ESOL

thinkfree notes 2

Installing is the only issue when considering it for class/studnt use (especially considering the low IT and literacy levels of the students)

1) sign up

2)machine  needs to install java

3) gives you a warning about not installed properly (need to tick the box and click  continue  using)

 

4) First time it takes a while to set up (a few minutes) and you have to wait while it does it (and read messages) 

 

5) if you don’t save it it closes and displays an error message (not in English) with just an OK button so you lose your work and don’t get a chance to cancel if you mistakenly pressed close (which could be a big issue with ESOL learners) This is MAIN cause for concern? Students need to check about the asterisk next to the file name to check if the document has been saved.

 

It can be a bit laggy when writing and opening files takes a while (always important with impatient learners). 

I have been using Google Docs for a while and today discovered ThinkFree www.thinkfree.com and Zoho

 

First glances at ThinkFree and Zoho suggest:

Reasons why I like both Thinkfree and Zoho (first impressions)

you can copy and paste pics into Thinkfree

Can’t copy and paste a picture into Zoho Writer

 

you can right click copy and paste into Thinkfree

 You can’t right click copy and paste into Zoho Writer

 

You can work between two documents in different windows Thinkfree

 You can work between two documents in different tabs Zoho Writer

 

I like the save feature in ThinkFree more than Zoho 

You can view word docs  both

The formatting looks prettier both

The dictionary works like Word (unlike Google docs)

 

It belongs to the student and they can still have their work when they leave college

 

Drawback - you don’t learn "Word" skills (but the interface is pretty much the same)

Zoho looks easier to use cos you don’t have to do the Java stuff and it just opens in the browser not a seperate window so won’t be confusing for ESOL stuents. Each new document opens in a tab so you can switch easily between them (unlike ThinkFree which you have to have seperate windows open to do so.

I think I may introduce my E3a students to it on Monday.

 

 

Here’s an image from the IWB

 

A quote that supports the idea that Technology is what we call something we are aware of using. 

Based on qualitative research - one-to-one interviews with students conducted over two years - Jisc has built up a picture of how students are using IT to manage their social lives. Most are confident and competent IT users, but they are too often unaware of how they could apply their skills to enhance their studies. Phipps recalls interviewing a first-year female arts undergraduate who professed absolute ignorance of e-learning or web applications. "She was updating her blog at an internet café and then started integrating photos from her Flickr site on to the blog. At the end of it she said, ‘That’s not technology. That’s what I do.’ "