5 More Reasons Why to Give Away Books For Free

Free AdsFellow edupreneur André Klein of LearnOutLive wrote another interesting post on his blog with the title “5 Reasons Why I Give Away Books For Free” in which he explains his reasoning why he is giving some of his ebooks away for free.

As he states at the beginning of his post, André is arguing from a more philanthropic and altruistic angle and not so much from a business point of view. So to complete this argumentation, I thought I should share my take on the idea of giving stuff away for free, may it be ebooks or other content or written or video, from a more economic point of view.

So here are five more reasons for edupreneurs why to give away books for free.

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The Why and How of Twitter – Social Media Beginners Guide

Whereas in the last social media post I talked about why I blog and why this might be a good thing for you or have benefits for your education company, I want to concentrate on some of the platforms for the upcoming posts in my social media series.

So let’s get started with Twitter today: why and how I use it.

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Building an Audience with Social Media – Beginners Guide

This is the second post in my little social media series for beginners and today I would like to share some hints with you on how to build an audience for your personal or your company blog or maybe even for your institution.

From the previous post you have learned (that’s my hope at least) that a social media presence covers different platforms that each have a distinct public and that user engagement has to be meaningful and consistent.

After having your different profiles set up and filled in the next question now is how to actually build your audience and we’ll split it into the different platforms again.

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How to use Social Media in Online Education – Beginners Guide

Delightful to many and inherent part of our lives for long, still unpleasant and somewhat ominous to some, social media has proven itself as nothing that will go away any time soon.

I intend to write this article as a beginners guide for individual educators and companies who just get started thinking of a strategy whether the use of social media might add value to what they do and in what ways this could be achieved following which of the different strategies.

I often see a discrepancy between individual use of social media and its adoption when it comes to use it within companies. So, let’s try and avoid some of the traps.
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How to Create Educational Videos for YouTube

Kirsten talks about the importance of YouTube for online teachers a lot these days. Of course not everyone of you will feel comfortable in front of a camera or maybe you simply don’t know how to start, e.g. what tools you might need to create a video.

Well, the good news is that YouTube recently partnered with three video creating tools which make it really easy even for absolute beginners in video editing or animation to create stunning videos. The bad news, there are no excuses anymore to not start an education series on YouTube.

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How to start Teaching Online in 2011

Back in April 2008 I launched my first language teaching related website. After relocating to France and teaching English, German and French at home or in companies I felt, there must be a better way than driving around the French countryside from one appointment to the next.

As I was using Skype to stay in contact with family and friends back in Germany I asked myself why I should not use it for teaching languages. So I changed my flyers on the blackboards in the local supermarkets from I come to your home to learn online via Skype.

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2011 The Year of YouTube

Next Monday I will be heading to Paris to take part in a YouTube partner event with the flamboyant title “Devenez une YouTube Star”.

The event is in partnership with the EICAR, Ecole Internationale de Creation Audiovisuelle et de Réalisation and aims at teaching YouTube creators and directors how to gain a bigger audience, produce better content and make more money.

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Scribblar integrates Wolfram Alpha to Virtual Classroom

Scribblar added a very powerful feature to its virtual classroom today. With the click of a button in the menu bar teachers can now add educational content from Wolfram Alpha directly on the interactive whiteboard.

Stefan Richter, Founder and CEO of MuchosMedia, the company behind Scribblar, recorded a short video demo in which he shows various types of content from math to history and music.

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YouTubeSocial – Watch Videos simultaneously with your Students

I just came across this nifty service on TechCrunch and thought I should share this with you as I think there are some interesting possibilities to use this in online education.

YouTubeSocial is a service that enables you and your friends to watch any video on YouTube simultaneously and you can even chat with them whilst watching the clip.

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Every Teacher Needs a Home – Profiles are Dorm Rooms

You need to have a home, a place you can refer people to when they are searching for your services.

And every home is better than just a profile on no matter what platform. Referring someone to your profile is like inviting a client to your dorm room in college. Not appropriate if you plan to really sign a deal.

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Three Reasons Why You Should Start Creating Content Today

Content is King. I think you heard this wisdom sometime, somewhere already. Maybe even on this blog.

Content is King for many reasons but today we will take a look at the three top reasons why you as an online teacher should start creating content right now, well, after reading this post hopefully.

