Youth and adults are constantly using Facebook to post, chat, and “creep” to stay informed on everything happening in their friend’s lives. Whether you “like” it or not, Facebook is one of the greatest distractions on the internet today, often detracting from students’ academic obligations. Recognizing this problem, the creators of Hoot.me have developed a Facebook app that allows students to collaborate more efficiently and in their element of interest.
By simply going to hoot.me and installing the app, students can join discussions and create their own forums. When in study mode, the homepage will prompt with “I’m working on…” rather than the traditional Facebook “What’s on your mind?” As you scroll down the page, you can see what friends are online and what they are working on.
For example, a student struggling with an English paper could log on and open a discussion about the assignment. She could either invite friends to join or wait for a spontaneous reply. Maybe one of them is already deliberating over the subject; in that case, she would be able to jump in and learn from their input.
Also, teachers can add to the experience by allowing evening “office hours” from the comfort of their home. This allows the instructor to engage the students on non-threatening, mutual grounds. Conveniently, specific privacy settings allow for isolated conversation or open forum.
Hoot.me utilizes Facebook video conference capacities to connect collaborative users. Much like Skype, Facebook will open a “face-to-face” page for friends to converse and collaborate via video streams for up to eight people. In the future, screen sharing will enable users to view projects and papers directly from another computer.
The app is also conducive to math equations. Hoot.me reads “spreadsheet notation” and displays it in a more formal and visually accurate format. The combination of chat, math notation conversion, and video abilities make hoot.me a virtual distraction management collaboration miracle.
Hoot.me is a productive remedy for the homework distraction and digital default that is Facebook.
Great start to your blog, Kathryn. Thanks for letting me know about Hoot.me. I had not heard of this before.
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