OoVoo 2.0 Released for Windows

Today I learned that OoVoo 2.0 has been released for Windows with some really exciting new features. It is now possible with OoVoo 2.0 to have a video chat with someone who doesn't have an OoVoo account and to initiate the call is really easy. Here is a breakdown of the new features

Here's what's new in ooVoo 2.0.

Get New ooVoo Download ooVoo 2.0

		Web Video Call: Friends who don’t have ooVoo can video call you right from their Web browser!
		Video Chat Rooms: A simple way to embed a video chat in any website, blog or social network.
		Better Friend Search: Looking for people to video call? It’s easier than ever to find them.
		Excellent Audio Quality: You’ve got to hear it to believe it!

OoVoo continues to make some really significant developments with their platform and if you have not checked it out go to their website and download your copy of OoVoo and get started with video chatting and conferencing.

Where did the Summer Go?

As I write this post, I am reflecting on the past several days as my wife and I got my daughter situated and moved into her college dorm. If you have never moved a child into a a dorm or an apartment it sure is a lot of work! Once again another transition, as all of us move into our respective lines of work. Tomorrow I am back at the College of St. Elizabeth to start the Fall 2008 semester. It is hard to believe just how fast the summer went! I am eagerly awaiting to see my graduate students and look forward to sharing with them the trends and the new and exciting products that will soon be released. There is no escaping the impact that Web 2.0 has had on the field of educational and assistive technology as more and more mainstream tools on the web find their way into the work that we do. With free text to speech applications and the range of applications like Google Docs, Buzzword, Jing, and Jott- just to name a few, the combinations are endless as we craft our recommendations for the students we work with. As more and more teachers become aware of the power of wiki's- they can really begin to help students make their curriculum more accessible for those students that need it. All this summer I have been working with teachers on a math grant applying the principles of Universal Design for Learning into their math lesson plans. It has been exciting for me to watch how the teachers have embraced the UDL theory and have been able to plan accessible lessons which have been scaffolded with technology.

Reflecting on my trip to NECC 2008- this year will go down as the year of the netbook. If you haven't had a chance to look at these ultra small notebooks now is the time to do so. The netbooks will be seen as just one more vehicle for students to have a rather inexpensive tool to access the internet with. Weighing in at about 2.2 pounds these devices will will run Window XP and in many cases a variant of Linux. Asus, Acer, and HP have jumped into the bandwagon and soon Dell will announce their new netbook which will probably be released later this month. Schools will begin to look at these devices more seriously because of the cost and their functionality for the money. Many of the netbooks start at around $300 dollars and up. It should be interesting to watch as schools begin to adopt these tools.

Teaching at the college gives me another perspective from the vantage point of higher education as to how technology is being applied for instruction. At the college all students have access to Blackboard which is used as a portal for instruction. I have created some very rich courses using Blackboard that provide my students with a multitude of resources. Over the years I have developed many learning resources for my students using Camtasia Studio, a wonderful application for creating screencasts and video tutorials. At NECC 2008, I was introduced to Adobe Captivate 3 which I will add to my einstruction toolkit. Adobe Captivate 3 not only allows you to create video demonstrations, but also allows you to quickly develop compelling interactive media which you can output to Flash. I will be posting some more information about Adobe Captivate 3 in some later posts in September.

Certainly, collaboration is the buzzword and I'm sure going forward you will be hearing more and more about this as developers add these features into their existing applications. But you only have to look to Web 2.0 technologies to see that the foundation is already there for example in Google Docs and Buzzword, just to name a few. For this reason it will become even more important when we are educating our students and preparing them for the world or work that they have opportunities to work in teams and to collaborate with others outside the context of their school. Do what you can to seek out the exciting projects like the Flat Classroom Project that are taking place on the web to give your students these invaluable opportunities and experiences. I have learned that, yes the world is flat and having tools like Skype, Oovoo, CrossLoop, Yuuguu, Adobe ConnectNow and Dimdim, have allowed me to conduct the work that I do effortlessly without the need to leave my office. So reach out beyond your school and district and challenge your students to use these rich sets of tools to make learning more meaningful and rewarding.

I trust that this will be an exciting start to the school year and I look forward to sharing my ideas and experiences with you as I continue to explore and use new tools. Please feel free to email me with your comments and suggestions.

Recording a Videoconference with OoVoo

I had noted a couple of days ago that OoVoo had added a number of great features to OoVoo version 1.5. Having the ability to record a video conference is reallly a killer feature and I wanted to give it a try. So in this video you will see me interviewing my colleage Ned Davis who is a faculty member of mine and a techie at the college where I teach.

