Statistics are used in a variety of different ways. Statistics can be used in business to show their gains for the month, they can be used by car salesmen to justify why this is the right car for you, they can be used in sports to show an athlete's performance, but most importantly they can be used in school to show areas where students are doing well. There are a number of statistics tools out there that can help you compute this information.

After some research I came up with a few sites and tools that I thought would be very helpful. The first one that I thought was pretty cool was the Statistics in Sports or SIS website. This web site provides a number of different links to any type of statistic that was related to sports. Being a baseball fan I really liked the section that the guy graphed all the MLB hall of fame players statistics and had projections for future starts. I think this would be very beneficial for a coach to use this in plotting an athlete’s performances from game to game and from week as well. I think this would provide the players with a better understanding of their performance and help the coach assess areas that need more attentions.

The next online statistic analyzing tool I discovered was the Simple Interactive Statistical Analysis or SISA. Just as stated in the title this looked like a very simple user friendly tool for computing statistics. This online tool had a number of features such as Frequency, T test, Ratios, distributions, and many more data procedures. This would be a great online tool for people who are relatively new to dealing with statistics and interpreting data.

Statics can be very helpful when solving problems or trying to validate research. These are just a few online tools I feel would be very helpful to anyone dealing with statistics. 

In today’s world the job market for education is very demanding. School are either laying off teachers or not replacing the ones that have retired. Recently searching for employment and finally getting hired I can honestly say what a challenge it has been. Even though it is very challenging to find a job in the education field there are new tools out there that can be very beneficial when looking for employment.  Some of these tools include professional portfolios, personal web sites, and LinkedIn. These are all very powerful tools but they do have their pros and cons

Pros

One thing I found when setting up these tools is the user friendliness. For each one of these tools were very self-explanatory when setting up an account. I think this is very helpful when trying to deal with the stress of looking for a job you don’t have to deal with the stress of setting up these sites. Another great thing these tools do are they allow you to connect with other professionals. LinkedIn would be a perfect example of connecting with other professionals including employers searching for workers.  Next, I believe personal web sites, if done correctly can provide incite of your personal life and expresses your beliefs. Lastly I think using an online professional portfolio would be beneficial due to the access of it. Portfolios are great but too often you see portfolios in three ring binders and can only be viewed by a limited number of people. Having an online professional portfolio you can show off your abilities and increase the number of people who view it just by a click of a button.

Cons

With some of the positives these tools provide there are also some negatives. One downfall I noticed is the cost for upgrading. When setting up these tools you are granted a free version but if you would like to upgrade your required to pay a fee. This might be ok for large corporations but for people right out of school and out of work this could be a limitations. Another negative effect from using these sites is presenting your image in a way that is not intended. When employers have access to these sites and review your work they can interpret it anyway they feel. If not set up a hundred percent professional or the way you intend you may provide a false image of who you really are. This can cause employers to loose interest in you and can eliminate your chance of getting the position.

Conclusion

Finding employment in education or any field today may be very challenging. These are just a few technology tools that can help you when searching for employment. Not every tool is perfect and all have their pros and cons, but with appropriate research and professionalism I believe they will aid in you finding employment.