Category Archives: Web 2.0 tools

Elluminate

Posted on by
3

Elluminate is an online ‘lecture capture’ application that is currently available free of charge to all Victorian educators (State, Independent and Catholic schools are all included) through the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development’s Knowledge Bank.

Elluminate lets people communicate in real time via their Internet connection. People who schedule an Elluminate session meet in a ‘room’. They are able to speak to each other via a headset with microphone, use the chat function, raise their hand to ask a question, draw on a whiteboard amongst other things. The moderator or person running the session is able to upload powerpoint style slides to give the session a focus. At the end, sessions can be saved and archived for access at a later time.

Once Elluminate is installed via the Knowledge Bank page, users are able to access demonstrations, archived sessions and participate in online training sessions. There are two sessions on how to use Elluminate coming up in the next few weeks; Tuesday 13th January at 3.30pm  and Tuesday 27th January at 3.30pm. To participate in these very useful sessions, click on the date/s above to register. (Please be aware that you will need a headset with microphone and have downloaded Elluminate prior to the session.) Once users are confident using Elluminate, rooms can be booked to run your own online sessions.

A view of an Elluminate room

Elluminate has so many possibilities in regard to educational applications; staff can capture professional development sessions or staff meetings for part-timers or those who are absent. Those schools who find attending professional development sessions difficult due to distance or funding can access Elluminate sessions easily and for free. And archived sessions mean that you can revisit a session at anytime. Elluminate also has uses to work with students in a virtual enviroment. Once you become confident using Elluminate, the rest is up to your imagination. 

For examples of previous Elluminate sessions, click here. A previous Bright Ideas post on Professor Stephen Heppell linked to his Knowledge Bank visit. To access it, click here.

For more information on Elluminate, see the Knowledge Bank Elluminate site or contact:

Tamara Carpenter
Senior Project Officer
Knowledge Bank Online Events
Innovation and Next Practice Division
Office for Policy, Research and Innovation
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

Ph. 03 9637 3010
carpenter.tamara.c@edumail.vic.gov.au

If you do use Elluminate, please leave a comment to let everyone know what you think of it and how you used it in your school.

Thanks to Tamara for her assistance.

Scribd

Posted on by
5

Sribd is an interesting resource for would-be authors; indeed anyone who is interested in seeking an audience for their work should consider signing up to Scribd.

Scribd is a site where all kinds of documents can be uploaded and shared with either the general public or selected people through assigning them to groups (ideal for schools as these documents are accessible only to those invited to the group). Writers can receive feedback from readers and threaded discussions are available to both readers and writers, so Scribd makes it is easy for students to collaborate with others.

Documents uploaded to Scribd can be converted to a file called ‘ipaper’. ipaper files can then be easily embedded into blogs or websites; rather like the way YouTube videos can be embedded.

Scribd supports a number of document types such as

  • Adobe PDF (.pdf)
  • Adobe PostScript (.ps)
  • Microsoft Word (.doc/ .docx)
  • Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt/.pps/.pptx)
  • Microsoft Excel (.xls/.xlsx)
  • OpenOffice Text Document (.odt, .sxw)
  • OpenOffice Presentation Document (.odp, .sxi)
  • OpenOffice Spreadsheet (.ods, .sxc)
  • All OpenDocument formats
  • Plain text (.txt)
  • Rich text format (.rtf)

so any or all of these document types can be uploaded. Tags and categories can be assigned to uploaded documents, and folders can be used to keep documents organised.

Scribd has an extensive FAQ sheet, which is sure to answer any questions that you have and several that you haven’t thought of!

As well as providing an instant audience for writers, there is a vast library of documents for members to read and review if they wish. Once any documents that are deemed to be open or available to the general public, they become searchable in Google and other search engines. Scribd also supports numerous languages, so LOTE classes are well catered for.

Just a note of caution, there may be some documents on Scribd that are inappropriate for school age students. As with any Web 2.0 site that the general public has access to, there are items that as educators, we would rather our students not see. You can flag any documents as inappropriate if you are concerned.

Scribd is an excellent resource for English classes, especially where students wish to seek feedback from an audience other than their teacher.

