{"id":50,"date":"2011-06-22T09:19:39","date_gmt":"2011-06-22T17:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/?p=50"},"modified":"2011-06-22T09:19:39","modified_gmt":"2011-06-22T17:19:39","slug":"kiss-keep-it-simple-stupid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/2011\/06\/22\/kiss-keep-it-simple-stupid\/","title":{"rendered":"KISS (Keep it Simple, Stupid)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>KISS. \u00a0That’s my mantra for finding suitable programs to facilitate synchronous communication for my moodle site.<\/p>\n

I am searching for an open source synchronous communication package to use for my Moodle course.\u00a0 I have experience using Skype, for my own graduate studies, and for my personal communication with family and friends.\u00a0 I like Skype.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to set up and use.\u00a0 However, \u00a0my top priorty is to show videos to my class via this communication mediu.\u00a0 I wanted my class and I to be able to watch the video together through a centrally located screen.\u00a0 I had two programs to explore:\u00a0 dimdim and openmeetings.\u00a0 The former, however, no longer accepts new clients as the company has been bought out.\u00a0 Openmeetings seemed to fit the bill.<\/p>\n

After an initial exploration two weeks ago, I decided to go back today to evaluate the site in greater detail.\u00a0 The bookmark that I\u2019d saved was no longer working.\u00a0 I did a search and found a link that worked.\u00a0 Once I got on I found that I could only add text.\u00a0 The program didn\u2019t allow me to embed videos; I could post the link to youtube, but it wasn\u2019t hyperlinked.\u00a0 After searching the entire site for a way to upload a video, I found a small \u201cfile\u201d tab at the top right of the screen instead of the main whiteboard area where one would expect to find it.\u00a0 The program didn\u2019t even recognize the video files that I\u2019d saved to my computer.\u00a0 I did manage to upload a picture, but once uploaded I couldn\u2019t find a way to add it to the whiteboard that students could use.\u00a0 In fact, I couldn\u2019t even view the image!<\/p>\n

I found the program counter-intuitive, time consuming, and extremely slow.\u00a0 The latter, however, might be on account of my own computer\u2019s ever decreasing speed.\u00a0 I learned something important, though:\u00a0 if the program\u2019s slow for me, it will probably be the same for my students, and will frustrate them to no end as it\u2019s done for me today.\u00a0 Also, I may have files saved to my hard drive in formats that not all of my students would be able to access; that\u2019s why I wanted students to be able to view it from the whiteboard.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s my solution?\u00a0 I\u2019ll be sticking with Skype for the time being.\u00a0 I will have an easier time encouraging \u00a0students to use Skype than openmeetings.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t meet my top priority, but I\u2019ll have to make-do as I\u2019ve done all along.\u00a0 I will send links to students ahead of time and have them listen before coming to class with a list of questions to consider.\u00a0 We\u2019ll then meet as a group and have the students discuss their responses.\u00a0 If we need to refer back to the video, we can give timings in the video that will direct us to precise points \u00a0in the video where we should focus our attention.<\/p>\n

Because technophobia is so rampant among students, I must be very careful which software and programs I choose to use with my students.\u00a0 I am asking them to go where \u201cno student has gone before\u201d in the classroom, and if they encounter too many obstacles in the path to learning, then I have failed them as an educator.\u00a0 The technology is the means to a pedagogical end; it is not the means itself.\u00a0 I want my students focusing on content of the course, not the technological aspects of access.<\/p>\n

Skype will meet my needs to provide synchronous office hours.\u00a0 It will enable students to reach me at the appointed hours in ways that are convenient.\u00a0 They will not need to come onto campus to find me, or spend valuable phone credit to call me.\u00a0 They can ask a quick question then disappear, or they can stay a bit longer to visit.\u00a0 We can share files and links.\u00a0 I can even hold small group meetings with students.\u00a0 Skype will save us the headache and frustration that I experienced today with openmeetings.de.\u00a0 I will practice KISS.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KISS. \u00a0That’s my mantra for finding suitable programs to facilitate synchronous communication for my moodle site. I am searching for an open source synchronous communication package to use for my Moodle course.\u00a0 I have experience using Skype, for my own graduate studies, and for my personal communication with family and friends.\u00a0 I like Skype.\u00a0 It\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7335,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions\/53"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/davidson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}