Using titanpad

[Mohamed Moctar]

Hello everyone

I started using titanpad to disseminate course related announcements for my students. The pupose is to timely inform them about deadline changes and the like.

But the problem is that, when I sent them the link to the pad, each one of them needed to know the user name and password of the titanpad to be able to view the announcments.

My question is: how can I add them as team members so that they can view the pad just by clicking on the link?

Please help anyone asap

thanks in advance

Mohamed

 

[James Buckingham]

It's really easy Mohamed..

Whenever you set up any etherpad / titanpad it assumes by default that you want it private and secure. To change this, you need to go to the SECURITY tab at the top. Click on SECURITY and you now have the option to either keep the PAD private and password protected .. or "public" .. so that its open to anyone who has the link.



I "love" this utility. Have used it in so many ways

• to support collaborative work with a small team across our two campuses (one in Dubai the other in Abu Dhabi)
• for supporting student  creation / collaboration on note taking
• for planning special events (i.e. TAEDTECH Chapter events) with the various stakeholders - i.e. presenters, organizers, resource people

 

 

[Heather Maria Baba]

Hi

Yes - thanks Jim for introducing me to the Titanpad - shall definitely use it when I next need to organise something collaboratively. It definitely seems superior to using a Google Doc in this case. It's been very useful to see it 'modelled' informally and thru usage (as I have been discussing with Vance) so I have been able to see how easy it is to use. (I asked u in another thread about tools my daughter and chums could use for projects, and Cam looked at your Titanpad and was keen to use it, too - but same old story - no uptake from others ...)

Thanks

Heather

[Mohamed Moctar]

thank a lot James,

This tool is amazing. I m now using it to encourage my students to revise, share notes, and collaborate on assignments... I am sure I will use it inshALLAH in other collaborative situations like the ones you mentioned. 

I knew about it only one you used it to prep the Dec 11 workshop. So I am really grateful to you for introducing me to the titanpad. Thanks for the link too.

James Buckingham said:

It's really easy Mohamed..

Whenever you set up any etherpad / titanpad it assumes by default that you want it private and secure. To change this, you need to go to the SECURITY tab at the top. Click on SECURITY and you now have the option to either keep the PAD private and password protected .. or "public" .. so that its open to anyone who has the link.



I "love" this utility. Have used it in so many ways

• to support collaborative work with a small team across our two campuses (one in Dubai the other in Abu Dhabi)
• for supporting student  creation / collaboration on note taking
• for planning special events (i.e. TAEDTECH Chapter events) with the various stakeholders - i.e. presenters, organizers, resource people

 

 

[Chris Morrow]

Every time I use this link:

http://titanpad.com/ep/pad/newpad

a new public pad opens up.  Try it.  I make lists of them for my students and assign them to edit and comment. 

Example:

https://sites.google.com/site/morrowteacher/student-teaching/final/...

the only hitch is that I often can't see which colors are for which editors unless I press the Time Slider button

[James Buckingham]

Chris .. thanks for the link.

For any new Titanpad users, I'd encourage you to set up an account. By doing so, you then have a catalogue of all of your etherpads .. AND you have 24/7 control over whether they are

• PRIVATE (password protected) or PUBLIC (no password - just send the link)

 

 

Chris Morrow said:

Every time I use this link:

http://titanpad.com/ep/pad/newpad

a new public pad opens up.  Try it.  I make lists of them for my students and assign them to edit and comment. 

Example:

https://sites.google.com/site/morrowteacher/student-teaching/final/...

the only hitch is that I often can't see which colors are for which editors unless I press the Time Slider button

[James Buckingham]

I just thought that I should share a few notes on Etherpads and how I've used them in my own teaching .. so that my notes move beyond simply sharing how to set up an Etherpad.

 

I've used them in classrooms for

 

Inviting small group discussion / participation then negotiation

Students are placed into small groups (usually 3)

Groups may have been given a passage to read and then comment on.

• Each group is given an etherpad
• Each group is given the same set of  questions (questions are open ended to invite discussion and debate)
• Each group then discusses and answers the questions 

once completed

• each Group's etherpad is shared with the class for review / discussion 
• similarities / differences are identified
• class negotiates meaning & understanding
• a move towards consensus

 

Reinforcing the need for planning in the Writing Process

Students use the etherpad to 

• present their understanding of a writing topic
• discuss their choice of topic and why it is of interest to them (I can leave notes in the chat window)
• produce an outline in the etherpad for my review (I can leave notes in the chat window)
• use the outline to then produce a 1st draft (again I can leave notes in the chat window on this)
• invite a few of their peers to review and comment on (even help edit) the draft
• complete a FINAL draft here

Key in all of this is how (with the help of the "time slider) ... the student, his/her peers / the instructor can "see", the decision making processes that's been used to complete and integrate the various stages of the writing process and in a way that was absolutely impossible  before. The etherpad is also available to both student and instructor on a 24/7 basis. 

