adobe connect

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have you ever heard about CONNECTED CLASSROOM?sounds familiar, isn't?

yes, it is actually about how technology can be used to connect students/learners to the outside context of their classroom. One of the tools that we can use to apply this kind of classroom is called 

This is a website where people can connect with others online in order to share information, to have a meeting, discussion, chat, or virtual classroom session. So, because this tool can be used for these purposes, it is parallel with the connected classroom concept.

So, today we are going to discuss this tool, ADOBE CONNECT!

before that, MAKE SURE you have installed the Adobe Flash Player software to make it work nicely =).

then what do you need to do next??

1. go to this page . Create an Adobe account.

 sad to say, it's not free (maybe because it's good =) hopefully)

you get the 30 days free trial package. If you find that it's worth paying, you can pay for it.

 

then you'll have to fill in your details

then, log in

accept the terms of service first

30 days. a date to remember

this is how your HOME looks like

if you click on create a virtual classroom, you will have to fill in these things.

  

 next steps

then, TADAAA!!

this is how your virtual class looks like. so get connected then!

example of online classes with Russell Stannard

then, if you go back to HOME and try to create another thing, eg: sharing content

 

you have to fill in these information first before you can share your content with others

So, back to the connected classroom thing, how can you get benefit from this tool and use it in your classroom?

1. teacher can make an extra online class session in the weekend or maybe during the holiday time. teacher will  give students the details of the class (date, time, and url) and just do an extra lesson with the students. Teacher may ask a few students to participate and give ideas either by speaking or writing in a chat box. *so what's good here is that both teacher and students don't have to come to the class to do an extra class. So, it saves time and space* 
2. teacher can ask students to do a homework like discussing a topic in groups by using  this. then tomorrow the students will be asked to present their discussion to the class.*this is also good because students will have opportunities to find more supports quickly as they can share the links, pictures, videos together with the member in their groups. so this kind of discussion is much more effective in my opinion*
3. in the evening, teacher can ask students to give feedback about the previous lesson in classroom (what they feel about the lesson, is it easy to be understood, how can they connect it with other things, sharing additional information about the lesson, and asking questions). *Here, students will more likely to participate more than they do in their classroom because it is not a face to face interaction. So here, students will be more relaxed and confident to express their opinion/maybe to express their criticism as well*

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT ADOBE CONNECT:

1. we can share content such as mp3 files, photos and others.
2. whilst having a virtual classroom or a meeting, the host can give permission to participants to view their video, audio and their screen, not only him/herself can share them
3. it's a new and different ways of learning. basically people will like new things the most and this will make them become more interested and eager to participate
4. it encourages collaborative learning in which students or people (of course between teachers as well) from all other the world can connect together, EASILY
5. input and information can be shared/discuss more lively with the supports from other parties (links to related websites, photos or pictures or videos)

BUT THERE ARE THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT:

1. it's not free! Why? Why?
2. it doesn't really help students in presenting skills (communicative strategies) because the interactions that happen is not really face to face
3. technical problem might occur especially when there are too many participants join the class. this will cause a problem where students might get disconnected with the class
4. quite difficult to be used, and require many things to be filled in before you can really start using /creating a room for online classes and etc
5. since it is not a face to face interaction, teacher can't really know what the students are doing (maybe they are doing other things and pretending to join the class)

That's it for today!! thanks Russell for introducing this tool to us! =))

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visuword

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WHAT IS VISUWORDS??

In my opinion, the word 'visuwords' is derived from the words visual and words, which mean the words that are visualised. 

What makes me said that?

Because it is a website that present ideas in a graphic organizer

LOOK HERE:

INTERESTING, ISN'T IT???

So basically, visuwords is a website that presents relationship of ideas and words added by their concepts as well as the meanings of the words

HOW TO USE IT??

it's easy peasy lemon squeezy! 

learn it HERE:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

IS USING IT IN THE CLASSROOM A GOOD IDEA?HOW???

