Subscribe |
Track your commentsYou post a comment on a blog. How do you know if anyone responded? You read an interesting post. How do you know when there are new comments? Use co.mments to bookmark posts you want to follow. It tracks new comments for you, so you don't miss out. You can see all the new comments from your tracking page, or subscribe to the feed. To get started, just grab yourself a bookmarklet and start tracking. Click here to get an account. |
Conversations for Christyinsdesign
Tip: Don't have an account? Get one, it only takes a few seconds. (Why?)
-
Babies at the San Antonio ribfest
[Source: http://www.flickr.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found Monday.
-
Flickr Wordle
Alan Levine aka CogDog barked this June 29th, 2008 8:32 pm Flickr Wordle by cogdogblog posted 29 Jun '08, 9.26pm MDT PST on flickr Everybody and their mother blogger has noted Wordle, the lovely tag generator. I thigk I was one of the first to note it, but hey, who gives a flying fart about being web first except blog-o-ego-maniacs. Okay I was just... [Source: http://cogdogblog.com]
No comments in conversation. -
Clive on Learning: Now I've heard it all
[Source: http://clive-shepherd.blogspot.com]
2 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 26.
Last 2 comments:
At 6:16 PM, Jerome said...
When I was in charge of a LearnDirect centre, one user was moving the mouse on the screen (then he improved : he was hovering it over the table) while another had to be stop short erasing a mistake with tipp-ex...
At 12:13 AM, christytucker said...
My husband works for the help desk for a certain library software, so he mostly talks to school librarians and media specialists. He had a call a while back from a woman who complained that the battery was running low on her hand-held scanner. He explained that the scanner had to be plugged into an outlet to charge; it could recharge the battery just be being plugged into the computer through the USB.
She said she didn't think she had anything she could plug in, so he asked her to describe what she had in the box the scanner was shipped in. After all, he thought it was possible that the adapter didn't get shipped.
Her response, "Well, I have this thing with two metal prongs. Is that what needs to be plugged into the wall?"
-
Happy Birthday VizThink
posted in VizThink | VizThink is one! This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 4:45 pm and is filed under VizThink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [Source: http://christinemartell.com]
No comments in conversation. -
Karyn's erratic learning journey: How well do I know you?
[Source: http://karynromeis.blogspot.com]
6 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 27.
Last 5 comments:
Karyn Romeis said...
@Rina Hope you recover your bounce soon. Don't be so sure that I've got your measure from what I've read of you - although I would like to think that I'm on the right track!
In my mind's eye, you are a bubbly chatterbox who uses her hands a lot. I imagine that you can jump from topic to topic without pausing. I would expect you to change the subject of conversation often, without even noticing that you're doing it. You might even interrupt an answer to one question in order to ask another on a totally different topic.
Would that be accurate, or have I missed it completely?
12:07 PM
christytucker said...
I'm curious; do you feel like when you've gotten that "peek behind the curtain" that people are consistent with the personalities they show on their blogs, or have you ever been surprised? Do you feel like you know your blogger-friends on Facebook better than you know others bloggers?
I think you post more about your personal life than many other bloggers in the education/training realm. Sometimes I wonder if I know more about you than you know about me, just because I tend to not post the personal stuff as often.
2:36 PM
Vicki A. Davis said...
Karyn -
Honestly, since the earliest time we started talking through our blogs (I still love your "hairbrush" post - it sticks in my mind.) I don't know somehow but I do think we would recognize one another.
However, sometimes when we haven't met a person we tend to "invent" who they are. Also, it is unfortunate that many of us meet when we are the busiest and unable to make small talk which doesn't make for the best meeting time.
I don't know -- we're planning a trip to England next year -- maybe we should test this out!
1:53 AM
Rina said...
God , how do you know me so well! Yes I am mostly too excited to hold back. Yes I tend to flow from one to the other topic without realising. And today your observation brought a smile, I really needed it. Had a big fight with husband. I want to tell it today. We have issues about his mother, who stays with us. There is funny ego thing. She was working earlier for 30 years now she's retired, after a gap of 15 years I start to work full-time. Now this is making her restless. She's been looking for a job but is not getting any. It is unacceptable to her to see me going out. This is creating so much tension at home. As usual, Indian daudhter-in-laws are supressed and the norm is to take this opression. I took it since I was twenty-one but am resistant now. This is creating trouble.Husband was leaving for a long time and we had a terrible fight. The blame game thing. Feel that the initial part of marriage when you bond was spent in pleasing his parents' whims and fancies.I feel sick about this hypocracy and Indian values created to exploit the women. I know as I have kids there is no way out but, I will take no crap now. Right Karyn? Why should I live in fear?I am not the feminist or any thing as I attend all his office parties, throw parties. Do whatever it is expected or he asks but the tantrums I conter with my own tantrums now to give them a taste of their own medicine. Don't know if I am right. Can only hope that when I am foury I am much wiser and balanced like you. I don't know if should have said this but today I wanted to. And life is short so it dosen't matter. Hugs. You brighetened my day!
5:13 AM
Karyn Romeis said...
@christy I'm fairly certain that you know more about me than I know about you! I am aware that I blog about my life more than most, and I often wonder: Should I change that? Should I defend that? I've always been a very wysiwyg person - heart on sleeve, thought-in-head = word-on-lips. But to answer your other question, I definitely know more about the bloggers I meet on FB, but only those who interact there. Not everyone does.
