Gina: From an early posting of yours: "New techniques and new technologies enable us to teach science in exciting new ways. Or do they? Can science be taught at a distance?"
In science, what are new techniques?
What are new technologies? (that we wouldn't use in Communications, for example)
Is the general opinion that science can be taught at a distance? What are the concerns?
Chris Horgan
Why don't you guys take a look at WiZiQ for online delivery?
Mark Cruthers
Hi Christine,
I'm glad you asked. :)
WiZiQ is an online teaching platform, which provides a free virtual classroom environment for teachers to interact online and teach students in real time. Teachers can also build a profile, keep an availability schedule, and maintain a content library, which is associated with their profiles, by uploading PowerPoint presentations and PDF Files.
(Edited by Sylvia Currie - original submission Monday, 7 April 2008, 08:15 PM. Just fixed formatting a bit to remove large spaces and changed bold paragraphs to plain)
Hello Mark,
Where are the documents stored when using WiZiQ? When I read through the documentation, it appeared to me these were stored on a US server. Due to our privacy issues, we do not use US servers to store any information pertaining to our students. How do you overcome that problem?
Ardith White
Selkirk College
Mark:
thanks for the links. I've had a quick breeze through them. This may be overly simplistic on my part, ...what I see is a much more sophisticated version of WebCT/Blackboard. WizIQ contains many of the features but the use and presentation is slicker. Right?
Chris Horgan
Hi Chris,
Web CT/Blackboard and Moodle do not have a virtual clasroom (VC) or Virtual Whiteboard. They are purely a CMS (Course Management System), wiziq probably has the best virtual classroom and whiteboard anywhere online. Wiziq can also manage content like: PPTs, PDfs, MS Word and MS Excel documents that can be seen in the VC (virtual classroom) synchronously and also asynchronously. Wiziq is the only system that can do this anywhere online. Upload content and you'll see.
Wiziq on the other hand does not manage classes the way these CMS' do. Wiziq has a Moodle block that allows you to go directly into a Wiziq VC session right from Moodle.
Mark Cruthers
Sylvia:
I've used Elluminate. It's a product used by eCampusAlberta (eCA) for conferencing around the province. My experince with the software has been limited to eCA conferencing and I have found that Elluminate is no without technical glitches.
Perhaps an unrelated questions (open to everyone), what specifically are Canadian users concerned about regarding US servers? I'm aware of copyright issues/differences. Is there something else that would be a concern?
Thanks, Chris Horgan
Perhaps an unrelated questions (open to everyone), what specifically are Canadian users concerned about regarding US servers? I'm aware of copyright issues/differences. Is there something else that would be a concern?
Can't answer from the Canadian point of view, but from a European point of view, data that could be personal, can't be stored outside the EU, as the data protection act mayn't be as stringent as EU requirements. When you sign up to sites that are based outside the EU, the more responsible ones will have a disclaimer warning EU citizens that data will be stored outside the EU, and therefore not subject to EU regs.
My gut feeling is that rather than countries (any country now) looking at any other country & saying you can't store data there, they'll be thinking "we know our laws, we can't guarantee what other's laws are, so we'll assume they aren't as good as ours". It's much easier than trying to evaluate other people's laws.
Those of you who have used Eduspaces in the past will know that the server was going to be moved out of the EU (in that particular case, to Canada) - and in the end the difficulty of copyright, data protection etc., from something that originated in the EU was deemed to complex, so they stayed in Europe.
Hi Emma,
Information stored on US servers is subject to the US Patriot Act and as such may be accessed by the US government without requesting permissions. During the course of studies, students may inadvertently disclose innocent information that may be misinterpreted. As public institutions, we must ensure the safety of our students at all times. Thus, the cautious approach to using programs such as WiZiQ.
Ardith
Hello Christin and everyone,
You may want to check out this interview between myself and Meri Walker.
Ignore the money talk, because that's Meri's audience, but listen to the interview. I give my experiences as an online AP history teacher.
Mark Cruthers
Hi J.
I found my interview with Meri Walker on Wiziq's blog. Ignore the money part, that's Meri Walker's audience interest; I mostly discuss my experience in teaching AP online.
http://wiziq.typepad.com/wiziqcom/2008/03/how-can-you-be.html
Mark Cruthers
From new techniques and technologies for online delivery by chorgan on 07 April 2008 13:38:00:
In science, what are new techniques?
To me, it's the techniques that are really critical. We've just seen a list of the features that WiZiQ offers, and there are other tools with similar issues. However, I think that in many cases it's the way that tools are used that's really critical. Just as a great teacher can give a great (face to face) lesson with next to no tools, and a poor teacher can make a mess up ... so while new technologies might enable a good teacher to be really creative (& use them appropriately) so a poor teacher mayn't use them that well, and may use them inappropriately, thus alienating students.
Hi Emma,
No question. The excellence of a teacher is critically important whether live or online. For the teacher I think the online technologies like Wiziq will facilitate that teacher's ability to reach his/her students with fewer geographic barriers. If a mediocre teacher transitions to teach online, it's reasonable to assume their online work will be mediocre as well. The skill of the teacher is probably the most critical factor to class success whether live or online.
Mark Cruthers
Hi,
I've used WizIQ when working on assignments with others in my Master's cohort and have found it really useful. However, when I was involved in a demo of this product a few months back I understood all data was automatically recorded and stored on US servers. Unfortunately, our Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOI/POP) Act prohibits us from using this system for teaching and learning activities in British Columbia, Canada unless we first get student consent. Otherwise, a great free product.
Cheers,
Judy
