Imperial College Library Learning Technology Group

Join.Me

andrewday82 — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 09:00:01 +0000

Join me is a free online screen sharing service that allows you to share your PC screen with others and vice versa. Like Skype, it provides a phone and instant messaging service, as well as the ability to share documents over the internet. Join.Me’s main advantage over Skype is that it doesn’t rely on user accounts to find or call people. When you share your screen, you are given a unique ID number which you can send to others to login to your screenshare with, or you can send a conference link via email.

The Join.Me application is relatively easy to use, being a quick software download which you run to install a small toolbar at the top of your PC screen. Using the toolbar, you can share your screen, make phonecalls, send instant messages and allow others to control your screen. Join.Me would be a straightforward and accessible way of providing assistance to users who are off-campus, with particular relevance to the library help desk or occasions when it is necessary to demonstrate a database or the library catalogue when only a phone might be available.

What is cloud computing?

andrewday82 — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:41:17 +0000

A good beginners’ guide to cloud computing from The Guardian:

‘Once, you would do your work on your personal computer and save it onto your hard drive. And there it would sit, accessible only to you (and maybe a few other select users on a local network), and could only be manipulated (edited) if you had the right software on your device. The cloud overcomes this limitation – all you need is connectivity (pretty much universal, with the internet), and a cloud provider (a company that facilitates access to the cloud or their data servers). This means that any computer which is connected to the internet (including mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets) is connected to all the same applications and files.’

Using the ipad for reference enquiries

andrewday82 — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:07:38 +0000

Post from College and Research Libraries:

‘The multi-function use of the iPad makes it ideal for reference. It is a mobile catalog, a fully featured Web browser, a calculator, an eBook reader, a dictation tool, a music player, and much more. ‘

Interesting blog – B’s life with English

liblearningtech — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:43:25 +0000

http://baibasvenca.blogspot.com/

While looking around for fun feedback systems that we can use with the library website I came across this little blog. It is designed for teaching englsih students but some of the posts might be useful. We are thinking of using a sticky notes type message board – the one called linoit is probably the most suitable for our needs and looks quite fun.

Using Skype as a learning tool

andrewday82 — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:43:37 +0000

Skype is a free communications tool that allows users to make free calls over the internet. Downloaded as a piece of software, Skype features traditional telephone calls using a desktop microphone, as well as video calls, live screen capture, conference calls, instant messaging and the facility to send documents online.

This range of features gives it many potential applications as a learning tool. Most simply, it can be used for telephone or video calls to students, this being particularly useful for language students and distance learners. Paul Chauncey, learning technologist in the faculty of humanities, explains that

‘We use Skype in our language labs to do one to one conversation between our undergraduates studying French and science undergraduates at a French university. It’s very popular with the students.’

Of particular relevance to library staff is screen sharing, which allows Skype users to stream what is happening on their PC screen to others. Combined with the telephone, video call and live messaging features, screen sharing has the potential to deliver live 1-to-1 tutorials on databases and software over an internet connection.

Commenting on Skype for the Top 100 Tools for Learning, Rick Lillie of California State University describes a session taught using Skype:

‘I made a virtual presentation for a university class in Rhode Island. I am in California. We used Skype to setup the video-conference connection with the instructor in Rhode Island. I used Yugma (Skype version) to share my desktop with the other class. The instructor projected his screen to the front of the class. He turned his webcam to face the class so that I could see and interact with participants. Everything worked great.’

How to use Skype for lessons (video)

Possible barriers to using Skype for tutorials include the need for a software download, which may be a problem with College PCs where students do not have admin rights. Students and staff would also need to have a Skype account in order to use it. However, Skype is increasingly popular and would certainly be useful for contacting students who are in halls of off-campus.

I am planning to investigate delivering tutorials via Skype – if anyone is interested in helping, please comment below or email me.

Andrew

Top 100 tools for learning – the final list

andrewday82 — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:26:31 +0000

Here are the top 10 learning technologies as voted for in the 2010 Top 100 tools for learning poll:

The top 10 leans heavily towards social media, free and open source resources, with paid-for resources not appearing until much further down the list. This reflects an emerging trend for educational practitioners to turn non-educational resources like Twitter into learning tools and to also utilise the social aspect of sites like Facebook to create social, asynchronous learning. Interestingly, Blackboard does not appear in the list until #63. Jane Hart comments that

‘Learning professionals are recognising the huge value of encouraging participation and interaction of learners in training, rather than focusing on the delivery of passive (albeit highly content-rich) online courses’

This participation includes using personal devices like smart phones and tablets as educational tools and a more informal, less structured approach to learning. It will be interesting to see if and how these trends appear at Imperial.

Top Tools for Learning emerging trends 2010

Increasing consumerization of IT – i.e. the increasing use of personal tools and devices in the workplace
Merging of learning, working and personal tools
Dominance of social tools
Personal (informal) learning is under the individual’s control

24 impressive blog plugins

andrewday82 — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:13:10 +0000

*Note – as Dan pointed out, the plugins only appear to be for paid-for WordPress.org blogs*

A great list of WordPress plugins to improve interaction, engagment and audience reach for your blog: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/24-impressive-blog-plugins/. The discussion and sharing based plugins are definitely worth considering.

Panopto presentation capture

andrewday82 — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 09:37:53 +0000

Panopto is capture hardware and software that allows users to capture either personal or lecture presentations. Multiple capture sources can be used simultaneously, including screen capture, webcams, Powerpoint and audio. This allows you to produce blended presentations, with video and streams of the lecturer, supported by a Powerpoint presentation or capture from a computer or whiteboard screen. Captures are stored and published on a Panopto server, but are processed on the users own computer, which reduces the server workload and lag in presentation readiness associated with Echo 360. As well as allowing for recorded lecture captures, it is also to possible to publish a live stream from the capture, allowing for either a realtime overflow stream to different lecture theatres, or for a live stream to a single online user which could have implications for live online 1-to-1 training. Editing is done via a simple online editing tool which also allows for multiple copies of a single presentation to be made and edited individually. PDF handouts can also be uploaded and added to captures as supporting notes. As with Echo 360, captures can either be scheduled or recorded on an ad-hoc basis, with the facility to store in individual folders on the Panopto server. These can also be searched by subject and keyword. A trial of Panopto is due to start at Imperial in late 2010.

Screencasting tips from Arziona State University

andrewday82 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:54:04 +0000

Screencasts are an extension of yourself, and be used in scenarios where you would appear in person, such as orientations, reference consultations, and in-class instruction

A good article on using screencasting as an educational tool for academic libraries: http://www.istl.org/10-winter/tips.html

Using #hashtags in Twitter

andrewday82 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:18:30 +0000

Hashtags are a useful way of tagging and linking tweets around a particular subject in Twitter. Phil Bradley has a written a good beginner’s guide to using hashtags on his blog: http://philbradley.typepad.com/phil_bradleys_weblog/2010/08/twitter-hashtags-quick-guide.html.