Linoit

Linoit is another great tool for sharing thoughts, but what separates this from tools like Todaysmeet and Solvr is that we can post more types of data such as videos and pictures as well as texts. Users can post their ideas on linoit just like a bulletin board. It also offers the users the ability to choose their own organisation style; for example they can choose to colour code for different types of information.

How to use Linoit

Additionally, each post can be given a tag, which will be displayed on the bottom right corner of the sticky. The example picture below has the tag "definition".

There also are 5 buttons on the bottom right corner, and they are(from left to right):

• Edit - allows you to edit your sticky, including tags and colours
• Set due date - brings up a calendar to choose a date. If you were using this tool to plan future events, this button will be very useful
• Send this sticky - allows you to send the individual sticky post to someone else using lionit or directly to their e-mail
• Copy to another canvas - allows you to copy individual sticky posts to different canvases
• Peel off - removes the sticky

How can we use Linoit in Classrooms?

I think this is a great tool not only for sharing ideas but for engaging in critical thinking. Lets assume individual students were set a project to find out and present a certain theme, idea or object, using Linoit as their presentation tool. 

As they search for pictures, videos, articles and others, they are suddenly exposed to a vast amount of information. They can't fit all that in Linoit, and so what occurs in the students' mind is filtering. This means analysing a lot of information and deciding whether they are suitable and ideal. 

Another interesting thing that students will often do is try organise their canvases in a visually appealing way, or simply "neat and tidy". This also affects how much information they are going to display/present, and in what way. 

Linoit can also be used to activate schema in the beginning of the lesson. A teacher can create a canvas filled with information all indicating a chosen context. Once the context is revealed, students could contribute more ideas and/or opinions to make the lesson more interactive.

Brainstorming activities can also be done on Linoit - it can be a place where a group of students post their thoughts, comments, and problems on their group canvas. If it is a long-term project, then they can create posts and set due dates so that they are aware if they are ahead or behind their plan. It really is a great repository tool for students to use. 

Example Canvas

Click on the above image to view the canvas in Linoit. This was a project of our class where we had to find useful Android, iPhones and Ipad apps for ELT - Yellow posts are the apps, green are interesting ideas/research articles, and blue is a summary of the video.

Benefits and Limitations

• Free and simple to use
• Supports English, Japanese, Chinese and Korean
• Highly interactive in group/pairworks
• Engages critical thinking
• Exposes students to a lot of information
• No word limit on posts
• Great for starting lessons
• Great for summarising lessons
• Could become very messy if too many people are working on one canvas
• Takes up a lot of time
• In big groups, it will be hard to edit and organise posts
• No other shapes available to be posted. 

Solvr

Solvr is another web application which can help list and share; similar to Todaysmeet but with a few more functions. It can record every idea, comment, or problem the participants post, with a voting system to show whether the post was helpful or are agreed by others. 

How do we use it?

The video above pretty much shows most of the functionalities in Solvr. As you can see from the early of the video, without the URL that it provides on top of every "problem" users create, others will not be able to enter this discussion forum.

Two functions that the video does not mention are voting and editing. Unlike Todaysmeet, where once you post your idea its there set in stone. Solvr allows participants to edit any comment/idea/problem, hopefully to simplify and clarify what the original poster wrote.

"Votes", as I mentioned before, can be used to show agreement/acknowledgement, which is also not present in Todaysmeet.

How can we use this in classrooms?

I think this tool will be particularly useful when used before a class debate projects. Students from each side of the debates could create their own Solvr discussion page and go through possible problems that they need to discuss and find solutions, and even discuss how to present their thoughts, what kind of data they need to collect and so on. 

However, this tool is not limited to discuss ideas on debates; students can use it to outline a role-play task, presentation projects, and many more. 

Another way Solvr could be used in a classroom is brainstorming vocabulary around a theme, making the students add definitions, example sentences etc. Teachers can assign different themes to different groups, and have their results sent to the teacher via e-mail, or even present it to the whole class in the lesson if possible.

Also, Solvr can be more useful than a form with pre-defined questions when getting anonymous feedback, as it allows more interaction between the students. By utilising the vote function we can easily tell how many people feel the same way on a certain issue, for example. 

Benefits and Limitations

• Quick and simple to use
• Encourages interactive exchange of ideas
• Great for interactive homework
• Full editing enabled
• No word limit when posting
• Anonymous, so shy students can come forward more easily, and be honest
• Encourages critical thinking skills
• Each problem is given an individual "branch" for corresponding solutions/ideas
• Open to abuse because its anonymous
• Still undergoing tests, so prone to bugs
• Difficult to fully manage an online debate
• No other way to save than printscreen

IDroo

IDroo is a great tool, providing a shared whiteboard for people using Skype. People who have been invited to the whiteboard can view, edit, save and share any whiteboard that the person is participating in.

