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Casting about on the Web 2.0

What is Web 2.0? | Podcasting | Webcasting -Wordbridges,Webcast Academy, and Skypecasting | Screencasting | Slidecasting | Mobile technologies | Digital Storytelling

In which Vance attempts to make sense of an overwhelming amount of information on nascent technologies with huge potential for education

What is Web 2.0? - Navigate to other topics on this page

• See Vance's Web 2.0 links and examples posted on the Multiliteracies course main page at http://www.opensource.idv.tw/moodle/course/view.php?id=23 (and which I'm compiling as a set of links for my PP 107: Multiliteracies for Collaborative Learning Environments - 2007 version of the course, here: http://www.homestead.com/prosites-vstevens/files/efi/papers/tesol/ppot/portal2007.htm#web20 - work in progress)
• Chris Smith’s Web 2.0 (Videos/PPoints) theme blog links to videos to help with the teaching and learning of web 2.0 - http://web2videos.blogspot.com/
• Chris Smith’s main Web 2.0 Teaching and Learning area on Shambles is at http://www.shambles.net/web2
• List of web 2.0 websites: http://www.go2web20.net/
• Graham Davies is maintaining the ICT4LT Glossary which contains definitions for many of the common terms associated with Web 2.0 - "and hundreds of other terms which [Graham is] currently trying to cross-reference throughout the Glossary and throughout the ICT4LT site": http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_glossary.htm. He also has attempted a characterization of Web 2.0 in the ICT4LT website in Module 1.5. Section 2, headed "What is Web 2.0?" at: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-5.htm. In some attempt to graft Web 2.0 collaboration onto these distinctly Web 1.0 efforts, Graham also requests feedback via an ICT4LT blog at: http://ictforlanguageteachers.blogspot.com/
• The http://www.seomoz.org/web2.0 Web 2.0 'awards' list (2007 'winners' posted in May 2007)
• Web 2.0's Top 1,000 List! http://www.web20searchengine.com/web20/web-2.0-list.htm, creators of the (interesting) Web 2.0 Search Engine, http://www.web20searchengine.com/. There is also a very good (technical / social) Web 2.0 / multiliterate explanation of what Web 2.0 is: http://web2.web20appz.com/web20/what-is-web-2.0.htm
• All Things Web 2.0 - http://www.allthingsweb2.com/, a comprehensive compilation in an "Open Directory" for Web 2.0 from the keepers of the blog: http://www.sacredcowdung.com/archives/2006/03/all_things_web.html

Some useful Web 2.0 sites for teaching (starting a new page here, will set it up later)

Free Office tools

• Open Office, but need to download and install the suite, and use it on your own computer. You could upload the documents to:
  BoxNet: http://www.box.net/. "Box makes it easy to get your files from anywhere you have an internet connection. Access important documents from your desktop, laptop, or even mobile phone on the go. Once you've uploaded your files to Box, you can also share them with anyone, or just keep them safe for as long as you want."
  Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box.net
• Thinkfree: http://www.thinkfree.com/. ThinkFree Write, Calc, and Show, similar to Open Office, but online. 1 GB of disc space and free online collaboration facility.
  Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkFree_Office
• Google.docs

Interactive whiteboard

• Skrbl, a collaborative scribbling tool at http://www.skrbl.com/. "The complete web whiteboard. Start skrbl & give out your URL; instantly share online. Collaborate with others or, keep skrbl your own private web space. Type notes, sketch drawings, upload pictures, share files... Everyone sees the same screen, Everybody stays on the same page."To put it on your page just copy the code from the site like so ...
  
  Featured in Jane's E-Learning Pick of the Day: http://janeknight.typepad.com/pick/2006/12/skrbl.html
• Groupboard - Also, get the code from the site and copy it to your page. You have a text chat as well.

Podcasting - Navigate to other topics on this page

Graham Davies writes in July 2007: "The archives of this Flashmeeting videoconference on blogging, podcasting and digital video show you what language teachers in secondary education in the UK are doing in these areas. The conference was set up by Joe Dale: http://flashmeeting.e2bn.net/fm/fmm.php?pwd=8d1d59-1723

What is podcasting and how do you do it?