1. I can ask students to write an essay from the graphic organiser
2. I can ask students in groups to discuss one part of a discussion, eg: marriage in details
3. i can save the page, edit it by erasing the colour (which shows relationship between words), print it and ask students to find the relationship between words
4. I can teach vocabulary to students and the words that are related to the word
5. Students can use this to study by themselves/just getting the broad view about a topic

WHAT IS GOOD THEN??

1. it's FREE, you don't have to sign up, and it's easy peasy lemon squeezy!!
2. It's quick because once you've typed the word and clicked Enter, the related words appear in a few seconds
3. it's beautiful and interesting because there are many different colours like your own notes
4. it shows relationships between words and the meaning as well
5. it gives details explanation of the words if you are hovering on the words
6. you get to enhance your vocabulary since you can see a lot of new words and the words that are related to the word you typed
7. you can memorise keywords for certain topics because you learn through graphic organiser, this is quite suitable for self-study
8. it can be viewed in full screen, can be zoomed in and out so you can see the ideas closely or broadly
9. the graphic organiser can be dragged and moved, but the relationship cannot be changed (this can either be good or bad)

HOWEVER, IT HAS SOME PROBLEMS:

1. it contains too many colours that represent too many relationships between words. This might be a problem for students who are colour blind. And this might cause confusion because there are too many relationships and colours to be memorised. Yes, they can refer it, but it will consume much time then
2. the connection of the words that appeared after you typed the word might be too broad and general, and students can lost tracks without teacher's guidance

HAPPY TRYING!!!

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wallwisher

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WHAT is IT???

an online board where people can add/paste their messages (eg:discussion regarding a topic, announcement making, keeping short notes or main ideas, brainstorming in classroom/discussion, etc)

DO YOU WANT TO TRY IT???

click HERE

AFRAID??DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE IT??

WELL, LEARN THE STEPS HERE:

 STEP 1

 STEP 2

 STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

NOTES THAT HAVE BEEN PASTED EVERYWHERE

NOTES CAN BE DRAGGED

 OTHER EXAMPLES

HOW CAN I USE IN MY CLASSROOM??

1. I can use it for students to brainstorm their ideas about certain topics that I want them to discuss
2. I can give students main points on certain topics (eg:writing exercise) and ask them to write an essay from the main points
3. I can ask students to discuss about certain topics or issues outside the classroom
4. I can ask students to give feedback randomly after my teaching lesson or after doing some activities
5. I can ask students to take notes of my teaching
6. Can share a discussion/ideas/information with students as they can save it for their reference in the future

WHY USE IT?IS IT GOOD?WHY?? WHY??

1. it's quick because you only have to double click anywhere on the wall to post your messages then click OK
2. it helps or encourage students who are not active in class to express themselves more because this wall doesn't involve face to face communication
3. students can delete their post if they want to
4. students can use their own names or write on the wall anonymously
5. students will feel more relax because the environment of giving ideas is not formal (casual style of learning/discussing)
6. it's FUN and of course because it's FREE!!
7. it can made public or private
8. people can put up as many notes as they want to
9. not only words can be shared, but other things such as videos, photos and audio links as well
10. the wall can be saved by others as well as the host
11. you don't need to sign up or subscribe the page, so it's very easy to use
12. encourage students' participation as students can write everything that they want to
13. you can post on people's wall as long as you know the url of their wall

BUT.................

1. the word limit is limited to 160 words, so students have to write into two separate boxes to express the same ideas if the words are too long
2. it can distract students to write things that is not so related to the topic as they will feel that the wall is not formal and they can chat about other topics
3. not really helping students in term of speaking skills (more passive way of learning and expressing ideas in the classroom)
4. the wall might jam when too many people are writing at the same time and you need to refresh it every time you want to read it
5. if you are the host and you have a lot of guests/notes poster, you will find it messy because there will be lots of notes sticking on each other

TRY IT YOURSELF!!!

=))

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