1. You have to lead an online presentation on the contents of your history term paper.

Tools: Wordle & Prezi

Reason: Wordle provides a fun visual representation of main ideas that engage all types of learners. It includes main ideas and key terms that will give you cues in order to provide a more naturally-flowing presentation. A Prezi can add more depth to the main ideas by enhancing the presentation with a variety of multimedia, like visuals, videos, and external links related to the topic.

2. The final exam for your economics course is coming up, and you need to collect all of your (and hopefully your classmates’) online resources for a study guide.

Tools: Google Docs & DropBox

Reason: Both of these tools allow a group of people to work on and share documents from wherever they may be. All you need to do is create an account (which is free) and sign in from any computer. With Google Docs you can even see what people have edited within the document, just in case.

3. You need to create an interactive tour of Berlin as an assignment for your study abroad program.

Tools: Blog, Youtube, & Skype

Reason: A blog can be shared anywhere and can be interactive by providing the audience with pictures, links, and videos. People who are following the tour can comment and carry on conversations with one another. Youtube would be a great place to create a channel and upload daily or weekly videos. Skype can be used to provide a virtual tour, so that followers can be a part of the adventure right along with you! It would also allow students to talk and ask questions during the process.

4. You and a group of your classmates have been asked to do a collaborative research project on how Facebook has affected the social habits of young adults.

Tools: Blog & Facebook page

Reason: A Facebook page would be best for this project. What better way to research a social network than by actually using one? This would let students use the network first-hand and also encourage discussion from within the site. Students can create a page where all posts would be shared within the group members and allow for group chat as well within the messaging feature.

My name is Karina Gomez and I am a senior hoping to graduate this December – finally.

Woot woot!

Anyway, I am a BIS Human Learning & Development Major with a focus on Child Growth & Development and Counseling. I absolutely adore working with children and have done student teaching all throughout Pre-K thru 5th grade. Even though I love the teaching role, I have recently found an interest in school counseling; I’d love to be a school counselor for early grades (K-2) in an elementary school setting. After graduating, I hope to work in a daycare or child development center for some time before going back to school to work on my Master’s in either Early Childhood Education or School Counseling, haven’t quite decided yet.

And on that note, keep in mind:

-Paulo Coelho