Thursday, July 28, 2011

ePals Global Community

Post #7
What is it?
-          K-12 learning network
-          Protected project based network
-          Connect locally, nationally, internationally
-          Students learn in a real-world setting that builds digital literacy skills, improves critical thinking and introduces students to multiple points of view.
It has:
·        A privacy policy to protect younger users
·        Classrooms in 200 countries and territories
·        Uses a variety of Web 2.0 tools
·        Helps teachers learn to use technology effectively in their classrooms, providing professional development, curriculum, contests and other resources.
·        Email-based collaborative projects with digital content from National Geographic
·        Forums for students, teachers and families to participate in discussions with peers worldwide
·        Classroom Match which helps educators connect with other classrooms by searching ePals profiles based on project topic, student age range, country, language and more

Availability:
ePals Global Community ~ FREE   http://www.epals.com/
ePals School Mail ~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/schoolmail.php
ePals Learning Space~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/epals-learning-space.php

in2books~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/in2books.php
Mission Statement:  The mission of the ePals Foundation and In2Books is to increase the availability of quality educational opportunity and resources to economically and socially disadvantaged populations in order to bridge the educational and technological divide.  http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org88744.jsp
ePals Platform~ need to contact them for fees and/or request a product demo http://www.corp.epals.com/products/platform-offerings/overview.php

ePals has a large variety of programming at your fingertips.  Their home website http://www.corp.epals.com/  is basic, but can get confusing as you begin to navigate through all of the links, testimonials etc...  This is a huge resource for teachers, students and families.  A downfall from visiting the site is the need to request a product demo to get a feel for most of what they offer.
   

MY HERO Project ~ Global Exchange

Post #6
          It is a global exchange that focuses on:
~ promoting cross-cultural understanding
~ increase media and computer literacy
~ bridge the digital divide
~ increase media and computer literacy
~ empower their youth to believe in their own ability to create positive change in the world
Families, schools and organizations are invited to participate.



What do you have to do?
          You attend workshops in Los Angeles to advance skills in digital media production with the MY HERO team.
          You go back to your country and lead workshops in video and media to introduce the youth to 21st century digital arts and media literacy skills.

Current Partners
          The Multimedia Center for Visual Arts
                   Prishtina, Kosovo
          OKC Abrasevic Youth Center
                   Mostar, Bosnia and Hersegovina
          LOJA Center for Balkan Cooperation
                   Tetovo, Macedonia
          Martin Luther King Secondary Girls School
                   Dakar, Senegal
          Royal Film Commission
                   Annan, Jordan
          The American Corner
                   Podgorica, Montenegro

Hero’s Page
·         Essays written by visitors to MY HERO
·         By all ages
·         On all topics
Curriculum
·         Multitude of multimedia tutorials and films to educate users
Workshops
·         Video clips from around the world showing the projects that have been done.
·         Lesson plans for all ages
·         How to contribute essays, stories, art, and short films
·         Large list of links of MY HERO partners, samples of work, curriculum, etc...
MY HERO Project ~ Global Exchange is only one of the areas that MY HERO ( http://myhero.com/go/ ) has to offer.  The website offers a wide variety of services to a wide variety of ages, groups and associations.  It is a free web-resource that is linking the world to make every user a part of a global community.  There are a lot of possibilities with this site.  The only drawback would be the time to explore the site and see everything it has to offer.  Definitely worth looking into!

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

LiveConference Pro

Post #5
LiveConference ProTM is a true web conference private label service and solution.  It has the convenience of online live meetings, video postcards, online training, web meetings, desktop sharing, wbinars, webcasting, audio and video conferencing.  http://www.liveconferencepro.com/index.html
~ special one-time software download is self-reliant with virtually no need for technical support. 
~ there is no need to download upgrade files for programs such as Flash, Java, Real Audio, etc...
~ all program needs are integrated into an easy-to –use windows software

