Forums

Music while participants enter the room

2009-02-17T12:01:44Z

I found a way to have music without the background noise. Here is my set-up…
Dell Mini, ipod touch, cable with both ends as headphone jacks (I’m sure there’s a more technical term), one clamp from lowes.

1. Plug the ipod into the mic jack. Ipod headphone jack to computer mic jack
2. Log into Wimba as a Guest.
3. Start Ipod playing (I made a playlist to speed things up - and pick songs of similar volume Wimba does not treat all songs equally in regards to playback quality).
4. Mute the speakers of the mini
5. Volume from the ipod controls the music. Adjust as needed. Great way to turn the music down while folks are talking and checking in.
6. Remove the clamp when music is no longer needed.

This was a great way to have music and not have all the background noise that occurs when you lay the mic next to a speaker. It may require a second compute but I think it’s well worth it. Then after the session starts the second computer is my monitor for the participant view.

Post Scottsdale Wimba High!!!!

2009-04-11T20:27:45Z

What a fabulous Wimba Connect 2009 conference? I have been attending conferences for several decades and I can say with great pleasure that this was one of the best conferences I have ever been to! Great opportunities to collaborate and learn about how to use Wimba. Fantastic sessions - delicious food - wonderful hosts - and a wealth of ideas to follow-up with at home.

Just 2 of the NEW techiniques learned at Wimba Connect 2009:

1- Learned how to improve the accessibility of my fully online courses with the use of Wimba. I am so excited about being able to make my courses accessible for students that may have sight and hearing disabilities. I will incorporating these tips in my summer classes over the next few weeks.

2-Learned that I could use the polls in an archived lesson on Monday and started using this on Monday night. All my students were instructed to listen to my lesson on Tuesday with the poll included as part of the learning objectives at the beginning of the lesson and then again as a learning check at the end. When students came to class on Thursday, we started with a quiz. The questions came straight from the learning check at the end. The students commented that they wish they had taken the time to take the poll rather than skip over it to save time. Even my student learned very quickly. It will be interesting to see if the students take more time to review the archives before coming to class.

Idea for Wimba Pronto - Lab Version

2009-08-03T12:00:18Z

Is there a possibility that a specialized version of Pronto could be developed for installation in computing lab environments? Specifically, a version of Pronto that:

-Does not give the user an option to save their password.
-Does not save chat logs to the local PC (nor does it give the user an option to save chat logs)
-Does not hold on to the previous user’s name

Right now for security reasons it may not be wise to install Pronto in our labs, but a version that would not save passwords or chat logs would be great!

Pronto for Linux

2009-02-17T12:20:41Z

Need I say more. I am a CIS student and I/we have been using Linux exclusively. It would be nice if we could use pronto. Even if it is just the IM client, and all the bells and whistles were left out.

I would think that modifying the OS X code would be a step in the right direction?

Are there any other Linux users out there that feel the same way?

Wimba Grading Tools

2009-04-09T12:29:34Z

While at Wimba Connect, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be great to be able to go to a student’s grade in the grade center, click on it, and record a voice comment right then and there?” Anyone else think that this would be a useful tool to have? I’d love to know if I’m the only one!

Praking Lot training technique converted to Wimba - Holding Questions to the end

2009-02-17T12:12:01Z

I have some topics that I teach using wimba that can easily head off track if a lot of questions are asked. So, I created a sticky board for questions. I show the participants the board during the housekeeping/rules before the session. The sticky board is a power point slide.

Here’s the General To Do…
-Show sticky board
-Ask for questions via chat
-Have someone post questions to sticky board with name of submitter.
-Answer questions if I can right then or move on
-At the end upload the sticky board power point slide and review the questions and provide thorough answers.

Let’s hear your fun ideas!

2009-02-12T11:15:14Z

I know of an ESL program at UPenn that uses video clips of Friends and Home Alone (put inside of the Wimba Voice Presentation tool) to teach non-native English speakers non-traditional English words. And I know of a religious studies prof at Grand Rapids Community College who adds reverb to his podcasts to sound like he’s speaking from a monastery. What fun uses of Wimba are you doing????