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Conversations for Dswaters
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Leonette looking for advice & help on Learning 2.0
Aug 8th, 2008 by John Connell [Source: http://www.johnconnell.co.uk]
4 comments in conversation. Last comment found 3 hours ago.
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[Photo]In July, I had the amazing opportunity to meet face to face with many of my Online colleagues...
I attended the BLC conference for the first time in 2006. At that time, I knew one other person at the conference. I moved from session to session mostly on my own and didn't attend any of the social events. In just two years so much has changed for me. This year at BLC I felt I belonged. I knew many of the presenters, presented a session (with Lis... [Source: https://www.blogger.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found Wednesday.
Last comment:
skip zalneraitis said...
Fabulous inspiration. Thanks!!!
August 6, 2008 6:16 PM
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my Personal Learning Network.
my Personal Learning Network Originally uploaded by st0nemas0nry My learning is very much social in nature - I need to keep in contact with family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances so that I can keep learning. Remote communication with those whom I don't regularly see is enhanced with electronic tools. Because these tools are so effective, for... [Source: http://cafechat.wordpress.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found Wednesday.
Last comment:
Sue Waters Says:
August 7, 2008 at 9:10 am
I have to say that is a terrible situation re- "Until network restrictions are lifted, and educators encouraged to use electronic conversation tools for their daily professional development, I believe that online Personal Learning Networks will remain underused." That is just plain crazy when you can gain so much from interacting with your Personal Learning Network.
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Aug
03 Three favs from The Edublogger Filed Under (21st Century Toolbox, A3WP, Edublogs) by blogwalker on 03-08-2008 and tagged A3WP, Dean Shareski, Sue Waters I just finished a week-long tech workshop for the Area 3 Writing Project. What a treat to hang out for five days with 18 enthusiastic teachers, eager to add Web 2.0 tools to their classroom tool... [Source: http://blogwalker.edublogs.org]
9 comments in conversation. Last comment found 8 hours ago.
Last 5 comments:
blogwalker on 6 August, 2008 at 9:29 am #
Sue Waters on 6 August, 2008 at 4:04 pm #
Sue Waters on 6 August, 2008 at 4:11 pm #
blogwalker on 7 August, 2008 at 6:01 am #
Sue Waters on 8 August, 2008 at 3:10 am #
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Social Media Apps I've Tried to Love but Can't
Chris Brogan has given me permission to choose the social media tools that work for ME and I have to say it's a relief. I've been feeling guilty about not being able to get into these: Twitter--sorry Britt, Bud and Jeff, you had me convinced to give Twitter a shot, but it never quite did it for me. For one thing, I have online ADD and to get anythi... [Source: http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog//2008]
15 comments in conversation. Last comment found 18 hours ago.
Last 5 comments:
Hi Michele
I so agree confession is good for the soul (old Catholic me!).
I do enjoy Facebook given my own job i.e., in higher ed/performing arts. It's a way to keep up with graduates/colleagues who seem to have taken to it in a big way.
Twitter ... jury is out still on its ultimate usefulness for me, but it was a great way to post (via mobile phone) small bite-sized updates during my recent trip and to have them aggregated into Friend Feed which, I have to say is really doing it for me. It's a one-stop shop for my social media now.
Google Reader, still the best but like you I get all sweaty-palmed when I see so many 'unreads.' This is not GR's fault of course but mine ... and I use folders to assist the sorting process.
I'm liking Feedly more and more these days. Easy on the eye and well designed.
And finally, with so much 'brand-choice' these days, it's a question of finding out what works and using that till something better comes along.
Cheers
Posted by: Kate Foy | August 06, 2008 at 04:56 PM
Kia ora Michele!
I sympathise with you and admire your tenacity in trying to come to grips with a Web 2.0 app.
I play many different instruments. Most of them are string instruments from the fiddle to the guitar. Decades ago I bought a tenor banjo with a view to learning to play it. I tried and I tried, and as proficient as I was on all my other string instruments, I just could not get the banjo to work for me. I loved the sound of the banjo and was quite depressed when I eventually sold it.
People are like that though. Y'know, your post on Facebook is interesting, for when you posted it you recorded a bit of history of teen trends. Facebook is no longer the prefered teen app, it being superceded by Bebo. Teens had already discarded MySpace in favour of Facebook at that time. And before that, Friendster had simply perished. What next? Obviously teens had tried all these apps, in their droves, and chucked them in favour of others because they couldn't get them to work for them.
It seems that you are no different from many, including the teenagers, who find that things just don't work for them.
