Monday, April 23, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Application Reviews
This week, we were asked to review an office suite and an image editing application. I chose Zoho and Phixr. My goal was to review these from the perspective of using them in a classroom, even though it was very tempting to review it according to my own personal use and opinion.
First up, Zoho. In the Zoho suite, I chose to review the word processor Zoho Writer. I chose this one because in a creative writing classroom it was the one that I would most likely use.
1. The transition. There were a ton of similarities between Zoho Writer and Word, which makes for easy use. Since my students are already familiar with the layout and tools available in Word, this would make for an easy transition. Although the look is a little different, the layout features tabs with titles that explain different aspects of document creation. The export option also makes it easy to send your document as a .doc in case you want to edit further using Word. One small difference that I didn’t like was the small selection of fonts. Also, the fonts were not represented in the way they would appear in the drop down tab, they were just listed.
2. The “share” option. Unlike Word (I think) Writer has a “share” tab that allows the user to share with other users, post their document directly to a blog, or email their document right inside the program. There is no need to open up a separate email and upload a document. Since I can see blogs being a huge part of my curriculum, it is nice to know that Writer would make posting very easy.
Secondly, Phixr. I thought this application was awesome! I am a big fan of photo editing software, and find myself spending my free time just messing around with pictures and creating slideshows. I could easily incorporate this into a classroom, and think my students would pick it up very quickly. Here’s why;
1. The toolbar. The icons on the left of the program were very easy to use. The descriptions and samples that appear when you hover over them did a great job of summarizing their use. The icons in the toolbar reminded me of the application icons you find on an iPhone. Since students are very comfortable with this type of technology layout, I think they will be able to pick it up very easily.
2. The preview. After you select a tool/effect, you are given a preview of what the photo will look like after you apply it. I have seen this option before, but not with a side-by-side. Phixr puts your original photo next to the photo with the applied effect so you can decide which on you like better. Too many times I’ve changed a photo with a tool and couldn’t even tell what was different. This makes it very easy to see. Also, if you decide you don’t like it, you can just cancel instead of executing the change.
3. The social aspect. The last part of this software that I really liked was the how easily you can upload your image to your favorite social site like Facebook. Although this is more of a personal use advantage than educational, I still wanted to mention it in my review.
Overall, both of these applications are great. I think they are very easy to use, and my students would have no trouble getting into them right away. Both could easily be utilized in a creative writing unit. I will surely be using these programs in the near future. Great suggestions!
First up, Zoho. In the Zoho suite, I chose to review the word processor Zoho Writer. I chose this one because in a creative writing classroom it was the one that I would most likely use.
1. The transition. There were a ton of similarities between Zoho Writer and Word, which makes for easy use. Since my students are already familiar with the layout and tools available in Word, this would make for an easy transition. Although the look is a little different, the layout features tabs with titles that explain different aspects of document creation. The export option also makes it easy to send your document as a .doc in case you want to edit further using Word. One small difference that I didn’t like was the small selection of fonts. Also, the fonts were not represented in the way they would appear in the drop down tab, they were just listed.
2. The “share” option. Unlike Word (I think) Writer has a “share” tab that allows the user to share with other users, post their document directly to a blog, or email their document right inside the program. There is no need to open up a separate email and upload a document. Since I can see blogs being a huge part of my curriculum, it is nice to know that Writer would make posting very easy.
Secondly, Phixr. I thought this application was awesome! I am a big fan of photo editing software, and find myself spending my free time just messing around with pictures and creating slideshows. I could easily incorporate this into a classroom, and think my students would pick it up very quickly. Here’s why;
1. The toolbar. The icons on the left of the program were very easy to use. The descriptions and samples that appear when you hover over them did a great job of summarizing their use. The icons in the toolbar reminded me of the application icons you find on an iPhone. Since students are very comfortable with this type of technology layout, I think they will be able to pick it up very easily.
2. The preview. After you select a tool/effect, you are given a preview of what the photo will look like after you apply it. I have seen this option before, but not with a side-by-side. Phixr puts your original photo next to the photo with the applied effect so you can decide which on you like better. Too many times I’ve changed a photo with a tool and couldn’t even tell what was different. This makes it very easy to see. Also, if you decide you don’t like it, you can just cancel instead of executing the change.
3. The social aspect. The last part of this software that I really liked was the how easily you can upload your image to your favorite social site like Facebook. Although this is more of a personal use advantage than educational, I still wanted to mention it in my review.
Overall, both of these applications are great. I think they are very easy to use, and my students would have no trouble getting into them right away. Both could easily be utilized in a creative writing unit. I will surely be using these programs in the near future. Great suggestions!
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