• Podcasting links at http://www.podcastingnews.com/articles/ and ...
• make your first podcast http://www.podcastingnews.com/articles/How-to-Podcast.html
• Tech-Ed has lots of video tutorials available; e.g. "Podcasting with Audacity Video Tutorials" http://etc.usf.edu/te_win/movies/audacity.html
• What if you want to podcast streaming media (like you've recorded your presentation in Elluminate but Audacity won't pick up the audio). You need a streaming media recorder, such as:
  • "Audio Recorder for FREE" from: http://www.audioeditor.us/index.htm
    • Download: http://www.download.com/Audio-Recorder-for-Free/3000-2168_4-10717857.html?tag=lst-0-1
    • Reviewhttp://www.download.com/Free-Easy-MP3-Sound-Recorder/3000-2170_4-10547651.html?tag=lst-0-4 this has good reviews
  • or alternatively http://www.roemersoftware.com/free-sound-recorder.html
• A nice article: Graham Stanley, 2006. Podcasting: Audio on the Internet Comes of Age, Volume 9, Number 4: http://tesl-ej.org/ej36/int.html
• Talk about shifting paradigms! Podcasting viewed as a factory that produces apple pies for whales:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEmss2lg-ug&dpos=1 (times out January 17, 2007)

Where can you host your podcasts? (for free, of course)

• http://www.podomatic.com
• http://www.gcast.com/

How to harvest this stuff

Podcatching

How can you find good podcasts?

• Meta-lists
  • David Warlick lists educational podcasts at http://www.epnweb.org
• Podsearching
  • YamiPod http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/home/ is a freeware application to efficiently manage your iPod under Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. It can be run directly from your iPod and needs no installation.
  • Podzinger http://www.podzinger.com/ "offers a set of sophisticated tools for searching out text in the ever-expanding supply of podcasts. Created by BBN Technologies, Podzinger automatically ingests thousands of podcasts and applies speech-to-text conversion and indexing to yield a list of relevant results comparable to Google's searches of Web-based text." - from a ZDNet review, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1927945,00.asp
• Vance's favorite feeds
  • Worldbridges: http://www.worldbridges.com
    • EdTechTalk
    • Teachers Teaching Teachers
    • Women of Web 2.0
    • Trust in Education
    • Webheads in Action: http://www.webheadsinaction.org
  • Stephen Downes's talks http://downes.ca
  • Tech Crunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/
  • Buzz Out Loud is CNET's "podcast of indeterminate length, featuring Tom and Molly's entertaining, sometimes caustic, and always skeptical take on technology news" http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11455_7-6457370-1.html
• ESL
  • EFLBridges: http://eflbridges.net
  • Peter Travis has a weekly podcast aimed at advanced level students who want to develop their speaking skills. http://www.splendidspeaking.podomatic.com He says: "The podcasts feature interviews I have carried out with students using Skype and each one looks at a different speaking skill, often in the context of an ESL examination speaking task. To date most of the interviews have been with Cambridge Main Suite exam students (FCE, CAE, CPE). However, I would really like to include a wider range of exams, in particular IELTS and BEC Higher. If you know of any students at advanced level who you think might be interested in getting involved please feel free to let them know. They can contact me here or at: peter@flo-joe.co.uk Numbers would have to be limited and it might be the case of first come first served. Thanks for your help! Best wishes Pete Flo-Joe" Posted to Webheads list, November 3, 2006
  • http://volkerh.public.iastate.edu/projects/podcasting/ - Teaching ESL listening comprehension through podcasting: "Thanks to a grant from the Iowa State Center for Online Learning, this exciting project aims to integrate podcasts into the ESL classroom, beginning with an academic listening course. On this project website, you can learn more about the process we're going through in creating and integrating educational podcasts into the ESL listening course at Iowa State University." Volker Hegelheimer, Project Director
  • Dave Kees writes: Audacity is not just to convert files but is capable of making recordings hours long which then can be converted to MP3. Krashen says that the simplified English speaking of teachers, sometimes called "teacher talk", is very beneficial for students as a form of comprehensible input. Teachers become real experts at knowing how to speak to their students at a level the students can understand. At the same time, students are often frustrated at their inability to understand movies, TV shows, news, etc. I am also trying some projects along these lines and am starting to post them at: http://www.gcast.com/user/davekees/podcast/main
    • Make recordings of your experiences like the time you met someone famous or thought you were going to die in an accident. Don't be boring but be simple.
    • Interview friends and other teachers. Don't rely on the friends to be simple enough or talk slowly enough. If the friend is using some language that you feel is too advanced for your students then jump in and ask your friend to define it or define it or restate it yourself.
    • Take your students on a tour to a favorite local haunt. There is a shopping mall here that is immensely popular with all students in this area. Record a tour of the location that they could listen to and use to follow your footsteps. Describe what you see, tell some funny stories and go in to the shop and talk to some clerks about their products. I did this with my notebook computer in my bag running Audacity with a microphone clipped on my shirt. You can include some insights into some of the businesses or some of the fashions even if you have to look them up on the Internet.[1]
    • Students always want to know what is the best/fastest/easiest way to learn English. Explain how you are teaching your students. Some of our teaching methods are counter intuitive. I think Grammar-Translation makes a lot of sense but is not as good as Communicative Approach. If our teaching method is not always easily accepted by students you should take every opportunity to "sell" your teaching methods over and over.
    • Don't just make a recording on any subject but try to steer it in a way to augment units you are teaching in one of your courses. This way you can further the unit, even if you have to 'assign' the listening item, or you can use it as a collection of materials students can listen to on a voluntary basis. For example, if you have a unit discussing Human Resources you can interview a friend about their experience in hiring or with working with colleagues.