I wonder if this is inherently a human trait in the same way as homophily is?
Ka kite
Posted by: Ken Allan | August 06, 2008 at 11:30 PM
Nice post. Great comments.
Facebook has not grabbed me. The game invitations, adverts and other rubbish drove me crazy. I think I like a tool that allows me to be in control. Facebook has too many variables.
Twitter is a weird one. I use it now and then but it has not become addictive or a necessity. I think that being an old fart makes me a fan of the blog more than anything. I like the old blog. It's like a favourite old chair or a comfortable cushion. Twitter still hasn't snared me as yet. I can love it or leave it.
Google Reader is a tool that I do like yet lately i have been trying a software client based reader ~ NetNewsWire. Scanning through the posts is rapid, so rapid. Waiting for browser screen redraws and updates is so slow in comparison. I do love Google Reader's sharing capabilities.
I wonder whether or not I have opened a FriendFeed account. I have opened far too many accounts here and there. Who knows?
Cheers, John.
Posted by: John Larkin | August 07, 2008 at 02:16 AM
Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts on which apps haven't made the grade for you. It looks like Facebook and Twitter are the tools that most of us haven't really made friends with, while I'm alone in my love for Netvibes. :-)
I think Ken makes a good point that moving from app to app may be a human trend, although I think it's because we haven't found the tools that offer us the most utility. Most of us have not left email and I think that's because it still is fairly functional.
And John, I must be an old fart too because RSS and blogging are my two favorite social media tools--the ones I couldn't live without. Maybe that's another post some time.
Posted by: Michele Martin | August 07, 2008 at 03:07 AM
I'm with you on Netvibes. It is usually my first port of call in the morning.
Posted by: Nigel | August 07, 2008 at 05:09 PM
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The Unexamined Tool is Not Worth Using
Posted by: Jan Smith | July 26, 2008 | I remember the sinking feeling (OK, panic) I felt the first time I saw the Go2Web20.net meta list of web apps. There are, according to their site, 2587 applications and services in their directory as of today. The page just scrolls on and on…. I know not every tool of value is listed there. VoiceThread is miss... [Source: http://resiever.edublogs.org]
4 comments in conversation. Last comment found Sunday.
Last 4 comments:
I think Wordle is fun and plan to use it with some of my grades too - I saw an interesting one using the Preamble to the Constitution and I like the idea of having them see which words appear more than they should in something they write as an intro to using the thesaurus.
I'm hoping to use Animoto to have some of the grades create an ad for the school or something on Cyber Safety. They'll have to include key points and know the material but this will be a fun way of showing what they know.
By: Vicky Sedgwick on July 27, 2008
at 11:46 pm
Hi Vicky,
Yes, I will do something similar with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I used Animoto as a way of showing parents what went on with a science unit on electricity-not earth shattering stuff, but it the results looked great, and the parents appreciated it.
By: Jan Smith on July 28, 2008
at 9:14 am
I'm the same as you Jan - when I see those really long list of tools it's really hard to know where to start whereas it is a lot easier when people present a smaller selection to choose from.
However saying that you should check out Alan Levine's 50 Ways To Tell a Story because he has created a story using each different tool and you can see how they were used.
By: Sue Waters on August 3, 2008
at 9:33 pm
Oops traveling so really tired and pressed the button before I finished writing what I wanted to say. Was going to mention that it is very important to keep an open mind when using these tools as it can take time to appreciate their value.
By: Sue Waters on August 3, 2008
at 9:35 pm
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Let the conversations begin!
July 29, 2008 [Source: http://technotuesday.edublogs.org]
5 comments in conversation. Last comment found Monday.
Last 5 comments:
diane Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Cathy,
I've never had a problem with blogger, and can access it at my school. I didn't realize how important the comment feed was until I installed it, at your suggestion.
Once I added my blog comments to my own Google Reader feeds, I saw firsthand how convenient it is to track conversations this way.
Thanks for the heads up!
Katie Says:
July 29th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
it is pretty easy to remove the "next blog" from the HTML code.
Janice Says:
July 30th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Thanks for the reminder. Blogspot is blocked by our board for precisely the reason you mentioned - the next blog button. I had a PDF which I've since misplaced in the transition from one generation of computers to the next to the next to the next, which explained exactly how to remove the button, but even after I called the person "with authority" and explained that I could remove that button, she still wouldn't change the filter and allow my site to be seen. I was SO frustrated. I'd spent almost an entire summer getting the blog ready! A few years later there is much better stuff available. Your post reminded me of how far I've come!
