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User:Ricpierce/Exploring Educational Technology/Communication tools

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Communication Tools

We will be employing a variety of free, online services as well as traditional desktop software. You need a microphone in addition to Internet access to successfully complete this course.This module will guide you through the process of signing up for and getting acquainted with a variety of tasks which all have the several steps in common (creating and sharing documents online). Google has streamlined the sign up process (it used to be a mash up of different sign ups for different services) for your convenience so pay attention. Below is a link to sign up. Remember you want the free service. The suggested order is: 

  1. Gmail - Sign up and get a Gmail account. A free Gmail, no domain is required. Email me your address when you get it in Black Board.
  2. Skype - We need to talk. (Or at least have the option)
  3. Blog - Get a blog using blogger.
  4. Documents & Spreadsheets - Resume 
  5. FTP - Be able to save and link to files on your FTP site.
  6. Self Evaluation -

Gmail - Sign up and get a Gmail account. A free Gmail, no domain is required. This account will provide you access to many other features that we will use in the conduct of this course. Email me with your Gmail account when you get it. ricpierce@gmail.com

Skype You need to be able to talk to me or anyone else in the class. Did you know you can use your computer like a telephone? Please do a search on SKYPE, download and install the product. When you get in, search for me. My Skype ID is ricpierce. Add me to your contacts. Do the diagnostic test call. When you get it working, call me and say "Hello"

Get a Blog

The blog will be your point of contact for me and your classmates and will be the foundation document for this course. A blog (short for web log) is a user-generated web site where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order. They are look and act like your everyday home page, but have the unique feature of a journal (time and date stamp). An example of where you are headed is my blog. Why Blog? People around us—students, teachers, parents, and the community at large—want to know what we're doing in our work. One of the ways to celebrate the wide variety of positive efforts happening in our classrooms, schools, and meetings is to share that via a blog. The blog replaces the tough to maintain, classroom web sites of yesterday, enabling you to keep colleagues, students, and parents up to date. Blog entries are often short, immediately relevant to events in work settings, and time-sensitive. It is impossible for any one person or office to keep up with all the wonderful things that you are involved in, but you can. You can publish content at will—remember to keep your published items professional

You are required to create a blog post for every assignment that summarizes the assignment, your new learning (if any) and ideas for possible integration for the new learning or technology into your professional life using the following guidelines while attending to these recommendations.

● Keep your blog entries short, positive and informative. Include photos, audio or video whenever possible to illustrate the story you are sharing. ● Think of blogging as a way to answer questions BEFORE they come to you in a phone call or a face to face visit. ● Blog what you know, what is happening so that your writing is based on your experiences. ● Use "I" when writing because people want to "hear" your voice. Sign up for a Blog using Blogger (In Google select My Account to see the available services) Create an introductory post using the blog rubric that covers the activities in this assignment. Set your time zone and preferences in the Settings Tab / Explore various formatting options in the Template Tab Add a gadget. Specifically a link list. Include a link to Google on your link list gadget. Add a link in your link list gadget to Google.com Email me with your at ricpierce@gmail.com with your blog address in the subject line and your Skype contact name in the body. 

  1. Add page Element / Link List
  2. Add a hyperlink to Google in the link list

Documents & Spreadsheets

What if you don't have Microsoft Office? What if your students do not have Microsoft Office. This activity will guide you through online word processing and publishing using Google Documents and Spreadsheets. These exciting network applications are quickly replacing desktop applications because they are free. They also include many features such as instant web publishing that transcend desktop applications. This is another answer to the question: How do I publish something on the web?

Resume Activity Google Docs & Spreadsheet 

  1. Compose and publish a online document resume (upload one to your Google docs if you already have one). If you do not already have a resume,  create one in Google Docs using a resume template. Assume you have completed the program
  2. To receive credit. Create a post in your Blog that contains a link to your published document.

FTP

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is your friend. FTP is a verb in that it describes how files may be transferred between computers. It is also a noun because it describes some storage space you have at FSU. This space has some interesting qualities:

It is private and secure, only you may log in with your UCA and password and move files to and from the space. This is an excellent alternative to thumb drives or other storage devices because you may access it from work, home, school, or anywhere there is Internet connectivity. You can store files on your FSU FTP site that you cannot store in Google Docs i.e. music & video.The FTP site is also public in that, given the address to documents that reside.You are required to be able to save files to and hyperlink to them using your FTP space. Everyone has space they may log into using their UCA and password.

Go to the FSU library site and select FTP from the Menu Bar to access your FTP site

Log on

Create and drag a file into your FTP space. You cannot drag a file that is currently open. For example if you create a Word document, close it before you drag it into your FTP location.

You can use it as a web site. The place may be public - you may use it as a storage area and a web site.

Everyone has the same basic(shared) URL because we are all on the same FTP server www2.fairmontstate.edu/users/ Notice below how he next item in the URL is the individual's UCA, then the file name. www2.fairmonstate.edu.edu/users/youruca/yourfilename

for example

If I moved my resume (Vita_Pierce.doc) to my ftp site I could access it through a browser by typing (or pasting) this URL in the address bar

http://www2.fairmontstate.edu/users/rpierce2/Vita_Pierce.doc Note anyone may view (or download) this item if they have the web address or URL.

You should be prompted (or it might automatically download) try it. The point is you have a big storage area on the web (Your FTP site). You may move files to it (Upload) or from it (download) to your machine. I use it everyday. At work I will start something, move it to the ftp, get home, download it to my home machine. Do you get it? 

  1. You need to save a file on your ftp site
  2. Create a Word document and save it on your desktop.
  3. Open your FTP site
  4. Drag the file from your desktop into your FTP site. BE CAREFUL TO CLOSE WORD PRIOR TO THE DRAG & DROP or you will get an error.
  5. View your document in a web browser by typing in the public URL. See discussion above.
  6. Copy and paste the public URL that successfully points to your document in the subject line of an email message.
  7. Create a post on your blog that details your previous experience with FTP if any. Include a hyperlink to the document stored on the FTP site.
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