What+are+the+tools?

Tools
There are literally hundreds of social computing (web 2.0) tools - and more being created every day. I have chosen to highlight the tried and true that I use almost daily (okay, maybe hourly) that I think are valuable for educational uses.

__Wikis__
I am just discovering the power of wikis. It is amazing! I used to have to create my own webpages and templates for class webpages and presentations. Forget that! Now I can use a wiki and really focus on my content and not so much on my design and layout. And the content is so easy to change. As well, a history is kept of all changes so one can revert back if one wishes. But most importantly, wikis can be used collaboratively to create and present content. For more on wikis, do not miss Vicki Davis' presentation (she is queen of the wiki!). For more on wikis, check out a presentation I made recently to the staff at my school - lccwikis101.

[|Free wikispaces] for educators. [|Free information] about pbwiki (ad-free for educators).

At the bottom of the navigation bar is a link to more educational wikis.

__**SKYPE!**__

I think [|Skype] rocks! It is free to download and use. When I tried it out for the first time three years ago, it was still a little iffy in audio quality. Now it is really great and I use it mostly for instant messaging. Even if a person is offline, one can send a chat msg which the other person will receive when they go online. Skype also permits conferencing for up to 10 people. And now, one can use skype to create webcasts ("skypecasts") which will host many users at once. Skypecasts are open and free for anyone to join - so be aware of that openness if you choose to use it.

Currently, I have about sixty educators in my skype list. I use skype every day and communicate with about 3-5 other teachers per day using instant messaging and audio chats. We use skype as a way of passing files, exchanging information, and communicating updates "in the moment" of our projects. And, of course, we all use skype for socializing and providing all-important support and encouragement.

__RSS feeds[[image:rssimages.jpg width="69" height="69"]]__
The most commonly used translation of the acronym RSS is Really Simple Syndication (Subscription) which is a tool that delivers content to a user. Think of it like subscribing to a magazine or newspaper. Once you subscribe to a certain webpage (be it a news site or blog or other), every time the page adds new content, it notifies the rss feed and "delivers" it to you. It does not arrive in your email inbox but in the rss feeder which usually will provide a brief description of the new content. This is how I know the my favourite edubloggers have just added something to their blog. I also use it to keep track of my students' online work.

For more information, check Quentin D'Souza's [|wiki site about RSS feeds].

__Podcasting__

 * I SAY** it is any audio file that is available on the Internet; others are adamant that it is for audio that is subscribable only. Persons download the file and listen to the audio file whenever they wish - on a computer or on an mp3 player. Students can quite easily make their own podcasts with a few simple tools in the classroom.

For more information about podcasting, see my presentation to my colleagues: lccpodcasting 101


 * Some examples -**

[|Virtual Staffroom - Flat Classrooms] - Chris Betcher My blog - [|A Real Student Talks about Using Myspace and Online Social Spaces] [|Moving at the Speed of Creativity] - Wes Fryer blog - Be (Constructively) Digitally Disruptive in 2007 podcast

Webcast -
A Live Interactive Webcast is basically like a global radio show that is produced and accessed via the internet. A discussion between two or more more parties using a telephony program is streamed live so that many listeners can tune in and, when desired, call in to the show host and participate in the discussion.

These shows usually include the use of a text chat room so that listeners and discussion pariticapants can communicate with each other during the show. Telephony + Two-way audio capturing + live streaming = Live Interactive Webcasting.

__Flickr[[image:flickr.jpg]]__
[| Flickr] is more than just a place to show off your photos and images online. It permits users to tag their photos and connect them to a search engine which anyone can use to see the images. When one uses Flickr, they agree to a creative commons copyright so that anyone can use their images as long as they credit it their sources

At right is a mosaic created using flickr of my recent trip to Costa Rica.

__[|De.li.cio.us] - Social Bookmarking and Tagging[[image:delimages.jpg width="69" height="69"]]__
An online tool which collects and stores your bookmarks. However, the user tags each page they save and is able to share their bookmarks with anyone they choose.

__Google Docs__
I am just discovering [|this collaborative writing tool] and seeing its benefits for collaborative partnerships. It used to be Writely for those who know about that, and now Google has acquired it as one of its (many) social computing tools. My husband and I used it recently to design our upcoming vacation. I have used it in the classroom with my students as well as to plan collaborative projects with teachers from around the world.

Google now offers a treasure trove of web-based tools and is really worth checking out.

__Moodle__
This is my second year using [|moodle] as an online learning environment for international collaborative student exchanges. Last year, my moodle hosted four such exchanges. Each exchange had its own course area where the partnering students could go in and communicate and collaborate with each other. It offers a "walled garden" and is password-protected. The students really seem to like it and are quite facile at navigating their way around. Some of my students who claimed that "computers hated them" changed their attitudes about computers as they participated in such exchanges. The computer became a communication tool which could facilitate dialogue with interesting people around the world.

[|Moodle] is an open-source software and can be downloaded for free. It requires a mysql database for installation. I have found moodle incredibly easy to administrate (I hate coding!) and is very intuitive to use.

__Nicenet__
I have been using [|Nicenet] since 2002, which probably makes me an old-timer there. It is a free, stable, education-based content management system/online learning environment which is password-protected for students. It lacks the bells and whistles of moodle and other learning management systems, but it is fast-loading and stable. If you are considering a partner in a less-developed country, you may want to consider Nicenet. I actually used it for the data collection for my master's thesis, and am now using it again this year as the environment for our collaboration for the [|Global Virtual Web Design Contest.]

__More Tools worth investigating__
Please add to our list:

[| Youtube] [| Google Video] [|NEW! TeacherTube] - free educational videos for and by educators [| Spresent] - online flash-based PowerPoint presentations [| Literary Worlds] (3D virtual worlds based on novels) [| PBwiki] - free for educators - another wiki application which is well-supported for educators [| ning] - social network sites: [|Classroom 2.0] and [|Stop Cyberbullying] (consider joining either of these worthwhile social networks for teachers) [| Technorati] - tagging and taxonomy of blogs [| Lulu Press] - Publish yourself