Sue Waters Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Hi Cathy - always happy to help you and others . Apologies for taking so long to drop past your post but I'm traveling on the other side of Australia with limited Internet access since last week. Looking forward to heading home at the end of this week.
Cathy Nelson Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 8:15 am
@Sue-You have been the MOST helpful blog expert and friend I have encountered here. So I thank you so much. If not for you, I probably wouldn't have been brave enough to venture out on my own.
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[Photo]
Just learned about this fun "tag cloud" creation site on an Edublogger post. Take a look at what you can do. [Source: https://www.blogger.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found Sunday.
Last comment:
Sue Waters said...
Hi Sue
Glad my post on Wordle was interesting. Did you end up making your own?
August 3, 2008 9:13 PM
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Moved to Edublogs
July 29, 2008 in Web 2.0 [Source: http://fmwk.edublogs.org]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found Sunday.
Last comment:
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Sue Waters
Welcome to Edublogs. I'm pleased you are enjoying reading The Edublogger. If you want me to cover any particular topics please let me know and don't hesitate to contact me if you need any assistance.
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Oklahoma Tech Prep: Wordle
[Source: http://oktechprep.blogspot.com]
2 comments in conversation. Last comment found Wednesday.
Last 2 comments:
Sue Waters said...
Glad you liked my post on Wordle. Hope you find some creative ways of using it.
August 3, 2008 11:08 PM
OK Tech Prep said...
Actually used it during a presentation that will be posted to the main website later next week!! Thanks for sharing it.
August 6, 2008 9:52 PM
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Setting Challenges
Teachers, just like their students, need activities and challenges. They need the goal posts to shift just slightly so that they try something new. That's what I had in mind when, over on Blogging Corner in edna Groups, I set up the Blogging Corner Challenge 08 today. It will give participants in Blogging Corner a chance to participate in a weekly ... [Source: http://blogs.educationau.edu.au]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found Sunday.
Last comment:
Sue Waters
Posted August 4, 2008 at 1:26 pm | Permalink
There is also the 31 Days to Build a Better blog - which is the model that helped us develop the 31 Days Comment Challenge. Good luck with your blogging challenge.
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July 30, 2008...1:56 pm
Cell Phone Data Jump to Comments In closing down the cell phone poll I recently conducted, some of the results are enlightening. What I am most excited about is that I have a basis for comparison for when our students begin taking the same survey when they arrive in 5 weeks, as this one was conducted with adults as the target data group. A couple o... [Source: http://chalkdust101.wordpress.com]
3 comments in conversation. Last comment found Friday.
Last 3 comments:
Darren Kuropatwa
July 30, 2008 at 3:47 pm
This is a fascinating survey. I'm very much looking forward to comparing these results with those you get from your students.
How would you feel about sharing the questions you asked. I'll try to do the same thing in my little corner of the world and we can compare the results that way as well.
pjhiggins
July 31, 2008 at 7:21 am
Darren,
I'd love to compare data! Here are the questions I used for the adult survey, with the one minor tweak I have in mind being that I would ask students how using cell phones could enhance their learning.
1. Do you own a cell phone/mobile phone?
2. Which of the following features does your phone have? camera, video recording, video playback, ability to access internet, sound recording, gaming, other.
3. If there is one feature you would like to add to your phone, what would it be? (open-ended)
4. How many text messages do you send a day? less than 10, 10-20 per day, 20-50 per day, 50 or more, other.
5. Which do you use more often, computer or cell phone?
6. How could you use a cell phone to enhance your curriculum? (open ended)
Our students arrive the first week of September, and I hope to have this out to them the following week. The one difference we can expect immediately is that the students that will be taking this survey for me will be between the ages of 11-14, and I am guessing you will have your high school students take it?
My other plan is to look at the data for myself, but then to turn it over to the students for some deeper exploration.
Look forward to this.
Sue Waters
August 1, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Great survey Patrick.
I would also be interested to see additional questions like which feature of your phone is most important e.g. TXT, phone calls or mobile computing and how many phones do you carry. I hardily use either TXT or phone features in a month. Our students often carry more than one mobile phone because some phone companies have limited mobile coverage but better rates - so use them for different locations.
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Jing (for Screencasting) and TweetDeck (for Twitter)
Summertime is playtime, and we've had record amounts of rain where I live, so my playing has been indoors. Here are a couple of tools I've been playing with. Jing is a free and very easy screencasting tool. Because I'm thinking about Personal Learning Environments, that's what I made this screencast on - http://www.screencast.com/users/JoanVinallCo... [Source: http://joanvinallcox.wordpress.com]
3 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 29.
