Comments on: Mixbook

By: PJVermont

PJVermont — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 01:36:26 +0000

Below are are links to recently completed projects, on the Oregon Trail, using Mixbook.

http://tinyurl.com/n5×7bk
http://tinyurl.com/kpvq5n

At the start of the project we had issues with work being deleted. However, that was due to misunderstandings on our part.

Each student had his/her own machine. When the kids were unwittingly working on the same page NUMBER somebody’s work got lost. Kids were adding, deleting, and moving pages without telling each other, resulting in two or more kids working on the same page NUMBER, thus confusing things on the Mixbook end.

Quite simply, each student can work on the same project in “real time”, but they can’t work on the same page NUMBER in “real time”. Also, all but one student needs to log out of the Mixbook account, while the remaining student adds, deletes, and moves pages.

The bottom line is that kids must communicate with each other to avoid working on the same page NUMBER.

Anyway, when I contacted Mixbook their response was prompt and helpful. The kids communicated extremely well, and we no longer lost work.

The kids enjoyed Mixbook, and I’d use it again.

By: Larry Ferlazzo

Larry Ferlazzo — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:35:01 +0000

I received this email from Mixbook that I thought readers might find useful:

Dear Larry,

Hello, from the Mixbook Team! My name is Alison and I work for Mixbook.com. We noticed your blog post about us, and are so thankful that you chose to write about us. You mentioned that you’d appreciate some feedback regarding your comparison of our site and One True Media, and we wanted to take you up on that offer.

One thing we noted is that you referred to us as an online slideshow creator, when we actually produce online photo books. The player on our site is not meant to be a slideshow, but instead a preview of our users photo books that they can use to share and embed on websites and blogs. In comparison to One True Media, our business is primarily to produce books – whereas their focus is more slideshow based with some access to various printed products. Though our collaboration does not happen in actual “real time,” students are able to see the changes that have been made almost immediately when they are working on a book together – which is useful if you have 30+ students working simultaneously. Our collaborative aspect really sets us apart from One True Media and other sites dealing with digital storytelling.

We hope that this information was helpful, thank you again for covering us in your blog – if you have any further questions about our company please let me know.

By: mrferlazzo

mrferlazzo — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 17:44:35 +0000

I actually use most of these Web 2.0 applications exclusively for
student-created presentations. Our School District has content
filters, but the most important thing I do is discuss with students
what they think are appropriate and what are not. You might be
interested in a post I wrote for a group blog I’m part of with teachers
from schools in lower-income neighborhoods around the world. The blog
is called “In Practice.”

http://inpractice.edublogs.org/2007/11/26/to-filter-or-not-to-filter-is-that-the-question/

By: Ms. Mize

Ms. Mize — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 02:00:37 +0000

Both of those sites look interesting. Thank you for sharing!

By: stratcougars

stratcougars — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 01:56:48 +0000

Thanks for the comparison. I’m always looking for ways to constructively engage my ELL students. In regards to Mixbook and OneTrue Media are you using them primarily as a teachers’ tool, or do you let the students also create their own projects? If you let the students create their own, how do you safely let them peruse images from the Internet?

Thanks for the info.