ODYSSEYWARE

Best known for its award-winning and secure online communication tools for the K-12 market, Gaggle just announced a toolbox full of robust collaboration tools for teachers and students.

According to a recent article in eSchool News,

The new Gaggle Apps tools are designed to help schools safely incorporate real world innovations in communication such as social networking and YouTube videos into education. The tools help schools meet technology standards such as ISTE’s National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) without compromising security.

A few of the highlights included in the new just-released tools are the following:

• New user-friendly, customizable interface

• Online digital lockers for storage

• “Social Learning Wall,” similar to popular social networking sites

• Gaggle Office for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations

• Gaggle Tube, which provides filtered access to YouTube

Though the jury is still out on Gaggle’s newest apps, announced at the ISTE 2010 Conference, teachers and administrators will like the comprehensive, behind-the-scenes control while promoting student interaction and engagement.

As an ODYSSEYWARE partner, you’ve already embraced the potential of Internet-based learning. Tools like Gaggle’s new apps can give your online students safe and effective tools for learning. These applications, like ODYSSEYWARE courses, meet students in their world, and allow them to communicate and collaborate with tools they feel comfortable with.

With Gaggle’s new announcement, competitors won’t be far behind. You can be sure that in the coming months, even more applications will be available to schools that will make the online learning environment more secure than ever. Your school will no longer have to sacrifice the adoption of technology to the need for security.

Would you implement more Internet-based lessons into your classes if you felt security was not an issue? What collaborative tools would you like to see more secure?