@rina Been there done that on the mother-in-law thing, only mine never lived with us, so you have my sympathy! However, I now have a very good relationship with her, so there is hope. Assertiveness without aggression - that's the way forward.
11:47 AM
-
In the Middle of the Curve: Questions of Identity
3 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 25.
Last 3 comments:
At 8:10 AM , Janet Clarey said...
Online identity is a complex topic. Not using your "real life" identity suggests fear of something, perhaps a sense of hiding something, or even misrepresentation. But I think there's something else - the Google factor. For me, using a different identity (first name only/nickname/hobby-related name) means I can keep separate the inner gardener or cook or whatever and stay off the Google radar. I'm not writing anything I wouldn't say out loud or posing as someone I'm not, I'm just keeping the business side of my online identity 'unfragmented.' Right now, I don't need anyone to find Janet the gardener.
What has been hard though is the ubiquitousness of Google. I have two accounts - one is my work life and one is hobby-related and they keep overlapping unintentionally. I'll be in my work reader and all of a sudden I see house blogs listed. Ticks me off. Must be a glitch. I like to set aside time to do my personal reading (much like I wouldn't read BH&G at my desk at work).
So, my friends at work will know I like gardening or whatever but I don't need the CEO to look up my name and say, do I want Janet in training or Janet, the one who reads BH&G? More than ever, Google is your online identity tracker. By using a different identifier, I'm opting out of searchability - the default.
At 11:01 AM , Wendy said...
Very true. It is very much about the searchability factor and how you want your audience to find you and which part of you.
Especially since it is progressively more difficult to keep one's business identity separate from everything else.
So one audience searches for me under one name. Another audience (the professional one) can find me under my real name.
Future social historians will have a field day with all of this, I suspect.
BTW - I separated my google reader into 2 folders, personal and professional. And I am pretty good about putting the various subscriptions in their folder. I may narrow the categories down further at some point. Haven't run into migrating subscriptions yet.
Any recategorization will happen about the time when I rename all of my professional blog subscriptions using everyone's name (as Mark O suggested). It may be awhile since I am lazy ;' )
At 1:13 PM , Karyn Romeis said...
I blog under my own name. I am also a member of various forums, where I may use pseudonyms. On YouTube, I use a pen name, in an attempt to keep the vitriole and cyber-abuse that gets spewed there away from my professional circle.
I also use a pseudonym on sites where I don't want random searchers looking for my professional material and stumbling across my discussions about my sporting injuries, my dietary habits and such like.
I feel the need to be associated with my professional/academic work. I reckon it adds credibility that I am prepared to attach my name to my stance. On the other hand, where my real identity is of little consequence and may in fact result in spillage that could hurt me professionally, well, then I feel no such obligation.
I will be referencing several blogs in my dissertation, but I have avoided those which can't be reliably referenced (with one notable exception).
-
#22 Second Life in education
Published by kgbcat at 4:25 am under Education, learning, web2.0 and tagged: Education, learning, Second Life, teaching, virtual worlds What do I know about Second Life? Well not a lot. I have heard about it and have a very rough idea but nothing much else. I did not really think I was all that interested but looking around I see just how many peop... [Source: http://kgbcat.globalteacher.org.au]
No comments in conversation. -
A little Linux diversion (Synergy on OpenSUSE 11.0)
Posted on June 21, 2008 by Robin My work laptop is a dual-boot Windows XP/OpenSUSE 10.3 affair, and although the company is trialing the use of Macs, I am so far down the pecking order that the only place I can enjoy relatively stress-free computing is on my Mac Pro at home. However, every so often I start tinkering and the latest project was to co... [Source: http://macbitz.wordpress.com]
No comments in conversation. -
Sometimes They Just Aren't Ready
I have a 16-year old daughter and let's just say that parenting her right now is . . . challenging. Apparently most things in the world are not meeting her expectations, particularly her relationships with the people around her. The other day she was complaining about someone she babysits for and how this person expects her to be infinitely availab... [Source: http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog//2008]
7 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 23.
Last 5 comments:
When I was in therapy after my divorce, I learned some "transactional analysis" techniques and read Eric Berne's "Games People Play." The book's a bit outdated, but it was still a useful model for me to understand relationships.
"Games" are essentially repeated dysfunctional patterns--like the arguments couples have over and over without actually changing the underlying causes. Keeping in mind that I'm not a counselor and not a parent, your conversation with your daughter sounds like a game of "Yes, But."
In "Yes, But," one person complains about something. The other makes a suggestion for how to address the problem. For every suggestion, there's a "yes, but" saying why the solution won't work. This continues until one person gets frustrated enough to stop it or switch to a different "game."
You have two basic choices for how to respond in this game after the first "yes but" excuse is given.
1. "That's unfortunate," followed by silence.
2. "So what are you going to do about it?"
The first one can involve some of the ignoring--waiting for the other person to decide they really do want help, like Janet's example. The second choice puts the responsibility on the other person to come up with a solution themselves, rather than relying on you.
I used the second option once in a very intense argument (I admit I hadn't realized I was playing the game until 5 or 6 "yes buts" had passed). He responded "there's nothing I can do to change the situation." I replied that if there's no solutions, then he'd have to get used to things the way they were. He didn't like it, but it avoided me being continually drawn into those arguments.
Short-circuiting the game won't make the other person magically be ready for positive change, but it helps keep you out of unproductive conversations. In personal or business relationships, sometimes I find I just need to have that way to get out of those conversations so I can do something more productive.
