Module 5: Concept Map: Static versus Dynamic Technologies

Static Content

The web is, by its very nature and scope, the seedbed for both static and dynamic content. The quantum of content availability will boggle the mind as it would the educator’s decision-making ability to choose the most appropriate, the most reliable, and the most up-to-date learning and teaching resource.

Questia: Online libraries, databases, and specialized digital repositories afford the online student unlimited content. The world’s largest digital library of education; Questia, an online library, offers its subscribers multiple thousands of journals and books.

Khan Academy: A valuable resource is the Khan academy that includes teaching videos on numerous topics.

Online Tutorials: Online SPSS tutorials facilitate clarification on the details of statistics and its application.

Static Collaboration

Wiki Spaces: One of the more popular collaborative tools is wiki pages that are simple to use for friends, colleagues, fellow-students, and business associates. It is essentially free and is easy to use with the distinct advantage of simplicity and effectiveness.

Writeboard: Writeboard is free collaborative writing software that one can use to write, edit, track changes, and rollback to previous versions. This software is particularly useful for authors, editors, and publishers, students, instructors and others who may be collaborating on a paper. One of the advantages of this web-based collaborative tool is that it facilitates the comparison of previous versions of a document.

Spicebird: Spicebird is an open source platform that boasts of an all-in-one suite of communication tools for people who want to collaborate online. Features include email, instant messaging, and an online calendar. It provides easy access to various web services while retaining all the advantages of a desktop application.

Static Communication

Ning: Ning for education is another social networking tool that has grown in popularity. It is the social platform for the world’s interests and passions online where millions congregate to share in the excitement of exploration and expression of common interests, and indulge in new discoveries of distributed pursuits. It provides for network creation and development.

Skype: Skype permits transmitting and receiving of voice and images over IP used by millions around the world for effective communication. Variations in Skype resources will continue to afford both static and dynamic application.

Blogs: Blogs give you the venue for expression and twitter facilitates your sharing and discovering what is happening right now, anywhere in the world.

Dynamic content

Math Simulations: Online simulation for statistical calculations that analyze the x and z values and the normal distribution

Simulation Games: A sophisticated POD game where players are transported into the middle of a drug-dispensing center after a small plane has released Anthrax over a city. This game simulates the actions of the health department as first responders and healthcare professionals in the wake of a looming tragedy of monumental proportions.

Simulation Labs: The virtual chemistry labs as developed by Carnegie Mellon University are powerful simulation tools.

Dynamic Collaboration


Team Player: Team Player 2.2 for Windows allows multiple people to work together on the same computer, edit review documents, discuss ideas and receive feedback from one’s audience. The latest version supports dual and multiple monitor setups. The SandBox is a playground for multi-user projects. In each project different objects can be dragged around while the group finds answers, play games, create new content etc. stimulating group interaction. The SandBox is the first release in a series of true multi-user applications. This feature gives you a glimpse of what multi-user computing is all about!

Interactive Whiteboard: An interactive whiteboard power is now the hands of instructors and students in a more traditional setting. The ēno mini slate allows the creation and delivery of engaging lessons and presentations from anywhere in the room. ēno mini is the mobile companion to the ēno interactive whiteboard, providing even more flexibility and multi-touch collaboration. Students can participate in lessons from the comfort of their seats and teachers are free to move around the class to continue instruction.

Groupboard Designer: Groupboard Designer is a multi-user whiteboard annotation/mark-up tool based on Groupboard, but with extra features such as cut and paste, pan, zoom, undo and user-defined icons, and the ability to upload Office documents (.doc, .xls, .ppt and .pdf) to the whiteboard. You can also import AutoCAD DXF files, allowing you to view and mark-up AutoCAD files online.

Dynamic Communication


Group World: GroupWorld.net is an advanced but easy to use multi-user collaboration framework, allowing you to set up web conferencing rooms with whiteboard, voice/video conferencing and desktop sharing. GroupWorld.net uses a custom programming language, specifically designed to allow rapid development of multi-user collaborative applications. With the enterprise version of GroupWorld.net you even get the source code to all of the “applets”, allowing you to easily modify them or design your own.

Elluminate: Elluminate is a web-conferencing tool with built-in-class web, audio, video, and social networking solutions that help one create a 21st century teaching, learning, and collaboration environment. It is useful for communication, holding meetings, the built-in whiteboard facilitates presentation of information while hearing and seeing the presenter. One may record entire sessions for later review. Elluminate’s home page states that the tool “enables academic institutions to expand reach, reduce costs, maintain competitive advantage, drive technology adoption, and more.” See NC State University’s example of Elluminate’s use.

iBreadCrumbs: iBreadCrumbs is a social network for researchers to share recorded URLs, track websites, review notes online, and encourage online collaboration research. Similar in function to its DVR counterpart, iBreadCrumbs records all web pages you visit while you research. You can save, review, and share your research with friends and colleagues. The home page states, “iBreadCrumbs allows students, researchers, and professors to organize the world’s data into narrow research ‘breadcrumbs’ or click-streams.” This useful site will prove beneficial to communication and collaboration in research.