Web 2.0 Tools for Creativity and Innovation

1. Name of the Tool


Jing

2. URL of the Tool

http://www.jingproject.com/

3. Please select the one, primary category for this tool:

Jing is a creativity tool, but can also act as a powerful communication tool as well as being useful for generating media for embedding in presentations.

4. Please describe this tool .

Jing is a bit different from other Web 2.0 tools in that it is actually software that is downloaded to your computer rather than a web tool. However it has characteristics of other Web 2.0 tools in that Jing created images are usually stored online and easily sharable; Jing is free and easy to use. Jing is a product of TechSmith, a company that provides screen capture and recording software for both individual and commercial use. Jing is their simplest and free software. At the most basic level, Jing captures screenshots of your computer screen. What makes it unique from the ‘Print Screen’ capture function of the computer is that Jing can capture video images as well as still images, Jing has a simple edit function that allows capture of specific portions of the screen rather than the entire screen, and audio can be added to the images.

When screenshots are captured with Jing they appear in a new window that allows simple editing. Text can be added to explain parts of the image. A highlighting tool can be used to highlight or draw attention to specific regions.

After edit, the captures can be saved as a file to your computer, copied and pasted into another document, or saved at a web hosting site. Jing’s parent company, TechSmith provides a hosting site for these files, Screencast. Screencast accounts are free and supply 2GB storage space and 2GB bandwidth. If captures are stored at Screencast, a link is instantly supplied so that the captures can be immediately shared.

Presentations about Jings capabilities and tutorials can be downloaded from the Jing website at
http://help.jingproject.com/jing-presenter-materials-for-e/

Jing can be upgraded to Jing Pro for only $14.95/year. Upgrading adds webcam capabilities, removal of Jing branding on captures, can instantly upload to YouTube, and adds more powerful video capabilities with reduced file sizes.

5. What do you need to know before using this tool?

Basic computer and internet skills.

6. What do you need to have before using this tool?

A computer with internet access.

7. How do you use this tool?

1. Download the Jing program to your computer. Go to the Jing website and click the download button.

2. After accepting the use agreement, the program will be downloaded and a simple tutorial will open in your screen.

3. Do the tutorial. It takes less than two minutes and teaches everything you need to know to use the program.

4. The first time you use the program you will need to start it manually. Click the start button, go to all programs, go to TechSmith, click ‘Jing’.

5. A translucent yellow ball will appear in the top center of your screen. It will appear there automatically after the first use of Jing.

6. Hover the mouse over the yellow ball and three buttons will appear.

• Use the ‘+’ button to capture your screen.

• Use the button with pictures of slides to show your capture history.

• Use the gear button to get help.

7. To capture a screen, click the ‘+’ button and use the opened tool to select the part of the screen to be captured.

8. After selecting the area to be captured a small menu opens.

• The area can be captured as a still.

• A video can be recorded.

• Or the image can be discarded.

9. If a still image is chosen a new window will open that contains some simple edit functions, and choices for saving the file.

10. If a video is chosen, a new menu opens with ‘start’, ‘stop’ and ‘resume’ functions for recording the video. Audio can be added simultaneously with a microphone.

11. After either still or video capture, choose between several options for saving the capture.

• The capture can be saved as a file to your computer.
• The capture can be copied and pasted directly to another document.
• The capture can be saved on the Screencast hosting site. If this option is chosen, a URL is instantly created that can be pasted into any document, blog, email, etc.

8. Please create an example with this tool.

example














See an additional example in teaching scenario below.

A terrific tutorial on how to use Jing can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmBUg0KX3fI

9. Please describe a scenario of how you might use this tool in a teaching environment.

Jing could be used to create webcasts for online learning units that could be accessed anytime by students to review instruction. For example, an online learning unit could be created to teach students how to make charts and graphs in Excel. Several webcasts describing and showing the creation of charts could be embedded within the instruction to give students concrete examples of how to perform the task. I have created a model of this instruction using Jing.

Let’s say for example, that your lab has generated some mice with a mutation in a specific gene. Some data documenting the growth of these mice has been gathered and you want to create a line graph of this data using Excel. Click on the link below to view a video of how to use Excel to make the line chart.

http://screencast.com/t/MWI4NWRlY

Jing has been widely used as an educational tool. Several links below give additional ideas on how to use Jing in an educational setting.

https://wiki.itap.purdue.edu/display/INSITE/Jing, A great website with both ideas and How-tos.

http://www.jingproject.com/users/, Ideas from the Jing people.

http://blog.jingproject.com/, The Jing blog - lots of ideas and trouble-shooting from users

http://web20toolsforteaching.blogspot.com/2009/10/jing.html, The overview and 'getting started portions from the Jing website plus some ideas.

10. Advantages

•  SHOW and tell
• YouTube upload
• Create on demand tutorials
• Very simple to learn and use
• Flexible saving and storage options
• Simple edit functions instantly available

11. Disadvantages

• No video editing
• 5 minutes limit on recording
• You must download the program to your computer.

Since Jing requires a program download it does not fit a formal description of a Web 2.0 tool. However its usefulness, ease of use and the instantly sharable nature of the program output make Jing merit inclusion in a list of very useful tools for distance and traditional educational settings.