Looking back through my posts, I can see that I forgot to blog about my chat with Melinda on Zoom this past Saturday. I have used Facetime, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, and Skype in the past. Zoom was just as easy to use as all of these, although initially I had a bit of difficulty with my camera, which I had inadvertently turned off in the Zoom program. Got it up and running and it was nice to check in with a classmate about the assignments. Talking in person is one of the things that I miss when I take an online class. In the future, I am going to check with my fellow classmates to see if they use a program like this and want to "meet up" for a visit. Face to face conversation is easiest...
Which is why programs like Zoom are very handy for facilitating conversation when people are unable to be in the same place. It is especially handy when the topic would benefit from both parties being able to use and see facial expressions. A large percentage of my students' parents work and coming to school when it is convenient for me (before 7 am or between 2:50 and 4 pm) is often highly inconvenient for them. I think they would love an opportunity to have a quick "face to face" without leaving their office. Meetings with colleagues and communicating with pen pals are two other possible uses for this program. I don't envision using it with my six year old students, but I suppose it would be fun to check in with one who were out sick for an extended period of time or on a 3 week trip to India, which is quite common with our students.
iste.nets-t standards
Zoom certainly lends itself to standard 3b which demands that educators collaborate with others using digital tools and resources to support student success. It also supports standard 1d: model collaborative knowledge construction... in face to face and virtual environments. Zoom might also work well in pursuit of satndard 5a: participate in ... global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning.
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