Video conferencing

 

Here are some suggestions:

  

DimDim

A free online webmeeting tool. You can share files - such as PowerPoint presentations or .pdf documents, your desktop and collaborate on a whiteboard. It has both text and video chat. I have used this and it works well, but had the following intermittent problems:

 

• with time lag (delay) on the voice,
• the text chat window not appearing and
• the session recording only picking up the host's voice.

 

The tool is, however, free and overall it works well. Upgrade available.

  

WiZiQ

A free online webmeeting tool. You can upload files to your personal library and share them during sessions. These can be PowerPoint presentations, .pdf documents, and even video.  You can collaborate in real-time on a whiteboard. It has both text and video chat. I have used this and it works well, but had the following intermittent problems:

 

• time lag (delay) on the voice,
• the session recording sometimes being jumbled up.

 

The tool is, however, free and overall it works well. Upgrade available.

 

Userplane 

Free (with ads) video and text chat. Can be embeded into a webpage. No experience of this tool

  

Skype+

Combining the Skype telephony service with other tools offers interesting possibilities for conferencing. the idea being that you can use Skype conference call for the voice chat - this is a robust, relaible service with other easy to use applications for sharing other media such as whiteboards or files or even your desktop.

 

Examples:

 

• Skype + Drop.io

Use Skype for voice conferencing and at the same time share files (very easily) with Drop.io (see the File-sharing page here for more on this free web-based tool. I have used this - not extensively - and it seems to work very nicely. What's particularly good about this combination is that it involves no extra downloading of software for Drop.io and not even any registration. So, a nice user-friendly experience for your learners.

 

• Skype + Yuugu

Again use Skype for voice conferencing and at the same time share files and very interestingly your desktop. His looks like a good combination, espexially as no downloading is involved for your particpants, but you as host need to download and install a client. So again it should be trouble-free for your learners to join sessions so long as theey are up and running with Skype.

 

 

• Skype + Twiddla

If you just need a whiteboad for your online meeting then Twiddla is a good option. It has document upload and its own voice chat functions, but I've found these to be a little hit 'n' miss. The whiteboard, however,  works well and so too does the text chat. The interface is simple, attractive and user-friendly. And importantly, inviting your learners to the room is very easily done.

 

Text chat

 

PBwiki in common with other wiki hosting services offers a plug-in for text chat (see below). There are also free video conferencing tools that can be embedded in wiki pages (see below). These tools give us the means to use a class wiki also as a place for leaners to meet and interact (with or without a tutor) to practise their English synchronously.

 

I have added these tools to a wiki I have recently set up for some groups I am teaching and I would like to add suggestions to the page for things the learners can do together when they meet there without me. So, check out out the tools, if you're not already familiar with them, and add any ideas that you may have below. (To do so, just click on Edit and then on Save when you're ready).

 

This is a Meebo chat room, which unlike the default Gabbly chat room plugin (see below) has no adds and has the added bonus of allowing you to embed a video.

 

 

I think this is a much better option than the Gabbly (below) - what do you think? To get a chat room like this you need to register with meebo and then go to meebo rooms. It seems you can create as many rooms as you like and all for free!

 

Please let us know what you think and if you have some suggestions for how to present this kind of tool to students with ideas for how they should use it please jot them down below.

 

This is the default chat room plug-in:

 

 

 

Whiteboards & Collaborative Communication Tools 

 

Here is a useful site which reviews a number of webtools specifically designed for collaboration such as shared workspaces and chat tools:

 

Collaborative tools