What can you use to catch podcasts?

• iTunes http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
• Juice http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/
• Podscope http://www.podscope.com/, similar to the above.

Someone asked for instructions on using Juice. There are instructions here entitled (sic) Hot to Subscribe to a Podcast Using Juice: http://www.oneminutehowto.com/Subscribe/Subscribe.asp and I wrote the following regarding version 2.2:

• Unless you change the destination under Preferences, your podcasts should all download to my profile and then to \My Documents\My Received Podcasts
• My podcasts automatically sort themselves into folders according to the site they were downloaded from. They are very well behaved.
• From there I can simply copy them onto my iRiver or play them either through Juice or by clicking on the files and letting my media player handle them.
• To play them through juice I click on a green arrow and that launches the file in my WMP, as I've got it set up.

Gavin Dudeny provides similar instructions for iTunes,

• Once you have subscribed to a podcast and have at least one episode, try right-clicking on it and choosing "Show in Windows Explorer" to find out where it is stored (in my case, G:\iTunes\iTunes Music\Podcasts\)
• From there you can copy the podcast to anything, since it's in MP3 format

Webcasting - Navigate to other topics on this page

Worldbridges: webcasters AND podcasters - Navigate to other topics on this page

On May 12, 2005 Worldbridges at http://www.worldbridges.net started webcasting live to an audience of, well, zero to start out with. Their first listener was a guy named Konrad, and a month later they encountered Webheads http://webheads.info, and their audience has been assured ever since. Not that Webheads deserve any credit for that; Webcaster Jeff Lebow and partner Dave Cormier (with Doug Symington and others) have been energetic in finding interesting people to pull into the Webcast mix with regular programs such as http://www.livewire.com and http://www.edtechtalk.com. In a field where others are content to podcast pre-recorded programs, Jeff and Dave have chosen to record on the fly by going live through Skype and other telephony links with spontaneous call-in conversation partners who have included Stephen Downes, Will Richardson, George Siemmens, and many other ESL, ed tech, and Web 2.0 luminaries. This approach has been somewhat unique, resulting in numerous informative conversations which are put into the RSS feed-stream and made available for pod-catching. Unfortunately, Jeff's site was hacked in early 2006 along with several other servers containing Tibet-related content (from Jeff's earlier ventures) and much of the early material was, if not lost, off the air for a long time, though most has been recovered and is rapidly being augmented with more current work.

