EFL537 Chat’s Chat Logs

15:38 Talking_Mule Amen to open source! I liked the fact that you listed tools other than MS & Mac. Americans think that everyone can afford to buy a new OS and computer every 18 months.

15:39 Jeff in NYC http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1c

15:39 Sharon I'm all for improving my knowledge of CALL so that my students that don't have access to a computer outside of school are not disadvantaged in school.

15:39 Jeff in NYC http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1c

15:40 Chantel i can see it

15:45 Audra the gmail account creation is failing

15:45 Audra it won't let us make a new account

15:46 Talking_Mule I tried to create a new Gmail account, and the process never finished, therefore I could not use it.

15:47 Talking_Mule Jeff, I hate, hate, HATE what I recorded as an introduction. I think through my typing fingers well. When I speak off-the-cuff, I sound like a doofus.

15:48 Jeff in NYC you can always re-record

15:48 Jeff in NYC I forgot to metntion in the intro that you can delete your stuff even after you've posted it (on Voicethred)

15:53 Sharon we lost your sound

15:53 Jeff in NYC what do you mean?

15:54 Jeff in NYC YIKES!

15:55 Jeff in NYC What was that?!

15:55 Sharon Sorry, that was my lack of computer technology showing. I scrolled over your introductiona and you suddenly started talking.

15:55 Talking_Mule That was you sounding like Jimi Hendrix last amplifier ...

15:56 Jeff in NYC A talent I never knew I had

15:56 Sharon This is great, how could we use this in the classroom?

15:56 Jeff in NYC what do you think?

15:56 Chantel Do we send the voicethread in an email?

15:57 Jeff in NYC Hmmm, not that I know of, but an interesting feature request

15:57 Sharon I can see the possibility with more language proficient students, could you just set up the voice recording for the beginners, so that they can hear thmselves speak English?

15:58 Jeff in NYC yep

15:58 Jeff in NYC It's also possible to set different levels of access, so you shouldn't have to worry about privacy issues

15:58 Sharon Will you show us how to set this up for a class? I know I've just done it with guidance (feeling v.proud of myself too) but I'm not sure I will be able to remember how to set it up.

16:04 Jeff in NYC The chat room silence scares me a bit - everyone OK?

16:04 shawn hi

16:04 Jeff in NYC any questions or confusions?

16:04 Jeff in NYC Basic Training at: http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1d

16:07 Sharon1 I seem to have created another on-line persona

16:07 Natasha I'm gonna die by doing these record

16:07 cynthia will I be less confused next week?

16:08 Sharon4 Ok. I'm lost.

16:08 Sharon4 Why am I gaining more of me? Sharon 1, Sharon 2 etc

16:11 Talking_Mule Jeff, are you aware that Sharon has spawned 9 virtual instances of herself? Is this OK?

16:11 Sharon I left the page, but now I've lost the introduction page and can't get it back.

16:12 Sharon can you put the basic training link back up please?

16:13 Jeff in NYC http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1d

16:14 Sharon3 OK, now I need a drink

16:15 Sharon are we just supposed to work through each heading on the basic training page? Will we be able to access this after this class too, so that we can practice a bit more?

16:15 Jeff in NYC We can head to the virtual pub after class (or perhaps the real one :)

16:15 Chantel the phone message sounds terrible

16:16 Jeff in NYC yes, absolutely Sharon

16:16 Jeff in NYC these resources will stay up indefinitely

16:17 Jeff in NYC You're right Chantel - your cell phone provider is not going to get a good grade :) Feel free to re-record later (via phone or computer audio)

16:17 Sharon Where's the phone message we're supposed to do? I lost the blue introduction page and can't get it back. Sorry for being such a ditz.

16:18 Jeff in NYC no problem Sharon - the phone one is on the second lslide

16:19 Sharon second slide of what?

16:19 Jeff in NYC The Voicethread

16:19 Jeff in NYC but feel free to move on for now to Basic Training

16:19 Jeff in NYC You can finish the Voicethread from home

16:19 Sharon But I've lost the voice thred page and don't know how to get it back - v. frustrating

16:19 Jeff in NYC ah

16:19 Jeff in NYC http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1c

16:20 Sharon thank you:S

16:21 Jeff in NYC If you get lost again, you can go to the front page of http://efl537.com/, you'll see a listing of all of tonight's pages toward the bottom of the page.

16:24 Talking_Mule Jeff, what tool do you use to make the SWF moving screenshot/audio?

16:25 Jeff in NYC Jing Project http://jingproject.com/One of my faves

16:25 Sharon do we just hang up to send the voice message?

16:25 Jeff in NYC yes

16:26 Talking_Mule How hard is Jing to use?

16:26 Jeff in NYC amazingly easy

16:26 Jeff in NYC only challenge is installing .net on Wndows machines

16:27 Jeff in NYC then, it's just a matter of selection the portion of the screen you want to record and clicking

16:27 Talking_Mule OK, what is .net?

16:27 Natasha Jeff, the basic training is too fast to understand

16:27 Natasha :'(

16:28 Jeff in NYC That's OK Natasha - don't worry if you're not absorbing everything

16:29 Jeff in NYC try to understand as much as you can, watch again at home, and we can practice as needed

16:29 Jeff in NYC I can also try to speak and move slower next time

16:29 Natasha ok, thank you

16:29 Jeff in NYC Fran, http://www.microsoft.com/net/basics.mspx

16:30 Jeff in NYC Only a problem on slower computers

16:30 Wansiri i'm sharing the computer with janice

16:30 Jeff in NYC You're a team for tonight

16:31 Jeff in NYC but a problem watching the screencasts, right?

