Collaboration with Twiddla modeled

Collaboration with Twiddla continued...

I have been playing around with Twiddla a bit more and have found that it has some really great features that I can use with my students. It is truly easy to use and to log onto and I am still psyched that students can access it immediately with an email or password. And, while it is not a secure place to save documents, as anyone can access them, and even change them.

It could be a great site to use when you have a class worksheet to be completed together. The teacher can upload the worksheet and students can work together to complete it. If the teacher projects the site onto the screen, then the whole class can see the collaboration. I have a "white board" whose program, when loaded on to moy desktop, keeps crashing my computer. I now have a free substitute for the white board!

See the video above to see how you can use Twiddla right away and how easy it is to access the various tools...

More Collaboration on the Web

Collaboration opportunities on the web abound! However, I continue to find that I and other teachers need access to web 2.0 applications that do not require emails and/or passwords to access. Another collaborative site with an etherpad, though with many more collaborative features is called Twiddla. This is a jump on and go site. Once you have gone on to the website, simply begin a new meeting and then you can begin. You can type, draw, put up post-it messages, upload your own documents, images and even webpages. A great feature with Twiddla is that once you create a whiteboard, you can save it as a screen shot and access it from Twiddla at a later time.

For an example of a whiteboard that I created, once again for students to collect data collaboratively in a science lab setting, see the url that was provided when I started this whiteboard... http://www.twiddla.com/466048. Students simply need to be given the url and they can begin adding to it - no email addresses or passwords needed! Now, the board is technically public and anyone could access it. But, this also means that students can access it at a later date and a different location as well.

I need to play with Twiddla a bit more to discover its true capabilities, but one cool note about it..... Check out this great feature... "Don't forget that we're still Free for Educational Uses! Sign up for a Free Trial, then send us an email from a .edu address (or whatever screwy extention they use in your land), and we'll hook you with a Pro account free of charge. We're at info@twiddla.com. Be sure to include your username!"