If you're interested in reading more about the games, this site has good examples. (Language warning--SOB is in the name of a game.)
Posted by: Christy Tucker | June 20, 2008 at 07:48 AM
This post reminds me very much of the conclusion I have come to. People know what I am doing and they know theory can come to me if they want help/advice, whatever. In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away, doing my thing.
Posted by: Sarah Stewart | June 20, 2008 at 10:14 AM
Kia ora Michele!
Chirsty beat me to it! Another, similarly outdated book worth a look at is I'm OK - You're OK by Thomas Anthony Harris.
I agree with the 'yes but' possibility. The attention seeking plea may be an indicator though. Possibly attention is what's needed, and not just looked for.
My own children don't use this tack, but I have a few students who do. They phone me with a lame problem which I quickly find no solution to! They often just want to talk and I find that their particular attitude, which is endearing to a parent, often just dissolves when the appropriate attention is proffered.
A sympathetic or (what's more likely) an empathetic approach works wonders. It makes the person feel good about themselves and is less frustrating for the sympathiser to pursue than a problem-solving wild goose chase!
A metaphor for this approach would be a long hug, which with students is less fraught with problems on the phone than in reality contact! But with a son or daughter it is entirely approriate and often accepted. I hug all my kids, even the over 25 year olds - I've got 3 of those - and they all respond favourably.
Ka kite
Posted by: Ken Allan | June 20, 2008 at 05:03 PM
So the problem is that your daughter has a complaint about a babysitting client, and she isn't interested in your solutions to the problem? And you believe the solution is to wait until your daughter finds the situation too painful to take, is ready to change, and is willing to use your solutions?
When I talk to friends and family, despite knowing better ways of communicating, I often fall into the trap of suggesting solutions. The difficulty always is, however, that what may seem simple from the outside is actually a problem fraught with complex emotion.
When I help to tackle a problem, providing solutions is usually not a good idea unless a person asks for them. Even then, the first step in effective communication is to establish rapport. I try to always be sure that the person I am communicating with believes I understand what he or she is saying, particularly if that person has a complaint. The two reasons this is important is to grasp the problem in my own mind, and to demonstrate to the person I'm trying to help that I grasp the problem. The latter is exceptionally important to get any kind of cooperation.
I always try re-present in my own words what the complaint is until the person agrees I am describing the problem properly.
Generally, the next best step is to build on that rapport, by relating a similar problem I've had. I don't describe how I solved it unless asked (the idea is to build rapport, not come off as having all the answers).
Next, if the problem is another person (e.g., a babysitting client) I try to get the person to empathize with the problem person (e.g., how would your daughter behave if she were the babysitting client). I try to keep it realistic, and positive, but some humor is ok.
I then ask what the person thinks might be a solution. I try summing up aspects of the situation that suggest possible solutions, with the idea being that I want the person to put the pieces together and realize the possible solution on her own. That way she understands the nuances of the solution better, AND because the solution is something she formulated (with subtle help), her buy-in will be all the greater.
Now I'm not exactly following all my own advice here in writing this out, but I wanted to sum it up, as this method, while effective, takes time. Although it takes far less time than continually having my solutions rejected, and having people get mad at me for being a know-it-all who clearly doesn't understand what is really going on. =)
Posted by: James Burns | June 21, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Christy, Ken and James--thanks for the great ideas! I think all of these apply to working with people to help them adopt social media, too. And Sarah, I know that you've been struggling with getting people to come along, but I think that your example is a great one for people to follow when they're finally ready. So maybe that's all you can do at this point.
Posted by: Michele Martin | June 23, 2008 at 02:43 AM
-
De-Grading the Workplace
The other day I mentioned Alfie Kohn, best known for his book, Punished by Rewards, which I devoured when it first came out and still return to from time-to-time. In one of those serendipitous moments that occurs so often in the blogosphere, a few days later I saw that Christy Tucker bookmarked one of Kohn's articles, so I clicked through to check ... [Source: http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog//2008]
No comments in conversation. -
Using Del.icio.us to Create an Easy, Always Updated Online Portfolio
A few days ago, I was checking out Nine Notable Uses for Social Bookmarking (read the article--there's stuff there you probably haven't considered before) and I was struck by number 6--build an online portfolio. I personally believe that having an online portfolio is a critical work literacy skill and an important part of an overall online identity... [Source: http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog//2008]
4 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 18.
Last 4 comments:
I have to say I find it a real pain updating my portfolio in wikispaces. This is a great idea that overcomes that - will have to have a think about it.
Posted by: Sarah Stewart | June 18, 2008 at 11:45 AM
Yep--my point exactly. I think that if you're in full-out job search or putting together something for a graduate program, you might need a more structured approach. But this solution could work for a lot of other people, especially if you're constantly producing things online.
Posted by: Michele Martin | June 18, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Using del.icio.us as an online portfolio is a pretty cool idea. I hadn't thought of using it for that purpose, but it is a nifty way of creating/keeping a portfolio current. I can see how it could use this in my role as a librarian and a history instructor. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: Dani Vaughn-Tucker | June 18, 2008 at 03:51 PM
Using del.icio.us as an online portfolio is a pretty cool idea. I hadn't thought of using it for that purpose, but it is a nifty way of creating/keeping a portfolio current. I can see how it could use this in my role as a librarian and a history instructor. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by: Dani Vaughn-Tucker | June 18, 2008 at 03:52 PM
-
LMS Use In Higher Ed and K-12
by Steve Wexler June 13th, 2008 A Guild member contacted me recently and asked me to drill down on two questions pertaining to LMS use in educational institutions. Here's a question from the Guild's LMS survey: So, what does "Departmental/Divisional" use mean in Education? Does it mean that the elementary school uses one LMS and the middle school u... [Source: http://www.elearningguild.net]
6 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 17.
