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Other Web 2.0 Tools Reflection

The 2 tools I chose to discuss here are Jing and Viddler.








** Jing - I'm such a big fan of Jing. This FREE program allows you to create screenshots and voice/video tutorials and share with others via a URL (you can also choose to save them to your hard drive). I love the ease and low learning curve of this software, and that you can so easily share your work with others. I have used this several times with students and colleagues to demonstrate a concept. Here is an example of a tutorial created for students.

The ways this can be used with students are really limitless. This could help explain a confusing concept or give an introduction to a great site or program they might ant to use in a learning unit. Or this might be used with parents to show tools they can use at home to better help their children learn a concept.

The one thing to note is these tutorials do use Flash so viewers would need to download the latest version of Flash to view the materials.

** Viddler - this free online video sharing site has a couple of great features that I haven't seen in all video storage sites.

1- It allows a user to directly record a webcam video onto their site. You don't need to record it on your own computer, save it and then upload it. You may record and upload it all at the same time and then it's available for others to view. Here is an example of one I did to try out the service.

2- It allows for comments to be placed at certain spots of the video. So instead of commenting on the video as a whole, you can make a comment at, say, 1:46 seconds into the video. Additionally, these comments can be threaded among several people. So fellow classmates/colleagues can comment on your comment. It's a great way to generate discussion at certain points of the video.

I really believe both of these tools could add to the classroom in unique and extremely beneficial ways.

Social Networking Reflection

I have to admit I'm a little less sold on using this particular tool in the classroom. I have talked this over with a very students and their general feel is that they would like to keep Facebook separate from their school work and I'm not sure I blame them. It seems that in teaching there is a professional line that needs to remain in tact, even in the realm of social networking. This article discusses that professionalism.

That being said I do think there are ways to utilize the tool outside of "friending" all your students. For example marketing - I believe a university can use this tool to better promote the campus, events and social opportunities. This would be a non-intrusive way to connect to students.

I also recently talked to a colleague who created a group on Facebook for his students to join and work together on a project. They did not need to become friend of his to join the group and they were able to work together as a class on a project.

For additional ideas, I found this article about how to use Facebook in the classroom.

Twitter

In reading a couple of the Twitter articles on how teachers are using Twitter in the classroom, a couple thoughts stood out. I do like the idea of tweeting about upcoming assignments or projects. Depending on the audience, this may reach more students than e-mail or Blackboard announcements. I also like the idea of tweeting about upcoming events or social gatherings. I also believe that teachers out in the field may really benefit by being connected to a network of fellow teachers via twitter for help, assistance or to exchange ideas.

Here are 2 articles I've read on how teachers have used Twitter in their own classes:

• Article 1
• Article 2
  

One of the drawbacks to using Twitter is that it is one more account/application that students would need to check. Unless they had it linked into another application (Facebook, Blackberry, etc) it may be a frustration to need to login to yet another site to check another means of communication.

Using Twitter, along with other Web 2.0 tools is about meeting students where they are and communicating with them in a way that's relevant to them. do we need to use every tool available to communicate with them? No, but I do think Twitter is one avenue we might use to connect with our students.

Podcast Reflection and Posting

I think podcasting, among other things allows for greater accessibility for students to the "outside world". Not only does it allow students and teacher to connect to each other in a more meaningful way, but it also allows outside experts in the field into their classroom.

For example, in my class, I teach students how to use technology in the classroom. I could find already existing podcasts of teachers explaining how they have used technology in their own classrooms to better help student learn. This would give students different perspective on how different teachers at different grade levels might be utilizing technology.

Additionally, I believe podcasts could allow for students to express themselves in a different way. They could record their own thoughts on different topics to share with each other or fellow students around the world.

This is the podcast I posted to PodBean discussing various ideas on using Podcasts:



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RSS Reflection

RSS feeds are a great way of staying current without having to spend a lot of time going out to sites of interest. This would help you stay up on topics relevant to your own course content at a 1 stop location.

In my class (Technology for Educators), we talk a lot about how teachers are using technology in the classroom. A RSS reader would allow me to follow several sites (including other teacher's technology blogs) to quickly see ideas, challenges and success stories of other educators using technology.

With so much content out there, having a fast and easy way to sort through the material is essential.

Google Docs Reflection

Google Documents

1- One of the benefits of using Google Docs in online scholarly collaboration is the time it will save by not sending multiple e-mail revisions back and forth among participants. E-mail can be clunky when it comes to multiple people working on one project together. But with Google Docs, the document can stay in one place and participants can go to that one place to make their revisions. Everyone can see the revisions made using the "revision history" option. I think one of the drawbacks would be training on this tool. Everyone has a different level of both interest and comfort in using technology and while this is not a difficult tool to use, I think it might take some folks a little longer to ramp up to using it to replace e-mail.

2- I think the free Picasa photo editing tool might be a helpful one for the students in my class. Currently we tech both Movie Maker and Photo Story and this could help them to edit their photos for later use in either application. It also sounds like there is a small video creation program that may be a useful tool for them to use. In my class I am always looking for free tools to pass on to these future teachers. You never know how much money a school district may have to spend on technology so free is a safe way to go.

I also think the survey piece of Google Documents could be a real asset in any class. How easy would it be to create a short survey to use as a midterm or end of the semester evaluation tool. You could post the survey directly into Blackboard and receive immediate feedback as to how you are doing.