I chose to explore VoiceThread this week, which is a neat tool that allows you to easily put audio to pictures. It's a great way to create a picture slide-show, and insert descriptions to go along with it. Since it's a Web 2.0 tool, everything can be accessed online. If you go to Voicethread.com and create a username and password, then simply go to to "Create" and get started. You can upload pictures from your computer, online, or you can take pictures from your own webcam. In addition to pictures, you can upload videos or presentations and simply click the "comment" button and add audio.
This would be a fantastic tool in the classroom because it can spice up a slide show or presentation, and it would be a great tool for students to collaborate and work on projects. It would allow students to utilize both pictures and audio, which is a nice change from just verbal presentations. I also think it would be a good tool for material for kids who missed a day in class, they could just watch the presentation and here the lecture to go along with it. Very cool.
Clearly I didn't embed this right, I still need some work... Here's the link to it too though
http://voicethread.com/share/2353753/
Friday, October 21, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
My Favorite Web 2.0 Tools Part 2!
I was assigned to do some exploring on Teamviewer, which is a Web 2.0 program and effectively lets you control somebody else's computer from your own. The program is extremely easy to download and navigate. If you go to teamviewer.com and "run" the full program, you can quickly access the program for no fee and it is a quick download and that's it. I think if you use it more than fifteen minutes you have to pay though. I hijacked my moms laptop and experimented with this program for awhile, and I can definitely see how it could be useful in a lot of situations. When you run the program, it will give you a user ID and password. If you want to hook up with another computer, they have to download the program and enter the original computer's ID and the password given, after that the computers are all linked up. The original computer now has access and mobility to the new computer linked up. I don't know if I am comprehensibly explaining this, but here is a video that helped me understand it all: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7383719242843704178
This tool I think is very useful in any job that requires trouble-shooting with computers. It is so easy to link the computers up with one another, and it allows the "helper" to navigate and fix the problems quickly for the "helpee" (I'm making up words now). I have definitely been in a situation before where I am trying to describe what is going wrong with my computer, and when advice is given over the phone I can't really understand what it is that I need to do. With this program, a third party (if given permission) can navigate my computer, and I can even see what they are doing. There are some hesitations about the privacy of this program and potential risks of it, and this article not only describes Teamviewer but also the cautions to take: http://www.remoteaccess.org/teamviewer-review/
I'm not sure yet how to effectively use this tool in the classroom. I partially feel like developing technology is almost overshadowing this program. In a school setting I think a teacher could use this to access powerpoints or other data that is stored on their home computers, but with all the programs we have been looking at lately, I think there are other ways to do that without linking computers together (ie google docs, google presentations, etc). I spent some time looking through pictures from one computer on the other and I thought that it was nice not having to transfer files, but again I don't know how that could be utilized in the classroom. Regardless of that, I think this tool would be soooo useful in other professions where it really is necessary to be able to see see and navigate someone else's computer.
This tool I think is very useful in any job that requires trouble-shooting with computers. It is so easy to link the computers up with one another, and it allows the "helper" to navigate and fix the problems quickly for the "helpee" (I'm making up words now). I have definitely been in a situation before where I am trying to describe what is going wrong with my computer, and when advice is given over the phone I can't really understand what it is that I need to do. With this program, a third party (if given permission) can navigate my computer, and I can even see what they are doing. There are some hesitations about the privacy of this program and potential risks of it, and this article not only describes Teamviewer but also the cautions to take: http://www.remoteaccess.org/teamviewer-review/
I'm not sure yet how to effectively use this tool in the classroom. I partially feel like developing technology is almost overshadowing this program. In a school setting I think a teacher could use this to access powerpoints or other data that is stored on their home computers, but with all the programs we have been looking at lately, I think there are other ways to do that without linking computers together (ie google docs, google presentations, etc). I spent some time looking through pictures from one computer on the other and I thought that it was nice not having to transfer files, but again I don't know how that could be utilized in the classroom. Regardless of that, I think this tool would be soooo useful in other professions where it really is necessary to be able to see see and navigate someone else's computer.
My Favorite Web 2.0 Tools
Component 1
Web 2.0 is the next generation of using the internet. In the past, most websites and web programs are designed by one party to be used by the consumer. Web 2.0 programs are interactive systems that do not require a host from a specific server, but can be accessed from any device from around the world as long as there is internet access. These programs allow different consumers to interact throughout the creative process, and the data is all backed at up at a satellite locations, but always available on the web. This concept is also called Cloud Computing, which my understanding comes from the fact that these services and information is all done through the internet and not a tangible, set location.
On the Wikipedia website, the concept is described in-depth, and there is also an interesting section on how these technologies are used in the classroom. Blogging and Google Docs and two popular Web 2.0 programs, and in the classroom are very important for encouraging collaboration and creativity using a medium that students are familiar and comfortable with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
This video reiterates how Web 2.0 is beneficial in the classroom an a change towards technology is the way to go for the 21st Century learner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmbyBxdaSwc
"Web 2.0 is unique because as more and more people use it the better the experience becomes" -Mike Uleau (from the video)
Component 2 coming soon...
