I came across this article by Liz Lawley about research done for blogging. It provides "five different approaches to studying blogs..." My guess is those of us interested in using the most effective educational tools will most likely want to make sure the tools and methods we use are backed up by research. This article seems to be a good starting point for helping us think about what research can and should be done for blogs and blogging.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Thursday, June 24, 2004
Somewhat random (but hopefully relevant) information
Something I have to constantly struggle with is that the media is not nearly as important as the instructional methods. I like the "tools". I like the "newest, latest, greatest." It's easy for me to become so mesmerized by the tools that I forget about the methods. For this reason, I appreciated the article by Susan Ambrose and Joel Smith about using new media for instructional purposes. The authors discussed the lens Carnegie Mellon uses to view new advances in media. The bottom line is that the media must positively impact learning transfer. That is what I need to always remember. This afternoon I also found another interesting site with information about educational technology as it is practiced in other countries. Ferl, (Further Education Resources for Learning), is a UK based organization managed by BECTA. It "is an information service for all staff working within the Post-Compulsory Education sector." It includes three main sections: Teaching and Learning, Policies and Strategies, and Technology for E-Learning. Both the Teaching and Learning and the Technology for E-Learning sections have a link to a Teaching and Learning resources bank containing links to over 2800 teaching resources. The resources bank includes quite a range of topics. Today (June 24th, 2004) the first page listed a link to two reports about learning styles and a link to the British Meat Education Service. The many other resources available through this site should help keep me busy for some time.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Information about Social Software
Since I am from a generation that did not grow up with computers (certainly not with Blogs, Wikis, or Moodle) I decided to search the web for information about social software. Although our interest is specific to using social software for educational purposes, I thought it might be useful to get a broader idea of what social software is and how it is used for any purpose, educational or otherwise. In so doing I found many interesting links to much information. One of the first places I ended up was the Internet Time Blog. It contains much information about a number of topics including social software. It also has many references to a great many other sites. Next I read a two-article series about social software in ASTD Learning Circuits. The first, We Learning: Social Software and E-Learning, gives a good definition for social software and lists some types that are "just around the corner". The second article, We Learning: Social Software and E-Learning, Part II, discusses social software tools that are either little used for educational purposes or could be used in the near future. These articles provided me a good starting point to learn more about social software.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Learning Objects Information
Here is another 572 post.
Earlier this week I found some interesting sites with information about learning objects. One site that has much good information is New Media Consortium (NMC) Learning Objects Initiative web site. In addition to the information listed directly on the site, it has links to other information such as the Traveler's Guide to the Learning Object Landscape. For someone with little knowledge of Learning Objects, such as me, this is a good reference. There are also many more links to other articles and white papers. The NMC web site also lists several other initiatives. Looks like I have yet more reading to do.
Earlier this week I found some interesting sites with information about learning objects. One site that has much good information is New Media Consortium (NMC) Learning Objects Initiative web site. In addition to the information listed directly on the site, it has links to other information such as the Traveler's Guide to the Learning Object Landscape. For someone with little knowledge of Learning Objects, such as me, this is a good reference. There are also many more links to other articles and white papers. The NMC web site also lists several other initiatives. Looks like I have yet more reading to do.
Monday, June 07, 2004
m-Blogging
Here is another copy of a post to my EDTEC 572 class blog.
I read something last semester about mobile blogging, also known as m-Blogging. There are some companies in Japan that market educational programs to cellular subscribers. It is a good method for language (Kanji) instruction. See this link for article describing m-Blogging usage in Japan. Does anyone know of companies here in the US, or elsewhere, that use m-Blogging for training or educational purposes? How could m-Blogging be used? Comments? Yes Minjuan - I like technology tools and learning how to use them.
I read something last semester about mobile blogging, also known as m-Blogging. There are some companies in Japan that market educational programs to cellular subscribers. It is a good method for language (Kanji) instruction. See this link for article describing m-Blogging usage in Japan. Does anyone know of companies here in the US, or elsewhere, that use m-Blogging for training or educational purposes? How could m-Blogging be used? Comments? Yes Minjuan - I like technology tools and learning how to use them.
More about technology tools
The following two paragraphs comprise a copy of a post I made to the EDTEC572 blog site. I am really enjoying learning about different tools to use for educational purposes. This is great.
Late this evening I found a few more educational technology resources. The first is the e-Learning Centre’s Guide to e-Learning. It has a great section on Blogging and RSS. From there I located How to use weblogs to create engaging learning experiences. From that article I went to the Australian Flexible Learning Community web site. These sites appear to offer much good information about using technological tools for education. The e-Learning site, as the name indicates, is dedicated to e-Learning; nevertheless, many of the tools and principals it showcases can also be used in F2F classes.
One reason I like these sites is because they both offer an international perspective on educational technology. In his article about creating engaging learning experiences Maish Nichani states, “…if you want to get up-to-speed in your field, just subscribe to the weblogs in your domain and read them everyday for at least six months.” I intend to read these sites regularly and to gain from them as much knowledge as possible.
john s.