16:31 Jeff in NYC Is anyone using the teacher computer?

16:31 Jeff in NYC If not, one person can use that

16:31 Talking_Mule What sort of overhead does .net need?

16:31 Wansiri and there is an only headphone so i dont think i can listen the basic training

16:32 Wansiri yes someone is using the teache's computer

16:32 Jeff in NYC Not exactly sure - probably a Pentium4 / 512MB RAM would suffice

16:32 Jeff in NYC Sorry for the inconvenience Wansiri

16:33 Wansiri that's not a problem at all but can i do it at home?

16:33 Jeff in NYC or you can take turns listening to the screencasts

16:35 Wansiri ok

16:36 Jeff in NYC and yes, you can certainly finish from home

16:39 Wansiri ok, I will try to do as much as i can now.

16:56 Chantel i'm looking at the tasks...by directory, do you mean C drive, for example?

16:57 Jeff in NYC yes

16:57 Jeff in NYC or c:/temp

16:58 Talking_Mule Jeff, if you jump out of chat and return, do you lose the posts that took place when you were not (virtually) present?

16:58 Chantel ok, thank you

16:59 Jeff in NYC The chat is archived automatically, so we don't lose them for good, but I don' think individual users see what came before when they re-enter

16:59 Talking_Mule Actually, I realize that was a dumb question. Of course you couldn't see what you weren't there to receive ... but I can't see some posts I made before I jumped to a different window.

17:00 Talking_Mule Where is the archive?

17:00 Jeff in NYC ah good

17:00 Jeff in NYC It goes to the registrant's meebo account (in this case mine)

17:00 Jeff in NYC I will publish them anytime they contain something useful

17:01 Talking_Mule OK, so you act as a moderator of sorts?

17:02 Jeff in NYC Yes, omnipotent chat participant :)

17:03 Talking_Mule Hmm ... how do you (as a teacher) manage/assess in the midst of this seeming chaos?

17:04 Jeff in NYC By the way, after listening to your Voicethread comment about your interest in writing and thought, I thought of a site I was introduced to today http://thinkmap.com/

17:06 Jeff in NYC well, there should be plenty of student produced content to assess and I tend to be pretty comfortable with 'loosely structured' learning models

17:07 Jeff in NYC I think truly student centered learning involves a healthy dose of chaos, or at least what looks like it

17:07 Talking_Mule I ain't that comfortable, yet. ;-)

17:08 Jeff in NYC If you haven't fled the classroom yet, you doing fine :)

17:09 Talking_Mule I just checked out thinkmap, and it is visually interesting ... then I did three jumps on their sample database, and it shoved me out to a marketing screen. Sigh.

17:11 Jeff in NYC http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1-assignments

17:12 Jeff in NYC ah, was afraid of that. Most things we encounter here at TESOL are pretty commercial. Haven't seen any 'open source' booths

17:15 Talking_Mule No? How would they pay for the space ... and what is the sound of one hand clapping?

17:16 Audra Hi Jeff. I'm not sure how to post my response on the class blog to the first task in the assigments

17:16 Talking_Mule There is an open source mindmapping program called Freemind, which I have downloaded, but haven't yet played with ...

17:16 Jeff in NYC I think it shows how in this screencast http://www.efl537.com/files/screencasts/efl537sitetour.swf

17:16 Jeff in NYC You can also go directly to...

17:16 Jeff in NYC http://efl537.com/node/add/blog

17:17 Jeff in NYC Freemind is pretty good. For simple web based mindmapping, I also like bubbl.us and gliffy.com

17:18 Jeff in NYC Fran, are you getting assignments done or just loitering in the chat room? :)

17:19 Talking_Mule At the moment, loitering, while checking out the Assignments ... I guess I can do a bit of multitasking, but it still feels like slacking off. :-)

17:22 Talking_Mule One feature of Freemind that I tried, but did not succeed in getting working, is the ability to take one's bookmarks and convert them into a mind map. Since I tend think (loosely) in categories, I was fascinated with the concept.

17:22 Jeff in NYC I think it is slacking off. You're one of the few people I haven't gotten an assignment from yet

17:24 Talking_Mule What am I missing? The Skills questions refer to one's home computer. Did my audio track get saved? What are you expecting?

17:24 Jeff in NYC Tasks on the bottom of the Basic Training page: http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1d

17:27 Audra Ok, I went back and watched that screencast again, but the only options I get under the "create" tool is for my profile. I have no option for creating a blog

17:27 Jeff in NYC ah, standby

17:28 Jeff in NYC hadn't given you student permissions yet. Sorry. Refresh and try again

17:28 Audra Thanks

17:37 Jeff in NYC I need a volunteer to get everyone's attention in two minutes. Who can be a 'tough teacher' and quiet everyone down?

17:40 Jeff in NYC http://www.efl537.com/spring2008/week1-assignments

17:43 Chris Could you please tell us where we should post our answers to the skill questions? On papers or on Blog page?

17:46 Audra my only issue is that I still can't make a gmail account. Is that going to be a big problem?

17:46 Audra I'm assuming I can try it again later on a new computer that might not make such a fuss

17:47 Audra anything from english in my pocked would be great for me

17:48 Audra english in my pocket, that is

17:48 Audra thanks!

17:48 Audra oh and the heinle picture dictionary stuff

17:48 Audra haha, I can go all day

17:49 Chantel8 goodnight!

17:49 Jeff in NYC Goodnight all. Thanks and see you next week