Last 5 comments:
2. Brent Schlenker | June 13th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I think that the education world is much more open to Open Source LMS solutions like MOODLE. And I think its easier to have different installations of MOODLE for different departments than it is to manage one GIANT install for the entire organization.
It might be interesting to see if the percentage of open source LMS users is also around 24%.
3. Steve Wexler | June 13th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Brent,
The percentage of open source users in education is higher than 24%. According to our recentluy published report, Moodle is used in 54.2% of K-12 institutions and 34.9% of higher ed institutions.
Incidentally, if I filter the results for the two charts above to only show results from Moodle users, Departmnetnal/Divisional usage shoots up to 45.2%.
And if I remove Moodle and look at all other products, Departmental/Divisional usage goes down to 18.2%.
Moodle is definitely skewing the enterprise/departmental discussion.
(The "training" department decreases to 13.9% when just Moodle is selected).
4. Frank N | June 13th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Having recently joined the dark side, there is a growing push for centralization and standardization of enterprise systems in higher ed and to a lesser extent in K12. You see IT dept's implementing Peoplesoft and SAP more and more. LMS are increasingly being added to the IT enterprise suite. So an entire school district or university campus would standardize on say Blackboard or Moodle as a platform.
To your question about what "department" means in this situation. For K12, you are probably looking at a school district that has not yet centralized the LMS function or a school with within a centralized district that has a renegade principle who wants to be different or cutting edge. In higher ed, it's likely a similar situation - a non-centralized environment or a renegade department or college (less likely). For example, our standard platform at SDSU is Blackboard but at least two departments got tired of BB's funky usability quirks and landed locally managed copies of Moodle.
5. Steve Wexler | June 13th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Frank,
Great observations. Kevin Oakes (ceo of i4cp - http://www.i4cp.com and one of the authors of the Guild's 2007 LMS report) points out that there is often an LMS in place that manages learning for employees and workers in an educational institution and that his LMS may be different from the LMS used for students and professors. This would also explain the existence of a training department to manage this LMS.
Steve
6. Frank N | June 13th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
A good point, Steve and Kevin. I've also seen a trend towards canned soft skill and software training needs outsourced to a company like ElementK or Skillsoft. Part of that offering often includes a hosted LMS. For custom developed training, you see lots of stuff go under the radar - deployed off intranet sites and such.
-
Training and all the Development: Tryst with Instructional Designing
[Source: http://prabhsdinky.blogspot.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found June 16.
Last comment:
christytucker said...
I'm sorry that your job opportunity didn't work out like you'd hoped, but it sounds like you are taking a very positive attitude towards getting the skills you need to do ID.
Good luck with your ID course, and I hope you do share what you learn here on your blog.
June 15, 2008 8:05 PM
-
DetentionSlip.org, please stop the comment spam!
Dear DetentionSlip.org, I like your blog. I'm a regular subscriber, appreciate your work, and will use your site numerous times for my school law class. But would you please, please stop the comment spam? On Wednesday you left this comment: You should have mentioned DetentionSlip.org they are ranked 10 on Alltop, just won Best Education Blog of the... [Source: http://www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org]
10 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 10.
Last 5 comments:
So given that the general opinion is that Detention Slip (DS) is not a productive member of at least this site, is there an opportunity to learn here? The comment Justin left about tabloids simply begs me to ask if this is the "counterproductive part" of every "productive" medium. Is this type of thing the price we pay - and must live with - for the advancement in technology communications. No perfect anything, right? So maybe DS is the Howard Stern of the blogosphere. Some will live to follow the crap, and although not responsible or ethical, it will draw an audience.
Posted by: Marshall | June 07, 2008 at 08:53 PM
Scott, you're being far kinder than I would be. I don't know what blogging platform you use, but perhaps it's time to add this site to the spam list that automatically filters that stuff out.
Posted by: Rick | June 07, 2008 at 09:36 PM
Why just NOT subscribe? That sends a clear message. I just scanned the site...interesting reading. Why must edubloggers always focus on the positive, education reform topics?
However, this site is more about advertising. Simply, he's out to make money. Not a bad thing, just an act that I find problematic for edubloggers. Personally, I'm looking for noncommercial reading from edubloggers.
What's disappointing is that if the best blog awards wasn't rigged--and I suspect it was without any evidence to back up that suspicion--then why was there so little awareness of "education blogs" as alternatives to racy, salacious content and photos like the ones on Detentionslip?
Miguel
Posted by: Miguel Guhlin | June 08, 2008 at 06:55 AM
I get the gist of your post so it surprises me that you link back to that site so much here.
Posted by: J. Calderon | June 08, 2008 at 11:26 PM
All,
First, thank you for the numerous links you have provided for DetentionSlip. We are excited to begin this new partnership towards improving the education system.
We are sorry if we have irritated the online community, but still strongly feel it is important to communicate these stories to the reading audience. Although there are multiple issues facing the state education, if we do not take time to address these small problems that occur daily across the country, then we are pretending they do not exist altogether. Many of these incidents can be avoided and changed for the positive if we begin to address the policies in place and accept that change is necessary for improvement.
