Archive for the 'commentary' Category
back to high-school
students 2.0
Can’t say it looks *that* International to me: 6 from the US and one each from Scotland and Korea - and I’m not that sure I think of students as being particularly “silent” - and surely I’ve seen some population figures that question the majority bit - and the music was a bit luke warm and…. but I shouldn’t be churlish. I know I’m going to stick it in my reader come Monday: good luck to ‘em.
reCAPTCHA
You know those funny squiggly words that some sites use when you sign up with them, to confirm that you’re human? Well I didn’t realise that they’re not just there to protect sites against spam-bots - they’re also being used to help Computers learn how to read Old Books.
1 - Think up a new password.
You’re going to need it. You can’t do Web2 without signing up to a ton of stuff and it helps if you’ve got a password where you can think - “Web2! - thats….. b2telishus” or whatever. Not the same as work. Trust me - in 18 months time you’ll be glad you made the distinction.
2 - Get a Google account.
Now. Go here and sign up. If you don’t have one already jettison the feeling that it’s all moving too fast and just get on the wave - it takes about 60 seconds. (and once you’re on the wave….things look different).
3 - Get a blog.
Now. Go here, or here or here. If you don’t have one already…. whatever, I said that already, but you get my drift. At some point when you’re signing up it will ask you if you want your blog to be “public” or “private”. Check “private”. (This means you can play in peace - no-one goes live from Day1).
4 - Get a reader.
Now. Go here or here or here. If you don’t have one already jettison….repeating myself again. Just do it. Now.
5 - Pause.
You’ve done all the easy bits - now it’s time to think about content/purpose. This is the good bit, because once you’ve got all the tools sorted out you can start thinking about what you really want to say, (and what you really want to learn).
6 - Say what you want.
There are 2 clear rules in blogging:
- Talk about what you know - what you’re passionate about.
- Be your own authority (My blog - my rules)
7 - Find the Motherlode.
Whatever field you are expert in, someone has already blogged it - which means there are exemplars on-line now, who have already gone through steps 1-6 above. Find them.
8 - Don’t be afraid to share.
No-one expects a blog to be full of unique/original content, it’s not that egoistic. Even if 150,000 people have already blogged a presentation/post/service it’s ony boring to post it if your friends have already been there.
9 - Read your peers.
It’s not a one way thing - that’s why you need to get a reader.
Skimming through a JISC report on web2.0 - “What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education” [pdf] - I come across a quote from Jello Biafra, erstwhile leader of the Dead Kennedys:
‘We don’t hate the media, we become the media’
The report looks worthwhile - I’ve only had time to skim it as it’s 60 pages long, but it comes across as a surprisingly thorough overview of not just the technology but the foundational principles (wisdom of crowds, data on an epic scale, folksonomies etc.) and has some good links in it. Who ‘d have thought they had it in them.
Zentation
Zentation is an on-line service that allows you to add a video track to a pre-existing Powerpoint presentation. You host the Video on GoogleVideo, upload your presentation to the Zentation site and then synch the two together. As an example, this is a presentation given by the Head of IT and Media Services at the University of Wales in 2006 (and yes, he should have taken more effort over the sound quality).
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via Read/WriteWeb
Shift happens
Widely blogged presentation about Web2/futures. I’m sceptical abut some of the facts and it has the stink of xenophobia hanging over it (to me), but the line-graph’s speak to the point.
My favourite quote is from Einstein:
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
via The Fischbowl
I forgot how to write!
Mark Cuban blogs about finding himself in a meeting without any technology he can type or thumb type on. End conclusion - he’s forgotten how to do cursive script effectively. I was a bit skeptical at first (because I *love* to write even though I can type) but looking at the comments, a whole slew of people pop up to tell the same story - someone says “isn’t that like doing math without a calculator or excel?” A student, who’s “too poor to own a laptop” recounts the cycle he goes through when he doesn’t have access to a computer - someone else says “Just don’t try to write cursive. Its more dead than Latin is.” The general consensus seems to be that you’ll pick it up again, soon enough, if you’re forced to do it - but no-one wants to. What strange times.
via techmeme
the web is becoming automatic
One of the things about putting an output (rss) on your web-presence is that people can do helpful/interesting/surprising things with it. This is a trivial example, but Andy Powell at Eduserve wanted to make an easy way to subscribe to all the blogs nominated for the Edublog awards. A few technical glitches later he realised that he could plug it into Tony Hirst’s OPML Dashboard and produce a single page that lists the last 5 posts by all the candidates. Easy-peasy - and as he said, cool.
The results are in, and no surprise Dy/Dan won best new blog: you should read him, he’s on fire.
via eFoundations.com