Ichat, Podcasts, Vodcasts, Wikis, Skype, Second Life, AWEDU, Webx, Video Conferencing

Computers

Communication

Juline A. Smith

Spring 2007

Educ 5991 Communication has been a part of human culture since the time of cave drawing. Today, the Internet has created communication avenues that were unimaginable a mere 20 years ago. With the implementation and increased availability of high speed connectivity and the exponential growth of personal computers our communication world is expanding daily. The computer has become an inimitable communication tool: iChat, podcasts, vodcasts, wikis, Skype, Second Life, AWEDU, WebX, video conferencing, YouTube, blogs. These applications comprise only a short list of what is currently available to enable educators and students to communicate with one another and the world in both synchronous and asynchronous environments.

This paper will take a brief look at a few of these communication programs including usage, application, benefits and potential drawbacks.

Skype is one of the numerous options available for direct voice communication via the

Web. Other options for this type of communication include Net2Phone, Microsoft

Netmeeting, Yahoo Voice, FreeWorld Dial-up - just to name a few. I will not address all the options of all communication programs available but will discuss the generalities of this communication application with an emphasis on Skype.

What is Skype? It is a software program that uses voice over IP technology to connect with the world. Skype is available for Mac, Linux, Windows and Pocket PC/Windows

Mobile platforms. Skype allows users to make voice and video calls free of charge to other Skype users worldwide. It also has the option, for a charge, to make calls to non- Skype users’ phones. Skype is easy to install and placing calls using Skype is fairly simple and straightforward. Users simply need to download the free software, install and register it, plug in a headset or a USB phone then call friends, provided they are also

Skypees’. After you download and install the software, you simple click on a contact to make a call. You can set up conference calls with other Skype users with the click of a few simple buttons. With the addition of a webcam, it is easy to turn your conference call into a video conference. Skype recently, since being acquired by eBay for $2.6 billion, has added numerous bells and whistles (Moran, 2007).

One of the options available is a shared whiteboard that can be viewed by all participants.

You can also record the audio session for later reference. This option could be particularly helpful in an educational setting. Another option is participating in

Skypecasts. These are large, hosted calls on Skype where you can join live conversations, connect with new people and have fun. These appear to be similar to online chat rooms. Anyone can join and it's all for free. From just a quick search, topics can range from X-rated to making money using Google. However, a search of 23 pages of Skypecast, yielded only two that applied to education. Fortunately, as a Skype user, you can initiate your own Skypecast on any topic of your choosing.

Vicki Davis has created a wonderful and informative video on setting up and using

Skype in a classroom setting. She takes viewer through the steps on safely setting up

Skype for student users. Skype could prove to be a very inexpensive way to set up a global project at minimal cost without the need for more than a computer and a fast internet connection. Teachers interested in locating classroom friendly Skypees can check out ePals (www.epals.org). This Internet resource lists like-minded educators that are interested in collaborating on classroom projects. After registering you can search the website for classrooms from around the world that you are interested in interacting with.

“Skype can tangibly expand the walls of the traditional classroom and engage students to write, share, and communicate with an authentic audience inaccessible just a few years ago. Educators interested in helping motivate students to develop both traditional as well as twenty- first century literacy skills in the classroom can and should use audio conferencing technologies like Skype to literally plug their students into collaborative exchanges with global partners on a variety of projects.” (Fryer, 2006). iChat (Mac only), AIM (Mac and PC), MSN Messenger (Mac and PC), Adium are instant messaging (IM) programs that allow synchronous communication between two computer users. Instant messaging is a type of communication service that enables you to have a private conversation with another individual. Messenging is done via text typed on the keyboard. The message is typed in by the sending party, entered and then sent to the receiving party. Participants also have the ability to join linked public or private (if invited) chat rooms. The main focus of instant messaging is a one-on-one real time conversation. IM’s ease of use and immediate response are viewed as its primary benefits, while privacy and security concerns along with its potential as a time waster are seen as its biggest drawbacks.

Recent next generation versions of iChat allow online users to video chat in a full-screen personal video conference environment over any broadband connection. Current versions allow synchronous video chat with three or four other individuals. When you install iChat

AV, the software automatically configures and optimizes itself for your setup. There is no hassle over network setup or peripherals. While iChat AV works best with iSight, you can use any FireWire DV camera or Webcam for video chat.

