Zing Technologies

Last updated
Zingthing
Developer(s) Zing Technologies Pty Ltd
Stable release
3.6 / 2006
Operating system WinXP, Mac OS X
Type groupware, team meeting and learning system
Website http://www.anyzing.com/

Zing Technologies describes a proprietary collaborative software system for meeting and learning. There are two versions of the software, Anyzing and Zingthing. Both use a patented multi-cursor interface. The Zing team meeting and learning system depends on keyboard entry skills and lack of such skills can be a barrier to effective participation in the meeting or learning activity.

Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people involved in a common task to achieve their goals. One of the earliest definitions of collaborative software is "intentional group processes plus software to support them".

Contents

Introduction

A facilitator uses Zing to keep time and follow the agenda. A Zing facilitator often asks the group to follow a pre-determined meeting etiquette of four steps; Talk, Type, Read and Review. Participants are asked to first talk about the question or agenda item currently in focus on the screen. They do this as a group or split into pairs or groups of three. They are then invited to type their responses into the system. When everyone has finished typing, or the allotted time has expired, the group reads the responses and conclude the activity by reviewing what's been recorded, looking for key themes, common patterns or stand-out entries.

A facilitator is someone who engages in facilitation—any activity that makes a social process easy or easier. A facilitator often helps a group of people to understand their common objectives and assists them to plan how to achieve these objectives; in doing so, the facilitator remains "neutral", meaning he/she does not take a particular position in the discussion. Some facilitator tools will try to assist the group in achieving a consensus on any disagreements that preexist or emerge in the meeting so that it has a strong basis for future action.

The system includes a range of tools for brainstorming, sorting and voting. The system is also used for learning activities. Thinking methods such as Edward De Bono's Six Thinking Hats have been used to structure Zing meetings. The number of participants in a group can vary from as few as four to as many as four hundred if people share keyboards or laptops and work in sub groups.

<i>Six Thinking Hats</i> book by Edward de Bono

Six Thinking Hats is a system designed by Edward de Bono which describes a tool for group discussion and individual thinking involving six colored hats. "Six Thinking Hats" and the associated idea parallel thinking provide a mean for groups to plan thinking processes in a detailed and cohesive way, and in doing so to think together more effectively.

A number of independent academics are using Zing in their research for meetings, e-learning and gathering qualitative data.

University of Melbourne Australian public university located in Melbourne, Victoria

The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Melbourne's main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb north of the Melbourne central business district, with several other campuses located across Victoria.

Marketing is the study and management of exchange relationships. Marketing is the business process of creating relationships with and satisfying customers. With its focus on the customer, marketing is one of the premier components of business management.

Central Queensland University Australian public university based in Queensland, with main campus in Rockhampton

Central Queensland University is an Australian dual sector university based in Queensland. Its main campus is in Norman Gardens in Rockhampton. However, it also has campuses in Rockhampton City, Bundaberg (Branyan), Emerald, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide (Wayville), Gladstone, Mackay, Noosa, and Townsville, as well as delivery sites in Cairns, Cannonvale, Charters Towers, Yeppoon, Biloela, as well as Geraldton, Karratha and Perth in Western Australia. Its metropolitan campuses are in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane. As of 2012, the metropolitan campuses hosted both international and domestic students.

Background

The software was first developed in Sydney, Australia, under the name Grouputer. A change in company ownership lead to a split and Grouputer Solutions and Zing Technologies went their separate ways.[ citation needed ] Zing software is now used in Australasia, Europe and North America. Zing software is designed to assist teams create new knowledge together and has been variously categorized as groupware, instructional technology, Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), Decision Support Systems (DSS), electronic meeting systems and a Team Learning System.

Sydney City in New South Wales, Australia

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Port Jackson and extends about 70 km (43.5 mi) on its periphery towards the Blue Mountains to the west, Hawkesbury to the north, the Royal National Park to the south and Macarthur to the south-west. Sydney is made up of 658 suburbs, 40 local government areas and 15 contiguous regions. Residents of the city are known as "Sydneysiders". As of June 2017, Sydney's estimated metropolitan population was 5,131,326, and is home to approximately 65% of the state's population.

Australia Country in Oceania

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Versions

See also

Zing in schools
Students at the VSL prepare for their exams using Zing Dutchclass.jpg
Students at the VSL prepare for their exams using Zing

Related Research Articles

References