Introduction
In the 21st century, we are now using different technologies as part of our everyday living. However, it plays an important part in education because in today's situation we are greatly depend on using technologies to keep up with the online class. It is good that there are many free and available tools that we can use and apply in creating different activities. We can now access information and attend a class even without a face to face conversation. Likewise, we can create powerful, unique and attractive photos, videos and presentation through our skills and creativity. It is important that we are aware on the different free tools so that we can access and explore it when we need.
Task
At the end of the lesson:
📌The students must able to identify different technology tools of each use such as Online Bibliography and Citation Tools, Photo and Image Editing Tools, Survey and Polls Tools, Web Conferencing Tools, Stock Photos Sites, Video Tools, Assessment Tools, PDF Tools
📌The students must able to explain the use and discuss different features of technology tools.
📌The students must able to create a Webquest material about these technology tools.
Process
ONLINE BIBLIOGRAPHY & CITATION TOOLS
When you are citing an online source, do your best to include the following: the author, the title of the article or page, the name of the website, the website publisher (if available), the date of publication, and the specific web address or URL.
1.Easybib
Free online bibliography constitutes a functional way for people wanting to reference various types of content, both digital and print. Easy Bib provides a well-rounded solution for all your citation needs.
✓ 59 Content Sources
✓ Content sources range from traditional types such as books and journal articles all the way to live performances and newsletters.
✓ Manual Cite
✓ Although Easy bib provides automatically formatted citations; you also have the option to manually cite your references and even add annotations.
Features
•Have an MLA format guide, APA format, Chicago format guide to citing.
•Free Version Available
CITATION TOOLS
A citation manager stores all your citations in a searchable database so that you can, keep your research organized, format your footnotes or endnotes automatically in the style of your choice (APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.), format your bibliography automatically, insert references into a Word document with a click, and create and format an annotated bibliography.
2. Bibme
One of the most functional free online bibliography and citation tools on the Internet. All the features an eLearning content developer needs are there.
✓ 4 Citation Styles
✓ Whether you are using MLA, APA, Turabian or Chicago, BibMe can help you reference your work effectively.
✓ Variety of Sources
✓ Journals, websites, books and many other sources covering both digital and print format.
✓ Plagiarism Checker
✓ Check your content for plagiarism against plenty of sources on the Internet to avoid using somebody else’s words.
Features:
• Free Version Available
• Most of the features are available in the free version.
PHOTO AND IMAGE TOOLS
1.Canva
Canva is a graphic design tool that lets you make brochures, flyers, posters, social media images, invites, calendars, videos, displays, cards, logos, infographics, labels, letterheads, resumes, menus, and more in your browser or as an app on Android and iOS. You can begin with a blueprint or a completely blank canvas and create your design from there.
The platform includes an impressive number of editing and layout tools as well – covering everything from image cropping to blur effects to background removal.
2. Pixabay
Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images, videos and music. All contents are released under the Pixabay License, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist – even for commercial purposes.
SURVEY AND POLL TOOLS
1. Micropoll
It is a handy online tool that allows you to quickly create online polls and surveys. It is useful if you want to gather opinion from visitors to your blog or take a quick look at what friends or colleagues think about a particular subject. Micropoll provides you with the tools to customize your polls, add various types of questions, and analyze audience responses.
Features :
• Every element in the poll can be customized aesthetically so you can set the title text and background, poll border and poll background using the color set available in the program, or use HTML color to specify your colours.
• Polls can be answered different ways, so you can add variety to your questions as well as get a variety of answer.
•When it comes to web publishing and distribution, you have an option to use HTML code, inline frame, or raw HTML code. These options allow you freedom and control over your own polls.
2. Typeform
‘Typeform allows you to easily create a poll that looks beautiful, and gets more responses…You can make a poll in minutes by dragging and dropping questions and adding design elements so that it blends beautifully into your brand. Increase the level of engagement and turn the poll into an experience by adding icons, images, GIFS and video. Typeform Reviews
Features:
• Build beautiful, cross-device online forms, surveys & more
• Design your own themes or use a template
• Fully customizable self-notifications (emails)
• Fully customizable respondent notifications (emails)
• Calculator for scoring & pricing
• Drag & drop interface
• Customizable questions
• Custom fields
• Surveys & feedback
• Web forms
• Reporting & statistics
• Collaboration tools
• Pullse surveys
• Custom survey URLs
WEB CONFERENCING TOOLS
Web conferencing is any type of online meeting that involves two or more participants in different locations. These participants could be anywhere in the world. With a reliable internet connection and conferencing software, they can see, talk, and hear each other in real-time. Conducting a web-meeting or attending it, is not a hectic chore any more. After the advancement in technology, it is easy to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime. There is multiple web conferencing tools available today. Most of them provide more than 10 people who can access, arrange for suitable webinars. When it comes to using web conferencing tools, I suggest that you make sure you have a strong and stable internet connection before you even start.
Here are some video conferencing platforms that might be worth your time.
1.Zoom
It’s highly known for its simple configuration and integration process. Anyone can use it easily and conduct online meetings accordingly. It lets you share your screen with other participants along with the recording facility. It is really easy to use and has an intuitive interface. Zoom not only lets you share the screen with others, but it also lets you record the call for later use.
Features:
•Meetings and Chat. HD video, audio, collaboration & chat.
• Rooms and Workspaces. Power up your conference rooms with video.
• Video Webinars. Full-featured, easy-to-use, engaging webinars.
• App Marketplace. Integrations and bots to use with Zoom.
2.Paradiso Meeting
It is one of the best video conferencing platform, it is user-friendly and allows easy access to its users. It is facilitated with an interactive whiteboard to conduct presentations and screen sharing option for optimum interaction. Paradiso video conferencing provides secure conferencing in real-time.
