Skype text based chat is so far the most accessible chat

Everyone except Michael seems to be able to access the text bases access to Skype - it is a lovely environment because of the way it is lain out and especially because of the little pens that indicate who is preparing by writing a response soon to be sent to the chat.

There have been calls for some persistence with audio or voice and I am intending to do that soon but the fall back environment looks like it will be text based Skype not the LMS chat even though SKype is not favoured by the Uni.

The alternative voice environments I am thinking of might need to be taken up or at least attempted next time we are on. But I must prepare everyone better to return to and keep open the text based Skype environment so that probs or issues can be identifies and maybe we all have to return there to continue if the audio or voice is just too hard for us to handle.

August 22 another Wednesday night and another set of problems with voice based chat and the virtual classroom

Last Wednesday the 22 August started sort of OK with some of us in the Virtual clasroom of blackboard and only about three unable to get in. It also eventually ended quite well with everyone except Michael able to access the text based aspect of Skype. But in between the voice based component of Skype again led to some confusion and brought to the surface the technical issues of the difference between Skypecasting and conference calling.

In addition it is also worth noticing that the text based environment of Skype has so far been the most successful for the largest number of students so far - even though Michael had problems with it not being installed on the university's computers. I is probably the environment that we will now continue to use as the fall back environment for chat.

But first we need to note that even the starting point last Wednesday in the text and whiteboard based virtual classroom of Blackboard was a little disappointing in that not all of the class could access thats environment. The issue mentioned on the first night of browser compatibility and with a java player that might have to updated ( Debbie noted this last Wednesday that her problems with the Blackboard VC were solved by downloading and installing the new java player that plugged in automatically to her browser on install. Now I still do not know whether Debbie's solution will work for Christine or for Sam who both seem not to have access and it is let me hasten to add not their fault or indeed mine. The university is paying the Blackboard company enormous amoundt of money and there are a very expensive team of University staff employed to make sure the Learning management system works smoothly> Browser and java player issues are very basic issues that should be resolved very early in an implementation of a system such as this so all I can say in relation to the LMS and the lack of access to the VC is I will look into getting some some of that technical support that is being paid for to get this resolved. But the thing worth noting is that it does not matter how much you pay you still seem to have technical issues - money does not solve all problems it seems.

So the free text based chat environment of Skype now looks like it is more accessible than the Blackboard virtual classroom environment that the university is paying for.

Now for the middle bit of the chat last Wednesday which was again attempting to get the voice based aspects of Skype working for more than 9 users it is the case that as part of this subject's attempt ro evaluate online technologies everyone should be aware that a Skypecast is a different technology to the Skype voice based conference call. It may appear that the two are designed to achieve the same outcome however the as we know from the week before the conference call can only have 9 participants and all others are excluded. WHereas the documentation for Skypecast says you can get at least 100 participants to at least hear what is going on.

This Skypecast thing would have been good had it worked and the reason it did not work was that it requires the most recent addition of Skype to be installed on all the computers accessing the Skypecast. The fact that only Debbie got in attests to how recent the install has to be - only she and i were in the Skypecast.

The voice based conference calling in Skype was a first level fall back position which worked upto a point in so far as I hosted and called as many as I could to the conference which immediately confused people who answered the unexpected invitation from me and then began a group conversation that I could hear but could not participate in possibly because i also had open my Skypecast environment which i was also hosting.

Despite my not being there in voice or perhaps because I was not "socially present" as a voice there seemed to be quite lively discussion and there was a lot of assistance and explaining that was going on which I could hear but not respond to except in the text based environment of Skype. i think people enjoyed hearing each other and that did add a little more "social presence" for those able to participate fully.

Later on just going to the text based Skype there was still a lot gong on and alot of assisitance and suggestions about what was working and what was not and it wven led to discussions of whether video conferencing would add or detract from learning online good stuff really I will leave it open for your comments to this now if there are any observations you would like to make press the Comments word below and type in what you think was going on or ways to avoid some of the issues we faced.

What happened in the Skype chat last Wednesday evening?

There were 9 of us all in the same voice conference - but maybe it was about 5 too many even though at different times there was at least one of us who could not get into the chat because Skype has a limit of 9 participants in conference calls.

I was expecting some confusion because we were shifting between software environments but I think having so many items open at once was a problem. I know that leaving the chat window open was a good fall back as some could not get into Skype but maybe we should have just had one Skype window open and not about 4 or sometimes 5 as I ended up with - as I accepted different Skype phone calls from those who could not access the other conference call

Skype text based chat is great and I hope people have not been put off by the many windows open at once syndrome. That is not the normal way to use it. We might need to restrict ourselves to one or two windows.

The big temptation is if you are having problems with Skype is to directly ring someone and then if they are in a conversation with others get the to put their conversation on hold to answer your direct call.

At this point it does become a little annoying in that if the person who takes the call is the same one who is hosting the voice conference then everyone else is on hold too

This does not happen with text based Skype chat - however if there is a voice chat going it is so tempting to be in that as it is so much more immediate.

This is Skype's big plus for online learning it is immediate and then sense of social presence is very much enhanced.

The big draw back is that it can only handle 9 people. Strangely 9 people all talking at once is a drawback to and any more would I expect be a further nightmare.

Skype voice based conferencing really needs some prety firm ground rules about turn taking to be agreed to before people go there - however I think spending too much time setting ground rules before anyone has any experience of why might actually take the spontaneity and level of excitement oot of peoples first experience with Skpe.

I wonder in the interest of keeping people motivated to use online there needs to be only just minimal rule setting and then put up with a bit of confusion until things settle later.

Anyway open to ideas on what you thought of Skype as a teaching and learning environment - I hope I have not put too many of you off _ I really think it has a lot f potential

I wonder if we find the blog environments more inviting than the online discussion environment?

There is a sense that blogs are an inviting way of getting students to post their ideas.

But there are both advantages and disadvantages in blogging when comparing that to posting messages in an online discussion.

This is a very unscientific experiment to see if I get any responses or comments on this idea in this blog as against getting a discussion going in the online discussion.

So the question is what are the advantages and disadvantages as you see them in using blogs over using an online discussion?

Practical online education understandings or competencies for activities or online tutorials

There are a range or areas that we might need to do a survey on to see if lecture or practical activity or tutorial demonstration might be needed. Many of them are to do the practicalities of web software and visual design and the practicalities of how to do that in relation to educational appropriateness or value. Some of you might know about some the areas below.

Add a comment to this message if you can think of other things you would like to cover or that you personally would be able to cover for us.


For example some of the areas that might need some attention depending on everyone's level of interest are in no particular order
graphic design
screen layout
CSS and xhtml
information architecture
discussion moderation
use of design and web file software like Dreamweaver, Fireworks, NVU, WSftp etc
Webquesting
online questions
using blogs for learning activities
screen capture
video compression for the web
interaction design for learning
online simulations
online navigation
flow diagrams
project organisation
etc

Hi all at 8.30 pm Wednesday August 1 Online Learning

Hi all at 8.30 pm Wednesday August 1 Online Learning