WoW WoW WebEx!!!

This final week of my summer course was crazy! I had sooo much to do, and of course there never seems like there's enough time for it all. I was compiling all of my notes for my "Wonder of the Webs" project - my report was on using digital avatars in the classroom. I had used web 2.0 tools like Voki before, but had never given much thought to using them to actually teach a lesson. I knew that they could do a great job at introducing a new lesson, but wasn't sure how to make them do more than that.
After researching the topic quite a bit, I learned a lot! It turns out that Voki can be a great tool for shy students, audio/visual learners and for teaching a foreign language. I also explored new sites like Gravatar and BeFunky. Gravatar allows a person to set up their avatar to follow them from site to site, and BeFunky allows the user to manipulate a photo to look like a cartoon, water color, pop art portrait, etc.
When it came down to the actual presentation for our projects, it was done in a way I was definitely not used. The whole class was asked to meet in our WebEx classroom on one night to "present" our projects. I was nervous, but very interested, to try this type of presentation for the first time. It actually reminded me of my projects theme - I was going to use a digital portal to present, which allowed me (someone who is so shy to present in front of a crowd) to "hide" behind the computer.
However, I didn't get a turn to present due to time constraints. Every one's presentations were absolutely wonderful, and filled to the brim with loads of useful information. It was a really neat experience watching the presentations take place without necessarily seeing the presenter a few feet in front of me.
In order to "present" my project to my peers I used Screen Toaster. This tool was SO neat! It definitely took me a few tries to master it, but I am really happy with my final project! The program basically records your navigation via your desktop, and your voice. I was able to maneuver through my power point presentation and describe the contents of the slides as I did. I could see this being a really great tool to use in the classroom (digital story telling, presentations for projects, etc.).
Cheers to a great new way to present information! Boo to the boring old ways I was used to :)