PBwiki Summer Camp

A couple weeks ago, I received an email asking if I'd like to participate in an online summer camp dealing with the ins and outs of using PBwiki in the classroom. Of course, having used it this year, I jumped at the chance. And in total honesty, participants receive a free premium account for one year which is what really drew my attention. Having had some experience with the site before, I didn't think it would be too difficult to navigate through.
After week one of the course, I'm wondering, "Man, can I do all this?" There are webinars that you are required to attend and weekly homework assignments. Not really all to difficult, but it's summer man! Anyway, I digress.
I was able however to participate in my first webinar via the internet. There were a couple ways that we were able to meet. The first being on a conference call along with a live demonstration through the GoTowebinar site. That was nice, I was able to watch the presenter click away on her screen while listening to her over the phone. The second option was to watch through the site, Ustream. While I wasn't able to see her screen unless I was connected to the webinar invite, I was able to hear the audio and see her without having to use my cell phone minutes.
After seeing and participating in the Ustream feed, I think this could be a very valuable resource to use in classrooms. Not only do you get a live video feed of the person you are talking with, but there is also a live chat along the side in which presenters and watchers can interact with each other. How cool would it be to have students at teams watching the same live feed and being able to ask questions to the speaker. This would be a great opportunity with the new laptops in the classrooms (well on a cart that will be wheeled to the classroom anyway). There were some glitches in the feed due to pbwiki's internet connection and possibly to the fact that there were 150 viewers watching it, but I am excited to try and use this tool through the school year. Heck, this could be used as a live Literature Circle discussion with another class in the same district or school (wink wink mr kimmi).
As far as the PBwiki summer camp course goes, I am excited to see what other options are available for the site. The best part of this course is that I am learning from other teachers how to effectively use a wiki in the classroom. Even better, an elementary classroom.
Our classroom wiki site is currently: misterboyer.pbwiki.com but it will be getting an overhaul.
The site for the summer camp is PBWiki Summer Camp and when it's all completed and compiled, it should be a very helpful resource.