Zoho Show

This was my first experience with Zoho Show and I'm eager to test it with some students.  I found the application to be user friendly and set up much like PowerPoint, which is helpful for those familiar with PowerPoint.  I like the fact that you are able to configure to Flickr or Picasa to upload photos.  I also found that the grid feature is nice for formatting and making sure things are lined up. 

A few other features that I like:
* the ability to export to PowerPoint or PDF
* the ability to save as a PDF
* it seems to automatically save as you are working
* the ability to play the presentation remotely by sending participants the URL
* embed the presentation on your website

I have yet to find something that really frustrates me about Zoho Show.  I have not determined how to add video, so perhaps this is not possible.  If this is the case, I would like to see this added in the future, as well as voice/audio.  Though the application is somewhat limited and does not have the full capabilities of other software such as PowerPoint, Zoho Show will allow users to create polished presentations and will be more than enough for the average user. 

Zoho in the Middle School Classroom
Thus far, I have found that Zoho Show will be easily accessible to middle school students, especially if they already have some familiarity with PowerPoint.  Many middle school students will easily be able to learn how to use Zoho Show with minimal instruction from a teacher.  A short lab session to introduce the application should be enough.  Perhaps the biggest challenge would be sharing the presentation with others and learning to modify it in this way.  If students have little experience with this type of collaboration, some skill building will be necessary. With the different options for exporting their presentations, students will be able to share their work in a variety of ways.  They could share their work in class, remotely, or by e-mailing it to everyone. 

This application would work well in a social studies classroom.  Students could use Zoho Show to present their research on a given topic, to review class discussions, and even to present a case for debate.  In general, it will be able to be used in much the same way that a program such as PowerPoint would be used. 

Teachers could create different roles for each person in the group.  It is stated in the lecture that certain considerations need to be taken into account with virtual groups.  Perhaps both of these will help a teacher assist students in collaboration.  As with all collaborative work, teachers will need to determine whether all students are participating in contributing to the presentation.  The teacher could also set up some sort of log system where students will track their work.   

Zoho Show is a user friendly application that will allow students to easily collaborate on presentations.  I plan to select a small group of students to try this with in the near future.  This could be a way to have students use technology to assist their learning even though we have limited resources in the classroom.