More tips on Elluminate

Some other stuff that I have picked up at a sharing session in December 2010....

To show a movie in an Elluminate session, simply type in the URL of the movie in the chat box. Students can just click on the link and go watch the clip on their own laptops. Once students are done watching the movie, they can click on a smiley face or click on a "tick" to show that they are done with that activity. (Note smiley face disappears after a short while, so for greater permanence, it may be better to use a tick!) This way of getting students to view a clip would be faster than doing so via a webtour.

When slides are uploaded and shown on the whiteboard, the default is to "follow moderator". This means that the participants have no control over the slides. To enable students to review the slides on their own, the "follow moderator" box can be unchecked. Diito for webtour - unchecking the tour guide allows participants to explore web on their own.

To give participants moderator rights, say to enable/disable the tools allowed (chat box, mike,etc), simply select participant's name,do a right click and select "give moderator rights".

To share/show an existing file (like a word document or spreadsheet), this file needs to be opened up first. Next click on the icon - "application sharing" and select the document to be shared. This allows other participants to view what's in the file. However they are not able to do any editing. Alternatively, user can choose to share entire desk top. This will include sharing the document as well as the whole Elluminate interface. Students can do their work and use this function to show their work to the moderator and other participants,

To request for control over a participant's desk top, simply select participant's name and right click on request for desk top control. Or when an application is shared, another user can be given control over that application as well. (can edit, can bold etc) However, this is very dangerous to do, because when the other user saves the changes, he/she can access the desktop of the one who gave control! (Delete files, access other files etc :(

To ensure that material drawn on whiteboard is retained in the breakout room, a specially created breakout room needs to be used. Participants can be sent back to main room and then moderator can show slides created in the breakout room, so that all participants can share in the materials.

After an Elluminate session has been created, click on "send email" to request specific participants (e.g. external parties, from other schools etc.) to participate in the discussion. Even when Elluminate is in session, click on session tab to invite new participants. Cut and paste the link onto email and send it out to intended recipients.

One last thing, during breaktime, a PPT slide can be uploaded so that the whilteboard does not show a blank screen. Plus a timer can be used to make sure everyone gets back on time :)

Google Translator

Another nifty tool for translating different languages into your preferred language. Simply copy and paste the URL over and the content will be translated say from Chinese to English. Or key into specific phrases and see what it means in English.

http://translate.google.com/#auto|en|

Easy Peasy Podcasting

Podcasts are useful for reflection purposes and also for interviewing others, and and then getting people to subscribe to regular updates or for downloading. Podcasts can be done easily using free software from Audacity, at http://www.audacity.sourceforge.net/


The audio file needs to be exported in the .wav format. Next we can post the podcast to http://www.posterous.com. This can be easily done by merely sending an email to post@posterous.com and voila! you have created your very own podcast. Note: there will be a return email with your own URL for the podcast :) Cool stuff !

Good for project teams to send their podcasts using to a common space using one email address.

Here are the samples created:

http://doris-cpya2.posterous.com/podcasting-lesson-episode-2

Free photos

To get pics to enhance Powerpoint slides, we can go to

Flickr for those pics (Attribution licence with creative commons)

We just need to attribute using creator's name and cite source (URL). For example, for this pic ...


Trufas From Ana-Fuji
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ana_fuji/4075678147/

Real time Classroom interaction tool

For better classroom interaction, there is this new web-based tool that enables a group of people to share thoughts, ideas, brainstorm, share answers simulataneously. The best thing is that all can edit at the same time. But the downside is that only text is allowed. Each person's response is colour coded for ease of identification.

If pics/ videos are to be included, the way to get around this is to create a link to pic or video..

Go to
http://sync.in and create a new public note, and when the link's created, the group can be given the link. Best part is it is free and it is hassle-free as well. There is no need to create an account to access this service.

For reference, go to
http://sync.in/ep/pad/view/303jqrakiu/latest

My journey continues...... Alpha Wolfram

Just learnt that there is this super smart search / computational engine which can make your searches more efficient.
You can get instant information on the GDP of US vs GDP of China, or stock price of Microsoft vs Apple with just ONE search, and not two separate searches on Google. Sources of information used are also provided in the information presented. However, information may not be the most updated available and information may not be available for all countries.

