ITS Technology Tips

VoiceThread is a collaborative online application that enables users to share a multimedia slideshow and make comments, as part of a group conversation. Once a thread is created, contributing users can comment using text, a webcam, a microphone or even by telephone. With VoiceThread, a group discussion can be securely captured and stored in one place. This tool could be used a part of a class or even just to share photographs with friends and family.

After registering with VoiceThread, as a free member, you are able to create up to three threads at a time. If you would like to be able to create additional threads or need more space, there are purchase options available on the site.

Ning is an online platform that allows you to create your own social network or join an existing one.  It’s a unique place to share your interests with other people online. By creating a Ning webpage, you can customize the look of your site and choose features to add, such as forums or media pages. It could be used for sharing ideas, connecting to people with similar interests or even in a classroom setting (see this Educause article for some ideas). On Ning, you can also find a wide range of networks to join from politics to art.

With Kwout, a Firefox Add-on, you can take screen shots of any Web page that you’d like to display as an image.  The distinguishing feature of Kwout is the use of an image map, which allows hyperlinks within the screen shot to remain active and clickable. The image above is an example of a screen shot taken using Kwout; notice that the links are active within the image.

To start using Kwout, you will need to first install the Kwout Firefox Add-on.   Users can easily share an image that includes an image map on a blog or social networking site, using the embed code that Kwout provides. There is also the option to post directly to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and other sites.

As online tools such as blogs, Twitter and RSS feeds are becoming more widely used to share information, it’s helpful to know about resources that explain how these tools work, while still remaining interesting.  Common Craft’s In Plain English series provides fun and simple tutorials on several areas, including technology, money, society and the environment.  Each video features paper cut-outs and narration; some technology topics include podcasting, RSS and Wikis.  Even though these videos are lighthearted, they are very well-made and informative and definitely worth sharing with colleagues or in the classroom.    

 Video Source:  http://www.commoncraft.com/blogs

Creative Kit in Google+ (formerly known as Picnik and has since joined Google) is a free online photo-editing program that offers an array of professional and fun tools. This application provides numerous creative filters and effects such as cinemascope, focal B&W, vignette and many others. A few highlights of the program include:

• - Allows you to upload pictures straight from social networking sites such as Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket and more
• - Access to creative and fun tools such as adding text, stickers and creating collages
• - Provides options to print straight from your computer, order prints online or order other photo projects like books, posters and wrapping paper

When you are reading articles on the Web, you are generally getting information from one source at a time. It can be a challenge to determine not only what is accurate but to also find evidence for alternative points of view.  Dispute Finder, a new free online tool, provides alternative sources to disputed claims on the Web.  The Dispute Finder Web page allows you to create a new disputed claim or see a listing of claims marked by other users.  The Dispute Finder Firefox Extension will highlight snippets of Web articles that contain disputed claims and provide alternative sources.  Visit the Dispute Finder page to learn more.

When surfing the Web, it’s all too common for us to find useful bits and pieces of information that we want to save and possibly share. We end up bookmarking tons of websites and forget about many of them — even if we have our bookmarks meticulously organized! With Clipboard, you can easily “clip” the key portions of the websites you visit including text, images and even videos. Instead of bookmarking or emailing entire pages, you can clip only the pieces you would like to save, email, or post to your webpage or blog. With a free Clipboard account, you can save clips to your own searchable library as well as create a ClipCast slideshow consisting of the Web clippings you’d like to compile and share.

Getting Started

First you’ll need to install the Clipboard browser extension for Firefox or Chrome: located here. Once you follow the installation instructions, the Clipboard button will show up in your Web browser’s toolbar.

When you click on the Clipboard button you will enter “clip mode” and instructions to clip will appear in your toolbar. You can email and print your clips from your toolbar; however you will need to set up a free Clipboard account in order to save your clips, publish to a blog or webpage, or create a ClipCast. Check out the Clipboard How-to-clip page for further instructions and helpful information.

If you’re a booklover whose typical conversations with friends include the question, “Read any good books lately?,” finding new reading materials can be easier than you think. Goodreads is a free website that allows you to keep track of what you’ve read or are planning to read, write reviews, and see what your friends are reading. The main benefit of using Goodreads is its social networking potential; using the site is all about getting suggestions from other users.

Loyola Libraries has its own account, which provides the Loyola community with a great chance to learn what faculty and staff at Loyola Libraries are reading. If you are already on Goodreads or want to join, don’t forget to add Loyola Libraries as a friend to get their book reviews in your regular digest.

Set up an Account

While you can simply peruse the website to learn what others are reading, in order to get the most out of Goodreads, you’ll want to set up an account and start adding friends. Once you provide your email address and create a password on the on the Sign-up page, Goodreads will enable you to find friends in your address book who already have accounts, if you use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, or AOL. Additionally, you may send a Goodreads invitation to your contacts who do not yet have an account. It’s also worthwhile to check out the recent reviews, where you can learn how users have rated books in categories such as popular, most read, and unpopular. It can be helpful to learn how others have rated your favorite book or the next novel you are planning to read; and it’s especially rewarding to receive recommendations from those whose opinions you value most, your friends!

Many television networks now offer current program episodes on their individual websites, which is a good thing but may leave you weeding through numerous sites to find videos. Additionally, when searching across the Web, it can be a challenge to find T.V. episodes, video clips or movies that are available to users legally. The online video distribution service, Hulu, is like one-stop shopping to find full-length episodes of T.V. shows, both current and classic, as well as full-length movies and video clips. Whether you are curious to find your favorite sitcom from the ‘80s or you are looking for a video clip for a class presentation, Hulu is an invaluable resource for discovering video content on the Web.

Using Hulu

Hulu is a free and legal service that acquires the rights to distribute its videos. All users need to play videos is a Flash 9.0 enabled computer with an Internet connection. One of the unique features of Hulu is the clipping feature that enables users to select a portion of a video to share. Users have the option to share videos via email or embed clips on other Web sites, blogs and social networking pages.

Now that you’ve got your latest vacation photos stored on your computer, your next question might be, “how can I share these photos with everyone?” Emailing photos has its limitations, especially if you have many pictures.  With Flickr, an online photo-sharing application, you can upload your photos to the site and create Groups to control who can access the photos.  Not only can the members of your group view your photos, they can make comments and add notes too.  With Flickr, it’s easy to manage your pictures and share them with anyone you’d like -– and did we mention it’s free?   Getting Started If you already have a Yahoo account, you can login to Flickr with the same username and password; if not you’ll need to take a minute to sign-up.

Groups

Once you login, you’ll be instructed to upload your photos.  Click on the Groups tab to create a group.

Groups can be Public, Public (Invitation only), and Private.  Be sure to read the specifications for each type of group before you create one.  Private groups are helpful for sharing with family, friends, or colleagues; keep in mind that once you make a group private it cannot be made public later.  You may want to consider making a group public if you’d like to share some of your favorite shots with the world.  Check Flickr’s Group Guidelines and Group FAQ for more tips on managing groups.