Messaging

Instant messaging or chatting has been around for a long time now and is well utilised in social media sites. Whilst it is by nature post and respond, the immediacy with which messages are delivered makes it a highly collaborative tool. Within the educational sector we would like a solution that maintains this functionality but is more secure than the common social IM clients.


 * TodaysMeet** is used by presenters to access the backchannel - what is said in the room but not by the presenter. In a classroom TodaysMeet gives the teacher access to a microblogging tool with the ability to quickly gather recorded feedback from students. The strength of TodaysMeet is its simplicity and ease of use.

media type="custom" key="9664746" align="center"


 * Chatzy** is a free site that will create a private password protected chat room to communicate with any students with web access. No registration is required by users. The administrator completes a short set up process and creates a room within a few minutes. The free version gives access to the basic version - for $24 per year the premium account adds additional features such as no advertising, personal naming of the room and the ability to embed the room in your own site with a colourful skin.

Follow this link to the a Chatzy room: **@http://www.chatzy.com/547886275936**


 * [[image:200x50space.gif]]


 * Twitter ** often gets mentioned in the media for the wrong reason but the real-time communication power of Twitter can be a powerful learning tool in the classroom. There are many examples of how teachers are turning its potential into educational gain. Here are just ** 5 Real Examples of using Twitter for Education **.

Embedding and following a Twitter stream is an effective method of monitoring latest information on a news event eg what is happening at NASA. This is done by embedding the code for a **Twitter widget** in your web page.

Twitter is also a powerful forum for teachers to collaborate, share solutions and discuss any educational matter. ** Tweetdeck ,** which has been recently acquired by Twitter, is a downloadable tool to organise the Twitter streams you are following. || media type="custom" key="9679482" ||