Pricing
Seats= number of people in your room at the same time
-          10 seats is $20/month (you + nine others can use the room at one time)
-          15 seats is $30/month + free video postcards and video sound recording studio
-          25 seats is $50/month + free video postcards and video sound recording studio
-          Up to 2500 seats are available
-          Monthly or annual subscriptions (prepaid annual offers $375.00 in additional free services) http://www.liveconferencepro.com/additional_features.html
More Information
~ free online training and live consultations with presentation specialists (LiveConference ProTM shows you how to present your material).
~ people can automatically log into your net meeting
~ convert conference calls to MP3 files
~ online assistance with a real person
~ allow people to use your room when you are not present
~ LiveConference ProTM  offers a no-risk 30 day 100% money-back guarantee.  If you do not think that LiveConference ProTM  will save you time and money they will refund your money 100% within 30 days of your purchase date.

LiveConference ProTM is a service that caters to the business world.  They do feel that educational institutions could benefit from using their services in long-distance education applications.  They also boast about not having hidden fees compared to other services, especially not charging the account holder a per/minute, per/user charge during a conference or presentation.
                Once again for classroom use the fees are a factor, unless there is enough interest for the school to purchase an account.  Without needing to download upgrades to other programs, this may be an easier service to use, especially for novice users.




Webinar ~ WebEx

Post #4
Webinar ~ definition:  Web based seminar , a presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the Web.  http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/W/Webinar.html
WebEx
~ web conferencing and collaboration solutions.  WebEx combined real-time desktop sharing with phone conferencing.
~ Predominantly a business tool
~ is used by over 3 million people to stay connected
~ reaches many people at one time
-          Regular package you communicate with up to 25 people *$49/month, unlimited sessions
-          Event Centre reaches up to 1000 people *$99/month
-          Special set-up can be arranged for conferencing/presenting up to 3000 people
~ presentations can be made using video, multimedia and interaction tools
~ live presentations
~ reaches world-wide
How does WebEx work?
-          Software is delivered as a service; you need to subscribe to
-          Can be used from any computer with an internet connection; most smartphones work as well
-          Invite who you want to participate (over email, IM or text).   The invited participants click on the invitation you sent and join you on-line (they do not need to subscribe to WebEx).
-          You are able to pass control to others in your session to present to the group
-          Sessions may be recorded and will be available to you on your site; you can share the recorded session with others by linking them to the site.
-          Training catalogues and videos are available to browse and watch for users to learn how to use WebEx and to learn about what options are available to them.  http://www.webex.com/howto/index.html  There is an excellent FAQ page that links you to example videos and gives a lot of guidance on who to contact or how to find what you are looking for.  http://www.webex.com/faqs.html
WebEx has many amazing features – at a price.  It is an excellent service but would be costly for a school-based project.  You would have to be very well organized in your unit that you are teaching for this service to be a valuable investment for your class.  It would be so awesome to be able to connect with a variety of people/classes at the same time to share ideas and information.  Everyone involved would be enriched!  However, as with any real-time presentations it may be difficult to connect with a wide variety of classes due to time zone differences.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Skype in the classroom

Post #3   

Skype in the classroom was developed due to the mass amount of teachers already
using Skype in their classrooms.  http://education.skype.com/
     ~ 14232 teachers are members
     ~ 510 resources are available
     ~ 672 projects are listed
     It is a place for teachers to connect with each other and find partner classes.  Skype in the classroom helps students and teachers meet new people, discover new cultures, and inspire one another.
    ~ most recent projects are posted on the home page
    ~ you can find guest speakers to speak to your class from far away or remote locations

    * You need to have a membership to browse the teacher list and resource sections.


Teacher Section
          ~ list of teachers, worldwide, who want to connect with other teachers using Skype
          ~ search by key word, language, country, ages taught, subject, exchange,
inspiration, etc...


Projects
          ~ to find a project to work with you can modify your search much the same way as in the teacher section
          ~ post your own project.  I was interested to see if it would take me long to find anyone doing a social studies project on learning about different cultures in grade two.  Within, literally, a couple of minutes I found a project I could link to. http://education.skype.com/projects/817

Resources
          ~ contains videos, links and tips
          ~ library filled with tips on how to use Skype, make projects better or sharing of what works and does not work as well
          ~ contains other interesting topics and examples of what people have done

     This site has been so easy to navigate and is filled with so much information for educators.  I was thrilled to find this branch of Skype and quickly tagged it to my favourites.  Not only does it make it easy for you to connect with a number of people, already interested and using Skype, it also helps newcomers navigate through the use of Skype.  I also found myself browsing the posted projects just to see what is going on out there, across the globe, in other classrooms.  Inspiration at its best! 

