I’ve just updated WordPress to 2.6 - which seems to be promising quite a few new features:
I’ve also been beta testing the Elgg 1.0 over the past few weeks. It seems to have a lot of new, useful features - I’m looking forward to being able to install & have a play soon.
I’ve just updated WordPress to 2.6 - which seems to be promising quite a few new features:
I’ve also been beta testing the Elgg 1.0 over the past few weeks. It seems to have a lot of new, useful features - I’m looking forward to being able to install & have a play soon.
I’ve used Slideshare quite a bit since I discovered it (apparently I first mentioned in it June 06), and I’ve also looked at other sites that offer similar functionality, though have tended to stick to slideshare as I’m used to it.
There are other sites, though, that have additional functionality, and I do rather like the look of (though not sure that I have the time to fully investigate them!)
Sharing:
Scivee: Which I’ve mentioned in the past is aimed at the science community - and allows the upload of presentations, papers, videos, audio etc.
Scribd: I’ve looked at this in the past & might well have used it, had I not already been using Slideshare. It allows documents as well as slides to be uploaded (though, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t allow audio tracks to be embedded in the same way. They’re using “iPaper” - which also allows you to create iPaper documents and embed them on a website. TOny Hirst created a useful bookmarklet to enabled the creation of iPaper documents.
Creating presentations.
VUE. This looks interesting. It’s a java application, so requires installing, rather than running online. It’s also probably somewhere between a mind map & a presentation tool. It allows the same presentation to be presented in a number of different formats/ orders.
Sliderocket. I have just been invited to the beta testing of SlideRocket. It seems to be a presentation tool where there are a lot of options for transitions etc., Personally, I prefer something plainer. But, then again, I’m not a graphic designer!
Share & create
Google Docs/ Zoho / Ajax Presents etc. all offer the ability to either create online, or to upload existing presentations (Powerpoint, Open Office, though not always Mac keynote) - and to share as required.
I’ve used Slideshare quite a bit since I discovered it (apparently I first mentioned in it June 06), and I’ve also looked at other sites that offer similar functionality, though have tended to stick to slideshare as I’m used to it.
There are other sites, though, that have additional functionality, and I do rather like the look of (though not sure that I have the time to fully investigate them!)
Sharing:
Scivee: Which I’ve mentioned in the past is aimed at the science community - and allows the upload of presentations, papers, videos, audio etc.
Scribd: I’ve looked at this in the past & might well have used it, had I not already been using Slideshare. It allows documents as well as slides to be uploaded (though, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t allow audio tracks to be embedded in the same way. They’re using “iPaper” - which also allows you to create iPaper documents and embed them on a website. TOny Hirst created a useful bookmarklet to enabled the creation of iPaper documents.
Creating presentations.
VUE. This looks interesting. It’s a java application, so requires installing, rather than running online. It’s also probably somewhere between a mind map & a presentation tool. It allows the same presentation to be presented in a number of different formats/ orders.
Sliderocket. I have just been invited to the beta testing of SlideRocket. It seems to be a presentation tool where there are a lot of options for transitions etc., Personally, I prefer something plainer. But, then again, I’m not a graphic designer!
Share & create
Google Docs/ Zoho / Ajax Presents etc. all offer the ability to either create online, or to upload existing presentations (Powerpoint, Open Office, though not always Mac keynote) - and to share as required.
Google Reader - yes, embedded into my iGoogle page (& now into Vista’s Sidebar)
Gmail - yes - again into iGoogle (though not the Vista sidebar … but I have added it to my OLPC as an application)
Skype - yes, but not often, as we’re not meant to use it at work; so tend to use FlashMeeting instead for work.
Google calendar - to an extent - but it doens’t integrate with either the Groupwise or the WebCT Vista calendars (and they don’t with each other, either)
Google Docs - yes (yet another gadget on the iGoogle page)
Jing - I’ve recommended it in the past, though tend to use Captivate, just because we have it on the machines.
PBWiki - got an account, though I’ve used Wikispaces more with students (and hope to have a local install of MediaWiki for next academic year)
PollDaddy - I’ve heard of this, but not really investigated, as though I’ve read about quite a few online survey tools - I’ve not had to use one in anger … yet (and as I do a lot of work with our Perception server, I know that tool really quite well!)
Nvu - I’ve got this installed; however, it’s not been updated since 2005, and I’ve also read that Kompozer is where they are now doing the updates, so that’s what I’m using more now as an alternative to Dreamweaver etc.,
Yugama - another one that’s new to me. Seems to be an alternative to Flashmeeting etc., I may have to investigate (and you can have up to 10 people for free, which is more than Elluminate’s Vroom)
Ustream - heard of, watched, but not tried broadcasting. Yet!
Ning - guess it had to come up. I really don’t like Ning. Though I know many others do. Oh well.
Freemind - I’ve used it, and quite like it - though tend to use Inspiration more. (Just wish either made as good use of the stylus input on a tablet as Mind Manager can.)
eXe - really must re-test this, now that we have a version of WebCT that it works with. Looked a really useful tool when I looked before (until I couldn’t import anything!)
Twitter - using it, but hardly what you’d call a devotee.
This seems to be a generally comprehensive list; of course, there are things I’d have put in instead, but there again, she did create it from others’ recommendations.
I’ve just had a wee play with 280 Slides. I’m impressed. It let me search online for images & videos that could be embedded, and then let me upload it to slideshare. In terms of Presentations, it’s not got too many choices, just a few backgrounds & a few layouts - but given that most Powerpoint options never get used, it’s got more than enough choice.
The layout got a bit messed up on export to Slideshare & the video no longer plays, but it did let me download it to Powerpoint (the video’s been converted to an image at some point).
Downloading direct to Powerpoint from 280 Slides still had the video as an image, but the layout was as I’d left it. It downloads (or can be emailed) as pptx, rather than ppt, which could be difficult if the recipient hasn’t got Office 2007.
It is still in beta, but I think that it’s got potential.
