TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATIVE TOOLS IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

Introduction:

The learners of this generation are a new kind of breed and it is important that teachers understand how to deal with them. They seem to thrive in collaborative learning. They like to connect to the social networking sites. Creating and producing something are what they prefer to do rather than become consumers of information inside the classroom. They like to be mobile either physically or virtually as they traverse from point to point or site to site. Apparently they seem to be investing a huge amount of their time in a digital social environment although they can be more self-directed in choosing what they want to learn, how they want to learn and when they want to learn.

TECHNOLOGY AS A COLLABORATIVE TOOL

There are a lot of available tools and applications that can be used to work collaboratively with others: Some of these are skype, wikis, Blog, google form, web conferencing, Realtimeboard, among others. You need to explore ench application to be familiar with the features.

SKYPE

Skype is an IP telephony service provider that offers free calling between subscribers and low-cost calling to people who don't use the service. In addition to standard telephone calls, Skype enables file transfers, texting, video chat and videoconferencing. The service is available for desktop computers, notebook and tablet computers and other mobile devices, including mobile phones. A number of companies, including Skype, produce dedicated Skype phones.

Included in the free service is a softphone application that can be downloaded to any computing device running Windows, MacIntosh, Linux, or Windows Mobile operating systems. A function called SkypeOut enables calls to regular telephones; these calls are charged to a prepaid account or to a flat-fee annual subscription.

Skype's benefits, beyond the free and low-cost calls, are said to include easy set-up and good audio quality. To use Skype from a desktop computer, you just plug in a headset, a specialized VoIP phone or a regular phone (via an analog telephone adapter). You add contacts similarly to the way you do for instant messaging and then, to make a call, just click the icon next to the contact.

 

WIKI

 

is a software that allows you to create a page or a selection of pages designed to allow you to post or write, edit, or upload a link quickly. This is good when students need to work together to complete a task even if they are not physically together: A task such as writing a paper together, planning a presentation or surveying ideas from team members can be managed by wikispace that efficiently allows one to document the contribution of each member in the team. Work can be extended virtually and asynchronously.

Blogging In blogging, it is journaling your ideas to which others can react allowing a thread of discussion to take place and which can be used online. It is the abbreviation of weblog. It would help if you providedirection when using a weblog.

A. Use weblog with a clear instructional objective. It is an opportunity to explore the skill of communicating ideas. Like in writing class you can guide students on how to design the whole blog or upload materials and support students in developing critical communication.

B. Guidance on what and how to post will be needed. Teach the students that the blogging is for educational purposes and is different from a personal blog. Proper or formal language variety should be used. A writing prompt would help to guide your students posts.

C. With easy access to information, a major obligation is to teach the students to use multiple source and to cite them appropriately.

D.Writing about your ideas is a personal act but it is important that you are taught to make blogs personal without revealing too much of personal information such as contact information and too personal pictures. When writing blogs, you write your reflections but safeguarding yourself is also an important consideration.

E. It may help if you can look for very good examples of blogs. There are online and print publications that review blogs and you can use the information to guide you toward getting good models.

Google Group or Google Forms

Google Group or Google Form is an application that can be used in a collaborative documentation of ideas contributed by members of the team. Having a google account will come very handy and you can easily have access to a variety of applications.

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