vusafe

Do you utilize YouTube videos in your class?

If so, have you ever been aggravated by the related videos, comments, and ads? Some of this material is just not appropriate, even in the college classroom!

Vusafe is a service that offers you the ability to compile your own library of educational videos and organize them by keywords and so forth. Vusafe will eliminate all of the related videos and other potentially offensive material. Then, you can direct your students to your library to watch the assigned videos.

For now, vusafe is a complimentary service to K-12 educational institutions.

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Big Wheel Keep on Turnin

Linda came across this cool new chat tool, and since I’m the new girl in the group and I don’t want my first blog post to be a dud, I swiped it! Thanks Linda!
The tool is called “talkwheel” and it’s a new way to chat. It’s created around the concept that since we are most comfortable talking around a table (see http://corp.talkwheel.com/#whytextfor a great Seinfeld reference on the benefits of a round vs linear layout), we should be chatting online in a like manner. It’s free, easy to set up, and allows you to create your own private conversations. So you could create a discussion thread with your students, get them talking, and see increased participation because of the non-linear format. Follow this link to see a video with more information. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWsZdNCSZUk Have fun!

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Another Infographic Site

As a follow-up to the previous blog entry - you might find useful infographics at http://visual.ly . This site is also searchable so it is easier to find what you need.

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50 Informative and Well Designed Infographics

Infographics a visual displays of information, data, etc. You have often heard, "A picture is worth a thousand words". Some infographics explain more than one could in 1000 words. Check out 50 Informative and Well Designed Infographics to see just what I mean. Several of these could be used in various courses.

Click on the text link to open an infographic in the original window. Most are even down-loadable. This means you can insert them in an ANGEL page.

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Google Docs Videos

Google recently announced that you can now add captioning to your Google Docs videos and embed the video in your Google Site.

I usually store my videos and add captioning via YouTube, which Google also happens to own, so I was wondering what the advantage could be to using Google Docs for this process. To test this out, I tried uploading a video to my Google Site from my Google Docs repository.

First, I added my video to my Google Docs account, and found that the captioning feature is actually easier to use than the YouTube captioning feature. I then uploaded my video to one of my google Sites, and it worked great! The product is pictured above.

The biggest advantage I see to storing your videos at Google Docs, rather than YouTube, is that Google Docs is not searchable like YouTube. Another advantage is that you can store the captioning text file AND the video right there, whereas with YouTube you can only store videos.

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Piazza

It is a service that offers speedy response time and social networking. The founder shed the shackles of an arranged marriage to become an entrepreneur. What is the name of this service you ask? Piazza! Who is the founder you ask? Pooja Nath!

A recent article from The New York Times discusses the interesting background of Pooja Nath and her path to forming Piazza. At Piazza students can post questions and receive answers from both peers and instructors, and at this time the service is free.

Kudos to Meg McGranaghan for finding this article!

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Oh, and Don't Forget

I have to tell you about a free Web service I really like. It's called Oh, Don't Forget, and it sends scheduled text-message reminders to your cell phone.
All you do is enter your phone number, message, and the day/time you want it delivered. Just today I sent Meg a message (No, I won't tell you what I said!) and it took me 10 seconds to set up the reminder. Brilliant.

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Fostering critical thinking in discussions

Recently I discovered some back issues of Online Classroom and stumbled on some fresh perspectives on fostering critical thinking in discussions. The article by William Pelz in the August 2003 issue focuses on student-led discussions but the ideas transfer well to the general format. If you have been a bit frustrated by the level of engagement of discussion posts, here are some points to consider. His suggestions for a meaningful discussion question include:

• Be open-ended
• Relate to key issues or ideas in the course material
• Require that the student relate the ideas to other concepts in the course, or to his or her own experience. Examples, or comparison/contrast are two common critical thinking strategies. It helps, too, I think, to provide an example of the kind of response you are looking for.

What about the rubric? How do you evaluate those subjective responses? Pelz suggests that you look at issues such as:

• relevance and focus on the course material
• ability to provoke thought in other students
• originality
• timeliness (if you expect responses from other students, do those students have time to do so?)

I am pretty sure that these are not new issues, just framed here in a somewhat organized manner. Let us hear your own insights on the best ways to engage students in these interactions.

Pelz, William. "Student-centered Pedagogy: Student-led Discussion enhances Critical Thinking." Online Classroom. Aug 2003: 4,6. Print.

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Web 2.0 Blog

Would you like more information about Web 2.0 applications?

Meg McGranaghan found this informative blog with lots of helpful information about Web 2.0 and what we need to do as educators to better relate to and motivate our students in the 21st century. Thanks for the tip Meg!

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