Tag Archives: discussion

VoiceThread: New Ways to Comment

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VoiceThread now offers new commenting options: direct replies, private replies, and threaded conversations.

Direct Reply to a Comment
If you are the owner or editor of a VoiceThread, may insert a comment directly after someone else’s comment on your slide, allowing you to help guide the conversation and give feedback directly to your participants.

VoiceThread Direct Reply

Private Reply to a Comment
The private reply feature allows you to start a private, two-way conversation with someone who has commented on a VoiceThread.  To start a new private conversation, or add to an existing one, click on the private reply button inside a person’s comment window.

VoiceThread Private Reply

Threaded Commenting
If you own a VoiceThread, you can turn on threaded commenting in your VoiceThread settings.  This allows your participants to start a separate comment thread that branches from the main conversation.  To start a new threaded conversation, click on the threaded comment button inside a person’s comment window.

VoiceThread Threaded Commenting

For an overview of these features, please see VoiceThread Commenting or watch the video overview:
VoiceThread Commenting Video ScreenshotReady to try the new commenting options? Log in to VoiceThread using your myLesley username and password.

 

Lync Web for Online Meetings

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Lync Web App is an instant messaging and audio/video chat tool. It’s a great option for online meetings, ad hoc conversations, advising and tutoring. Lync Web includes text-based instant messages, audio and video chat, the ability to share Powerpoint presentations or even your desktop to demo applications or processes. There’s also a whiteboard for quick collaboration and a polling tool for rapid feedback in larger groups.

It’s easy to get started with Lync Web. It runs entirely in your web browser and you only need to install a quick plugin to start your first session. Lync can be accessed using the same login and password as your Lesley email.

Having trouble finding time to meet with your colleagues? Why not schedule your meetings virtually? You can do this directly in Outlook or the Outlook Web App, just as you would any other type of meeting. Select the “Online Meeting” options and a link to the Lync meeting will be included in your invitation. Need to meet with someone who isn’t part of the Lesley community or want to invite a guest to your class discussion? No problem. Include their email address in the meeting invite and they will receive guest access to the online meeting. Note: Guests have slightly fewer privileges for presenting, but will be able to fully participate in the discussion and access the whiteboard.

Lync allows you to participate in online meetings in a variety of ways. There is a desktop client for both Windows and Mac and mobile clients for Windows, Android and iOS so you can even stay connected when you aren’t at your desk.

You can find more information on how to get started with Lync at support.lesley.edu.

Not sure if Lync is right for you and want to consider other options? Check out the Comparison of Online Meeting Tools for a quick overview.

eLIS Staff Present at Northeast Regional Learning Analytics Symposium

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Instructional designers John McCormick and Sarah Krongard presented at the Northeast Regional Learning Analytics Symposium in Southbridge, MA on January 25th. NERLA is part of NERCOMP, a regional arm of EDUCAUSE.Their presentation was titled Visualizing Interaction: Learning Analytics to Improve Online Discourse, highlighting exploratory action research on the use of an analytics tool that shows real-time visuals of online discussion interaction patterns. Learning analytics is an emerging field in education highlighted in the Horizon Report as 2-3 years from mainstream adoption, along with game-based learning.