Flickr Commons

Posted on by
Reply

Flickr Commons has been set up so that the general public located anywhere in the world can view and access photographic archives from public places such as the Australian War Memorial, Library of Congress, the State Library of New South Wales and the Smithsonian to name a few.

As well as wanting to share access to these collections with the general public, Flickr Commons is asking people to add tags and comments so that information and knowledge is shared as well.

Nice idea Flickr and great to see several Australian institutions on board already. What a great way to start a unit on War in Australian history by using the photographs from the collection of the Australian War Memorial. Nothing better than having a visualisation of the conditions and locations where wars were fought.

ToonDoo

Posted on by
4

ToonDoo is another social networking/comic strip creator that has relevance to education but is also a lot of fun!

The best part about it is that the ‘toons’ use just one, two or three frames. Such a short toon means that students must really think about how to get their message across in three ideas. Applications for ToonDoo could include:

  • Book reviews
  • Demonstrating understanding of a historical event by using three key ideas
  • Writing Haiku poetry

And as users can select from multiple languages, there are endless uses for LOTE classes.

ToonDoo also have their own blog that gives examples of educational uses of ToonDoo. One example is to learn a new word each day and make a one frame toon that shows understanding. A great tool for literacy.

For teachers and parents worried about the content of the site, there is a ‘safe search filter’ which edits out any toons that have been flagged as inappropriate by other users. And toons and books do not have to be shared with other users if you prefer students to keep them private or share with friends only.

It is also simple to embed toons into blogs by simply clicking on the toon and dragging it into the blog. You can also save your toon to your computer and then copy it into Word, PowerPoint, etc.

ToonDoo also has ‘books’ where comics that are longer than three frames can be created. Books are perfect for story writing or longer presentations such as planets in the solar system.

ToonDoo has a range of images, props, backgrounds and effects that you can select from or you can upload your own pictures to incorporate into the toon or book.

ToonDoo also has a help wiki linked to its site and you can add features that you’d like to see on ToonDoo to their wishlist. If you would like to see how ToonDoo works, access this slideshare presentation which outlines the steps.

Have a look at this toon I created in about 5 minutes:

ToonDoo has a lot to offer educators and students. The use of the three frame toon means that students really need to identify the three most important points of any idea they are addressing. An excellent tool!

Totlol

Posted on by
Reply

Just in time for the holidays, but with educational applications too, comes the fabulous Web 2.0 resource Totlol.

Labelled YouTube for toddlers, Totlol uses videos from YouTube that have been selected by parents/educators as appropriate for children aged 6 months to grade school (primary school). Videos are then placed in a queue to be moderated by other Totlol members before they are uploaded and available for public viewing.

Parents or teachers that are still concerned about the possibility of inappropriate content can set filters, parent locks and timers (so that children do not watch videos for too long).

As with sites like Hakia, Totlol’s viability really depends on the community helping to build it by recommending videos to be added to the site. Totlol is a brilliant idea as there are so many useful and educational videos on YouTube, but YouTube users are meant to be aged 13 and up. Parents/educators worried abour questionable videos available on YouTube can now breathe a sigh of relief!

Thanks to Gerald Brown via IASL listserv for the heads up on this great resource.

Comiqs

Posted on by
1

Students are just going to love this Web 2.0 resource! Comiqs lets users create and share their own comics, which can be created by using your own photos, photos from Comiqs’ photo library, or photos from the internet and then adding text. There is also  a privacy option when saving completed comics, so it is ideal for schools. Comics can be published publicly, just for friends or only for you to see.

Students could use Comiqs to create their own stories, but also for school work such as

  • How a science experiment was conducted
  • A book review
  • A review of a school production
  • How to apply a mathematical formula
  • Explain the rules of a sport
  • And many other ideas

In fact, when Google launched their new web browser, Google Chrome, they produced a comic to show people how it worked.

Here is a short example of what can be created in a few minutes. This example was achieved using the Comiqs photo gallery. Comiqs could also be a good holiday boredom buster for the kids.

