to pertinent Internet resources sorted by topics that you create.
Janice,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Nicenet. It looks like a fabulous tool that we can easily use to create a more interactive learning environment for our students. I think this is a tool that could be used to foster active learning and accountability. Professional nurses need to be active players in their learning and this gives us an avenue to start developing this accountability. The link sharing feature will be valuable as we move forward in creating our webquests. We will be able to provide a few links to help them get started on their adventure. Nice job!
@ Janice - I think this site looks great! I loved the features that this site offers. It seems to offer both students and teachers a lot of options. Thanks for sharing!
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