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