16. ZOHO WRITER IN ONLINE CLASS
Team Work
Anytime/Anywhere
Accessibility
Calendar Feature
Editor's Notes
ooVoo is a free video conferencing program, much like Skype and Google Hangout, that allows you to video conference up to 12 people and IM chat at the same time.
ooVoo has some great perks when it comes to using the web 2.0 program. Registration is very easy to do and once you have registered you can sign in using Facebook that makes it that much easier. It will automatically check your contacs to see who has an ooVoo account and with your permission send out a message to those contacts to invite them to join. It also keeps track of your incoming, outgoing and missed calls. You are also able to video chat with up to 12 people at once and use instant messaging at the same time.
UsingooVoo you are able place calls when you buy credits. You are able to upload and download files with ease and share them with whom ever you wish. With your membership you get 25 Mb of free memory. What is very cool is that you are able to have ooVoo on any apple and android device. With your android phone you can have a 4 way video calling and able to im at the same time.
One of the disadvantages is that with the free version you get a lot of ads that pop up while you are on video calls or Instant Messaging. Some of those ads are inappropriate for children. You would have to buy a membership for $2.99 a month to get rid of the advertizing. I also found out that it isn’t as well known as Google Hangout or Skype. Most people have Skype or use Google Hangout. I found when I use oovoo in a video call that the other people you are talking too start to get distorted or you are unable to understand what they are saying. There is also more of a delay then when I have used Google Hangout.
Is it good enough for Online Schooling????? I don’t think so! This is because of the types of ads and it isn’t reliable enough to eliminate the frustration of poor quality video and audio. It does have being able to view YouTube projects and File sharing, but so does Google hangout. You are able to video conference up to 12 people while Google Hangout only allows up to 9 people at one time.
Nimbuzz is marketed as a free call and messaging app for the connected generation. Nimbuzz combines the powers of the Internet and mobile communications into one, and lets users make calls, send messages and share files on any mobile device, for free.
The fact that Nimbuzz accommodates both Apple and Android users is a definite plus. Free is always an advantage, especially for educational purposes. Nimbuzz is perfect for collaborating on the go or at home because of the array of devices the app functions on. Desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smart phones are all Nimbuzz friendly.
Nimbuzz also offers users added features by means of N-World, a service that allow users to buy various types of virtual goods, such as avatars, bots, and games. While Nimbuzz touts these added features as perks, as teachers, we have to evaluate the educational value of these tools. “Meet a Stranger” and “Gifting a Beer” to a friend do not have a place in a professional learning environment. This leads to a discussion on the other disadvantages of Nimbuzz.
Although Nimbuzz is a “free” app, it relies on an internet connection. Users should carefully look at their cellular data plans. You may not be getting hit with a text message fee, but your data usage might sky-rocket. Nimbuzz Out allows you to call mobile and landline phones at really low rates, but that still isn’t free. The free calling is done online, operating similar to Skype. Additionally, when file sending, the files need to be 5 MB or smaller. This can be very limiting when trying to collaborate.
As a group trying to work together, we quickly discovered that face to face time served our needs much greater than messaging in a chat room. Free services like Google Hangout, Skype, and ooVoo allow for face to face collaboration that better simulates a classroom setting. Chatting can be confusing as multiple users comment. The conversation becomes difficult to follow as it often times gets out of order.
Zoho Writer is an online web service that lets you do almost anything online that you can do on a desktop computer-from creating documents to to building a spreadsheet to managing a database plus conferencing, project management and chatting.
Zoho Writer is easy to use service that can be accessed at any time from any computer. Zoho Writer offers 1GB of storage for free. Users can get 2 or 5 GB for $3 and $5 per month respectively. The 2 and 5 GB also offer 15 day free trials. Zoho Writer allows for true collaboration. Those who share documents can easily edit them through file sharing, saving email time of documents when working in teams. Zoho Writer also allows for restrictions to be put on shared documents, meaning they can be labeled as ‘look, but don’t touch’ once details have been decided upon among team members. Documents can be shared with friends or colleagues.
There are very few negatives to Zoho Writer. One main drawback is that it does not automatically spell check a work. There is a spell checker option, but it must be manually turned on. Zoho Writer also does not allow for indentation to the first line only of a paragraph. Zoho Writer does not support advanced document functions like embedding presentations or spreadsheets within documents. When using Zoho for conferencing, it can only be done on a one-on-one basis. It does not support multiple users conferencing at once. File sharing can only be done with other Zoho members. There is no sharing outside of Zoho membership.
Useful tool in peer editing which allows students to work together on group projects. Students can save important documents and then access them fro anywhere. Calendar/planner feature can be used to set reminders of homework or project dates.