Friday, July 15, 2011

The Skype Factor

Post #2

             Skype quickly became widely used in cyber world.  What exactly is Skype?  It is a software application developed to make on-line chatting simple, and better yet, free.  It was originally designed to make long distance, land line phone calls over the internet.

Is it free?
            ~  Skype to skype use is absolutely free
~ land line phone and mobile phone users may need to pay a fee for downloading video, audio or pictures.
What do you need to use it?
            ~  both you the user and the person you are contacting must download the software.
~ you need speakers and a microphone or a headset for your computer.
~ mobile phones and other hand-held devices may need special apps or programming to use Skype properly.
How can Skype be used?           
                ~ for instant messaging
                ~ file transferring
                ~ video conferencing
                ~ phone calls over the internet
Who is using Skype?               
     ~ Skype is being used by a wide variety of people.  It began as a cheap way to make phone calls around the world and exploded to being used by educators, the business world and for personal use.  This has challenged Skype to continue growing in the services they provide.  In November of 2010 they teamed up with KDDI (Japan http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=30303531)
to make services available on their au Android smart phones.  They are also working on bringing video calling to Verizon Wireless 4G LTE Network, expanding use for an estimated millions.
May 2011           
     ~ Microsoft purchased Skype Communications and will incorporate it as a division of Microsoft, acquiring all of Skype’s technologies in the purchase.  What will this mean for the future of Skype Communications?  Will it further expand the capabilities Skype Communications has? 

In my next post I will look at a division of Skype created specifically for educators!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Introducing... Connecting Classrooms through Technology

     My Blog’s focus will be on different software or programming one could use to connect locally, nationally and internationally between classrooms.  I have chosen this focus for a couple of reasons.  To begin with, I was fortunate to attend Microsoft’s international conferences on Innovative Teaching Through Technology.  At the three separate conferences I met a host of international, national and local teachers who are educating their students in a variety of innovative ways.  A teacher from Tasmania did a very similar weather project to ours, and I began to think about how cool it would be for students from Canada and Tasmania to work on a unit together! You can check out the project I did, along with Kelli Boklaschuk, at Http://blog.scs.sk.ca/weatherproject.

     Next, when I think about how ‘small’ the world has become through technology and travel opportunities, I think about what my students ‘think’ they know.  A large part of the primary curriculum is learning about your school, community, province, country and other countries.  We see images from around the world continuously; some are beautiful some not so much.  I think it would be an exciting opportunity for students to see that world through the eyes of their peers.  Even though students today are exposed to more information about the world than ever before, they really do not understand what life around the world is like.  This became very apparent to me last year.  There have been many horrible natural disasters in the world in the past few years.  Students are very aware of them because of the media.  They feel for the needs of others and are quick to donate items or money to help them out.  Not often do they understand that need locally.  I taught my grade two class to knit in autumn of 2010.  It was not an easy project (thank goodness for loving grandmothers and mothers who love to volunteer and have abundant patience).  The purpose of the knitting was to knit scarves for a grade two class in one of our inner city schools.  The students worked endlessly on their knitting.  When all was complete the realization that they were giving away their hard work caused some to become possessive of their scarf.  I arranged a trip to the other school where my students gave their scarves away.  My class did not think the other students would care for the scarves, as they were not the ‘perfect’ scarf one would buy in a store (we nick-named them our Holy Scarves!).  The students who received the scarves praised my class for them and the work they put into them.  This entire experience made me realize there is a gap of understanding that needs to be addressed.  Many people, of all ages, are visual learners.  What better way is there to learn about the world around them than to see, hear and communicate with those in the world?  A live experience with people their own age, learning from each other about what ‘their’ world is made up of.