Skype is good for 2, but what if you need 3 or 10?
September 15, 2009
For those who are unfamiliar with Skype, it is a wonderful, free synchronous communications application that many faculty have found quite useful when they need to chat with colleagues across a distance OR hold a video-teleconference to discuss research and/or scholarship. In addition to chatting and teleconferencing, Skype also allows you to make phones calls from your computer to other computers for free… and if you want to call a domestic landline (or an international phone number), rates are as low as 2.1 cents per minute! I could go on and on about how great Skype is, however I want to make this post about:
That’s right! Tinychat, a great, new web app I recently stumbled upon, takes video-teleconferencing to the next level. Whereas Skype is great for conversations with just ONE person, Tinychat allows for multiple interactive conversations - all constrained within your web browser. No need to install any additional software (however you should be using the latest version of Flash). It also fully integrates with Twitter and Facebook, letting your students, colleagues and friends know where you are and if you’re visually accessible.
How could you use this? Well, if you teach an online class, imagine holding virtual office hours with multiple students at a time. Or, there may come a day where you can’t make it to class because of travel or family issues, and you’d like to hold a virtual meeting with your students online. Lastly, this application could be used to hold class sessions for students who may be (fingers crossed) stricken with an illness, but still need review a course lecture.
There are a variety of ways tinychat.com can be applicable, however, please take note, users of tinychat.com not regulated by any educational institution. There may be a variety of topics and conferences that are made publicly available to you upon your initial entrance to the site. Also, Tinychat.com makes its money via advertisements so you may see banners appear that try to sell you everything from travel services to cupcake pans.
At any rate, give it a try and let us know if you see benefit from its use!
LOG INTO OUR CHAT ROOM: http://tinychat.com/ctltrichmond
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