With the incorporation of chat (IM) media come both bad and good. The benefits of chat include the ability to communicate is real time; all you need is an Internet connection. It is also a much safer environment than chat rooms as you can control who is allowed on your buddy list. Chat is also a valuable communication tool for someone that may be to shy to voice their opinion in a face-to-face setting. Some of the no-so-great things associated with IM are the facts that careless account set-up may open your chat account to all users, not just your buddies and personal profiles may be just a bit too personal.

There is also the misuse of IM. Bullying and gossiping in an anonymous setting could prove to be very intimidating. For schools, one of the major drawbacks of chat is the proliferation of viruses that can be embedded in file transfers.

Chat is relatively new to the educational environment, but is pretty much a mainstay of communication with most students. IM is seen as having many uses affording benefits to both educators and students. IM in education is not without its drawbacks however, under a supervised environment, they benefits may outweigh the negative drawbacks. IM can be used in an educational setting to establish virtual office hours, stimulate classroom discussions, establish a mentoring program, conduct individual conferences or encourage collaborative work between students. Chat can be especially beneficial for distance/remote learning as it can serve to heighten the social presence for these students.

Podcasting (audio files only) and vodcasting (audio and visual presentations) are perhaps one of the hottest fields in digital communication media. The concept of podcasting has only been with us since around 2004. In the three years since it was simply a flight of the imagination in Adam Currys’ mind, it has evolved into one of the hottest areas of web publications, ranking up there with blogs and YouTube. What makes podcasting special is that it allows individuals to publish (podcast) radioshows, which interested listeners can subscribe to. Before podcasting you could of course record a radio show and put it on your website, but now people can automatically receive new shows, without having to go to a specific site and download it from there.

Podcasts are an outgrowth of webcasts. Webcasting is sending audio or video live over the Internet. In essence, webcasting can be thought of as broadcasting over the Internet in real-time – somewhat similar to television programming over the Internet. Podcasts differ in that they are digital audio media files that are distributed via the Web using RSS, which is simply a web feed format, that are automatically sent to subscribers whenever there is new content – somewhat similar to a newspaper or magazine subscription. The subscriber doesn’t have to go looking for new content, it is automatically sent to them.

This then allows the subscriber to access the information at their own leisure.

Podcasting is becoming increasingly popular in education either in the dissemination or acquisition of information. Podcasts enable students and teachers to share information with anyone at anytime. An absent student can download the podcast of the recorded lesson. It can be a tool for teachers or administrators to communicate curriculum, assignments and other information with parents and the community. Teachers can record lectures, vocabulary or foreign language lessons, music performances, interviews, debates. Podcasting can be a publishing tool for student oral presentations. If you are interested in learning how to create, producing and distribute podcasts, check out Kevin

Rose and Dan Huard, from Systms, exceptional instructional video on podcasting 101

There are a number of Internet sites that highlight educational podcasts and vodcasts.

Vodcasts are simply podcasts with a video component. Below is a list of just a few, to find more simply type podcast/vodcast into any search engine.

 The Education Podcast Network  iPodder

 Vodstock  Vodcasts TV

 Podcasting News  iTunes

 Podcast Alley

Using podcasts in the classroom is inexpensive, invites a global audience into the classroom, and has minimal risk of violation of privacy issues (only student voices are broadcast). They can be creative, interactive, engaging, empowering and fun projects for the students.

Podcasting has influenced all areas of education by providing: anytime/anywhere access to instructional content, up-to-date content, and addressing multiple intelligences. When used in distance/online education it increases student engagement productivity and motivation (Beldarrain, 2006). Podcasts are beneficial to learners in that they learn at their own pace, they can listen to the program as many times as needed as they need to in order to retain the information presented.

One drawback of podcasts is the lack of a visual component. Presenting tables, figures and images, that may be integral to the understanding of the material being present, is not a function that a podcast is capable of. However, these weaknesses can be overcome in a vodcast (Morales and Moses, 2006). The traditional method of creating and publishing podcasts is currently a multi-stepped process that may involve multiple pieces of equipment. Mac has overcome some of the difficulties with software such as

Garageband. A couple other providers that are trying to simplify the podcasting world with free and ‘simple’ podcast software are Orb and Odeo.