Click on this link to view the interview. Now imagine the possibilities!

OoVoo 1.5 is Released

I wanted to let you know that OoVoo 1.5 has been released with some really great features. You can now use OoVoo for free phone calls as well as recording your videoconferencing sessions. Find out more about OoVoo by going to OoVoo.com. I had a chance to use the video recording feature and it works extremely well-it is a great tool for doing interviews and recording them. Take a look at it when you get the chance!

WebShare feature added to Yuuguu

A couple of months ago, I shared with you how I have been using Yuuguu to do webinars and to share my computer screen with colleagues. Yuuguu has really come in handy but one of its downfalls was that the person who you were sharing your screen with had to have the Yuuguu client installed on their computer. Well all of that has changed, and Yuuguu now allows you to share your screen even with colleagues of yours that don't have the Yuuguu client installed- right over the web. The process is very simple simply point your colleague to www.yuuguu.com/share and provide them with your six digit PIN number and voila they can now see your computer screen. This makes Yuuguu incredibly valuable Web 2.0 tool for training and providing support. Combining Yuuguu with OoVoo for videoconferencing make this a great one two knockout punch for training, support and webinars. The Yuuguu client is available for Macintosh and PC computers. Check this application out you will be glad you did!

Skype 2.7 Beta for Macintosh Released

Last week Skype released a beta, Skype 2.7 for the Macintosh,which added host of new features and compatibility for users of OS 10.5- Leopard. More importantly Skype 2.7 for Macintosh with the right hardware can now deliver 640x480-pixel video by default. As long as your webcam can handle it, Skype promises to deliver high quality video conferencing calls at 25 fps. To be able to deliver this quality users will need to be running a Mac with dual Core 2 processor and have a broadband connection that is capable of at least 384 kbps upload speeds. The race for high quality video conferencing is just heating up in this space. Look for services like OoVoo and Sightspeed to raise the bar and push this market even further with new features and high quality video conferencing.

Reflecting on the Web 2.0 Workshop

By all accounts the Web 2.0 workshop was a real success! I had a small group of teachers for whom this was an eye opening experience. Having a chance to work with some of the major Web 2.0 technologies helped them to grasp the power of the technology and gave them a lot of food for thought on how they could use the technology in their classrooms. During the workshop I had the opportunity to connect with Philip from OoVoo which demonstrated the power of video conferencing and its implications for instruction in the classroom. Reflecting on the workshop I can say wow there really is a lot going on with regards to educational technology that has the potential for changing the educational landscape. I hope the teachers that did participate in the workshop can go back to their classroom's and begin to utilize some of the Web 2.0 technologies that we discussed in the workshop. Time will tell!

Using OoVoo in Educational Leadership

I finally had the chance to use OoVoo today with my colleagues at the College of St. Elizabeth where I teach and have to say the video is wonderful. It was very easy to start the conference and the user interface is first class. I was able to start a 3 way video conference in seconds with great video and audio. OoVoo has some really great applications in the work that I do, and one of my colleagues would like to use the video conferencing capabilities in a course he is teaching on global education for doctoral candidates in Educational Leadership. If you have any contacts over seas that are interested in participating in this global education course, please let me know and we can get connected. Imagine future educational leaders being able to communicate with each other and discuss pertinent issues. If you would like to participate in the course download OoVoo and give me a call to see how we can make this work. My user name on OoVoo is assistivetek.

Video Conferencing with OoVoo

Last week I had a chance to talk to Philippe Schwartz, the CEO of OoVoo.com at the DigtialLife 2008 conference held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York city. OoVoo is determined to do for video conferencing what Skype has done for voice over internet protocol (VOIP). OoVoo makes it very easy for anyone with a webcam to set up a video conference with up to six participants with any desktop computer and a high speed Internet connection. Using a familiar buddy list you can quickly start a video conferencing session with very high quality video and audio. Phillipe showed me a resource indicator when six participants were on line and it barely made a dent in the terms of the computer processes and resources. The quality of the video and the audio was exceptional. OoVoo service is entirely free and you can download a Windows version of the program from the company's website. OoVoo will be releasing a Macintosh and Linux version of the application as well- making the program truly cross-platform. If you are interested in using video conferencing in your business or classroom then please take a look at this incredible service. To see the program in action you can take a look at this link showing how Arianna Huffington recently used OoVoo to interview House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers.