WiZiQ Blog

Your own Profile Link and New Improved Profile Pages

Learning and teaching on WiZiQ is teacher centric. Teachers and learners are real people. We have encouraged teachers to use their real names [and photos] to connect with the learners they know already, or they come to know through WiZiQ. The knowledge that you are dealing with a real person [whose identity you know] helps to create a trusted environment for learners. Hence, we have always had your first name and last name in the URL. However, the URLs were long and thereby, difficult to share and post on the Web. This has now changed.

Premium members on WiZiQ can now choose and create your own WiZiQ profile link when you go to edit your profile [see second heading : WiZiQ Profile Link, remember to sign in to your WiZiQ account to access this link]. We have also revamped the profile design with all your latest public activity listed on your profile - making it a more consolidated showcase of your teaching expertise. More changes and additions are coming soon in the public profile.

Hence, instead of http://www.wiziq.com/tutor-profile/43887-nidhi-english-teacher you can simply type http://www.wiziq.com/Nidhi

You can only use alphabets and digits in your profile link [special characters or symbols are not compatible]. Your profile link should have at least 3 characters. Also, you will not be able to change your profile link after you choose one. Hence, think carefully about the profile link you choose. If you choose a name that is an attempt at squatting on a brand name or something that is not suitable for young audiences [profanity, abuse, swear words], we can edit your profile link ourselves.

Creating your own profile link on WiZiQ is completely optional. However, we recommend that you create one now. Creating a profile link will give you a distinct Web address for your profile. Hence, anyone can just enter http://www.wiziq.com/yourname/ and access your profile. This way, learners and your contacts will have an easy way to find you. It would also be easier to remember as well as share and post on the Web. The rest of your profile including your name would remain as it is.

The e-Teaching Community on WiZiQ

If you are a teacher and haven't already joined the e-teaching community on WiZiQ, then we recommend you do so now. Here is why:

• 1000 plus teachers already registered from across the world
• You can participate in the lively discussions on various aspects related to online teaching and teaching in general. The recent discussions include : Online Learning vs. Classroom Learning, Do you think online tutoring in India is a sustainable business proposition and Tandem Teaching.
• The discussion forum also doubles up as a news source on latest events. Here are two you might find interesting: Twitter and Teachers : A Mini Workshop and Invitation to Research 2.0: New Technologies for Scholarship. To stay updated with online teaching news and events, we recommend that you join the community.
• You can also see the latest classes and tutorials on online teaching. Here are some you might find interesting:
• • To Tweet or Not To Tweet : Twitter for Teachers by Kirsten Winkler
  • Twitter, Expertise and You : Presentation by Alexandre Enkerli
  • Twitter for Teachers by Enza Antenos-Conforti
  • ETCon 2 Conference : Presentation by Bernhard Niesner, Busuu.com
  • ETCon 2 Conference : Presentation by Kevin Chen, iTalki.com
  • ETCon 2 Conference : Presentation by Jason West
  • Make Money Online – Teach and Earn
  • More Visibility : Enter Right Titles, Keywords and Description
    • More tutorials and many more classes - at the e-teaching community on WiZiQ. The direct URL of the community is http://e-teaching.wiziq.com/

Online Education Beats the Classroom - SRI International Study for Department of Education, United States

“On average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction.” This is the conclusion of a SRI International Study for Department of Education, United States.

The study itself reviewed 99 studies over a 12 year period from 1996 to 2008. The studies and reports analyzed were majorly from work done in colleges and adult continuing-education programs of various kinds, from medical training to the military. Some of it was also, based on work done at K12 level. According to a NYTimes article: The analysis found that, on average, students doing some or all of the course online would rank in the 59th percentile in tested performance, compared with the average classroom student scoring in the 50th percentile. That is a modest but statistically meaningful difference.

Although, some questions have been raised on the sweeping conclusion [for instance: people have asked whether you can compare the results from different testing environments or not - it was not like the study compared students of same background preparing for TOEFL in face-to-face/ virtual classroom environments], it does indicate that online learning and teaching would see a major adoption especially at college and professional levels.

WiZiQ, with its open and flexible tools for both teachers and students is perfectly positioned to be amongst the leading technology tools, helping the spread and adoption of online learning and teaching.

Participate in a Survey on WiZiQ by University of Amsterdem

Three students enrolled at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, are conducting a small research on WiZiQ. They would like to hear your opinions about WiZiQ and invite you to complete this web-survey: http://www2.fmg.uva.nl/comlab/surveys/survey919698/

It will take approximately 7 minutes of your time. This is an independent research and has no connection with WiZiQ. We guarantee that all your personal data and opinions will remain anonymous and will be used for educational purposes only.

Your help will be highly appreciated for this research.

Moodle Live Class GMT +13 Default Time Zone Problem

One of the most common problem, people who use WiZiQ Live Class for Moodle face is that the WiZiQ Virtual Classroom defaults to GMT +13 for all classes and all classes are scheduled in that time zone.

One of the simplest fix suggested by one of our teachers, Bryce lists these simple steps:

1) Open up the session.php file from the wiziq module [download] and go to line 33;
2) Look for $tmzone=$USER->timezone;
3) Change it to $timezone=$USER->timezone;
4) Save and upload the updated file

How to set your timezone in Moodle [so that it reflects while scheduling a class]:

Under "Location Settings", the administrator would need to select these specific values in the fields. For In Default timezone you must select the Server's local time option and In Force Default timezones, the administrator must select Users can choose their own timezone. Please note that these settings can only be done by the Moodle Administrator/ System Administrator.

Now individual users can go to Edit Profile link and select their specific time zone [time zone in which they are located or wish to showcase their classes in]. For instance, in the image below UTC-5 has been selected. After selecting this time zone, these settings should be saved.

Once you [teacher] changes as specified above, you would be able to schedule web conferencing classes for your time zone [as selected in your edit profile settings].

For any questions or comments, please write to us or post a comment on this blog post.

Multiple File Uploads and Embed Educational Tutorials Using WiZiQ Content

We upgraded WiZiQ Content yesterday. WiZiQ now enables teachers, experts, learners to share a wide variety of files : pdf documents, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, audio files, video files, Flash files as well as embed web assets [videos, pdf, doc, excel, audio, podcasts] on WiZiQ.

You can upload these files on WiZiQ content to share with students and learners:

1. doc - docx
2. pdf
3. xls-xlsx
4. ppt-pptx-pps-ppsx
5. swf-flv
6. mov-avi-mpeg-wmv
7. wav-wma-mp3

You can upload up to 20 MB files for doc-docx, pdf, xls-xlsx, ppt-pptx-pps-ppsx, swf-flv and 50 MB for mov-avi-mpeg-wmv and wav-wma-mp3.

You can embed content from almost any website in the world. Some of the websites where you can find relevant educational content are:

1. authorStream
2. Scribd
3. Slideshare
4. YouTube
5. TeacherTube
6. AcademicEarth

For any questions or comments, please drop us an email at support@wiziq.com or comment on this post.