Features:
• 2-Factor Authentication
• Analytics
• Chat
•Corporate/Business
• CRM Integration
• History/Version Control
• Project Management.
• Task Scheduling/Tracking.
STOCK PHOTO SITES
1. Shutterstock
It is a leading global provider of high-quality licensed images, videos, and music. Shutterstock helps inspire graphic designers, creative directors, video editors, filmmakers, web developers, and other creative professionals by providing diverse content to businesses, marketing agencies and media organizations around the world. Content creators contribute their work to Shutterstock, where end users buy and use it in a diverse array of creative personal and business projects. It’s a two-sided marketplace that empowers the world’s storytellers.
2.Fotolia
It is another top tier stock imagery site. It was acquired by Adobe in 2019 and is in the process of being merged into the Adobe Stock photography service. Fotolia features curated collections of high-quality images, graphics, and more from their large creative community. As you can imagine, with Fotolia becoming part of Adobe Stock, it is quite the powerhouse in the world of stock photography.
How it works ?
The contributors need to sign up on their website for them to sell images and illustrations. After you sign up, you can now upload your work and wait for the confirmation if it is accepted or rejected. When it is accepted you will be the one to decide the price of the picture. Also, the accept images from amateurs.
VIDEO TOOLS
1. Lightworks
Light works includes a simple and intuitive interface, so it’s easy to pick up. Light works also offers a collection of detailed video tutorials, making it one of the more accessible and easy to learn. Light works has a suite of original stock videos and music clips licensed for use in any videos you edit on the program, letting you give a polished look to any marketing video.
• High-quality simple trim functions for fast and precise video editingFeatures :
• Speed optimization, letting you continue to edit while importing new content
• Multi cam editing for syncing clips from multiple cameras
• Real-time team project sharing with full control over which user has editing access
• Easy sharing of videos with fast export to YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and Instagram
• Support for a wide range of video formats
2.VideoPad
VideoPad is a great free option for anyone who wants to create high-quality videos without spending a dime. With VideoPad, you’ll find all kinds of simple and easy-to-use features—such as 3D video editing and a sound effects library—to try different video compositions and styles. You can edit your videos with special effects, overlays, texts, and transition, as well as color adjustment and sound effects. Then export all your finished video to YouTube, Facebook, Google Drive, and other mobile devices quickly and easily.
Features:
• Social media sharing and publishing tools to share videos online instantly
•A large library of video transitions and visual effects to customize videos
•Video optimization tools, such as stabilization
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
1.Google Forms
Google Forms is a survey administration software included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google. The service also includes Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Sites, and Google Keep. Google Forms is only available as a web application.• Surveys
• Custom forms
• Drag-and-drop
• Customize values
• Reorder questions
• Add images, videos, and custom logic
• Real-time response information
• Automatic summaries
2.Google Classroom
Google Classroom is a free web service developed by Google for schools that aims to simplify creating, distributing, and grading assignments. The primary purpose of Google Classroom is to streamline the process of sharing files between teachers and students. It is estimated between to million people use Google Classroom.
Features:
•Set Classroom themes with school colours or logo.
• Reuse assignments, tests or other course content in future classes.
• Add content to assignments, such as video, PDFs, Google Docs or Google Forms survey.
• Share videos, links or images from other websites with students.
PDF TOOLS
PDF-Tools are the way to go. It’s the only software you’ll ever need to create and manipulate PDF and image files. It can convert files of almost any format to/from PDF and perform a wide range of additional editing functions. This is one of the most advanced and customizable PDF applications available anywhere in the world – a dynamic and user-friendly solution for all your PDF requirements.
1.PDF Escape
PDFescape, a new online tool for opening and editing PDF files, frees users from the usual software requirements for using the de facto document file format. PDFescape is completely online and requires only a modern internet browser and an active internet coPDFescape
Features:
•Edit, Create and Convert PDF files
• Edit Text and Image
• Merge PDF
• Create and Convert
2.Adobe Acrobat Reader
With Acrobat Reader DC you can open, read and print PDFs, and fill out PDF forms. If you want to edit a PDF, convert a document to a PDF, or perform any other more complex tasks, consider purchasing or subscribing to Adobe Document Cloud PDF services or Acrobat DC.
Features:
• Acrobat PDF service
• Convert Word/PPT/JPG to PDF online.
• Quickly convert PDF to Word online.
• Quickly reduce the size of a PDF file online.
• Quickly fill and sign any PDF form online.
Conclusion
Free tools where we can use in teaching and educating students is very important. We therefore conclude that, we students and future educator must engage our time in exploring the different tools and applications that will help us to create an excellent output. It is not time consuming yet we can access information, assess the learnings of the students, and edit a presentation effectively. Thus, as a future educator we should incorporate these kind of tools in teaching our students and share it with them
Credits
https://elearningindustry.com/12-best-free-online-bibliography-and-citation-tools
https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2018/02/17-of-best-surveys-and-polls-creation.html?m=1
https://www.free-power-point-templates.com/articles/create-polls-for-your-website-with-micropoll/
https://www.getapp.com/customer-management-software/a/typeform/
https://calendly.com/blog/8-best-web-conferencing-tools/
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/benefits-conferencing-businesses-165.html
https://www.ringcentral.com/wha
https://support.shutterstock.com/s/article/What-is-Shutterstock?language=en_US
https://contrastly.com/popular-stock-photography-sites/amp/
https://www.shopify.com/blog/best-free-video-editing-software
Teacher Page
This WebQuest material was created by Rica Maaliw, Nicole Ramos, Jerlyn Ranido Cherryline Reaveles, Reyann Rosales, Marissa Sangalang, Christine Trinidad and May Venida students of BSEd 2 in CSTC, Sariaya Quezon for Prof. Anabel Sta Cruz - Sollano.