With the help of Stellenbosch University, and particularly InnovUS, we have developed Abstrahere Academic, which is a web application and tool to assist masters and doctoral students in the critical analysis of academic texts.

Abstrahere Academic focuses on academic environments, and assists master’s and PhD students to improve and apply their critical reading skills – an important part of their thesis writing. Open and healthy communication between student and academic supervisor about critical text analysis is an integral part of the reading and writing process.

Master’s and doctoral students received an e-mail invitation from WARP Development to obtain access to the Abstrahere Academic application on the following link: http://academic.abstrahere.co.za

Using the application, you can upload scientific articles directly by selecting either File or URL. You will then be guided by online prompts to analyse the content, and by submitting your responses to a Critical Reading Box you make your own unique summaries for inclusion in the literature survey, theoretical foundations, discussion or conclusions of your thesis/dissertation.

Al documents uploaded on Abstrahere Academic must be in Pdf format. Please remember to activate your Inetkey for on-campus internet access, and to use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome as your web browser (please do not use Internet Explorer because specific Pdf plug-in technical issues are related to Internet Explorer)

Background information on this application is available at http://abstrahere.warpdemo.co.za/. We would greatly appreciate your feedback on this application. Please send your feedback to hjb@sun.ac.za.

Google Classroom is digital learning management system that aims to simplify creating, distributing and grading assignments, encourage collaboration between students and educators and also aims to create a paperless environment.

This next instalment in Google’s ever-growing repertoire was released in August 2014 on the Google App store. The various Google Classroom apps  are also available for iOS and Android devices (for free) and to anyone with Google Apps for Education, a free suite of productivity tools including Gmail, Drive and Docs.

“Since launching, more than 30 million assignments have gone through Classroom”, noted Jorge Lugo, a software engineer on the Google for Education Classroom team in January 2015 on a Google blog post.

The biggest advantage seems to be in the improvement of educators’ workflow and therefore saving much-needed time. Classroom can be used by educators to create classrooms, post to classroom feeds, communicate with students, and view assignments.

Tutorials on Google Classroom can be found on the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning’s website.

MORE INFORMATION:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-opens-up-classroom-tool-for-teachers-worldwide/
http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-classroom-mobile-ios-android-education/
http://www.alicekeeler.com/teachertech/2015/02/08/10-additional-things-you-can-do-google-classroom/

SOURCE: www.wikipedia.org

Padlet boasts that their platform is “the easiest way to create and collaborate in the world”. A rather presumptuous statement if you think about it.

For that reason we decided to test it for ourselves and you can also let us know if their statement is accurate or just too optimistic.  Can Padlet be used on an academic level or even within other areas within the university? Have a look at our own Bits & Bytes Padlet-page and leave us a message. (You can do this anonymously or leave your name)

But first – what is Padlet?

This seemingly simple platform gives educators, for example lecturers and teachers and learners or students a virtual bulletin board on which they can air their opinions and thoughts on a topic to their heart’s content. It almost works like a traditional board, but with much more functionality. For example, a lecturer can ask a question in class, paste it on a wall and students can comment and collaborate on it during class. You can even load graphics, files, as well as links.

Padlet does have a few handy options to customise your wall just the way you prefer it. Whether you want to change the background or assign specific rights to a particular person. You can even get a QR-code for your site/wall and Padlet is extremely smart phone and tablet friendly.

If you’re interested in what Padlet can be used for, also read Shaun Takenouchi’s article.

Padlet provides educators and learners a virtual platform on which to collaborate on a specific topic.

Padlet is a virtual wall that allows people to express their thoughts on a common topic easily. It works like an online sheet of paper where people can put any …

Padlet is the easiest way to create and collaborate in the world