Four E-learning Tools

Wiki, Podcast, PowerPoint and Animation, - potential uses, potential use with students with difficulties, legal and ethical considerations and how the tool relates to e-learning theory.

	Potential use of ICT tools in Mathematics and Business	Usefulness for diverse students	Legal, safe and ethical guidelines for self and students	E-learning Framework
WIKI	Can be used to globally collaborate ideas with other students and specialists in that field.	Students with diverse abilities are able to work on wiki in their own time. A hearing-impaired student should find no problem in being active with this tool.	Permissions to a wiki site can normally be set on three levels, Public, Protected and Private. It is advisable to set the permissions of a wiki to “protected” so that only the intended users (students it is meant for) can change and edit the content. I would review the wiki regularly to ensure that no unethical practices are being used by those students who have been given permissions to edit the wiki.	Understanding – Reading and interacting with the content of the wiki Applying – student editing the wiki Analysing – IT depends on the description of the students' assignment, if using an analytic tool within the wiki, such as De Bono six Thinking hats or SWOT, then the activity is analytical.
Podcasts	By Teachers Allow the pupils to listen to experts' views on interesting concepts (such as TED). This podcast can then be analysed by students and associations made to work that is currently being covered in the class. Record lessons for absent students or students who may wish to review work they did not understand. By Students Students may be actively engaged in compiling podcasts – this can be only one or a whole series of podcasts depending on whether it is used to cover just one topic or a whole unit of work.	Podcasts may be Extremely useful for students with visual disabilities for whom sound is the primary communication medium. Podcasts can be used for revision purposes for students with learning difficulties.	Reference must be made to the school policy on whether students' podcasts may be published on the Internet. Students' privacy must be considered, especially when recording lessons to distribute on the Internet. Intellectual Property rights may need to be considered.	Creating – Involves planning, writing script, and at times even contains simple digital imagery. Donate to internet community. Relate to other students or communities using podcast.
PowerPoint	By Teachers PowerPoint can be used by teachers to facilitate learning in the presentation of course material, to convey concepts and capture the interest and imagination of the pupils By students PowerPoint may be used by students to present assignments, by progressing from speaking in front of an audience to delivering an audio-visual presentation	The work may be presented visually as well as verbally, but can be customised to be more verbal or more visual depending on the abilities of the individual students. PowerPoint can even be exported with voice over already included if a student is unable to talk in front of a class	Plagiarism is a specific ethical issue with this ICT. Copying of text from sources without correct referencing is illegal and Pupils have to be made aware of the implications of plagiarism and taught the correct referencing methods.	Remember – Teacher presenting subject material. The teacher should present the subject matter in such a way that the students will easily remember it. Understand – The use of PowerPoint to explain and create, invites the students to understand and learn, Apply - when students start to use PowerPoint to apply learning, share with other students and collaborate with them. Analyse- The students use of PowerPoint to analyse how PPT will be used to relate to the outside, broader community and donate their learning back to the real world. Create – presenting of what has been created.  The students learn a means of presenting new thoughts and ideas.
Animation	By teachers  Animation may be used to create engaging and enticing explanations of lesson content for business and mathematics. By students Animation may be created by students to create games, which can even be distributed on the internet and used on Ipods. The making of an animation teaches mathematical concepts. The students could use animation in business to create promotional items. or display boards for Key Performance Indicators within a business.	Students with either speech or hearing impediments may find this a fun way to design applications that can be used for a vast range of applications, from advertising to complex interactive games.	Plagiarism needs to be monitored.	Create – The pupils' creativity could be enhanced by planning a story and in so doing also promote their problem solving skills. Understanding - mathematical concepts is an integral component of designing an animation. Donate the animation back into society, maybe in the form of a game, or an application (widget) of use to the business world.