As a new teacher, one of the best way to stay organized and communicate with your student is through a class website. I have seen dozens of Teacher's websites but none of them come close to what myhaikuclass offers. This is an LMS (Learning Management System), which offers (I would argue) even better interface than Blackboard (those who took any course college have probably heard of Blackboard). This is basically a Blackboard fo high school students. They have an online discussion board, which I utilize extensively in my classroom. The students and I have vigorous discussion about their college plans as well as other thought provoking discussion questions I ask them on the forum. You can easily import any video clips, articles and start a online discussion and VERY easily moderate the discussion board in a safe environment. The website also allows very easy way to integrate outside content.Here is a list of some of the features offered through myhaikuclass:
1) The Student Polling feature is very visually impressive.
2) Although the website looks very professinal, it only involves few clicks here and here and some dragging contents around. The text editing feature is as easy as editing word documents.
3) The calendar is another impressive aspect of myhaikuclass, which I am a huge fan of since it allows easy alterations.
4) You can assess students, through creating quizzes and exams. Although I have not used this feature very extensively, I am considering using it for the future. You can provide students with Practice test as well as full fledge exam. The practice exams you create can be automatically graded so students receive instant feedback.
5) There is a built in Gradebook and Attendance record, which I am not a fan of, since I use Snapgrades and find it to be the best gradebook software out there.
6) You can collaborate with another teacher and both of you could manage the content of the website.
7) They have lots of skins from you to choose from, so you can change the style of your website with one simple click. I personally change my design every month :)
8) The free basic account allows 25 MB of free space as well as one active class with 75 free students. I used it for free all summer by combining all three classes. The paid version is impressively priced for the useful service they provide- only $5 per month.Again, take a look at my website so get a sense of the kind of website you can expect to create. Those who have been thinking about making a website can now do so with no experience with Html or website making skills.Open link to sign up as well as my Class Website: www.myhaikuclass.com/pjamal
EduSciTech Yourself @ www.pjamal.com