Seesmic

Posted on by
Reply

Seesmic is a video blogging site that is currently in the developmental stage. Users are able to start their own conversation by posting their own videos from their desktop, webcam, mobile phone or social networking URL. Or you can reply to a conversation that is already in progress.

Seesmic homepage
Seesmic homepage

Although all videos are public at the moment, the creation of groups, where only invited users can see and post replies to videos, should be coming soon. That would revolutionise the use of Seesmic for school use. Imagine the possibilities. Online video conversations with sister schools overseas could lead to collaborative international projects. Students would feel more connected to those from other schools if they could see and hear them. If you would like to know when this feature will be available, you can:

  • sign up to Seesmic
  • go to the questions page
  • type in the word ‘private’
  • click on the question mark
  • click on ‘I have this problem too’
  • enter your login details

When the ability to use groups/private videos becomes available, you will be emailed by Seesmic. Seesmic is being developed by Loic Le Meur, who has been the Internet advisory to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Hakia

Posted on by
2

Hakia is a search engine that prides itself on bringing credible websites to the searcher. Librarians are able to submit websites they wish to recommend to Hakia. By adding non commercial, peer reviewed websites, search results are smaller, but more reliable. Currently the credible searches only cover the topics of health and environment. 

Suggest a credible website

Suggest a credible website

Hakia also has a tool that enables searchers to compare a Google search and a Hakia search side-by-side. Although results can vary depending on the actual search, it’s certainly worth a try.

Hakia and Google compared

Hakia and Google compared

Perhaps we should all consider spending some time to help make Hakia bigger and more popular by submitting credible websites and encouraging students to use Hakia’s search engine. Collectively, we have the power to positively influence the way students do Internet searches.

Mixbook

Posted on by
Reply
Of all the professional photobook printing services accessible via the Internet, Mixbook seems to be the complete package.
Mixbook
Mixbook

Mixbook allows you to import photos from your computer, Flickr, Picassa, Facebook, Yahoo! Search, PhotoBucket and SmugMug. You can also collaborate online with a friend to decide on picture selection and layout. As per many other Web 2.0 technologies, you can decide whether your book is open to everyone, just to friends or only you. Have a look at one public example below (it can be a little slow to load):

An example of an open (or shared or public) Mixbook photobook

An example of an open (or shared or public) Mixbook photobook

Although shipping (from the U.S) is not cheap, if you want to produce a professional looking bound book of your holiday memories, Mixbook is well worth investigating. However, you do not have to have your book printed. Mixbook hosts online photobooks for free. Again, the book can be open to everyone, friends, or just you.

There could be many and varied educational applications for a Mixbook photobook and students would really love to see their work published in a bound book. The coming break could be an ideal time to put together your own personal photobook. If you do get time to complete a photobook, we would love a comments on your thoughts.

VoiceThread

Posted on by
1

In a previous post about Pascoe Vale Primary School students creating e-books, teacher Margo Edgar mentioned getting students to create their e-books using PhotoStory or VoiceThread.

Group conversations around images, documents and videos
Group conversations around images, documents and videos

VoiceThread is an excellent Web 2.0 resource that enables users to create text, add videos and images and then record an audio overlay. Microphones and phones can be used to record audio. Users can comment on other people’s VoiceThread uploads, so there can be collaboration with other students and teachers if you wish.

VoiceThread is such an amazing and powerful tool, it is probably better to experience it for yourself, so have a look at this screencast that shows exactly how VoiceThread works: VoiceThread screencast.

There is also an excellent wiki that shows examples of VoiceThread projects in classrooms and school libraries.  So creating digital storytelling and e-books is now much easier, both for students and teachers. Students should find e-books lots of fun to produce and share using VoiceThread!

VoiceThread could also be used for online professional development or online learning. Staff meetings or staff PD could be presented using VoiceThread and then saved for later access for people who were absent, or who want to revisit the presentation.

Some lessons could be uploaded to VoiceThread for students who are ill or absent and for sharing with other classes or schools. Distance education could take advantage of VoiceThread’s free accounts as well. Thanks to Margo Edgar at Pascoe Vale Primary School for the introduction to VoiceThread.