WEB 2.O TOOL EVALUATION: Edistorm
CATEGORY:
Creativity & Collaboration Tool
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
Edistorm is a virtual extension of one of the
most popular inventions in our modern day world…the sticky pad. It is an online format for creating sticky
notes for the purpose of group collaboration or just planning a project by
posting random thoughts to a board. Most great ideas revolve around simple
concepts but the developer of this program has missed the mark on creating functionality
with this tool. Initially, I was truly
excited about this platform as I am an organized and planning freak but was
sadly disappointed to discover that the effort fell short of being fully
effective. Further enhancements and cost effective pricing could make this a
robust application for use in the classroom.
If you’re interested in learning
more, listen to my podcast and read below.
PREREQUISITES TO
USAGE:
1.
Set
up a free user account
2.
One
person needs to be the group administrator to create the storm and then invite
others to join in via email. You will
need email addresses for those persons with whom you want to collaborate with
so that you can invite them to your particular storm.
RESOURCES
REQUIRED:
Access to a computer or smartphone with App
Store access
Note:
the website indicates there is an App for the iPad but it’s not there to
date.
STEP BY STEP
ACCESS:
1.
Log
in
a.
You
will immediately arrive at a dashboard where you can see which storms you have
set up,
b.
An
upgrade button to pay the developer for more privileges
c.
A
menu bar to create your profile
d.
An
interface that looks eerily similar to Facebook where you can invite your
friends and chat.
For a video
introduction to this program go to this link.
Edistorm Promotional Video by
Designer |
| Working Board to Create a Storm |
TOOL EXAMPLE:
To see an example of this online tool, please
click on the link below. Note: you will have to set up a free online account
before accessing the group below and you will need to submit your email to me
so that I can send you an invitation to join the Edistorm.
POTENTIAL EDUCATION
APPLICATION:
It
seems that the developer intended this product for group collaboration projects. In my initial usage of the program, it can be
used for project collaboration but the limitations outlined below really create
the question, “is it worth the investment?”
EDUCATION
ADVANTAGES:
Brainstorming
If you need a
place for a group or team to just post ideas on a common wall, then this is a
good application. It could be used in a
distance education setting or in a face to face meeting. With the online application and an overhead
projector, the team could easily discuss different ideas to hone in a project
strategy and content.
Photos
To further
enhance ideas and creativity the platform allows users to upload photos onto
the board. There is also the ability to
add comments by any member of the team onto each photo.
Voting
by Collaborators
A unique and simple
innovation allows a easily identified voting pin to show up on each sticky note
so that all the members of the team can see which ideas are more popular by
team members. The voting is allowed only
once by participant.
EDUCATION
DISADVANTAGES
Video
Upload is NOT Intuitive
The functionality
of adding video to the collaboration board is not intuitive. I tried several times and couldn’t identify
how to select the video file to upload. This
functionality is a bust!
Idea
Voting Button Flexibility
At present the
only voting capacity is if you “like” a post it note. Often times, the decision making process
involves initially identifying what the team doesn’t like first, then it is a
matter of narrowing down the focus to what the team likes for the final
product. The decision making process
could be greatly enhanced by adding a “don’t like this idea” button.
Reporting
The true measure
of any digital database program is how you get the information out of it that
was input by the user. As detailed
below, the only way to have reporting capabilities is to purchase the upgrade
plan. Today’s workflow is based upon
transferring information between different software and enabling content
manipulation, i.e. research search engines like Mendeley allow you to annotate
online resources and then to complete the final product you can transfer those
notes into Microsoft Word. Preparing any
type of brainstorming or project collaboration would have the same needs so the
inability to transfer data out of Edistorm is a problem that limits flexibility
and creates more obstacles.
Difficult
Maneuverability
The board space
is so large that it is cumbersome to keep the content of the sticky notes
together where they are easily accessed.
The user has to look at a smaller inset screen in the upper right hand
corner to see where the sticky notes are on the board. While it’s not a deal breaker for using the
program, it does make maneuvering a little more complicated than it could be.
Costly with
Limited Services
The
free version allows 1 storm at a time.
This is not practical if you are teaching multiple classes.
The
second tier version, Educator – Starter is $49 per year and allows 2 storms at
a time. Again, this is only effective if
you have 2 classes that you want to use this program with. The developer also fails to list what features
you get with this plan so when you sign up the user isn’t clear on what
features are included. Specifically, the
reporting function which would be very important in actually implementing this
as a collaboration tool may or may not be available with the upgrade. An educator might feel compelled to use this
level or membership but most won’t be willing to invest the money if they don’t
know what they are getting from their service level.
The
third tier version, Educator – Plus is $99 per year and allows 4 storms at a
time. In my opinion, for $99 per year
the user should be able to create as many storms as they desire. To put this in context, the Adobe Premier Elements
program for educators is $110 total and has no limit on usage. Really?
While it is understood that the developer has not enlisted outside
advertisers to help offset cost, they must have had their heads in the clouds,
pun intended, when they thought educators would pay this much money for such
limited service.
Creepy Factor
The
dashboard has a section which emulates characteristics from Facebook where you
can invite your friends to the storms you create or just interact as a social
media. So, here is where it gets creepy…upon
creating your profile the developer automatically shows up as someone on your
dashboard who is following you. Most
software programs are designed to allow the developer to track the program’s
effectiveness behind the scenes so that they can provide continuous improvement
which is acceptable. However, it’s just weird
that every time you log into the program to use it you are reminded that this
guy is following you. It seems a little
too personal to me.
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