While all education sites offer this premise, we believe it takes a DetentionSlip to ruffle the feathers, and hopefully ultimately, open some eyes. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes more than one trip to the Principals office to learn your lesson.
Posted by: Hall Monitor | June 10, 2008 at 08:43 PM
-
When Frills are Not
A couple of weeks ago, I added a graphical user Interface to Class Blogmeister. It came after several teachers, who were planning summer professional development, said that a word processing-style GUI would help the teachers in their workshops adjust more quickly to blogging. I can certainly understand that. Blogging with GUI (click to enlarge) As ... [Source: http://davidwarlick.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found June 08.
Last comment:
-
Blogging for Noobs?
Posted by Jennifer on June 6th, 2008 in Uncategorized , SocialMedia I have a new eLearning designer starting soon and I've sent her links to blogs and will be ramping her up in the whole social medial thing. I started thinking about my own blog and discovered it probably makes no sense to people who are new to social media. As I look around at the ... [Source: http://injenuity.com]
No comments in conversation. -
Karyn's erratic learning journey: Well duh! A little something I learned about my car
[Source: http://karynromeis.blogspot.com]
9 comments in conversation. Last comment found June 08.
Last 5 comments:
Keith S said...
Karyn-
I had the same revelation a few years back...it was huge for me because I always pull up on the wrong side of the pump. Of course it's only in my wife's car: wish it were in mine. (In America we have a law that the wife gets the good car!)
7:02 AM
Karyn Romeis said...
@Christy - I expected that to be the solution, but no amount of right clicking produced a menu with that option. It was this action that kept resulting in the attempted calls... and, yes, I do know my left mouse button from my right ;oP
@mick Aha! So perhaps it isn't really a feature - more of a coincidence. More research is required.
@keith Sounds like a very sensible law to me ;o) In South Africa, the wife almost always gets the "second" car. In the UK, two-car families are a relative rarity, so I'm not sure how it works. In wealthy families, the wife seems to get the 4X4. You never know when you might have to go off road in one of London's leafier suburbs!
9:03 AM
Elaine A said...
I was very happy when I had this revelation about 6 months ago.
I might have mis-understood the description you quote, but my understanding is that it's the little triangular arrow beside the picture of the pump that points to the aide with the petrol cap.
Works on my Ford focus, anyway, and on a couple of hire cars too (where it comes in particularly handy as I never think to check before I get in the car).
11:33 AM
Karyn Romeis said...
@elaine I wondered about that, but I thought the arrow would tell you which side the pump should be when you pull up. Perhaps I'm wrong, but if the arrow tells you which side your cap is, that contradicts what the content of the post says. Hmmm.
11:37 AM
Dave Ferguson said...
I'm sorry to join the "it's a coincidence" party, but the image of the gas pump in my Honda Civic does not correspond with the side of the car at which you fill the tank.
11:30 PM
-
Half an Hour: Defending Edupunk
[Source: http://halfanhour.blogspot.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found June 02.
Last comment:
Gardner said...
Steven,
It may be that the game of civil discourse (I far prefer "civil" to "polite"--I think there's a difference) is rigged and change by that means is impossible. But if that's so, I believe we're sunk anyway, as I think that no amount of anti-authoritarianism impolitely expressed will lead to much beyond anger, fear, destruction, and self-congratulation.
Anti-authoritarianism doesn't solve the problem of authority, in my view. It merely redistributes the problem.
So I can't embrace "edupunk." I can and do embrace learning and all that is needed to support it. I don't resist authority. I resist those in authority who lie, cheat, and steal.
Maybe it's false consciousness, but I see some distinctions there, some vital distinctions that "edupunk" overlooks.
7:42 AM
-
Using Del.icio.us in Education
28 05 2008 I think that Del.icio.us is one of the most useful Web 2.0 tools. It facilitates: - saving and accesing your bookmarks online - promoting your own sites (you bookmark in Del.icio.us your best pages, don't you?) - finding bookmarks from other users on your network (they are searching for relevant sites for you) - networking with other use... [Source: http://fedup2.edublogs.org]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found May 29.
Last comment:
Christy Tucker (16:38:49) :
Thanks for the link!
-
Comment Challenge and the Googlish Rosetta Stone
Posted by: dogtrax in Homepage, comment challenge, tags: cocomment08 [Source: http://dogtrax.edublogs.org]
13 comments in conversation. Last comment found May 26.
Last 5 comments:
blk1 Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
That' s an interesting issue Christy. Didn't think about that.
Bonnie
dogtrax Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Hola Fermín
Me gusta esa idea de un "puente" en la historia, desde el presente hacia el pasado. Ustedes han sido los blogs mucho más largo que tengo y si tiene visitantes de todo el mundo, que muestra el poder de la web, ¿verdad?
Mantener el buen trabajo y gracias por su visita aquí y dejar comentarios, y que me permite explorar la forma en que la web puede romper algunas barreras del idioma.
Atentamente,
Kevin
Hello Fermin
I love that idea of a "bridge" in history, from the present to the past. You have been blogging a lot longer than I have and if you have visitors from all over the world, that shows the power of the web, right?
Keep up the good work and thank you for visiting here and leaving comments, and allowing me to explore how the web can break down some language barriers.
Sincerely,
Kevin
blk1 Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Very Very Cool. Welcome Fermin,
How about an invitation to Boil Down Your Week?
Bonnie
drdyer Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Kevin / Fermín
A great example of how this activity could work with educators reaching out to others in a different country.
Have you decided which language you will be using to communicate with each other in the future?
Kevin / Fermín
Un gran ejemplo de cómo esta actividad podría trabajar con los educadores llegar a los otros en un país diferente.
¿Ha decidido qué idioma que se utiliza para comunicarse unos con otros en el futuro?
GirlGriot Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
This is excellent. I shied away from doing this activity because I doubted how well Google would be able to translate … think I'll have to go back and try it after all!
-
31 Day Comment Challenge: Days 19-25
By Meredith Farkas | May 25, 2008 Day 19: Respond to a Commenter on Your Own Blog This activity is supposed to be about responding to people who comment on your posts. The person who created the activity writes "if readers have made time to comment on your posts, you should always make sure to respond back (ideally to each reader) in the comments o... [Source: http://meredith.wolfwater.com]
6 comments in conversation. Last comment found May 26.
Last 5 comments:
Christy Tucker Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 8:49 am
I don't think there's anything wrong with doing a summary comment to respond to several people. It helps if you mention people by name in your response, but personally, I think that's completely acceptable. If it helps you stay on top of comments and avoid feeling overwhelmed, then do it!
I love the idea of "unique voice" in commenting. I think Sue Waters and Michele Martin have that, but it's a hard thing to achieve. I recently finished developing a course for middle school science teachers, and the Subject Matter Expert who did most of the writing has a great personal voice in his writing. It was so much fun to work with him because his writing always sounded "like him."
Jennifer Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
It's been neat watching you try this 31 day challenge and, I confess, even neater seeing my comment appear as part of the challenge.
I would never have thought of following a foreign language blog, but I will have to give it a try. It's interesting how you managed to give recommendations simply by sharing your experiences.
Deborah Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Huh, I thought I commented earlier, but either I forgot to actually click 'send' or it didn't like the url I included. Anyway, I was mainly commenting to say that Google Translate has recently added an English-Danish option. I don't know how good it is as my own Danish is distinctly patchy; Danish-English gives some good stuff, some untranslated, and some… well, it's translated "Vendsyssel" as "California" for some reason, despite the fact that California is an implausible birthplace for an early 16th century Danish mariner.
Deborah Says:
May 25th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Google Translate has very recently (I think in the last week) added Danish as an option. I don't know how well it works - I've been learning Danish primarily by reading early 16th century documents as research for a novel, so my grasp of the modern language is patchy for reading and terrible for writing.
I like that they're promoting reading/commenting on blogs in other languages. The English-speaking blogosphere interlinks a lot but there doesn't seem to be so much linkage from English-speaking blogs back to non-English blogs, though there's a lot of interesting stuff going on out there. I've been experimenting a bit with doing a "non-English blog roundup" based on a few blogs out of the languages I can muddle my way through (I'm overdue in writing another one actually), but I don't know how useful it actually is to people who don't know the original language to get more information.
Meredith Farkas Says:
May 26th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Thanks for the tip, Deborah! I'll have to give that a go. Sorry about your first comment; Akismet occasionally grabs legit comments as spam and I go in every day or so and restore them. I love the idea of a non-English blog roundup! I'm really interested in how librarians outside of English-speaking countries use social software in their work or what tools/ideas are really getting them excited.
-
Doug Johnson's Blue Skunk Blog - Blue Skunk Blog - Brain rules and multi-tasking
[Source: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com]
4 comments in conversation. Last comment found May 24.
Last 4 comments:
Hi!
Interesting question... I kind of relate this to the ticker/sidebar issue with stations like CNN and ESPNews. So many extras are thrown onto the screen how do you focus on any one thing, let alone the most important? With an "enhanced" presentation where people are going off on their own tangents it is very likely important points are being missed along the way (assuming the speaker has valuable points). In a traditional presentation, perhaps some of these tools could be used after the fact more effectively-when everyone involved has gotten the full story.
On another thought line though, perhaps we should be asking (pressuring?) speakers to move away from the traditional presenter/audience relationship (one talks, the rest listen). With IM tools, blogging, tweet, and other tools that make it so much easy to collaborate and interact how about we re-structure the presentation so those tools can be used during the presentation for everyone's benefit? Along those same lines, I wonder if the same finding will be true for "multi-tasking" when this next generation grows up. Having lived in a world where there is never just one source of information/communication, are their brains developing differently?
Adam
May 23, 2008 | Adam
Of course when we talk about multi-tasking we're really talking about task switching but I'm sure your sources and video acknowledge that (I haven't look at them yet, too busy reading RSS, twittering, et al)
Actually last week I sat in Stephen Downes' session where he intentionally used a back channel, as he said, to create his slides. Each post lasted on the screen for 10 seconds. During his one hour talk, over 900 comments, images were posted. While it was distracting to many, it added an opportunity to engage in his presentation that only occurred previously by making hand written notes.
There's nothing wrong with that but I think the discussions around back channeling might mirror discussions about technologies. Yes, we do it because we can but it is an evolving instructional strategy. It needs some refining, it might not be suitable in all context but I'm personally working through these issues and hopefully others are as well.
The concept of participatory engagement is good. How we make that happen, is still in question.
May 23, 2008 | Dean Shareski
@ Adamn
The talk/listen format has its place. It is far too widely used currently, but used well (think the TED talks) it can be inspiring and informative.
Not sure at all about this new generation. I know they like to THINK they can multi-task.
Appreciate the comments.
@ Dean
Sequential attention switching is also what Medina says we must do. Maybe those who can do it most quickly are those who are considered multi-taskers.
I have no issue with audience participation/conversation/interaction. In fact, I believe most effective workshop presenters have always made this a critical part of their craft. A BER speaking coach once advised me that you never go more than 15 minutes without some form of "activity" in a workshop (pair and share, quiz, reflection, etc.)
But I believe we are doing a disservice to both our participants and to ourselves in providing concurrent "attention-getters."
Read Medina's research. You'd find it interesting.
All the best and thanks, as always, for the insight,
Doug
May 24, 2008 | Doug Johnson
Have you looked at any of the research on multitasking and dual-tasking summarized on the Eide Neurolearning blog? For example, in one post they say, "It discusses the interesting observation that at least in some cases, less brain work is used for solving two tasks at once, then the two tasks separately (underadditivity)."
I haven't read Medina's research. Does he address this research that the Drs. Eide are talking about? I'm sure that error rates do increase for some tasks, as he says, but I'm quite skeptical that any research on the brain and learning applies to all tasks in all situations. The video doesn't acknowledge any conditions the research, but offers them as a blanket statement. Is the book better about providing the context for the research and when it can be applied?
May 24, 2008 | Christy Tucker
-
The Impact of Social Media
Posted by: Britt | May 21, 2008 | I passed a milestone today, in that I tweeted my one-thousandth tweet in Twitter. As I thought about that fact, it reminded me that last Friday, I saw a blog post from Karyn Romeis, who said she was exploring the impact of the use of social media on the professional practice of learning professionals for her disser... [Source: http://bwatwood.edublogs.org]
6 comments in conversation. Last comment found May 24.
Last 5 comments:
[…] The Impact of Social Media | Learning In a Flat World […]
By: U Tech Tips » Blog Archive » Utecht's Daily Links 05/22/2008 on May 21, 2008
at 7:32 pm
Great blog post, I can relate to all with Twitter, Ning, del.icio.us and my little Edublog. I saw this in Jeff Utecht's daily link. I tweeted before that I use Twitter to start my day and look for neat ideas, I then check out del.icio.us links and will search Ning for ones I'm in (SMART Board, WNY-PLP, and looking at Voicethreads).
Thank you for your thoughts.
Mark Carls
By: mcarls on May 21, 2008
at 8:33 pm
I'm glad my posts on The Edublogger have helped you all. Sorry about the frog incident the other day on twitter (but I'm still stressed by the whole thought and it wasn't me in the toilet). I shall probably not tell my hubby that the World knows he is fishing challenged.
By: Sue Waters on May 21, 2008
at 9:18 pm
Thank you for this inspiring post. I agree with you in that we may have friends whom we never met in a physical context; we surely can feel the power of authentic human relationships fueling our reflections and efforts to improve both as persons and as professionals. Me too find delicious, blogging, twitter and moodle as being "part of my life" and it amazes me to recognize that not even a month ago I would take all this for a dream.
Although I sound like someone offering ice cream to Eskimos, in the context of Comment Challenge I must recommend you a web tool: I've chosen Camaléo: http://en.calameo.com/tour/ for it seems to be very practical, aesthetically valuable and may be included in social media; it allows you to publish your documents embedding videos in them, among other advantages.
As you probably know this web tool already, I dare suggest also"Read the Words": http://www.readthewords.com/ which is a tool that enables us to listen to any text we have previously submitted to be read, while we drive our car or clean our house, for instance.
Thank you for your wonderful posts.
Ines
By: inpi on May 22, 2008
at 4:06 pm
I really appreciate Jeff Utecht adding me to his daily links - a real honor! And I treasure Sue's friendship…but she will have to tell the frog story herself (which unfolded on Twitter)! It looks like I have found kindred souls in Mark and Ines - now if we can figure out how to get our other colleagues swimming in the same stream!
By: Britt on May 22, 2008
at 7:01 pm
-
Comment Challenge Day 22/23 - Highlighting a favorite/Explaining greatness
Posted by: Greg in Bloggery, Professional Development [Source: http://openstacks.net]
6 comments in conversation. Last comment found May 25.
Last 5 comments:
Michele Martin
2
Greg (and Christine, too)-Don't feel grumpy! The Challenge is supposed to be fun! Of course you're both grumpy for different reasons, so let me say two things. First, Greg, writing about why you don't want to do these two challenges is actually a learning experience itself, which is really the point of the Challenge-for us to think about these things. Some people will do the tasks and we'll learn from those and others (like you will not) and say why not and we'll learn from that. It's all good because it's all part of the learning.
And Christine-I know, you're at the burnout stage. I definitely think a few days off-or even not finishing the Challenge right now-could be the thing that you need. This shouldn't be some onerous, terrible thing. I do think in the future, though, that we should do shorter challenges, like 7 days. People seem to start to lose it by week two. I'd rather we end on a high, rather than everyone just wanting the thing to be over with!
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:54 am
Christy Tucker
3
@Michele, I think a 7-day challenge, or maybe a 2-week challenge with only 7 tasks (so you do it every other day) would be good. I think most of us don't blog every day usually, so maybe something that doesn't assume daily work would be easier to manage. I know I would have an easier time of it. When you did the 31-day blog challenge, I didn't sign up because I knew it was a month where I couldn't do things every day. I couldn't invest that time, especially not over a whole month.
@Greg, I agree with Michele that just writing about why you're choosing to skip these tasks is a valuable learning experience. This isn't something you're doing just because it's too hard or "don't wanna do it"; you have a thoughtful reason behind it.