Web 2.0 is the next generation of using the internet. In the past, most websites and web programs are designed by one party to be used by the consumer. Web 2.0 programs are interactive systems that do not require a host from a specific server, but can be accessed from any device from around the world as long as there is internet access. These programs allow different consumers to interact throughout the creative process, and the data is all backed at up at a satellite locations, but always available on the web. This concept is also called Cloud Computing, which my understanding comes from the fact that these services and information is all done through the internet and not a tangible, set location.
On the Wikipedia website, the concept is described in-depth, and there is also an interesting section on how these technologies are used in the classroom. Blogging and Google Docs and two popular Web 2.0 programs, and in the classroom are very important for encouraging collaboration and creativity using a medium that students are familiar and comfortable with.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
This video reiterates how Web 2.0 is beneficial in the classroom an a change towards technology is the way to go for the 21st Century learner.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmbyBxdaSwc
"Web 2.0 is unique because as more and more people use it the better the experience becomes" -Mike Uleau (from the video)
Component 2 coming soon...
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Google Docs Group Project
My lovely group and I were assigned to explore Google Presentations this week, and the program exceeded my expectations. The program is much like Power Point, but it uses the same principle as many other Google programs and can be accessed from any computer or device that is hooked up to the internet. As with Google Docs, multiple people can be working on the project at the same time from satellite locations, but can see the changes immediately.
I briefly said this in our Google Presentation document, but I have always been resistant to Power Point and so I have very little experience with slide show presentations. I have never had it installed in my computer, so the little interaction I had was at school when it was required. It wasn't a particularly difficult program, but I just never got comfortable enough with it for it to be a resource I willingly sought after. Google Presentation, however, I felt almost immediately comfortable with (this may be due to the fact that I'm just in general becoming more comfortable with these types of programs, but it seems very user friendly). I like that there are templates that you can choose from, which allows me to get started faster and start constructing the slides.
I know with our Aspire program, most of us students have crazy irregular schedules, some living in different cities juggling jobs, kids, etc. This program allows us all to chip away at the Presentation when it works for us, but it still has the collaborative feel as if we were doing it together. The software is very user-friendly and makes it simple to incorporate media from the internet into the presentation. Since I am still pretty foreign to these types of presentations, I'm sure I don't know the half of the capabilities that this program offers, but I'm confident that as I use it more I will really be able to take advantage of all it has to offer.
In the classroom I think this will be so beneficial because it makes doing collaborative projects so much easier. Also (and this may be a minor thing, but to me it's big), I love that there are no compatibility issues. I don't know how many times I have been sitting in both high school and college classes, watching a teacher struggle to get their Power Point loaded and functioning on their computer. Often a chunk of the class was wasted and the teacher eventually gave up and turned to lecturing. It seems to me that Google has made that process so much easier by using their database to store everything. As someone who is not particular savvy when it comes to technology, that is music to my ears... Yay Google!
https://docs.google.com/a/willamette.edu/present/edit?id=0AaIbbjCDpu2jZHF3c25tN18wZjNjNWQ5aGc&hl=en_US
I briefly said this in our Google Presentation document, but I have always been resistant to Power Point and so I have very little experience with slide show presentations. I have never had it installed in my computer, so the little interaction I had was at school when it was required. It wasn't a particularly difficult program, but I just never got comfortable enough with it for it to be a resource I willingly sought after. Google Presentation, however, I felt almost immediately comfortable with (this may be due to the fact that I'm just in general becoming more comfortable with these types of programs, but it seems very user friendly). I like that there are templates that you can choose from, which allows me to get started faster and start constructing the slides.
I know with our Aspire program, most of us students have crazy irregular schedules, some living in different cities juggling jobs, kids, etc. This program allows us all to chip away at the Presentation when it works for us, but it still has the collaborative feel as if we were doing it together. The software is very user-friendly and makes it simple to incorporate media from the internet into the presentation. Since I am still pretty foreign to these types of presentations, I'm sure I don't know the half of the capabilities that this program offers, but I'm confident that as I use it more I will really be able to take advantage of all it has to offer.
In the classroom I think this will be so beneficial because it makes doing collaborative projects so much easier. Also (and this may be a minor thing, but to me it's big), I love that there are no compatibility issues. I don't know how many times I have been sitting in both high school and college classes, watching a teacher struggle to get their Power Point loaded and functioning on their computer. Often a chunk of the class was wasted and the teacher eventually gave up and turned to lecturing. It seems to me that Google has made that process so much easier by using their database to store everything. As someone who is not particular savvy when it comes to technology, that is music to my ears... Yay Google!
https://docs.google.com/a/willamette.edu/present/edit?id=0AaIbbjCDpu2jZHF3c25tN18wZjNjNWQ5aGc&hl=en_US
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