Worldbridges featured in this On the Internet article here: Worldbridges: The Potential of Live, Interactive Webcasting. TESL-EJ, Volume 10, Number 1: http://www.tesl-ej.org/ej37/int.html

Webcasting Academy - Navigate to other topics on this page

In around April 2006 Jeff started a Webcast Academy project http://webcastacademy.net/ which attempts to train others (for free) how to Webcast (presumably also for free) in order to create a larger base of people who, as Dave puts it, will make mistakes that Jeff and Dave can learn from instead of the other way around.

How-to's abound on the Webcast Academy site.

• The Book of Webcasting is a must-read for those interested in this technology: http://www.webcastacademy.net/Book_of_Webcasting
• Get started by downloading items from the Webcasting Kit http://www.webcastacademy.net/Webcaster_Kit and checking
• Check out the screencasts for different operating systems: http://www.webcastacademy.net/Screencasts

In January 2007, Vance tackled the Webcast Academy as, of all things, co-moderator of http://evo07sessions.pbwiki.com/webcast-academy. Actually I was there for comic relief, and you can track my exploits at this associated page at this site: Tackling the Webcast Academy. This venture resulted in a presentation at the 2007 TESOL conference in Seattle: http://colloquium07.wikispaces.com/Vance+Stevens at which I played a recording of my first successful stream http://www.webcastacademy.net/node/830.

Skypecasting - Navigate to other topics on this page

Skypecasting operates similarly to a webcast and is much easier to manage. All you need to be able to do is record a skype call (info on that at http://www.newmediaguides.com/index.php/Recording_Telephony_Calls ). Then just go to http://skypecasts.skype.com/ and you can have up to 100 people pariticipating and as the moderator, you have the ability to mute or even eject participants in the Skypecast.

Graham Stanley has started a program of regular Skypecasting for non-native speakers of English on the Worldbridges network: Called EFLBridges, the program started with an Elgg: http://www.eflbridges.com and more recently uses the Drupal site at http://www.eflbridges.net. The program broadcasts weekly. Visit the Drupal portal or see my Online-Events page for more information.

Another option for Skypecasting, allowing up to 500 participants (the mind boggles) is Vapps: http://www.highspeedconferencing.com/index.htm. Venny and I tested it in late 2006. With this one, someone sets up the room and gets a +9900 number, and participants can Skype In using the dial feature. It's a free Skype call.

Read an article entitled: Skype as a language-learning tool by Prerna Rao, http://media.www.gwhatchet.com/media/storage/paper332/news/2007/01/29/Life/Skype.As.A.LanguageLearning.Tool-2682418.shtml?sourcedomain=www.gwhatchet.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com - Dateline Jan 29, 2007