How do we use IDroo?

The above video shows what tools there are, but it does not really show how to invite your students or how to manage the whiteboard pages nor tabs.

On the top right hand side of the IDroo window when you start the program, there is a box labeld "Participants". We can easily add people by following the instructions inside that box. Upon clicking it should give you a list of people who you can share the whiteboard with. All you have to do is click on the desired participant and click "add", and they will be sent an invite to join your whiteboard.

Just below the Participants box, there is another labeled "Pages". This works very similar to the powerpoint or IWB page selection functions. All the pages on the whiteboard will be shown here, but the pages from other whiteboard tabs will not be. You can add a new page by pressing the + button at the bottom left of this box, and can delete any unwanted pages by first clicking on the undesired page, then clicking on the trash button located on the bottom right corner of the pages box.







Another function IDroo has is that it can keep one whiteboard independent of another. We can do this by using the tab functions.

As you can see, there are 3 boards currently open. As mentioned before, these boards are completely independent of each other, meaning that each board can be shared to different people at a certain time, and the pages in each boards are not linked also.

Additionally, there are Mathematical formulae which can be used embedded inside the tool, but this function is not so helpful in teaching English. unless the students are learning how to say/read Mathematical symbols.

Any particular implementations for Language Learning?

IWBs are used a lot in today's classrooms, and this is just an online version of it... almost(IWBs actually offer a lot more functionalities than IDroo). So the usefulness of this tool I think is pretty self-explanatory. A distance learning classroom which is connected by Skype, and the teacher and the students can interact in real time. 

Making use of the tab functions, a teacher can divide students into groups, and instruct them to create a board just for their group, and work on their projects, without interference from students in other groups. When they finish, each group can invite everyone in the class to share what they have done. 

Most importantly, because this is an add-on application for Skype, the entire class could be in a conference call, and flexibly move in and out of the main group conversation(the one with the entire class in it) and their own group conversations(for their groupwork), then the teacher/s can instruct and/or help them, given that they are in the individual groups' conference calls. 

Benefits and Limitations

• Free to use in a non-commercial use
• Great for one-on-one, group tutoring
• Great for distance learning classes
• Various uses for big groups
• You must have Skype and IDroo installed for this to work
• Open to abuse - everyone who is invited can alter the whiteboard
• Conversations can turn very chaotic when everyone speaks
• Easily replaced by webinar tools

Todays Meet

What is Todaysmeet?

Todaysmeet is a great web application useful for mainly brainstorming and discussing ideas. One can create a room which others can join and everyone in this room can post their ideas - it pretty much is an internet bulletin board. 

How do you use it?

When you open the site, you are able to name and create your room straight away.

You can also set the time in which the room will be kept open. Once you have decided on the name and how long you want this room for, you can click on the "Create your Room." button and you will be sent directly to your room.

Above is what the chat room will look like. You will now have to choose your 'name' which will be displayed to other people inside, by typing on the blue text-bar. Once you have done this and click on join, you will be able to type your message for your room.

For other people to join your room, they will need the name of the room you chose when creating it. For example, if you chose your room name as "Classroom", then the URL address(website address) for the room will be "www.todaysmeet.com/Classroom". So now you are all set for your class to discuss and share ideas. 

The most recent messages will be displayed on top of the message box, and this causes the older ones to disappear below the border of the box. However, you can click on either the "transcript" or "projector" button, and it will display all the memos written by everyone in the room. You can then proceed to save this as a webpage - unlike the room, once saved as a webpage this file is in your computer permanently(unless you decide to delete it, of course).

Benefits in the classroom

• Very easy to use
• Great tool for brainstorming activities 
• All students(even the shy ones) can participate in sharing and expressing their ideas and opinions
• Teachers can collect and save everyone's ideas
• Many students like using computers in a classroom - especially in classrooms of East Asia, where the idea of using computers in a language classroom is still new in most schools
• Students can also use the room to practice writing skills while participating - for example if you instruct them to write in full sentences only, they will need to think about the linguistic aspects(such as grammar) while participating in the discussion

Limitations

• There is a character limit of 140, so it is inappropriate to have long sentences or paragraphs
• There is a risk of some students trying to do something else with the computer(accessing facebook, games, etc)
• Control of students can be difficult - students could easily create an alias and spam useless messages
• There are other applications/websites that can easily do what Todaysmeet does(facebook, skype group chat) for smaller groups