Two-way video calling is always free. Unlike Skype, with ooVoo you can video chat with up to 6 other people at one time. This feature is free for the first 30 days after you sign up and after that, you have to pay for this premium service. You can also talk to friends who have not downloaded ooVoo by using Web Video Call. Web video calling allows you to video call with your AIM or Facebook friends - just send them the Web Video Call link from the chat window.
ooVoo also allows you to:
Here’s a screenshot of my nieces leaving me a message on ooVoo. Disregard the big add from Clear Communications.
To use this tool, you need to download the application onto your computer. Then you will see this on your desktop:
Click on the “Add a Friend” button and start adding friends using their ooVoo ID, telephone number, or email address. Once they are online, you just need to double click on their name and start chatting. This is what things will look like once you have a friend to chat with:
In order to use ooVoo, you will need broadband internet access and a computer with a webcam and microphone (a headset works great if you have one).
Just like I outlined in my research proposal for Week 1, video conferencing can be used to connect “experts” to learners who are trying to learn how to do a procedure, run a code, operate on a patient, or if classmates need to share ideas with one another and don’t have time to meet face to face. Let’s say it’s the middle of the night and I’m in the ER by myself. I’m alerted to a trauma coming in to the hospital in 5 minutes. After my initial heart rate has stabilized, I call up Dr. Paul Sirbaugh, the medical director of the ED and a very smart man, so he can assess the situation and offer guidance as needed. Since I can video call up to 6 people on the same call with ooVoo, I could even contact the trauma surgeon, an anesthesiologist, and my mother if necessary. As a learner, having someone on a video call can be a relief and their assistance can only reinforce appropriate patient care. Later on this semester, we are going to work together on a project that was outlined by Dr. McNeil where we are going to create a presentation using any of the Web 2.0 tools but have to use other resources other than meeting in person. This will allow us to meet literally “face to face” without being in the same physical space.
Clearly, an advantage of this tool is that one’s teaching can come from anywhere as long as you have internet access and have a webcam. If someone has developed a procedure in Bali and don’t have the means to fly across the world (or they don’t want to go anywhere because let’s face it, they live in Bali!), they can present their findings in an international forum without leaving their hometown. And when a student is off to medical school a 1000 miles away from home, they can see their family on a call if they are feeling homesick.
Disadvantages of this tool include needing the necessary equipment in order to use this tool. If you don’t have internet access or don’t have a webcam, video calling would be difficult. The other disadvantage is being seen: no more calls to your boss in your pajamas!
Hopefully you will find this tool to be very useful and a great alternative to Skype.
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