Last 3 comments:
Joan, I'm glad you are playing around with Jing. I found it last spring but I had trouble downloading on my university computer. Even more so, when I tried to show the clip they used to help demonstrate what it was about, I had difficulty accessing it. Finally, one of my students with a MAC was able to access it and play around with it a bit. He really liked it, but found it difficult to interface with non-MACs on campus. I was wondering if you have had similar problems. Do you use a MAC or a PC? Have you tried it using it on one of your school's computers and had trouble with the firewall?
Comment by Virginia Yonkers | July 27, 2008
Hi Virginia,
I had the same experience with a previous version of Jing, but this seems much easier to use. I bought iShowU - http://www.shinywhitebox.com/store/shop.php - for $20.00 U.S. and it works fine - on Macs, but appears to show on any system when mounted to YouTube, Blip etc. There might be apps similar to iShowU for Windows.
Comment by joanvinallcox | July 28, 2008
If you want to embed your Jing in a blog post here is a work around for it.
Comment by Sue Waters | July 29, 2008
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iPhone 2.0 Free Applications Review Part 1
It seems that each night well after I should be in bed, I end up downloading and playing around with all the new applications available for the iPhone. I realize that it may not be the most mature thing I am doing with my time… My only defense is that I have yet to pay for any (I cruise the free apps section) and try out those rather than paying th... [Source: http://fritzboyle.edublogs.org]
2 comments in conversation. Last comment found Saturday.
Last 2 comments:
Sue Waters Says:
July 28th, 2008 at 4:59 am
I've only just purchased my iPhone so am looking for advice on which applications to try out. Looking forward to your reviews on them.
iPhone Free Applications Review Part 2 | Virtually Perfect 3.0 Says:
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
[...] is part 2 in a series. If you haven't already read it, Please read Part 1 [...]
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Collaborating over Google Docs
posted in Diversity & Intercultural | We have resorted to using Google Docs for our virtual team project in the Culture, Technology, and Communication in the Global Workplace at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC) in Portland Oregon. Great idea. We could all access it. We could all edit it. And so we discovered another way w... [Source: http://www.christinemartell.com]
16 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 27.
Last 5 comments:
12 On July 25th, 2008, Christine Martell said:
Miki,
Glad to hear you had such good results.
13 On July 25th, 2008, Virginia Yonkers said:
Christine, actually your problems with Google docs go deeper than the group process and knowledge of technology. Writing and our expectations of what "good writing" is, is culturally embedded with our idea of authorship (who "wrote" it), knowledge and rhetoric (how should information be arranged, what information is valid, whether or not information should be ascribed to a source, and authority-who is allowed to be an "expert"), and our idea of the purpose of reading (to record, as a legal document, to communicate, to create knowledge). I think you will probably find differences not only in ethnicity, but in professional and organization cultures. (This is an area that my dissertation is looking at).
14 On July 26th, 2008, Sue Waters said:
Trouble is when working collaboratively we assume that people already understand the concept of collaboration and working together. The unfortunate reality is that each of us has a different concept as to what is collaboration and what's involved.
A classic for me was working on what was meant to be collaborative presentation using Google Presentation. There was no true collaboration and each person basically wrote their own slide.
My tips for making it work are: restrict number in each group (2-3 max.); discuss together before beginning what is collaboration; expectations of working together and how it will be coordinated; and use different colored text for different people.
15 On July 27th, 2008, Christine Martell said:
Sue,
You are so right about collaboration meaning different things to different people. Especially working across different cultures. The groups that were more successful with this did seem to have people working on different parts of a document.
Now that you mention it, my previous more successful attempts at working on Google Docs did utilize different colors. Never even though of it when I was under time pressure. Wonder how often that happens? I found myself really missing the tracking features of a wiki.
16 On July 27th, 2008, Christine Martell said:
Virgina,
Glad to hear there are good reasons for our struggles. I found myself just stepping back and letting the others do what they wanted. I had some interest since it was going on my blog, but it wasn't going to risk my reputation or anything. It would have been a very different story if we had been creating something for a client.
I bet you do find differences across org cultures. We saw some of it in the class just between the business, education, and non-profit project groups. I'll be very interested in hearing about your dissertation research as it develops.
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eLearning Goddess - blogroll: Fai attenzione, ascolta il tuo network
[Source: http://giulianaguazzaroni.blogspot.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found July 24.
Last comment:
Sue Waters ha detto...
Hi Giuliana - Glad my post on PLN interested you. I'm still trying to work out how readers are using Facebook in their PLNs - I will probably have to ask. If you want to use all my diagrams please feel free to add - they are in my Flickr Account.
