Tag Archives: sharing

KidsTube

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Have you had students creating videos as part of their learning? Looking for a safe site for students to upload their videos? KidsTube may be helpful. KidsTube is a “monitored video sharing (site) for kids”.

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As a site designed for children, all video content is monitored by a team to ensure suitability for the intended audience.

The about page explains more:

KidsTube.com is a monitored video sharing website designed for kids. All user-generated content on KidsTube is monitored by our staff to ensure a family-friendly experience for users of all ages. At KidsTube, our members are encouraged to explore their creativity and share their ideas with other kids from all over the world.


How did KidsTube.com begin?

KidsTube.com was started out of concern for BJ & Laurie’s son Ezra. Ezra began showing interest in playing guitar and was going to other popular video-sharing sites to find guitar instructional videos. The Crocker’s quickly found out that these other sites were a breeding ground for profanity, negativity, and just outright mean-spirited conversations between members. There were several discussions about a kid-friendly video site where kids were free to upload their own videos, converse with other members about their videos, and most importantly, be encouraged to use their imaginations, and learn valuable technical skills with video cameras, computers, and more.


Is KidsTube.com Safe for my Child?

The staff at KidsTube.com consists of parents and grandparents and our main goal in creating KidsTube.com was to provide a safe place for kids to be creative online. Our staff is constantly monitoring video submissions, user comments, personal messages between members, and any other user-generated content displayed on KidsTube. This creates a safe, positive environment where kids can feel free to be creative, share their ideas, and get positive feedback from other members. We encourage our members to always respect each other when leaving comments and that constructive criticism is fine, but negative comments will not be permitted.

KidsTube could be a site worth investigating if you would like your students to publish and share their work with others within a monitored environment.

Yuuguu

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Yuuguu is an interesting tool. It is a free (there are premium services that do cost) tool that once downloaded allows PC, Mac and Linux users to share their computer desktops with each other. The free account lets you share your desktop with up to five others at a time, while also sharing control of your keyboard and mouse.

Yuuguu home
Yuuguu home

Yuuguu also has a chat function and conference calling (conference calling incurs a small fee). Yuuguu could be a good tool to teach others how to use specific Web 2.0 programs or for country or remote schools to communicate with other schools or regional staff.

Siosus

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Siosus is a free total online sharing and collaboration workspace.  The free basic package includes unlimited workspaces and unlimited number of members.  

Siosus homepage

Siosus homepage

Tools that are included in the free basic package are useful and extensive:

  • Contacts and group manager
  • Custom workspace
  • Manage your files
  • Calendars and events
  • Blogs
  • Discussions
  • Chat and IM
  • RSS feeds
  • Web database management
  • Project management
  • Task automation
  • Permissioning 
What's included?

What's included

The drawbacks are that there are limits to the free package:

  • Only 25MB free storage
  • Advertising appears on your homepage
  • Only 200 MB monthly transfer
  • 10Mb file size upload limit

 There are three upgrades that increase all of the storage/transfer/upload options and give better support; however they cost from US$15 to US$100 per month.

Upgrade options

Upgrade options

Siosus does appear to be just about the total package when it comes to sharing and collaborating with colleagues who are sitting next to you or on the other side of the world. However, limits will affect the efficacy of the free package. It all depends on how much space you actually need to use.  

Siosus is the platform chosen by James Henri and Sandra Lee to run the Your School Library online conference.

Keepaboo

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Keepaboo makes capturing memories of your children easy. This Web 2.0 tool lets you ‘collect and preserve your child’s precious memories, view your child’s life in colorful (sic) online 3D books, and share with your family and friends.’

Keepaboo homepage
Keepaboo homepage
Keepaboo’s homepage says that you can ‘keep a diary, record milestones, track growth, add pictures and save quotes.’ The ability to share with selected family and friends is a wonderful way to share milestones, especially if there is a geographical distance between the child and extended family and friends.
There is a sample Keepaboo book shows what can be created; go to ‘view sample book’ on the homepage. Also, check out the Keepaboo FAQs.

Another look at Flickr

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Most of you have probably checked out Flickr, the photo sharing website that has thousands of photo uploads per minute.

Flickr home

Flickr home

Some school libraries, like Sacred Heart College, Geelong have Flickr accounts (as featured in our photo gallery).

Having a school Flickr account to document and publicise events, displays, speakers and renovations is a great idea. Not only can you show propespective parents what a wonderful library and library staff you have, but you can share images with library staff around the world. Sharing ideas, concepts and ways of doing things has always been the strength of libraries and Flickr gives us a chance to extend that.

Have a look at some Australian school libraries featured on Flickr. A search for ‘school library’ returns almost 30,000 photos. As long as school administration is agreeable to a Flickr account and that students’ faces are not featured, a library Flickr account is a great way to share your library with the world.