In a series of Q&A’s blog posts, I’m offering thoughts on how we can approach several issues in supporting adult learners through distance education formats.
This one is on how to pick the right “technology” support.
I don’t know about you…but one thing that consumes way too much of my time (and causes tons of shark music), is keeping up with different technologies that I need to deliver professional development and create communities of practice for those I serve.
For example, ever wonder why Google Hangout vs. ZOOM vs. SKYPE (remember when SKYPE was so new)….and on and on and on?!?!
Here’s a question I received the other day from a Therapist.
I’m offering parent, carers and educator trainings online using FaceBook, closed groups…why do you use Zoom as your platform of choice and are there any other platforms comparable in features and pricing?
Here’s my answer;-)
Two quick side notes –
- I don’t address the last part of the question in terms of comparing and contrasting ZOOM with other like systems. More systems are available than I can keep up with and prices are highly variable based upon which package you go with.
- If you are using FaceBook know that there are different types of groups and associated privacy settings. That said, I would triple check things around FERPA and HIPAA when it comes to using social media platforms.
P.S. There was a follow up question was about how I got the audio recording to my blog post. Here were my steps:
- I’m on a mac and I recorded using Quicktime
- If I would have wanted to spend time adding music or editing…I would have uploaded to Audacity or even iMovie if I wanted to add visuals
- Then I uploaded to my Amazon Web services (https://aws.amazon.com/). This is so cheap (maybe even free the first year)…and can turn any type of document into a URL
- I then copy and pasted the URL into my WordPress blog and it made the audio recorder