25 luglio 2008 1.28
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In the post - Webinar Software - Adoption Advice - one of the comments I made was:
If you've done webinars, you know that they are different to design and deliver successfully than other kinds of presentations and training.This is something I learned the hard way. My very first presentation was a large public presentation where they had muted the entire audience (dead silence) and there was no moderator. I was alone in my office.... [Source: https://www.blogger.com]
2 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 24.
Last 2 comments:
Nancy White said...
Jonathan Finklestein at http://www.learninginrealtime.com/finkelstein.html is fabulous at synchronous stuff, and his book, Learning in Real Time is great http://www.learninginrealtime.com/contents.html
(Hm, it seems I have yet again lent out my copy... not on bookshelf!)
7/24/2008 11:55:00 AM
Sue Waters said...
I find webinars the hardest to deliver because in f2f sessions body language and how they interact with you provide so many clues. After being caught out by several webinars due to differences in how the participants can interact I now make sure I find out as much as possible prior to the event.
For example:
1) Will they all be using the one computer - in which case it will limit the amount of interaction I can have. So how can I build in interaction that I need to make it work?
2) If they are each on their own computer how often have they used the software? So I can decide on what type of interaction to use. I had a group once that were using the software for the first time - who were all managers who totally misbehaved for the whole session (still muttering).
I would recommend watching recordings of how others use it. Elluminate has a series recorded here. Lance Dublin and Ruth Clark/Ann Kwinn recordings are definitely worth checking out. When we do events for the Australian Flexible Learning Framework they recommend building in interaction every forth slide.
7/24/2008 03:45:00 PM
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I've been using Firefox for a while and really like it. While I haven't upgraded to FF3 because of m...
However, I know I'm not good at keeping my sites as organized as a I should. I'm doing okay with keeping sites organized for our school site, but not at home. For me, it all comes down to taggin and I'm horrible at it. This leads me to a current problem with Firefox. With the way I have things set up now, I can bookmark sites to my computer and del... [Source: https://www.blogger.com]
4 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 24.
Last 4 comments:
Rick said...
There's an option to tag your bookmarks to del.icio.us before they get posted, but I'm not seeing it right now. On mine, I just right-click on the page, then select "Bookmark this page in Delicious...", and then I get a box that prompts me to add tags and notes. One thing that might help is updating to FF3, and then adding the updated del.icio.us extension. I just haven't seen any bugs in FF3 that would prevent me from switching right away.
Rick
rickscheibner.net
July 23, 2008 10:48 PM
Rick said...
PS--what's your user name in del.icio.us? Or do I have you in my network already? I'm over there as rickscheibner.
July 23, 2008 10:53 PM
Sue Waters said...
Are you using this version of the del.icio.us addon for FireFox? In which case I just click on the tag button when tagging and add my tags. I don't stress too much about how well I've tagged since I use their Search Bookmarks tools to quickly locate the website rather than my bad tags.
July 24, 2008 2:41 AM
Ann Oro said...
It sounds like you don't have the delicious plug in installed (see Sue's note). You'll end up with a little icon for your toolbar once it's installed. When you click it, a window pops up on the screen where you can add your tags and notes. The more info you give delicious, the better it is. When you go to your delicious account, look at the right side of the screen. You can type a search term in the box and ask to search "your bookmarks". The more information you give as far as title, notes, and tags, the better it will be at searching for you. I don't bother with bundling any more because the search works so well.
If you do start a Diigo account, import all your delicious tags to Diigo first. Then install the Diigo toolbar and make sure you fix the settings so it adds your bookmarks to both sites at the same time.
Ann
July 24, 2008 11:58 AM
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Really, we're all self-taught (aka DIY learning…or PLN RSVP)
Posted by: Jan Smith | July 17, 2008 | By now, Sue Waters is getting ready for Day 2 of her presentation on the importance of personal learning networks and how networks are forged using online tools. I am about three months into building my online PLN. I have many wonderful colleagues at school and in my master's cohort, and I love face-to-face le... [Source: http://resiever.edublogs.org]
4 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 23.
Last 4 comments:
Hi Jan,
I try to help my young students to build their own learning networks; for the moment they have some experience with Moodle platform and with collaborative Pb.Wiki.
But as they are under 13 - in fact they are 10 to 12 years old - I find that most interesting and useful tools are closed to them; they are not allowed to subscribe or sign up.
I've heard that Google Apps for schools could allow me to open Google accounts for my students and use these e-mails to register them, for instance, in Voice thread or to form a Twitter group.
