Peer Review

ooVoo

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Reviewed:: May 16, 2009 by Teacher Education

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:: This is a free webconferencing program that can accommodate up to 3 simultaneous users. For a fee, you can upgrade to 6 users. There are multiple types of upgrades, only available for PC users. Mac users can use the free product only.
Type of Material:: ooVoo is a stand-alone software application that uses a high speed Internet connection to provide video communication for up to three simultaneous users.
Recommended Uses:: This would allow professors to access students who are ill and unable to attend class. This is a good alternative form of communication for faculty or distance students to do collaborative work---student to student, faculty to student and faculty collaborative work could all be supported by ooVoo. ooVoo could also be used to have a guest speaker come into the classroom.
Technical Requirements:: Mac Power MAC G5 1Ghz or Intel MAC with 256MB of RAM 20MB Hard disk space MAC compatible Webcam and Headset Broadband connection Tiger, Leopard (OSX 10.4 and up) PC Pentium 4 1Ghz with 256MB of RAM 20MB Hard disk space Webcam and Headset Broadband connection (Cable, DSL etc..) Microsoft Windows 2000, XP or Vista
Identify Major Learning Goals:: This is purely a connection tool. There aren't specific learning goals associated with ooVoo.
Target Student Population:: All ages. Uses would vary. Family use, school use and professional use is possible. Users must be 13 years or older to have an account.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Read terms of use. Web cam use is helpful.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: The content will be generated by those using ooVoo so Content Quality can't be assessed.
Concerns:: It is the responsibility of the users.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

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Strengths:: In situations such as distance education, ongoing collaboration, etc. the potential is there for highly effective use. For small groups of three or less or for individual consultation, the uses are limitless. ooVoo can bring an element of social presence to an online classroom. Students can get questions answered in real-time. Team members are able to move through consensus building activities at a quick pace since they don't have to wait for students to respond to question on an asychronous discussion forum.
Concerns:: Collaborative groups are often more than 3 people, so free usage sets a limitation. One of the advantages of taking an online course is having place and time independence. Instructors need to think carefully before adding real-time communication requirements to a course where students have asynchronous communication expectations.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

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Strengths:: Very easy to use. Decent quality video and audio. Reviewers felt that quality of video and audio was better than Skype but not as good as iChat, which you pay for. ooVoo is a user-friendly application. Call can be initiated by double-clicking on a name in the contact list. ooVoo sorts contacts by whether they are online and available for a call or not.
Concerns:: The Mac version is in beta and while there is a promise of further add-ons, the free version is all that available at this time. It may be difficult to prevent ooVoo from being on your computer's start-up menu if that is your choice. If you have a PC ooVoo account and use it on your Mac, you may be asked to reregister. Help information is available, but is often difficult to find. As with all applications requiring the use of audio and video there can be technical challenges. ooVoo provides a simple way to test audio and video prior to a call, allowing users to delay calls until settings are working properly.

Other Issues and Comments:: The advertising at the bottom may be distracting but the service couldn't be available for free without the ads.
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