Screencasting - Navigate to other topics on this page

• CamStudio (free): http://www.camstudio.org; http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/camstudio/Camstudio-2.0-w32.zip and http://www.camstudio.org/CamStudio20.exe both work in late 2007. This blog is useful for updates and training videos: http://camstudio.org/blog/ and there might be a forum here eventually.
• Probably the best, but the latest version is not free: Camtasia; however, TechSmith is offering their old version 3.0 as a free download. This isn't noted at their website, but a Google blog search revealed that you have to download the TRIAL version of 3.0 and then register it, and TechSmith will then send you the key that will make it a fully functioning version. This is true for both Camtasia 3.0 and Snagit.
  • Here's what you do - For Camtasia:
    1. Download the trial Camtasia 3.0 here:
       http://download.techsmith.com/camtasiastudio/enu/312/camtasiaf.exe
    2. Then you register by filling in this form:
       http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/pcpls.asp
    3. Check your email for your software key
    4. Install the program and insert the key where is says serial number
  • Same applies to Snagit
    1. Download here:
       http://www.oldapps.com/download.php?oldappsid=SnagIt725.exe
    2. Register for a key here:
       http://www.techsmith.com/snagit/ukdn.asp
• Speaking of TechSmith, the Jing Project http://www.jingproject.com/, by the folks that brought us Camtasia and Snagit, is free for the time being, Jing installs on your desktop with an easily activated interface that allows you to capture images or video from your desktop and place it at a free hosted URL (i.e. share it) or store it on your computer to do with as you wish. This one is really sweet, free as of Nov 2007.
• Qlippit, or QlipBoard - http://www.qlipmedia.com/ Lets you compose a screencast-like presentation from objects stored on your computer while you draw or voice-over. I think it also lets you select a window and then record whatever happens there (so it's kind of a windowcast tool, but the other screencast tools assume you might select just a region of your screen). Here's a tutorial for it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7XQTMSne6g&eurl=" or you can see the QlipMedia explanation: http://www.qlipmedia.com/watchqlippit.php?flvid=4ed0f1cf6188e1ac89cbf3c418a/9265a590ecacee62686a908da64a766674978
• Heard on Edtech Weekly #33, Dave Cormier mentioning an easy way to create yet another disposable learning object: Screencast-o-matic. Now anyone can claim their 15 min of fame (that's how long you get in June 2007) http://www.screencast-o-matic.com
• Dave Winet says: "Believe it or not Windows Media Encoder from Microsoft (free) works well for me, better than some commercial tools I've used. "
• These sites provide more information and examples of screencasting
  • Is this screencasting? I don't know, but it's pretty good: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2006/10/flickr_as_prese.html
  • For an excellent explanation of screencasting and many interesting examples, see: An Introduction to Screencasting Why screencasts are useful, how to create them, and software tools that can help By: Beth Kanter April 25, 2007 http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/training/page6885.cfm?rss=1
  • Here's a WOW site, a collection of teaching video screencasts, really good ones, by Russell Stannard: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/. Copying the sidebar on Aug 12, 2007 we find (1) General Teacher Training Videos on * How to use Blackboard * How to use iTunes to get podCasts * 24 Tips For Powerpoint * How to create blogs * How to do better searches on the Internet * Photoshop basics * How to use and make Wikis (2) ELT Teacher Training Videos # How to make on-line quizzes # Amazing Vocabulary Site # How to make really fast language worksheets # 11 great sites for teaching English, and (3) Multimedia Learning Videos * Adobe Director Training Videos * Flash Training Videos
  • If you want to learn PBWiki via screencasts, and can get on it right away, apparently this trial expires at the end of September 2007: http://www.atomiclearning.co.uk/pbwiki

Screensharing - Navigate to other topics on this page

There are a number of tools that allow mutli-users to share one another's desktops, and in some cases text chat as well. Festoon was one though I believe it is no longer available.

• Webhuddle is one https://www.webhuddle.com/. Webhuddle is cross-platform, runs on any Java-enabled computer (Linux, Windows, Unix, Mac), thin-client (about 125 KB) so it loads quickly and with the application running on a server somewhere, data encrypted by HTTPS protocol, and Open Source so you may use it on the fly or download it and freely install it on your own network. In my experience in the UAE, I get lags of up to 5 minutes when there are a number of people in the Webhuddle, but it seems to work well for people in the USA.
• Yugma is a similar application which installs on your computer. It seems to work a bit faster for me in the UAE. https://www.yugma.com/index.php

Slidecasting - Navigate to other topics on this page

• Authorstream - http://www.authorstream.com/
• Google Docs - Presentations http://docs.google.com/ - You can create slide shows online and share them and/or collaborate with others online. URL's hyperlink. You can get a zip file of an html version of your presentation on your computer.
• Slideshare http://slideshare.net/, a place to share & discover slideshows. Upload your slides, share a link, embed in a blog, discover interesting slideshows, tag, comment, and have F.U.N. Demo: http://www.slideshare.net/faqs/slidecast
• WiZiQ - http://www.wiziq.com - You can upload slides, tag them, and view slide shows by tag or category in the Content tab
• Zoho - note to self to exam capabilities and list here
• PHOTO SLIDESHOWS
  • Bubbleshare
  • Photobucket
  • Slideroll - http:www.slideroll.com

