Second day of class reflection

What amazed me in today's class is the part when we learned about Titanpad and teaming it up with the Skype video conferencing. The fact that it can be both public and private and it does not require email addresses makes it very convenient. It is also deletable, which makes it user friendly in the case that you want to delete it yourself. In the class that I am teaching presently, I cannot use this free software due to their literacy level, but for the future classes it is a great tool for educators. I think I can use it even in beginner ESL classes, where students can work in groups and complete a writing assignment. The fact that there is a chat component to it will allow shy students to talk without being intimidated by classmates with higher language proficiency levels. The chat feature will allow them to have a voice in class and they will feel empowered.
Most of my students are from overseas who came to Canada as immigrants and refuges. They have family and friends back home with whom they can communciate more conviniently having done a class involving this technology.
Having worked in groups creating googledocs for our learners lends itself to replicating the same practice in our classes. Picassa and SketchUp are also great options for creating lessons and projects with a lot of visuals. Connecting to people via Skype for contact assignements during class is a marvellous idea, which I will definetely try.
Thanks very much for the excellent ideas.
Nilay