The podcast explosion has provided an excellent medium for the unleashing of student and instructor creativity. From simple narration to home-made recordings to unique projects to inspirational topics creativity, abounds in podcasts.

Wiki’s are asynchronous web based forums that allow multiple users to poste and collectively edit documents. Users can add, remove and edit content on a page using any web browser (Stafford and Webb, 2006). These attributes make wikis a versatile tool for large multi-participant projects and creating a dynamic database. The prime example of a wiki is Wikipedia, which is an open source encyclopedia. It would serve users well to hold suspect Wikipedia information and keep in mind that Wikipedia is an open source program where anyone can add whatever they want. What may appear as fact, may not necessarily be fact. Wikis are great for writing down ideas, instant collaboration without having to email documents back and forth, worldwide accessibility, instantly creating archives and empowering all participants.

The first wiki, WikiWikiWeb, was designed in 1995 by Ward Cunningham and Bo Leuf to be an open, collaborative community Website where anyone could contribute. The main goal of the first wiki was to design a fast and easy way to get things on the Web.

Wikis can be used for a large number of tasks, from note-taking to collaborating online, creating an internal knowledge base, assembling an online community, and managing traditional websites (Matias, 2003). There are a number of online sites that host free wikis: pbwiki.com, seedwiki.com, wikispaces.com and wikicities.com. Some course management software, Moodle for example, have a wiki module readily available for use.

Wikis may well be the easiest and most effective Web-based collaboration tool. There is no HTML or programming interface to learn in order to create a wiki. To edit wiki one simple needs to click the “edit” button, modify the text and then click “save”. The modified text is then sent back to the wiki server, replacing the existing text. Students can effortlessly hyperlink references, incorporate sounds movies and pictures, and expand community involvement and interest in their subject. Participation in the creation of a wiki helps promote pride in authorship and is limited only by ones imagination and time.

The ease of altering the content of an existing wiki is also one of its’ major drawback.

The door is always open for mischievous acts. Thus, wikis need to monitored to ensure that inappropriate language, spam and inaccurate or misrepresentation of content are not allowed. To help alleviate this problem, most wiki software allows the administrator of the wiki the ability to define edit privileges. They can be set up to allow only authorized individuals to modify content. Most wiki software programs provide the ability to view the history of the page as it is being built and edited.

Wikis are fact based communiqués the incorporate the extensive use of hyperlinks to support and provide credence and authentication of the facts presented in the wiki. Wikis can serve to teach students to collaborate in a meaningful and effective ways. The use of wikis in a classroom, as stated above, is only limited by the instructors and students imaginations. Vicki Davis has created a wonderful Website using wiki software and has immersed her class in the world of wiki.

As Davis’s example shows, wikis can be useful in creating simple websites. Students do not need to learn any HTML and the simplicity of wiki syntax means that students and instructors can concentrate on content. Wikis may also prove helpful in monitoring students projects. Students can post resources, rough drafts and final version all in one page. The research process could then be open to peer and instructor review in the development process, not just at the final product. By far, the principal use of wikis in a classroom is group projects.

Groups can collaborate to build on each others work, create and edit the project from any place at any time. All they need is access to the Internet. This type of group activity also enables the instructor to monitor the project for equal effort by all students involved in the project. With traditional paper and pencil projects, it isn’t always evident that all students have participated equally. Wikis have less frequently been used to collect data, review classes and draft presentations. Wiki’s can also effectively be used to post and update lecture notes for the students, test review sites or group created study sites.

Blogging is perhaps one of the most basic forms of individualized Web communication.

Whereas wikis are intended for the dissemination of fact, blogs, aka Web logs, are mainly based on extolling the opinions of the writer. They are sites that enable individuals to participate in the marketplace of ideas. Blogs allow the author to quickly and easily self- publish text, artwork, links to other blogs or Web sites, plus a whole array of other content. Blogs are basically text entries, similar to a diary or journal, that are posted online for the world to read and comment on. Postings are often short and frequently updated. Blogs work well for students because they can be worked on at virtually any time, in any place with an Internet-enabled computer. Hence, they can be used by computer savvy teachers to create a classroom that extends beyond the boundaries of the school yard.

