May 15, 2008
TLt Summit
I'm in Saskatoon at the TLt Summit. I presented last night on Education: An ecology of connections. Great work on the part of the conference organizers in putting together what looks like a great conference (a sell out at 600 attendees) - Alan November is speaking today, Stephen Downes tomorrow. The concurrent sessions are a challenge - too many good options.
May 14, 2008
Wiki Adoption
Unlike blogs - which, when public, seem to appeal to a certain personality type - everyone is a potential contributor to a wiki. Terms and concepts are currently blurring as learning management systems are adopting the functionality of blogs and wikis, Google Docs seems more like a ramped up wiki than a word processor, etc. This short article - Sage Advice on Wiki Adoption - provides an important perspective: start with small pilot groups and let things unfold. To mandate is to kill a wiki project. I could, however, do without the term "go viral". It no longer means anything. And it's so 2006.
WorldWide Telescope
Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope is now available. I haven't had a chance to download it (I'm on a back up laptop as my still new Dell is undergoing repairs for hardware failure - I try to whine about this in every forum I can). Comments and reviews have generally been favorable. As with the Google Earth, this is likely to be an important resource for teachers to add a greater sense of realness to subject matter often taught with grainy videos and text.
May 10, 2008
eLearning Strategy
On Monday (May 12), we will begin our online conference: Shaping our future: Toward a Pan-Canadian elearning research agenda. Terry Anderson is the first presenter and will be presenting on The value, form, and function of a large scale research agenda. All sessions can be accessed here. Discussion during the conference (and more information on schedule, themes, etc) will be held here. If you're interested in attending our Monday presentation, please review how the scheduled time translates into your time zone.
Networking for your career
I spend most of my time looking at networks from the perspective of learners and educators. I find my own personal network for learning far exceeds any other information source (including Google). As I begin to follow/read different practitioners and theorists, I begin to develop in my own understanding - especially if they represent a related, but not overly similar field. Media, news, video games, communication theory, philosophy, and other areas contribute to my understanding of the role of technology for learning. But learning is not confined to colleges and universities. As this article states, the ability to form networks is vital for achieving personal and career goals. When I suggest how important personal learning networks are, I often encounter the statement "I don't have time". As this author states: "If you want to succeed you need to make the time". She then goes on to suggest that we need to schedule time for forming networks so that it becomes habitual. I wonder how many educators regularly set aside time to consider the quality and diversity of their networks...
A short exploration of Twitter as a tool for reporting, filtering information, and consuming (much) time. A particular focus in the article is the use of twitter for finding information. I frequently see educators posting requests on Twitter...and the network replying with a great list of resources, often within minutes. Email lists no longer exhibit this spirit of sharing. It might be due to email fatigue and the fact that most of us see email as a burden, not an opportunity for helping others. With Twitter, the spirit of sharing and assistance remains strong. At least until network fatigue kicks in...
Walking Uncertain Paths: Technologies and models of learning for tomorrow
During this last week, at MADLaT, Peter Tittenberger and I presented several sessions. The first was a workshop addressing approaches educators need to consider as they move content online. The second session - Walking Uncertain Paths: Technologies and models of learning for tomorrow - was focus on where we are heading with educational technology, as technology both influences and reflects existing mindsets within society. I enjoyed both sessions as most of the time was spent in conversation rather than presentation. At one point, as a group of educators were addressing some of the change pressures they face, I asked about the key question guiding their technology plan: Is the question one of should we use technology or one of how should we use technology? Everyone in attendance stated technology use was a foregone conclusion. The only question they were grappling with was how to make it work. Not sure how I feel about that. A few good cynics are always nice to have around :).
Social Networks around the world
This is a bit dated (from last year, which is a condition of obsolescence in online tools and applications) but still useful to consider how social network sites are positioned around the world. I'm interested in how countries not yet dominant in social networking, but possessing large populations, will influence maps like this. Will sites like Facebook and Myspace be able to successfully internationalize? Or will companies such as South Korea's Cyworld serve their own markets more effectively?
May 9, 2008
What do we do with computers?
RescueTime is a tool that tracks what a user does with her/his computer. I tried it for a while. It was depressing, so I stopped using it. They've now publicized some aggregate information on computing habits of early adopters. The results are not surprising - most people still spend the bulk of their time in Microsoft-based applications. Google is coming on strong, however, with their email service approaching Outlook in terms of usage time. Google Reader rated quite highly as well for early adopters, almost on par with time spent in Google search.