My furry friends on a blog

Ah... my hamsters at play...... in their home....
Uploaded on blip tv..

Exploring Blip TV

This is similar to Youtube. You can upload videos and post links to the video on a blog, or embedd the video directly into the blog.

Here's one uploaded for a trial -

http://blip.tv/file/3387305

Podbean player embedded

Powered by Podbean.com

To do this, go to http://lleng.podbean.com, click on embeddable player and cut and paste code to this blog.

A podcast on my learning environment in the 21st century

This podcast is hosted by podbean and the URL created for the MP3 file has been put in as a link to the title of this post.

My learning environment in the 21st century

My learning environment in the 21st century
Originally uploaded by dopey_home

How to load a podcast hosted elsewhere on blogger

Watch this video to find out how blogger can host a podcast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg2zTRRXry4

First podcast made with Audacity and hosted on Podbean

Was an eventful day today. Downloaded Audacity and tried to make a podcast. Unfortunately, blogger could not upload audio files saved using Audacity, and I had to download yet something else... Lame encoder which enabled one to export the audio file to MP3 format.....

Next, I had to upload my podcast onto a free podcasting hosting site - podbean in order for it to be played on the web...

Well,here's my podbean web address ....

Quite a few steps even after the initial recording, but it works well now...

test run on voicethread

Here's a short video clip created - something on hamsters.. voice comments and text comments added..

http://voicethread.com/share/987165/

Voice thread

Another new Web 2.0 tool discovered .... Voicethread..

Here's a video showing how easy it is to make a short video with voice incorporated. The ability to incorporate voice into the slides or videos makes it a much richer medium for communication.

http://voicethread.com/share/8381/

I like the feature of having the option to decide if I want my comment to the video clip captured using voice, text, or even as a video response. These options encourage user interaction with the content. But then again.... users may prefer to be lurkers, if they are concerned about privacy issues.

People can have their comments recorded using the phone too... but this is available only in the US.

Blogs for teaching and sharing.....reasons to do so

Here's what a friend shared about what she thinks for the potential of blogs and how she intends to use blogs....

http://www.slideshare.net/TBryson1/mid-course-assignment-for-iets2010

Here's another presentation on blogs... done on Voicethread..

http://voicethread.com/share/954363/

ONE password....

OpenID allows one to sign in to websites with just ONE click. Makes remembering passwords and usernames a thing of the past, and it allows for registration forms to be pre-populated :) OpenID allows one to use a personal identity across the web..

Here's the URL:

http://openid.net/get-an-openid/individuals/

Something on Podcasts

Here's a podcast created and embedded in a blog ..... extolling the virtues of podcasts and possible uses...

http://wilthenarwhal.podbean.com/
Podbean is free and user-friendly.

Here's some stuff that a friend's students did. Fantastic stuff..

Discover Pulp Fiction
http://sgnewwave.com/main/2009/10/discover-pulp-fiction/
Let's talk about Fight Club
http://sgnewwave.com/main/2009/05/lets-talk-about-fight-club/

Voting on Second Life

This is what a colleague shared about what he found interesting on Second Life....
at the MIT SL website..

http://slurl.com/secondlife/MIT/51/35/23/?title=Massachusetts%20Institute%20of%20Technology

"Saw this interest outdoor classroom.

It's about a new concept of trying to design information space within the VW. Interesting because it's about relating the virtual world to the real world, such that making decisions, voting, etc can take place within the VW.

I like the idea of having this football court whereby one side stands for AGREE and the other DISAGREE. Say you have to vote, you have to decide where to stand. The further you stand, the more extreme you are. The nearer to the middle line, the more likely you'll waver. Also, there is trail following your movement, which can be used to analyse you thoughts through your movement. There's a even "dwelling" object that tracks how long you stand stationary at one place, probably to analyse the time you spend pondering. Amazing! "

See url: http://web.media.mit.edu/~dharry/infospaces/

Why Diigo?

Some people like Delicious because it's quite easy to use, and it does not have too many features which might trip up new users... people who are new to the idea of social bookmarking.

But, many who have tried Delicious first, have moved on to Diigo for its added functionalities.... So why do some people find Diigo better ?

Here's Diigo's pitch:

http://www.diigo.com/help/why_diigo

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-reasons-diigo-tastes-better-than-delicious