Blogs not only provide teachers with an excellent tool for communicating with students, there are numerous educational benefits of blogs. Blogs can motivate students that may not otherwise participate in classrooms, they give students excellent opportunities for reading and writing, they provide excellent forums for discussion and are a powerful tool to enable scaffolded learning or mentoring (Downes, 2004). As an educational tool, blogs may be integrated in a multi-faceted manner to accommodate all learners. Blogs can serve a number of basic functions. They can serve as a portal to the classroom. They can be used to inform students of class requirements, post handouts and update homework assignments. Blogs can be a space for the discussion of topics outside of the classroom, where every student has the opportunity to share their opinions and thoughts.

One drawback of blogs is that they are created by individuals for various and assorted purposes. Content should be recognized as the opinion of the blogger, and, therefore, may not necessarily be factual.

There are a number of sites that host free education blogs. One site, Class Blogmeister, was especially designed for classroom applications by David Warlick, the originator of the Landmark Project.

One of the newest forms of online social and education communication is the three dimensional virtual environment.

“ Imagine an online classroom where students meet virtual representations of one another. They hear you and one another, as discussions take place over the content of you lessons. They present slide shows for their reports and work in small groups within different virtual rooms. This is the vision offered by three dimensional virtual classrooms and it is one quickly increasing in popularity. Students in far flung rural areas can us a school computer to login to a language classroom offered by a distant teacher. Lectures and other real-time materials can be delivered by the teachers and professors. Students can attend class and engage in hands-on learning through their avatars, from a distance. Online virtual reality has opened up whole new worlds teachers can use for educational purposes”. (Rice, 2006)

The idea of using three dimensional environments for educational purposes continues to grow in popularity. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that 3D online environments are much richer than traditional static Web pages. Sites like Second Life and Active World Educational Universe (AWEDU) have the potential for revolutionizing the educational experience. Second Life offers a separate area, Teen Second Life, which is designed specifically for younger users. To ensure the safety and protection of students on the Internet, instructors can purchase private islands (Second Life) or worlds

(AWEDU) in which only authorized individuals are allowed to enter.

Individuals enter a three dimensional world as an avatar (a virtual puppet) and participate in the world. In world, participants can create, collaborate, explore, join a conference or conduct experiments (Wagner, 2006). Virtual reality sites are quickly becoming one of the premier forms of interactive communication for distance learners that may feel isolated from their classmates. Teaching elements that are found in a typical classroom can be replicated in a three dimensional virtual classroom. Educators and students are also being attracted to virtual reality sites in order to explore innovative ways to interact with each other.

The application of this medium of communication could prove to be extremely beneficial in distance learning scenarios. Virtual classrooms support one-to-one, many-to-many and one-to many communications. There is the potential for cross-cultural communication, geographically distributed students can meet and collaborate and inworld mentoring can easily be achieved.

According to McGollerick (2007), virtual reality sites such as Second Life, “allow students to practice new skills and ideas and learn from their mistakes as preparation for real-world experiences.” Virtual 3D environments can meet many educational objectives. They can - address multiple ways of learning, tie learning to interaction and sharing, improve communication strategies, develop a sense of community and can be used to demonstrate difficult concepts. And let’s face it; students love this type of environment. Most have 3D gaming experience and are comfortable in this type of setting.

There may be limitations to the application of virtual classrooms in a traditional school site. Firewalls often limit access and private areas are not free, they are not even cheap.

If an instructor wishes to design a private area, there is a tremendous investment of time and energy, all of which are in short supply for some instructors. However, educational benefits may far outweigh the costs.

Plans are currently underway for the first Second Life International Best Practices in

Education Conference. The conference will be held on May 25, 2007 in venues all over the Second Life world, with exciting presentations, vendors and exhibitors, and everything an educator needs to know to get started exploring the possibilities for teaching, learning, and research in Second Life!

Students spend a good portion of their day using digital communication – text messaging,

YouTube, IM, MySpace, gaming – they are a generation that has grown up immersed in technology. By exposing students to the wide variety of meaningful communication opportunity available we are exposing today’s digital natives to the digital communication landscape of the twenty-first century. These communication tools can be used to create powerful analytical and synthetic work. In many ways, the traditional,

“transmission-based” educational model is insufficient for the needs of today’s learners and employers. Alternate avenues of communication via the Internet can provide engaging opportunities for students to develop desirable skills as digital storytellers and cutting-edge communicators. References

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