As English is not my first language I didn't understand quite clearly yet, if it is possible.
Since I've discovered this brand new world of web2.0 I keep telling all about it to my students and I'm sorry for not being possible to them to enjoy it more freely.
I dare not answer to your "DIT" wish myself, but I surely hope it will become real very soon.
Ines
By: inpi on July 17, 2008
at 3:02 pm
Hi there,
I love this DIY learning 2.0 world and your DIT takes it a step further, a concept to explore further.
In spite of 140 character limit, I think Twitter could assist with DIT. Elaine
By: Elaine Talbert on July 17, 2008
at 3:24 pm
@inpi: Hi Ines! I understand the barriers to using 2.0 tools-time, access to technology, and "safety" (sometimes the latter is more imagined than real). Have you seen the Voice Thread for Educators accounts? There is a cost, but it is not very high, and students don't require email accounts. I found it quite a successful way to give students an identity.
Have you seen Classroom 2.0 ? It might be a good resource for you: there is a wealth of information there.
There is another ning (online social network) that might interest you, specifically about Voice Thread.
Good luck on your journey, Ines!
@ Elaine: I think there are so many fabulous opportunities to work collaboratively across distances. Sometimes it is more difficult close to home, perhaps because our classrooms have walls, but our networks don't!
I have thus far avoided Twitter, mainly out of respect to my family; I am working on my master's degree and spend too much time in front of a screen already-I am guessing that it is quite addicting. (will post on your blog about that!)
Cheers!
By: Jan Smith on July 18, 2008
at 7:19 am
Thanks for sharing your post about your own PLN. Twitter is definitely an important part of my network. Sure twitter can be addictive however you do learn to walk away and come back; and its definitely the fastest way of networking with each other.
By: Sue Waters on July 23, 2008
at 5:01 am
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Corporate eLearning Strategies and Development: Understanding the Periodic Table of Elements via Vid...
[Source: http://elearndev.blogspot.com]
3 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 28.
Last 3 comments:
Michele Martin said...
I saw this a few days ago and was going to blog about it, but you beat me to it! This is exactly the sort of thing we need more of and, to me, is a perfect example of how social media can take learning to another level. I NEVER understood the periodic table in HS, but I think I could actually make some sense of this stuff now. Thanks for sharing, Brent!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Sue Waters said...
Wow the Periodic Table of Chemicals is really cool. Such a simple concept in many ways but very functional.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Kevin Shadix said...
That's definitely a great piece. Chemistry is not my strong suit. Usually when I read about the elements or anythign similar, my eyes glass over and I skip as much as I can. Exactly what happened when I looked at the "1.0" example. The Table of Videos, on the other hand, made even a chemo-dim-wit like me want to click them all!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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Singapore Workshop: help & advice
Jul 21st, 2008 by John Connell [Source: http://www.johnconnell.co.uk]
7 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 25.
Last 5 comments:
on 22 Jul 2008 at 12:23 am#3Sue Waters
Glad you like my post on PLNs. I must say I'm a bit jealous - I had 30 minutes to share my message .
Alan beat me to it - definitely need to know more about the logistical nature of the participants first before making suggestions. Can you find out how the room will be set up? i.e. will people be sitting at round tables or will they sit in chairs in lines? Approximately how many do they expect to attend your session? Will they have access to wireless?
I like to model what I'm trying to talk about in the hope they get to experience some of what I'm talking about. The layout of the participants makes a big difference in terms of what you will be able to do with them and what I might suggest.
on 22 Jul 2008 at 9:22 am#4John Connell
Hi Sue,
It won't be a big group - at the moment I have 23 signed up, so my guess is it shouldn't exceed 30 unless there's a rush at the end.
In terms of layout etc, I'm getting some details of logistics by email tomorrow (Wed) I believe. I should have some control over seating plans etc, so I'd welcome your thoughts on what has worked for you in the past.
on 22 Jul 2008 at 1:07 pm#5Sue Waters
I'd be trying to emphasis:
1) how much learning happens as a result of the conversations with a global community;
2) how these conversations often send you off in different directions, giving you ideas you hadn't even thought of, resulting in greater learning;
3) the more people working together with diverse experience achieve greater innovation than achievable by working as individuals.
Ideally it would be good if you could have the room set up in groups at round tables with a computer on each. And then use a range of online tools to get them involved with experiencing the learning that happens. Alternatively there is the paper based blogging and commenting method that Leonard Lowe developed. Beth Kanter attempted similar but for Twitter when she visited Australia - not sure how she went with it?
