Top 10 Synchronous Tools
This is our list of the Top 10 Synchronous Tools that could be used in an educational setting.
Synchronous Tool 1:
Elluminate Live! provides the platform educators need to conduct online courses. Some of the specific features available in the Elluminate Live! suite of products include online sharing of documentation, live webcam demonstrations, guided web tours, and communication via text chat, video, or full duplex audio. Whiteboarding and text messaging are also provided for either small or large group sessions.
Elluminate Live! helps foster the creation of online communities and social networks to help enhance the online learning experience. Teachers are also able to monitor individual student's performance, conduct quizzes, or poll students with Elluminate's moderator tools.
Synchronous Tool 2:
Wimba is a live, virtual classroom environment with interactive features that include audio, video, application sharing and content display, and MP4 capabilities. Its pedagogical design and ease-of-use ensures that educators and students engage as if they were meeting face-to-face. Advanced features such as polling, whiteboarding, presenter on-the-fly, resizable chat areas and participant lists, usage analytics tools, and MP3 or MP4 downloads enable further dynamic interaction between students and educators.
Synchronous Tool 3:
Storybird Quick Tour from Storybird on Vimeo.
Storybirds are short, art-inspired stories that are curiously fun to make, share, and read. Teachers love them because they inspire their most reluctant writers and readers and reward their most adventurous. Kids adore them because they feel empowered by the tools and supported by the social feedback. Storybird is a free, collaborative synchronous tool that allows the writers to create together on the same project at the same time.
Synchronous Tool 4:
TokBox's Demo Video
TokBox offers free video chat for up to 20 participants. For reasonable, monthly fees, TokBox users can add users as well as include meeting and conferencing features if needed for presenting or moderating meetings. Currently they have three options: free chat/messaging, video meeting, and video conferencing. Some advantages of TokBox are it's very competitive prices and short-term licensing, the fact that it doesn't entail any downloads, and the option to leave video messages up to 10-minutes long for contacts if they are unavailable for chat. TokBox is also partnered with several popular social media providers and users can import many IM accounts and use in conjunction with mobile devices. The chat tool is a great, easy-to-use tool for small group conferencing, but for larger groups and virtual lectures, you probably would want one of the upgrades or something like Elluminate or Adobe Connect.
Synchronous Tool 5:
Take a Google docs Tour
Those with Google accounts can instantantly share documents and collaborate on the same document in real-time, or at convenience from anywhere. Google docs provides templates for common needs, such as calendars, or you can start from a blank page. Docs can be exported as .doc, .xls, .ppt, .html and other popular formats. When we collaborated to make this website, we used google docs in real-time while also using a voice-conferencing tool, Skype.
Synchronous Tool 6:
Watchitoo is a social collaboration web-based service that allows users to collaborate over content in real-time and integrates social networking and content sharing capabilities. Users can interact with others via web-cam and chat in a synchronized environenment within the web browser. Key features include; high-def video, screen sharing, recording / archiving, whiteboarding, full Twitter integration and direct Facebook posting.
Synchronous Tool 7:
Sync.in is a free, collaborative web-based tool that allows users to edit the same document in real-time whereby changes are reflected on everyone's screen. Each author's text is in their own color and a chat box allows all users to communicate. This unique tool may be useful for collaboration on textual documents, taking meeting notes, brainstorming sessions, project planning, drafting sessions, training, and more.
Synchronous Tool 8:
Skype is a web-based software application that allows users to make calls over the internet for free, this includes conference calls with three or more users. Additional Skype features include instant messaging, file transfering, screen sharing, and video conferencing. Calls can be made to landline or mobile phones for a fee. Most known for communicating with personal or business contacts, this application is increasingly being used for educational purposes.
Synchronous Tool 9:
Second Life is the internet's largest user-created, 3D virtual world community. In Second Life you can meet new people, explore and discover new worlds. Features in Second Life include: role-playing, live music, avatar fashion, 3D chat rooms and educational journeys. Students using Second Life can collaborate and communicate outside of the classroom in a new and exciting way.
Synchronous Tool 10:
Google Wave is a new web application for real-time communication and collaboration. All you need is a Google account and a friend to collaborate with. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.