Mobile technologies - Navigate to other topics on this page

Mobile telephones

As of Nov 2007, this is definitive: K-12 Online Conference 2007 - http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=152 “Cell Phones as Classroom Learning Tools” By Liz Kolb Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA Blog: http://toytotool.blogspot.com Description This presentation focuses on ways to connect students’ favorite digital toy with classroom learning. Cell phones have the capability to become the “Swiss army knife” for student research and organization. First, we explore using cell phones as data collection tools: audio recorders, digital cameras, and digital camcorders. Additionally, we consider how classroom projects can be developed for cell phones: creating ring tones, text messaging, mobile WebPages, and mobile surveys. Finally, we contemplate the future features of cell phones and how those features play a role in learning.

A highly informative thread on Learning Times (click Join if not a member; recommended even if it smacks against Stephen Downes's fulminations against gatekeeping) http://www.snipurl.com/mobilearning

Book Review-mLearning: Mobile Learning and Performance in the Palm of your Hand http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/edition-9/book-reviewmlearning-mobile-learning-and-performance-in-the-palm-of-your-hand/ In this book review Dr. Michael Thomas provides a detailed summary of the latest tools, concepts, limitations and trends in mLearning proffered in David Metcalf’s mLearning: Mobile Learning and Performance in the Palm of your Hand. From: The Knowledge Tree: an e-Journal of Learning Innovation, the journal of the 2005-2006 Australian Flexible Learning Framework http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/

Handhelds

Resources to be placed here from my talks at: http://www.homestead.com/prosites-vstevens/files/efi/papers/tesol/ppot/multilit2006.htm

Digital Storytelling
Put 'em all together, and what have you got?

Alan Levine: 50 Web 2.0 Ways To Tell a Story http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/50+ways

• NEW TOOLS KEYNOTE at the 2007 K12 Online Conference: http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=149 “More Than Cool Tools” By Alan Levine, with Brian Lamb and D’Arcy Norman. Description There is no shortage of “Cool New Web Tools” out there and all three of us are guilty as charged for presenting them to teachers via the firehose effect. In our session, we will begin with a nostalgic nod to our presentation past where just 3 years ago we were talking up “Small Pieces Loosely Joined” - blogs, wikis, and a little RSS. Now there is so much more, almost too much. So we may talk about some cool tools, but more at a level of looking at the affordances which make them compelling, and why these and future breeds of tools and platforms matter to K12 teachers.
• NMC: 50 Web 2.0 Ways To Tell a Story: http://cogdogblog.com/2007/11/08/50-ways-3/

Assessing digital storytelling, how it fits in the curriculum: http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=166 “Initiating and Sustaining Conversations: Assessment and Evaluation in the Age of Networked Learning” By Konrad Glogowski. Description This presentation aims to address some of the challenges associated with assessment and evaluation in Web 2.0 classrooms. Specifically, it will address how to develop strategies and tools that engage students in the assessment and evaluation process, and help them stay in control of their learning and their progress. Consequently, a strong emphasis will be placed on developing assessment and evaluation procedures and habits that not only complement but also foster the interactive and learner-centric environments afforded by the interactive tools of the read/write web. The presenter will share strategies to assess and evaluate student work on blogs, wikis, and discussion forums.

NOT webcasting, but F.U.N. !!...

You can put your videos up at http://www.youtube.com. For example:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9KOMUVR38Y

Copyright 2007 by Vance Stevens
under Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/

January 17, 2007

Mirrors: This page is available at:

• http://www.vancestevens.com/casting.htm
• http://www.geocities.com/vance_stevens/casting.htm
• http://www.prof2000.pt/users/vstevens/casting.htm