The key will be how to get them experience it, and achieve what you want the to feel, without overwhelming them.
on 22 Jul 2008 at 11:01 pm#6Joe Wilson
I'd assume a mixed economy of folk some who use a lot of tools and folk who are just starting out - why not do live demo of something like Netvibes and show how you could build a PLE/N out of the bits you have already and then share that. ( hey see what is blocked locally too )
Rolf Harris of web2
You could get all of Alan Coady's suggestions feeding through this - if you are really adventurous
There may be some in audience who are using some really interesting tools - they too could be fed through netvibes.
They could twitter up their URL as examples
Tumblr, Jaiku were alternatives to Twitter I looked at wee while ago.
Alternative that seems new but I haven\'t tried is Plurk .
Use Twitter with one of these on standby in case a Whale appears.
On practical data - graphs on scotedublogs site are interesting show in relativetly wee country like Scotland we have some areas that seem to have got blogging a bit - but we have really only scratched surface http://www.scotedublogs.org.uk/stats and it\'s live data not stuck in a civil servants drawer.
There is a lot of good stuff on slideshare for ideas - liked this one
http://www.slideshare.net/GrahamAttwell/knowledge-maturing-and-learning
and at real crunchy end - we offer results service on line - by on day results go out and shortly afterwards we will publish how many pupils signed up for text based results , online results and even forums that tie back to bebo facebook etc.
There is still gulf - a significant number of young people will need variety of support in getting this new world - it's not at all the world Prensky describes.. and SQA web site comes with social bookmarking facility - teachers in main haven't got that yet.
We see different tools and uses internationally esp China if you have mixed audience would be interesting to see what they port into Netvibes
on 25 Jul 2008 at 1:58 pm#7Janet
Hi John,
My experience accord with Joe's. Two simple examples.
I have shown Pageflakes to good reaction, similar to Netvibes reported by Joe.. for range of stuff that can be easily compiled on a page. Other widget based start-up/mash-up pages probably just as good.
Also - if any audience member(s) will volunteer to show their own personal page(s), whether Facebook, MySpace , blog, whatever, it seems to arouse the curiosity of the audience, and their sense that this is do-able and even though "virtual", it demonstrates the reality of online social-connection.
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Addition To Best Places To Learn Web 2.0 Basics
Posted at 6:17 pm under web 2.0 I'm adding a new site to my The Best Places To Learn Web 2.0 Basics list. Thanks to Sue Waters' blog, I learned about some excellent tutorials from John Pearce. They're well worth checking-out. One response so far Create a free edublog One Response to "Addition To Best Places To Learn Web 2.0 Basics" Sue Waterson 21 ... [Source: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found July 21.
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Sue Waterson 21 Jul 2008 at 5:52 am 1
Glad my post helped. You should also check out John Larkin's list
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Tēnā koutou katoa
Welcome to you all[Photo] I've been blogging for a couple of months now. It's still very new to me. I've looked at all the blurb. Read Sue Water's posts on the 'blog theme'. Learnt about designing good blog headers. I've read about finding images for posts and understood all that about copyright. Learnt about Technorati. I've sorted out my comment ... [Source: https://www.blogger.com]
2 comments in conversation. Last comment found July 20.
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christytucker said...
I think the biggest thing is being relatively consistent with whatever schedule works for you. My guess is that the time you post really isn't going to have much effect one way or the other unless you have really high traffic. I tend to post in the evening, but that mostly has to do with my work schedule. I'll manage and reply to comments during the day, but I usually save my blogging for after work.
Posting multiple times a day is important for the highest echelon of bloggers because that's what their audience is looking for. Within the edublogging community, it seems more likely that posting too frequently will make people unsubscribe. Yes, we want a regular stream of fresh content, but we get overwhelmed by too much of it.
I do know that I'm better off posting during the week than on the weekends if I'm looking for traffic. My traffic always goes down on weekends, and I think if I post on a Saturday it sometimes gets lost in everyone's Monday morning catch-up time. So the day matters to me, but not so much the time. With an international audience, evening for me is morning for some readers anyway.
Have you seen any difference in your stats if you post at different times of the day? If there is an optimal time, it's going to be the best time for your particular blog with your specific audience. What does Google Analytics tell you?
July 19, 2008 10:45 AM
Sue Waters said...
Christy's correct the top problogger's post most days of the week and often several times a day because it helps build up their audience.
Edublogger readers are different; probably because our readers time is more limited. I know of only one Edublogger who gets away with posting several times a day and that is Larry Ferlazzo. Most of our readers are happier if we post a few times a week i.e. 2-3 times but provide good content. I know of readers in the edublogger community who unsubscribe if a blogger posts to frequently.