@Christine, self-examination is a "thoughtful reason" too. You are the person best-equipped to know whether you'd learn more by pushing through the rest of the challenge or by taking a break and maybe finishing tasks later, at your own pace if they interest you.
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:50 am
Kevin
4
The other day I was thinking that 31 days is quite a stretch. I agree that 7 or 14 days might be a more reasonable period of time for most folks.
And, yes, it should be fun!
For the most part, this has been engaging, reflective and wonderful. It has been helpful to step away, consolidate some thoughts and consider coming back.
I have enjoyed both of you (Greg and Christine) in my rounds of blogs and comments.
Kevin
May 24th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Kevin
5
Challenge challenges
May 24th, 2008 at 6:11 am
Greg
6
Hi all. Sorry I've been slow in responding, but I've been doing the long weekend thing here in the States and have limited computing time/access.
Thanks for the supportive comments. In some ways, I'm still behind the month-long challenge as it makes it REALLY seem like a challenge and thus more rewarding when we finally cross the finish line. But it has gotten grueling and kept me from doing any other blogging, which is probably not the best thing for my usual audience. Still worthwhile though, even if only to introduce me to a whole new group of engaged digital citizens (i.e., you).
May 25th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
-
Isn't this odd?
by Steve Wexler May 22nd, 2008 May 22, 2008 Having just published the Guild's 360-Report on Learning Management Systems for 2008, I'm now in the throes of reviewing survey results for the Synchronous Learning report that we'll be publishing in middle of June. In particular, I've been reviewing members' response to the question about costs and there... [Source: http://www.elearningguild.net]
9 comments in conversation. Last comment found May 27.
Last 5 comments:
5. Christy Tucker | May 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 pm
You're assuming that people work in organizations where there's internal transparency and communication between departments. Other than public schools, where everything had to be shared, I haven't worked in an organization where the front-line employees knew what anything cost. As an instructional designer, I'm not privy to that knowledge. I expect that's the case for many of us; if it isn't part of our job description, we don't have access to the info.
6. Steve Wexler | May 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Christy,
This points to the issue of individuals not seeing the big picture nor being able to determine if their efforts are helping the company's bottom line. Determining this is not easy, but I think it is critical.
If you get a chance, have a look at this post: http://www.elearningguild.net/research/?p=33
It's really a trick question as the answer should be $1,000, but so many members respond with "I don't know." Many Guild members don't seem to be hip to business considerations, and it isn't just because their management is keeping them in the dark. It simply isn't part of what they think about.
Roy Pollock wrote a very good essay in the "Measuring Learning Success" 360 report and Will Thalheimer and Roy get into a good debate in the same report. See http://www.elearningguild.com/research/archives/index.cfm?action=view&frompage=1&StartRow=1&MaxRows=40&selection=doc.30.
7. Christy Tucker | May 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Right now I'm in the first position where I could actually ask about finances. When I did corporate training, the owner was paranoid and I got lectured for asking questions and trying to figure out where I fit in with the "big picture." At another company, even with "Assistant Director," politics dictated that some parts of the budget weren't to be shared with me. After that, I was a contractor-a pretty common situation, but one that generally means that not all information is available to you.
Maybe your experiences have been different, but generally mine have been that I get in trouble for even asking those questions. Is this part of the gender gap, I wonder?
Part of it may also be that within education, people simply don't think in terms of ROI. Is there a higher percentage of people who don't know the finances within education, either K-12 or higher ed? How does that compare to other industries?
8. Steve Wexler | May 23rd, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Christy,
Ah, if you are/were a contractor then you're definitely going to be in the dark on a lot of things. Indeed, it many (if not most cases) it would be inappropriate to find about about costs.
In regards to your other positions, I'm upset on your behalf., I would LOVE have somebody on the team that really cares and wants to understand the big picture. You should have been praised, not excoriated.
Maybe this IS a gender gap issue (and there is a BIG on in our industry, as you know).
We can go on and on with this, but in reviewing survey results and conversing with many Guild members is appears that many do not establish a success criteria before embarking on a project and many do not know how what they do benefits the organization (in a warm, nurturing way vs. a cold, heartless, "just counting dollars" way.) In some cases, the organization makes it difficult to get in sync. But in many cases, Guild members don't seek out information nor try to understand how what they do helps their organization. I hope they will try an I certainly hope they won't be chastised for doing so.
In a difficult economy, being able to show that what you do really helps the organization is critical.
9. Christy Tucker | May 24th, 2008 at 11:17 am
I would definitely agree that people don't start projects with an idea of what "success" would really look like by any measure, dollars or not. I think that's common in all fields though, not just ours.
I'm very glad to be in the company where I am. For one thing, I can ask about the "big picture," and I often have conversations with my manager about where we fit in the overall scheme of the company. It's much more fun to work for a manager who rewards that interest than one who believes knowledge = power and who therefore thinks sharing knowledge means relinquishing control.
With the economy taking a downturn, I'm also glad I'm working in education for a company that sees growth in online as part of the strategy. Our department isn't going away; they have too much for us to do. It's a nice place to be. That said, we're still putting together an informal "annual report" of our accomplishments to show how what we do helps the organization.
Thanks for the good discussion, Steve!
Last comment:
ChristyInsDesign says:
Is that Clark & Eva Wagner, perhaps?
Posted 16 seconds ago. ( permalink )