TwoBrains

And another thing!

One of the reasons I enjoyed Screencast-O-Matic so much was because it also introduced me to other new potential tools. This tutorial on was one of the screencasts I viewed.

TwoBrains is like social bookmarking that is guided by your individual learning goals. Once you create an account, you can establish learning goals for yourself. For example, one of is to use RSS aggregators as part of my web routine. When I find a website that helps me, I can add it as a resource for that specific goal. So, when I discovered that two of my main email providers also had RSS aggregators, which would make using RSS more convenient in my web routine, I added it to my goal. Users can search topics to see what resources others have collected for their goals. If you find a goal that someone else as that you also want, you can add it as one of your goals and all his/her recourses come with the goal. There is way more to TwoBrains, but those were the cool things that stood out to me.

In the Classroom:

I think TwoBrains could potentially be an outstanding addition to the classroom. The global collaborative potential is seemingly limitless. With proper planning and implementation, students could effectively keep a running tally of their individual and unique learning goals and teachers could gain insights into their students’ interests. Additionally, I believe this tool would also be beneficial for younger students to help build the desire to seek out information actively.

Like any other powerful tool, there are caveats to consider. Since this website is not geared specifically toward children, teachers of younger students would need to exercise extreme caution when they follow resources or allow students to follow resources. Teachers should always preview material before they view it in a classroom setting or allow students to view it and this would be no exception.