The Edublogger has high site visits per day so is useful for indicating which days of the week are better than other days. Saturday and Sundays as Christy points out are low traffic days. She also makes a valid point as to why you mightn't post on a weekend (but remember Monday in US which is our largest audience is Tuesday here).
My reality is Saturday/Sunday is good days for me to write a post - so that is just how it has to be. But whatever you do -- don't post several posts on the same day. Always best to set up your posts to post over several days -- mmmm can you post date your posts in blogger to publish a couple of days later?
Glad my posts have been helping you. PS I may have rambled :)
July 20, 2008 2:23 AM
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[Photo]I'm travelling again today, so I've set this to auto publish, which is a nice feature that Bl...
Last time I tried to do this Melbourne had a blanket of fog that prevented my plane from landing, and we eventually returned to Hobart to refuel, after circling Melbourne like a chicken hawk for about an hour. [Photo] About 4 hours after we originally set out, we flew out of Hobart again, and returned to hover in the air above Melbourne as the back... [Source: https://www.blogger.com]
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Sue Waters said...
Definitely addicted to blogging however it does take time for the addiction to occur. Which is why I try hard to support all new bloggers and leave comments because I remember what it is like feeling like you are talking to yourself.
20 July 2008 14:00
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Second day of ECAWA conference
Yesterday was the second day of the ECAWA conference. The link to the program is on the ECAWA website. For me it was more a day of reflection and processing then one of new information. I spent a couple of sessions out of the workshops just working on my own at a desk. The two highlights of the day for for me were discussions around personal learni... [Source: http://russelmontgomery.typepad.com]
1 comment in conversation. Last comment found July 20.
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I'm just glad I was able to get through my presentation without coughing. As you saw in our full up workshop it was hard work to stop coughing. Definitely the whole concept on PLNs with new to the majority but it was good to see that one educator came up to me as I was leaving to say she and another had joined Classroom 2.0 and added me as a friend. We just need to keep talking about it in these situations and hopefully in stages people will start to get it.
Sue: LOL. No. I enjoyed a bottle of chardonay with Carolyn. Saving others for later. And yes, I agree. We just have to keep talking about PLNs.
I have to say the highlight for me was the workshop session because it had the conversational aspect that both you and I love most. Shame about the cough. I think it was much better with the smaller group because we had such an interesting conversation that has created lots of food for thought. Hope you haven't drunk the wine in one go :)
Posted by:Sue Waters | July 20, 2008 at 12:27 PM
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on 08 Aug 2008 at 10:31 am#1Joe Wilson
Moodle does the job of a vle well and we have added Mahara eportfolio to it for our sqa academy they work well together. The OU has done lots of work in this area in UK around the Moodle platform.
These platforms are stable and easy to get hold of but you need technical support to set these up and maintain them locally.
You also need to think about technology that learners will be able to access and they can cope with.
If you were just going to go for it and your candidates had normal access to the web ( not strained through some silly local filters) and they had some level of confidence in using web - I would just use google docs along with google groups give you all the functionality you really need. - you could mix and mash other web 2 apps as required in consultation with your learners .
You could of course also buy the enterprise version of any number of corporate learning management systems that would hook back into all your legacy HR , payroll and corporate systems and track Continuing Professional Development across your workforce. The sales teams for these systems will be reading this thread and will be contacting you in droves
on 08 Aug 2008 at 11:18 am#2Sue Waters
My question back would be what is she really wanting to achieve? If she is after the collaborative, social networking aspect then I would probably think about a Ning community.
on 08 Aug 2008 at 11:31 am#3Neil Winton
I agree with Joe about Moodle being a good answer. If your hosting company have Fantastico then setting up a Moodle site is very straightforward indeed.
Another option might be a wiki like Wikispaces. This would give you control over who can access the site as well as allowing for discussions and file sharing.
There are (literally) countless options worth looking at. As well as the Google docs route suggested by Joe, (though you should maybe read THIS first), you could look at Adobe's Buzzword, Wikifortio, Bubbl.us, and so forth (I've not added all the links lest I fall foul of John's spam filter.
Be wary of setting up a Bulletin Board using phpBB or SMF as I am reliably informed that they have some well documented security flaws.
Feel free to ask any more questions you may have… you'll always find someone willing to answer.
on 08 Aug 2008 at 11:51 am#4Ruby
Steve Downes just published a link to a discussion about moving to Moodle - might be helpful?
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?post=45531