 

Students can no longer get away with dashing off an outline and then adding new information that may be completely unrelated to their purpose, then quickly move on to realizing a first draft ..  before the instructor may finally get their first look at the work only to discover the error of their ways. The use of the etherpad and this "time" utility makes transparent the thinking processes of the student in translating and applying the various writing process steps. This process is something many students often don't see the relevance or need for and often rush to complete otherwise.

 

It's also allowed me to identify how students have collectively understood each of these steps and then allowed me to then do remedial work to correct any misunderstandings or reinforce what they are doing well. With the help of the "time slider" I can even produce a model for the students to consult with or better yet, use work done by some students in the past.

[Mohamed Moctar]

that's great... thanx a lot for sharing these notes... I look forward to use these ideas in my class..

If u do not mind are your students full time students? or do they work and study at the same time?

Do you make collaboration on titanpad compulsory requirement ? how?

Your answers will be highly appreciated

mohamed

James Buckingham said:

I just thought that I should share a few notes on Etherpads and how I've used them in my own teaching .. so that my notes move beyond simply sharing how to set up an Etherpad.

 

I've used them in classrooms for

 

Inviting small group discussion / participation then negotiation

Students are placed into small groups (usually 3)

Groups may have been given a passage to read and then comment on.

• Each group is given an etherpad
• Each group is given the same set of  questions (questions are open ended to invite discussion and debate)
• Each group then discusses and answers the questions 

once completed

• each Group's etherpad is shared with the class for review / discussion 
• similarities / differences are identified
• class negotiates meaning & understanding
• a move towards consensus

 

Reinforcing the need for planning in the Writing Process

Students use the etherpad to 

• present their understanding of a writing topic
• discuss their choice of topic and why it is of interest to them (I can leave notes in the chat window)
• produce an outline in the etherpad for my review (I can leave notes in the chat window)
• use the outline to then produce a 1st draft (again I can leave notes in the chat window on this)
• invite a few of their peers to review and comment on (even help edit) the draft
• complete a FINAL draft here

Key in all of this is how (with the help of the "time slider) ... the student, his/her peers / the instructor can "see", the decision making processes that's been used to complete and integrate the various stages of the writing process and in a way that was absolutely impossible  before. The etherpad is also available to both student and instructor on a 24/7 basis. 

 

Students can no longer get away with dashing off an outline and then adding new information that may be completely unrelated to their purpose, then quickly move on to realizing a first draft ..  before the instructor may finally get their first look at the work only to discover the error of their ways. The use of the etherpad and this "time" utility makes transparent the thinking processes of the student in translating and applying the various writing process steps. This process is something many students often don't see the relevance or need for and often rush to complete otherwise.

 

It's also allowed me to identify how students have collectively understood each of these steps and then allowed me to then do remedial work to correct any misunderstandings or reinforce what they are doing well. With the help of the "time slider" I can even produce a model for the students to consult with or better yet, use work done by some students in the past.

[Heather Maria Baba]

Hi

Just wanted to say thanks for introducing me to Titanpad. It's a great collaborative tool and very easy to use.

Heather

[Heather Maria Baba]

Hi

My students have a groupwork project to do so I have introduced them to Titanpad and Google Docs - this concept totally fascinated them and they had fun experimenting and getting the hang of them.

 

My question is why was it their English teacher (moi) who got them started on this? They have been in the college 1.5 years - how come their content teachers and (gasp) even their IT teachers haven't got them busy using these tools??!!

Heather

[Vance Stevens]

I've done a bit of development on what I call DIYLMS, or do-it-yourself learning management system. Earlier in the month of Heather's last post I had presented the concept at a preconference seminar (the one featuring Nicky Hockley) in Dubai at TESOL Arabia, for which I prepared a one-off Posterous blog http://diylms.posterous.com/ and ended eventually with an article in TESL-EJ http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume15/ej60/ej60int/.

The article explains how the parts hang together.  Components obviously include the Etherpad clones and Google docs and to hang them all together in the same closet, a wiki (PBWorks is my favorite). 

You could conceivably make your portal Google Docs itself but when I tried to explain the concept to colleagues they didn't grasp it so well.  Maybe it was my presentation, but does this make any sense to you?

http://vancestevens.posterous.com/teaching-teachers-how-to-create-s...