Showing posts with label sharing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sharing. Show all posts

Dec 1, 2011

mailvu video email and keek

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hello everyone!! today i've been introduced to a very cool website which is called mailvu video email. 

WHAT IS
??

ever heard about it before??
THIS IS SOOO COOL. It is a website where you can record a video of you and you can share it with your friends by sending them an email.

the caption of this website:


Kinda cool, isn't?

This website is free and it has a 14 days free trial. What's the difference then?
the free version:videos can be emailed to others but can't be embedded onto other websites
the paid/14 days free trial version:videos can be emailed to others, can be embedded and many more features available.
 so, take this chance! sign up! record your video! send it to your friends! 


to use this one, you have to sign up an account, but if you want to use the free version, you don't need to sign up.


LET'S DO IT!

go to HERE, then click learn more about free account


then sign up (if you want to try the 14 days free trial version)

 choose free plan.try first before you upgrade it to business plan, then click sign up

after you've sign up, this is your dashboard. click on pictures for bigger view. 

if you want to record a video, you MUST allow access to your mic and webcam, if you deny, you can't record a video

a recording window will pop out and you can start recording.there is time remaining stated there, you can replay the recorded video. you can send it to other people or you can share it with others

send it to your friends

if you want to upload a video from your computer

you can also view you saved videos, you can either send it or delete it

this is how it looks when you got the invitation to view the video email. just click on the PLAY button


then, it will direct you here. you can reply the video or create your own video mail.


As a language teacher, I think I can use this tool in my classroom. How??
  • I can ask students to decide the most favourite item that they like to use (eg:shampoo, toothpaste etc), record a video of the students promoting the item and persuade their classmates to buy the item. *students get to learn different skills:the use of persuasive language, personalisation is involved here as students describe the item that they like, enhance speaking ability*
  • ask students to describe the unique/strange experience in their life and record it at home, then send it to the teacher's email. this can be done as a homework *less formal so students can express themselves in front of videocam,personalisation since the topic is about students itself, lower affective filter (Krashen,1987) because students don't have to talk in front of the class, so motivate them to be more confident*
  • ask students to record an interview with a friend  by asking them a set of personal questions about your friends. *This can make students motivated because they have purpose for listening and asking (communicating meaningfully) and they can communicate using authentic language. Moreover, students will be more relaxed because it's a communication between two speakers.*
  • asking students to record a video of a student sharing things that they are good at (eg:cooking, wearing scarfs with different styles, make up tutorials and etc). This can be done monthly. *this kind of thing really help students not only in terms of language ability, but also in terms of content; expand students general knowledge by sharing and exchanging opinion about different things*
  • can be used to do a listening activity  as well, where teacher could record a video he/she talking about a topic, play the video in the classroom, and give students a set of questions to answer/ask them to write an essay/discuss about the topic in groups *students' listening skills can be improved, writing skills too, or communicating skills if they are asked to discuss the topic with friends*


I LIKE IT. WHY??
  • by using this, there are changes in the types of homework, not only writing in a book, but recording a video, and I think this what makes it cooler! students don't have to submit it by hand, rather just by email
  • it can connect the practise that students did in classroom with homework. So this is one of the connected classroom activities. In my opinion, it is more effective way of learning because when they go home they won't feel the burden of a homework, rather they will feel that it is something fun to do (because i think students nowadays love internet sooo much)
  • the files can be sent to people, can be deleted and saved in your own account
  • if you get an invitation to view others' video, you can reply it by using the same way
  • you can embed it to the other websites
  • you can share videos with other people and this will encourage a lot real interaction, so your speaking skills as well as listening skills can be improved




THINGS THAT I HATE ABOUT IT.WHY?
  • sometimes there are some technical problems happen; eg: i) when you press backspace key whilst you are filling the details to send the email to whom, the page will suddenly disappear, and you have to fill in the recipients' details again, ii) when a problem occur, the video can't be recorded even after you've refreshed the page. this might also be because there are many people using this website as the same time *it happened to me many times before*
  • people who get invited can only view the video, but they can't download it. the only person who can download it is the video maker
  • it is not free. Only free for 14 days.so after 14 days you have to buy it in order to use it
  • the duration of recording is limited to 10 minutes


THERE IS ANOTHER WEBSITE THAT IS QUITE SIMILAR TO MAILVU, WHICH IS CALLED

IT IS QUITE SIMILAR to MAILVU in terms of:
-the way it can be used in the classroom
-the way of how it works
-the application is available for iPhones and smart phones' users

BUT, THE DIFFERENCES ARE:
-it's FREE but you have to sign up to use it
-it can be embedded onto the other websites and can be emailed to others as well
-it only allows 30 seconds recording


SO THESE ARE SOME SNAPSHOTS FROM KEEK:


homepage

steps to record a video

your profile. people can comment by videos or written comment


your dashboard



SOOO???


SIGN UP! RECORD! SEND!

GOOOOOO!!

.that's it.


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Nov 24, 2011

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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Nov 3, 2011

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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