Plagiarism

With so many tools ,technologies and resources available to students (and instructors), Plagiarism (http://www.plagiarism.org/ ) has become common place. To deal with this issue there are several tools available now to tackle this issue such as Turnitin, SafeAssign , Plagiarism Analyzer, Plagiarism Detect etc.

We have (with our Blackboard License) Safe Assign that we are going to be using soon. I wonder if students (or users ) will come up with newer ways to copy !

New Web-conferencing Tools

We just purchased a license for Web Conferencing Tool -Wimba so i wanted to look around and see what else is available out there. This blog :http://open-tube.com/7-free-web-conferencing-tools/ provides a good list of free web con. tools for those who can't and don't need to buy huge licenses.

We have also use Dim Dim in the past .Its easy and does what you need to do for a meeting.

Key features of any web. conf. tool:

Key features that characterize web conferencing systems include:

• Downloadable Software / Web-based

  Whether the web conferencing system is software-based or web-based. Web-based systems run generally on all types of computers and require no software download or configuration.

• Text chat

  A real-time text-based cat facility allowing synchronous communication among multiple users.

• VoIP

  The ability to talk over the Internet. So called full-duplex systems allow for synchronous conversations while some older systems provide only for push-to-talk functionality.

• Screen-Sharing

  The ability to show the contents of one's own screen in real-time to one r more distant users.

• Co-browsing

  The ability to navigate web pages in synch with multiple distant users.

• Presentation Facility

  A facility devoted to the delivery of PowerPoint presentations to online audiences.

• Whiteboard - Live annotation tools

  These are dedicated to provide a whiteboard like experience where an empty canvas can be used to call up pictures, documents or diagrams and annotate over them in real-time.

• Video

  Video facilities offer the ability to present in real-time one or multiple web conferencing participants through their web cams.

• Recording

  The ability to record the web conferencing in real-time including text chat exchanges, audio and the slides, web pages or other contents being presented.

  http://www.kolabora.com/news/2007/06/22/web_conferencing_tools_and_technology.htm

Tools list

Found this great list of Tool and technologies online:

LMS/CMS
WebCT Vista (this is what we use in this course)
Blackboard
Desire2Learn
Moodle
Joomla
LearnCentral.org
Udutu
Udemy
Coffee

mLearning
iTunes U
Mobile Joomla
Mobl21

Course Authoring
Course Lab
ExE
Xerte
Microsoft LCDS
Captivate
SoftChalk

Social Learning
Ning.com
Facebook
Elgg.com
LinkedIn

Virtual Classroom/Meetings
Wimba Classroom
Eluminate
Skype
Twiddla
DimDim
FuzeMeeting.com
TokBox

Collaboration
Writeboard - MBPozdol
Stixy
Google Wave
typewith.me
sketchfu.com
Mindmeister
Xmind

Teaching Tools
quizlet.com
proprofs.com
EdoBoard.com

Video Streaming and Screen Sharing
Dyyno
NCH Video Streaming
TeamViewer
NCH ScreenStream
BomGar

Hosted Servers/Virtual Servers
Hosted24
byethost.com
000webhost.com
free-webhosts.com
Opera Unite

Shared Creation
Merlot.org
Creative Commons
Open University
Open CourseWare (MIT for example)

Wikis/Blogs
pbworks
wikispaces
Wordpress

Post 1

Ohio E-schools:
http://www.ecotohio.org/home.php?section=what-is-ecot

The first time i saw a commercial for online learning for little kids in middle school /high school it bothered me to no end. I can see how in some cases it might be of some use. But e-schools are something i just am not sold on and find it almost disturbing. School is not just about learning subject matter but much more than that and why parents would chose to keep kids away from it (except in some extreme circumstances such as health issues etc.)is beyond me.
Any way so this new trend of e-schools have some supporters in government and some real big opposition from many people in ohio including think tanks such as Innovation Ohio.
http://innovationohio.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/IO.051211.eschools.pdf

Back again -Podcast

I am back again after a visit to near by University (Findlay)for a conference.It was a good conference given that it was the first one for a small University. Pretty well organized. I am amazed how the smaller colleges and universities seem to be doing so much and so well.
As soon as I came back to work found the server down and everyone going crazy at the start of Intersession .
I found some good resources for Podcasting.
Good news:>> we (kent State) will be the first iTunes University in Ohio.We are going to have a big debut party for that at Kent State on 22 June. So that should be fun.
I have read quite a bit about podcasting etc.being the new craze but I sometimes do wonder if this is just a phase or its being used in the best way it possibly can and should everyone and anyone jump on this because its new and cool. Is there any research /data to prove it is significantly affecting teaching and more importantly learning.
I doubt it. Podcast to me are really good and effective if done in an innovative, creative ways for some creative ideas. concepts and fields of studies. They (video podcasts especially) are great for demonstrating ideas or concepts.
The re usability and the ability for students to go back and review a material over and over are great advantages. Again the quality of the podcast will depend on the instructor and there creativity, which (from what i have seen in things like simple voice over ppt etc )is questionable in many cases.
Just recording your lecture and put it on web is not enough and is probably waste of time if enough time and effort is not put in.
I am just starting to explore and understand all this.
University of Washinton seems to be doing lot of cool stuff with Podcasting , screencasting etc. You can read their blog HERE
An extremely comprehensive guide about Podcasting in education can be FOUND HERE

Youtube videos

Video's from Youtube

Gabcast

I just created my Gabcast audio entry .Gabcast is an interesting tool . I found it really easy to use. Recording audio and publishing it on your blog takes 2 clicks and 1 phone call.
People who might not have access to microphone /internet at a certain time can still add audio files to their blogs or websites. I don't know of any other way to record phone conference call and publish it so easily.

My Gabcast posting:Phone records #1