Technology+Services

 **Technology Services ** **Instant Message Application: ** Skype  Please set up a Skype account for communication with class members and your Instructor outside of class. Post your Skype name in the **Class Café** so that others can add you to their account. **Social Bookmarking Sites: ** Delicious  or Diigo  Please create either a Delicious or a Diigo account to share your virtual bookmarks for the course with others in the class. You can “bundle” your sites by the tags that you create for your themes. If you create both a Delicious and a Diigo account, you can link them. For more information about how social bookmarking sites work, watch this brief video on the Common Craft Show: Social Bookmarking in Plain English . **Social Networking Sites: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Facebook <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Friendster <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">MySpace <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">, <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">LinkedIn <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – These sites allow you to join and create your own personal page. You are able to post photos, videos, and comments as well as connect and network with others online. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">For more information about how social bookmarking sites work, watch this brief video on the Common Craft Show: <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Social Networking in Plain English <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Mind Mapping Resources: ** <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Spinscape <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">IHMC Cmap <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Webspiration <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Bubbl.us <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">FreeMind <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Mind mapping Web sites provide an alternative to proprietary software such as Inspiration® and can be used to create graphic organizers and share them with collaborators. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Collaboration Resources: ** <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Google Groups <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Google Docs <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Elluminate <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Dimdim 5 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">These resources will allow you to collaborate asynchronously or synchronously so groups can meet and construct artifacts despite the distance among group members. Each of these resources works differently and provides different options. Elluminate allows groups of 3 or fewer to use their webinar program free of charge. Dimdim allows groups of 20 or fewer to use their webinar program free of charge. Google is always free but does provide simultaneous conferencing interactivity. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Never used a webinar or whiteboard application to collaborate before? Check out these <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">videos <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> discussing the features of Dimdim. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Productivity Bundle: **<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">OpenOffice Suite <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">You will need to have, at a minimum, a word-processing software such as Microsoft Word. If you do not have productivity software, or if you use a word-processing software that is uncommon, you can download a free suite called OpenOffice that has a very similar layout to Microsoft Office. The software bundle includes a word processor, a spreadsheet application, and a presenter application similar to PowerPoint. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Note: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> In order to avoid compatibility issues, please save your work as ".doc", ".docx", or ".rtf" files. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Blog Sites: ** <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">blogger.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">classblogmeister.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">wordpress.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">teachersfirst.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">For more information about how blogs work, watch this brief video on the Common Craft Show: <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Blogs in Plain English <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">RSS Aggregators: ** <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">bloglines.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> or <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">feedreader.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> or <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">reader.google.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">In order to stay abreast of any and all updates that your classmates make to their blogs, you will need to first create an account with an RSS aggregator. If you subscribe to all of your classmates’ blogs and any other relevant blogs related to the content covered in this course, your RSS aggregator will automatically update any time a post is made to a blog or Web site to which you subscribed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">For more information about how RSS aggregators work, watch this brief video on the Common Craft Show: <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">RSS in Plain English <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Wiki Sites: ** <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">wikispaces.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">wetpaint.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">pbwiki.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">For more information about how a wiki works, watch this brief video on the Common Craft Show: <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Wikis in Plain English <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Share Space Sites: **<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">slideshare <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">authorSTREAM <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">These Web sites allow users to upload audio files, presentations, Word documents**,** and spreadsheets, and store them for free. The files can be accessed by anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. Links are provided to embed files for downloading or presentations to be watched on your own Web site or blog. This feature is very helpful for educators who want to compile resources in one central location. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Video and Podcasting Resource Sites: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">youtube.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">video.yahoo.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">video.google.com <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">teacherspodcast.org <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">These free Web sites allow users to upload video and audio files, and store them for free, and can be accessed by anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. Links to embed the video in user Web sites is one of youtube.com's features that is very helpful for educators who want to provide immediate access to videos or podcasts that they create in their own Web sites. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">gabcast <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Gcast <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">These are quick and easy Web sites that allow you to make podcasts with your phone and upload them. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">For more information about how a podcast works, watch this brief video on the Common Craft Show: <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Podcasting in Plain English <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Video/Audio Editing Resources: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Audacity <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – This free software can be downloaded and used for recording audio on your computer and editing the audio once you have recorded it. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">AVSVideo <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">; <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Blender <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – These Web sites offer open source video and audio editing applications. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Screencasting and Interactive Learning Object Resources: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Jing® <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – This is a free, intuitive application that allows you to record videos of your desktop up to five minutes long, as well as take screenshots, and instantly save them or upload them to screencast.com for easy sharing. It is an excellent tool that every educational technology professional can use for developing professional screecast demonstrations or to quickly share their desktop while they help a colleague use an application. The videos can be edited in Camtasia, which is not free, and it also has an upgrade you can purchase that allows you to record yourself on a camera during the demonstration. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Camtasia Studio 6 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – This software allows users to create films of desktop activity and record audio to create demonstrations. It also features extensive editing tools. The software requires the user to purchase a license, but the initial download and trial version is free. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">CamStudio 2.5 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – This software is a free, open-source suite that is very similar to the functions and features of Camtasia Studio. It allows users to capture desktop activity and record audio to make AVI video files that can be streamed or distributed. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">For a free, short tutorial on how to create a screencast using CamStudio, click on Screencasting How To: CamStudio. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Debut Video Capture Software <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – An easy-to-use video recorder program that captures video files directly on a PC, Debut will record video from any of the following sources: webcam, capture device, or computer screen. This video recording software is provided for free by NCH Software, which offers a suite of other great, free tools for producing multimedia. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Adobe Captivate 4 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – This software allows users to create podcasts, screencasts, quizzes, and simulations utilizing the powerful and popular programming language ActionScript, available in Adobe Flash, without needing to know how to write in ActionScript code. A trial version can be downloaded for free, but in order to continue using the software, a license must be purchased. <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Adobe Presenter 7 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> – Rapidly create Adobe Flash presentations and eLearning courses from PowerPoint. Easily add narration, animations, interactivity, quizzes, and software simulations to eLearning courses. This software requires the purchase of a license. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">archive.org **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">If you are having trouble locating a specific article or Web site because it seems to have been removed from the Internet, this Web site can be an easy solution to finding it. Copy the URL for the site that is missing, and paste it into the Wayback Machine on <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">www.archive.org <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">. It should take you to the site for which you are searching. This helpful tool can help you track down information that is no longer posted on the Internet. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Document & website listing courtesy of Walden University