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Pimp Your Skype – with Dabbleboard

Hello Ladies and Gents. May I introduce myself. My name is Kay Alexander and from today on I will write on this blog about tools and tricks for online teachers. Why? Because I can.

Joking aside, some might already know me as co-founder of the E-Teachers Academy. I am the business partner of Kirsten Winkler for a long, long time and the tech guy of the Winkler web estate. I work with computers (yes work, not play) since I was fourteen or fifteen and connected myself to the pre form of the internet with a 2400 baud modem. Since this time I live online.

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The Magic Whiteboard

No, this is not another virtual classroom software. So it  is not education 2.0, you might say. Well, not on the first look but I found this product on an education 2.0 website I am currently reviewing for this blog, languagesoutthere.com. It immediately got my attention and I want to share this with you because I think most of us online teachers still have offline clients and there are new and interesting synergies between on- and offline.

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Skype 4.0 for Windows

As I mention Skype in most about every post about online teaching, I just wanted to mention that the new Skype Version 4.0 has been released for Windows.

Skype 4.0 for Windows

What are the new features? Most important for me, from the online teacher view, are:

  • Best-ever sound
    Calls are crystal clear and even more reliable. Plus our ‘smart help’ picks up any sound issues and helps you fix them during a call.
  • Bigger video
    Feel like you’re talking face-to-face with great sound and picture. Fill your screen with the faces you love.

Other features are a new look, of course, the possibility to jugglebetween conversations and I think some others they did not mention yet.

I am looking forward to try it out with my students and I will write a review about my experiences with the brand new Skype, of course.

You can download Skype 4.0 for Windows here.

Tool of the Month: Dabbleboard

To open this new category of useful tools for online teaching and education 2.0 I chose Dabbleboard.

Here are the Top 10 Reasons you should use Dabbleboard:

  1. Dabbleboard is easy and fun to use. Unlike other whiteboard applications, Dabbleboard feels as natural to use as a marker on a whiteboard, or a pencil on a sheet of paper. Just draw strokes and Dabbleboard will detect most common shapes. Click anywhere and start typing to enter text. And if you need to modify anything you’ve already drawn, all the tools are there right next to the selected objects. No more visiting the toolbar a hundred times just to make a quick diagram!
  2. Dabbleboard is fast. Since you don’t need to spend time constantly changing tools in the toolbar, you can draw much faster. The natural interface also requires less of your attention, so you can focus on your ideas rather than on the software. Dabbleboard gets out of your way and just lets you draw.
  3. Dabbleboard is flexible. Everything you draw can be moved, resized, deleted, and replicated. Even freehand strokes. And with unlimited Undo and Redo, you’ll never have to think twice about trying something new.
  4. Dabbleboard produces pretty drawings. Okay, we admit you don’t need your whiteboard drawings to look like works of art. But other applications that make you scribble with the mouse produce messy drawings that your friends or coworkers would have trouble even understanding. Unlike a marker or a pencil, a mouse is difficult to control precisely, so Dabbleboard steps in and cleans up your strokes for you.
  5. Dabbleboard lets you easily reuse previously-made drawings. With drag-and-drop simplicity, you can add drawings to your personal library, and copy something from the library to your current drawing. You can even visit the public library and copy drawings others have made. You’ll never have to draw the same thing twice. The more you use it, the more useful Dabbleboard will get.
  6. Dabbleboard allows sharing and real-time collaboration with anyone anywhere in the world. Your friends and coworkers can view and edit your drawings whenever they like. Or you can log in at the same time to brainstorm ideas together.
  7. Dabbleboard works with hardware you already have, including your favorite computer. Unlike some other solutions, there’s no need to purchase additional proprietary equipment. You can even use it in a conference room with a projector.
  8. Dabbleboard works with other software you already use. You can upload images made with other applications and embed them into Dabbleboard drawings. And you can download images made with Dabbleboard for use in other applications. Users with Pro accounts can also download SVG files and open the drawings with Microsoft Visio, Adobe Illustrator, and many more applications.
  9. Dabbleboard is secure. Unless you make your drawing public, each drawing can only be viewed by those you’ve shared it with, and by no one else. We even make sure no one can guess the location of your drawing by using random 160-bit keys. All users log in securely, and users with Pro accounts access everything securely with SSL.
  10. Dabbleboard is free! We want to help the world think and communicate visually, and we won’t let a little money get in our way. We also offer Pro accounts at reasonable prices.

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