Sclipo, the European, how-to video network, has launched a new service for online teaching and learning.
The new service is called SclipoLive, and it connects students and teachers via webcam. You don't need a webcam as a student in order to utilize this new offering from Sclipo, but it could enhance the teaching/learning experience if both parties can see each other "face to face." The purpose of this new service is to take the aspect of how-to and instructional videos one step further, creating an opportunity for more hands-on tutoring, if you will, as long as opportunities for teachers to earn money from the one-on-one time they spend with students.
Teachers can set up lessons for students to choose from. This aspect of the service is free, and teachers can set up as many lessons as they'd like. This offers a great deal of variety for students to choose from, and generally makes a teacher more appealing as an instructor. From there, teachers can set the price, the duration of the lesson, and indicate their availability for teaching. Videos are also recorded, and saved for later viewing.
Students and teachers can take notes during webcam lessons, and chat with each other as well. These notes chats are private, and can be referenced for later use while reviewing the saved video lesson. Chats are lined up with videos based on the time in which they were sent, so clicking on a chat section will play its associated portion of the video. After a session, students are invited to evaluate the instructor, which will help future students make educated decisions regarding lessons they pay for. In all, this is a good way for webcams to be utilized for a teaching/learning objective on an online platform. NowPlayIt and Grockit are two other services leveraging online video for teaching purposes.