Sunday, May 31, 2015

Free Recorder for Windows Computers - EZvid

I watched a webinar on creating online courses today.  One of the tools used for the online course was EZvid, a free recorder for Windows computers.  I downloaded the app and it appears very easy to use.  EZvid is supposed to optimize the video for YouTube.  The button to upload into YouTube is on the main window.  To learn more, watch the video below.

Saturday, May 30, 2015

MindMeister in Google Docs - Concept Mapping App

MindMeister is a concept mapping app add-on for Google Docs.  It works when you have bulleted lists.  I can see it useful for nursing students who are learning to see relationships of diseases to pathophysiology, medications, assessments, and diagnostic testing.  It is really easy to use.  First, download it from the Add-ons menu.  Activate it.  Afterwards create a bulleted list.  Highlight the list and click Insert as Mind Mapp from the Add-ons menu.  A YouTube video displaying how the Add-one works is below.

UberConference for Google Docs

I discovered a very interesting app, UberConference, this afternoon.  The only problem is that it is not working right now.  I will have to try it later.  It has lots of potential for group work.  Essentially, the user can establish a webinar connection to collaborative work.  The app is free.  If you have Google Docs open, click Add-ons > Search for UberConference.  Once it is downloaded, click it to activate the app.  When the app works correctly, it should display a phone number for collaborators to use.  You can add the email addresses for others and the app will send an email to the users with the phone number.
After I activated the app, I received an error message stating that the app could not connect with the server.  I tried it again and UberConference appeared on the right side of the window, but it was blank (indicating it did not connect with the server).
A YouTube video displaying how the app "should" work is below.

Google Sheets -- Mapping Sheets App

I read a very interesting article about the Mapping Sheets App for Google Drive Sheets.  Essentially, you can input a list of addresses into worksheet cells and then the Mapping App will display the addresses on a map.  I can see the app very useful in a variety of education settings.  For example, in nursing, you could input the addresses of hospitals, healthcare providers, diagnostic testing centers and pharmacies to display for a community assessment.  The app is very easy to use.  The first thing you want to do is to open a Google Sheets worksheet.  Then select Add-ons > Get Add-ons from the menu.  Search for Mapping Sheets.  Afterwards, activate the Mapping Sheets Add-on.  Afterwards, the Mapping Sheets menu will display on the right side of the window.  You can click a demo video and/or download sample data. 
A YouTube video displaying how the app works is online and displayed below.