Unit 3 Assignment 1

Posted on April 9th, 2008 in Uncategorized by misstizzy

The next two weeks will cover one of my favorite tools, Skype. This first week will involve having you set up Skype on your computer and play a little with the chat feature. Next week, we’ll take it to the next level and actually set up a Skype call.

First things first…
Just what is Skype? Skype is a free computer to computer calling system. You can chat instantly and conduct audio and video calls live from your computer. There is also a paid version of Skypethat allows you to call regular telephones and mobile phones.

Why would you want to use Skype? Teachers all over the world are using Skype to connect their students. Imagine teaching a unit on Asia and connecting with a teacher in an Asian country. The students can share cultural information first hand. On Read Across America Day teachers from all over the country had their class read a book to another class via Skype. The possibilities are endless.

To see a quick Skype demo check out this video.
Download Video: Posted by eduwikius at TeacherTube.com.

Assignment Part 1

Go to the Skype website and download the software onto your computer. On the set up screen, you may want to uncheck some of the options - like start Skype as soon as the computer is turned on.

Once it is loaded, create a new account. Make sure you pick a username and password you can remember.

Once you have your account and you’re logged into Skype, click on the Contacts tab and click the Add Contact button. Search from “misstizzy67″ (that’s me!). Click on my name when it appears. Click Add Skype contact. It will send me a notice when that’s complete.

Part 2 of this assignment - Learn a little more

This video does a great job of explaining some of the details regarding using Skype.

Unit 2 Assignment 3

Posted on April 2nd, 2008 in Uncategorized by misstizzy  Tagged

Diigo - (Dee-go)

Diigo is a social bookmarking site that has become all the rage in the past couple of weeks with ed tech folks across the globe. Not only does it allow you to save and access your favorites from any computer with an internet connection, but you can highlight and make notes directly on the page.

Check out the Diigo Demo video: http://www.diigo.com/index

and the Diigo overview: http://www.diigo.com/learn_more?p=1

Learn to Diigo:

Diigo also has the social aspect like Del.icio.us. You can add friends and view their bookmarks. You can create groups such as your grade level that allows others to share relevant links. It allows you to start discussions and send messages to others in your network. It enhances the “social” part of social bookmarking.

If you decide you like Diigo better than Del.icio.us, you can import all of your Del.icio.us favorites into Diigo with little effort.

Your assignment this week is to take a look at Diigo and see what you think. Post your thoughts in the comment section.

Next week we’ll start to learn about Skype. If you don’t have a Skype account, you may want to go to http://www.skype.com to learn more and sign up for an account.