Collaborating Online

VoiceThread A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to leave comments in 5 ways - using voice (with a mic or phone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam). Share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them to record comments too.

Twiddla calls itself "team whiteboarding". A very easy to use web based interactive whiteboard. Think of it as a smartboard in your browser. You can upload files, record video and audio, save a session, and embed it in a website.

Skrbl is another website that offers a sharable online whiteboard.

Examples of people collaborating online.

Telephono has musicians record music than e mail it to the next musician. Each musician can change everything or add nothing The song keeps getting e mail from musician to musician. A play on the childhood game of telephone.

NY Times columnist is writing a thriller novel over Twitter. Followers are able to comment on the story as it unfolds. THese comments may effect the course of the novel. Could a group of students write a story collaboratively over Twitter?

Sticking with the Theme of Texting in the Classroom

"Free Speech in China? Text Me." This NPR story talks about how Chinese citizens are getting around government bans on communication by texting one another. A quote in the story from a Chinese CEO reads "texting allows traditionally reserved Chinese to say more than they would in person." Could texting in the classroom give more of a voice to that reserved student?

Jott is your personal transcription service. Call Jott's number, talk into your cell and the audio will be transcribed and sent to a document, calendar, text message, or e mail. Students can use it to transcribe notes, group work, or a teacher's lecture. Jott could fulfill a scribe resource from an IEP or just help that student with illegible handwriting.

Earfl lets users dial their number and tell 3 minute or less stories. Photos can be added to accompany the story.

For my music teachers out there, Ring Blender helps you create your own ringtones.

Want to challenge student motivation and increase note taking and summarizing skills? Have students summarize a play by Shakespeare or the Declaration of Independence using text language. If they can do it in 140 characters or less they might not forget the content.

Qik lets a cellphone user stream video live to the web. Representative Culberson of Texas streamed video from his cellphone to the web when Pelosi adjourned the House and would not let a vote for off shore drilling. The videos were shown on different news channels.

Texting in the Classroom

In honor of Obama announcing his VP candidate via texting, here are 3 ways you can use cell phones in the classroom this coming school year.

1) Send Homework Text Alerts
Use Text Marks to send out homework reminders to a class of students.

2) Use Wiffiti to have students text suggestions to the smartboard for a word splash.

3) Use Poll Everywhere to assess students by texting answers to multiple choice questions. Bring up the poll results on a computer. Think American Idol.

In a related article
Welcome, Freshman. Have an iPod. Students on college campuses across the country are being offered iPhones and iPod Touches. While a specific use is not being designated by the schools, ideas range from communicating cancelled classes to online research and in class polling. It is refreshing to see the schools take a wait and see approach observing how it fits into studies. Duke University handed out iPods a couple of years ago expecting students to download and record lectures, they were surprised when students started creating their own content to add to the professor's.

Refer back to my post on Cellphone Texting Novels.

Information security

Information security
Originally uploaded by Yong Hian Lim

There was a breach at The Princeton Review. The NY Times was able to access student records through the test prep's website. A main security implementation the company did not adhere to was putting student data and innocuous data on separate computers.