The synchronous communication tools that were covered in the E-Toolkit were ones I have already used.  It was nice to see something familiar.  The tools that I have used so far in my MET career were Wimba, WebCT Chat, and Elluminate Live.  The other tools that I have used, but not in a classroom environment, are Skype, iChat, iMessage, and Chat Moodle.

The challenge in using these tools is due to available technology.  The tools I used for my MET classes, varied in effectiveness depending on if I was using my old Dell or my new MacBook.  Needless to say they worked much easier and the set up was far quicker with my MacBook.  The only problem with the MacBook was using Safari, once I realized some tools worked better on both Google Chrome and Mozilla those problems were gone.

I have found all these tools to work well and easy to navigate.  I think the question is which tool is right for the user.  Wimba and Elluminate were very similar in their ability to use text chat, audio chat, or video chat.  Of the tools mentioned in the E-Toolkit these two would be the most comprehensive and all-inclusive.  Students can participate with text chat only if they lack a microphone and/or camera.  Choosing to use these tools would allow all students to participate if they access to a computer.

The “chat” options are also effective when using the WebCT or Moodle.  It allows the students to connect, do group work, and pose questions to the teacher.  Having these “chat” tools also gives the students some security that only those in the class will participate where as the use of iChat or other instant messaging options can bring people in to the discussion that are not in that class.  The other problem would be the flow of information with the instant messaging options.  They are not as organized and visible to all participants as the “chat” options in WebCt and Moodle.

Skype and Facetime, for Macs, are great options if you are working with a small group.  I feel these tools would limit participation in a classroom discussion.

Choosing the correct tool is the big challenge.  Using an LMS is going to give the teacher and the students more privacy for their discussions and control on the participation for these synchronous communication tools.

I wasn’t sure about this part of the E-Toolkit because there was no active link in the title but I went through it.  The section about images that were supposed to use did not work for me.  The links did not work on Mozilla or Safari so I couldn’t follow the cropping and resizing practice.  I do have iPhoto so I simply used that for this section.  iPhoto is extremely easy to use as I am sure Picassa is to use.  In iPhoto cropping the pictures and resizing them makes the pictures that my wife and I take look very professional.  We have a few pictures framed from our Cross Canada trip this summer that we doctored with iPhoto and people always compliment us on out photography skills.  We take the compliment gracefully them tell them it was iPhoto.  When using audio I have had some problems.  I have a Bose headset that I use fo my iPod , iPhone and MacBook.  It works perfect and the sound is amazing no matter which device I use.  I also like that I can play my music loud and not bother those around me because the sound does not escape as easily.  That being said the headset I use was completely useless on my PC at school and my old Dell laptop.  I had to use a headset a friend of mine had before I got my MacBook.  I looked like I was working at a Cal Centre and the sound and microphone were low so I had to have all levels high to hear anything.  Having the correct accessories for the task at hand is essential and I would have to explain that to my students if I chose to use any audio with my class site. The DVD section was really nothing new to me.  I still burn CD’s for my Mom so she can play them on her CD player (she is 78 but uses an iPad) because she doesn’t like “things in her ears” and won’t use the iPod I bought her.  As our children have gotten older we have stopped using a video camera and we prefer to take pictures.  I survived a childhood without any videos of me being taken.  I had to use my phone because our video camera is embarrassing in its age and capabilities.  The iPhone and even the iPad are extremely handy for capturing short pieces of video.  I can actually use iMovie or iPhoto to put my pictures in a slide show format with test and music.  Most of the pictures we have are backed up on CD’s as well as an external hard drive for safe keeping and viewing.

This section was the one that scared the crap out of me.  I saw web design and HTML and thought I can’t do this very well.  This was the first part of the E-Toolkit that I opened.  It was also the first part I ran from screaming and panicking.  That was my first taste of the E-Toolkit and I have to say it was overwhelming.  As the course went on I would go back to this section and try again, only to be totally frustrated by my lack of knowledge and experience with the technology.  I think I may be a chartered member of the “Websites that Suck” club.  This was very labour intensive and by no means enjoyable.  As the course went on there were some parts of this section that did help with my Moodle site.  I have to be honest, of all the things I did in this course, this section was my least enjoyable and most humbling.  I never considered myself to be a technology genius but I also never thought I should be in the “slow class”.