Transformative Applications in Education/WiZiQ

Introduction

WiZ iQ is an online learning and teaching platform. As a member of WiZ iQ, you can either be a teacher or a student. As a student, you can search for free study material (online classes, tests, and tutorials) related to the subject or exam you're studying for. As a teacher on Wiz iQ, you can create your own teaching profile and join the e-teaching community discussion.

WiZ iQ membership is free unless you want the Premium membership. The Premium membership is $49.95 per year. With the Premium membership you can do the following:

• Use advanced tools in Virtual Classroom
• Host your class recordings on WiZiQ as long as you are a premium member
• Download and burn your recordings to CD/DVD for offline view
• Collect payments from your contacts
• Let others reach you faster
• Get featured in search results

Capabilities of WiZ iQ

WiZ iQ offers so many great tools. As a free non-premium member you can do the following:

• Teach your own online class
• Have your own virtual classroom
• Create your own tests
• Upload files and save it under, "My Content," for online classes that you teach.
• Schedule your own class
• Choose what you would like to learn about
• Have your own contact list
• Invite contacts to take your online class
• As a student, can search for the right teacher for you under the Teacher Directory.
• A student and teacher tour is provided in order to get you started with WiZ iQ

My Learner Connect

Wiz iQ offers a very neat tool called MyLearnerConnect. The following is what MyLearnerConnect can provide for a Wiz iQ member:

• See the members who attended your classes and attempted your tests
• As a Premium teacher, you can contact as many as 120 members in a year (or up to 10 members each month).
• Premium teachers can access a learner’s:
• Profile information such as name, learning needs, educational qualification, etc.
• Details, like activity between you and the learner.

The key is, the more Public Classes you deliver and Public Tests you create, the better you are at finding relevant members

Advantages of WiZiQ Over Other Services

WiZiQ has some key advantages over other web conferencing or learning platforms. The first key advantage is that the free part of the service has many key features and capabilities. Many of the competing platforms only offer key features for upgraded pay users. The second key aspect is that users do not need to download and install software on their computers to run this application. It is truly an online service where users connect to the WiZiQ server on the web. Another key capability is the ability to instantly set up ad-hoc sessions as needed. Users can be anywhere in the world where there is a network connection - thus worldwide collaboration is truly available. Also key is that WiZiQ is aimed at the education market: it is optimized for teachers to set up and advertise classes and for students to search and find desired sessions.

Transformative Effects of WiZiQ

WiZiQ opens up a world of potential ad-hoc educational opportunities. In addition to the power of using WiZiQ in a formal school setting as a technology platform , the tool offers the opportunity for both teachers and students to participate in educational opportunities as they desire. Teachers are given the opportunity to teach what they are interested in teaching, advertising the session on WiZiQ and delivering the lessons. Learners have the opportunity to look for learning opportunities that they want to participate in. This is a exciting new paradigm where learning is available as both the teacher and learner want to make it happen. Both teachers and learners now are empowered to control their learning experiences.

Paid Private or Public Classes

With WiZiQ, teachers have the ability to charge for their teaching. Private classes can be arranged between teachers and learners for specific learning or remedial help. The teachers have the ability to charge the students for their time. Public online lessons can be for a fee, learners who sign up for the courses will agree to pay for their lessons. WiZiQ will arrange the class management and takes a commission for their effortsWiZiQ commission structure.

References

1. ^ authorGEN, Inc. (2002-20010). WiZiQ Education Online. Retrieved April 2010, from http://www.wiziq.com/home/