Classtool.net

What is Classtool.net?ClassTools.net is a web-based educational productivity tool. The types of products offered vary widely. Timelines, quizzes, and games are just a few of the products offered free of charge. With a paid subscription, users can access many more features that this website offers.  What Skills or Resources are Needed?  Very little technical skills are needed to get started with this website. Users should be comfortable maneuvering around websites and familiar with how to click on hyperlinks. No email or registration is required for this website.  How Can I Get Started?  Getting started is easy. After arriving at the website, users are presented with a number of tools offered. A menu on the right side of the screen shows a list of the most popular tools. By clicking on any of them, the user is taken directly to the tool. There are also some video tutorials available at the bottom of the home page.  I created a screencast that is a basic overview:  http://screencast.com/t/XSSzifxuIa  Because there are a variety of tools, there is no one way to get started. Depending on what the user needs, there are a variety of template available. A picture of the home page and tool list is below:  classtoolspic  For each tool clicked on, a set of instructions on how to use the tool pops up. There are even some examples of how to use the tool if you roll over certain hyperlinks.  Advantages  The most obvious advantage is that this tool is free. Additionally, no email or registration is required so this allows for anonymity and the possibility of students using it to create templates for their peers. Another advantage of this website is that it does offer a variety of tools and templates that can be saved to their server. When the user is ready to go back and look at their work or play a game previously created, it will be stored for up to 12 months unused or longer than that if it is used continuously.  Disadvantages  There are only a few disadvantages but, unfortunately, they may be sufficient enough to deter users. First, it is a visual mess. There are flashing and zooming graphics all over the homepage. The graphics are old-fashioned and it is probably one of the worst-looking Web 2.0 tools I have ever seen. The website’s homepage is confusing to look at and a turn-off for potential users. There are also many advertisements on the page. A paid subscription offers advertising-free access in addition to other freebees.