Late this evening I found a few more educational technology resources. The first is the e-Learning Centre’s Guide to e-Learning. It has a great section on Blogging and RSS. From there I located How to use weblogs to create engaging learning experiences. From that article I went to the Australian Flexible Learning Community web site. These sites appear to offer much good information about using technological tools for education. The e-Learning site, as the name indicates, is dedicated to e-Learning; nevertheless, many of the tools and principals it showcases can also be used in F2F classes.
One reason I like these sites is because they both offer an international perspective on educational technology. In his article about creating engaging learning experiences Maish Nichani states, “…if you want to get up-to-speed in your field, just subscribe to the weblogs in your domain and read them everyday for at least six months.” I intend to read these sites regularly and to gain from them as much knowledge as possible.
john s.
Friday, June 04, 2004
Response to comment about Social Software
Below is a comment I wrote to another student's writing in my 572 class.
You wrote, “I understand that it is a course management system, open source, and a package designed to help educators create quality online courses. But I still don't understand how it is used. Can anyone give me a simple explanation or have a site where I can go to learn about it--in simple terms!” I had never heard of Moodle before this class. I was intrigued to learn what it was and how it could be used. I looked at the EDTEC 296 web page but still couldn’t make out what Moodle was or what it was used for. Then I did some searches for Moodle and came up with a few good sources. First off I went to the Moodle web site. Then I looked at probably about 20 of the Moodle sites it recommends. (It actually recommends nearly 2000 sites.) From what was written on the Moodle site and from what I observed in the several sites I visited, I developed the following opinion about Moodle. Moodle is basically like Blackboard, but free. Many of the sites listed in the United States belong to non-profit organizations. They want to have many features of a Learning Management System (LMS) but can’t afford one. So, they download Moodle for free and effectively set up their own LMS system. Very cool. (What do “cool” people say now days instead of cool? I hate to keep dating myself.) So as a teacher you could download Moodle and set up your own course management system exclusively for the classes you teach. Each student could have a login and password. You could also assign each student a “key” so they could only access the classes they were signed up for. They could all use the site to collaborate on their coursework. I like it a lot. OK. So I still don’t know much about Moodle. I hope to read much more about it in the coming weeks though. I truly see some important applications for it. I definitely want to add it to my EDTEC tool box.
You wrote, “I understand that it is a course management system, open source, and a package designed to help educators create quality online courses. But I still don't understand how it is used. Can anyone give me a simple explanation or have a site where I can go to learn about it--in simple terms!” I had never heard of Moodle before this class. I was intrigued to learn what it was and how it could be used. I looked at the EDTEC 296 web page but still couldn’t make out what Moodle was or what it was used for. Then I did some searches for Moodle and came up with a few good sources. First off I went to the Moodle web site. Then I looked at probably about 20 of the Moodle sites it recommends. (It actually recommends nearly 2000 sites.) From what was written on the Moodle site and from what I observed in the several sites I visited, I developed the following opinion about Moodle. Moodle is basically like Blackboard, but free. Many of the sites listed in the United States belong to non-profit organizations. They want to have many features of a Learning Management System (LMS) but can’t afford one. So, they download Moodle for free and effectively set up their own LMS system. Very cool. (What do “cool” people say now days instead of cool? I hate to keep dating myself.) So as a teacher you could download Moodle and set up your own course management system exclusively for the classes you teach. Each student could have a login and password. You could also assign each student a “key” so they could only access the classes they were signed up for. They could all use the site to collaborate on their coursework. I like it a lot. OK. So I still don’t know much about Moodle. I hope to read much more about it in the coming weeks though. I truly see some important applications for it. I definitely want to add it to my EDTEC tool box.
Moodle
I had never heard of Moodle before this class - my EDTEC 572 class. I was intrigued to learn what it was and how it could be used.
I looked at the EDTEC 296 web page which had been mentioned as an example of Moodle but still couldn’t make out what Moodle was or what it was used for. Then I did some searches for Moodle and came up with a few good sources. First off I went to the Moodle web site. Then I looked at probably about 20 of the Moodle sites it recommends. (It actually recommends nearly 2000 sites.) From what was written on the Moodle site, and from what I observed in the several sites I visited, I developed the following opinion about Moodle. Moodle is basically like Blackboard, but free. Many of the sites listed in the United States belong to non-profit organizations. My guess is they want to have many features of a Learning Management System (LMS) but can’t afford one. So, they download Moodle for free and effectively set up their own LMS system.
Very cool. (What do “cool” people say now days instead of cool? I hate to keep dating myself.) So as a teacher you could download Moodle and set up your own course management system exclusively for the classes you teach. Each student could have a login and password. You could also assign each student a “key” so they could only access the classes they were signed up for. They could all use the site to collaborate on their coursework.
I like it a lot.
OK. So I still don’t know much about Moodle. I hope to read much more about it in the coming weeks though. I truly see some important applications for it. I definitely want to add it to my EDTEC tool box.
I looked at the EDTEC 296 web page which had been mentioned as an example of Moodle but still couldn’t make out what Moodle was or what it was used for. Then I did some searches for Moodle and came up with a few good sources. First off I went to the Moodle web site. Then I looked at probably about 20 of the Moodle sites it recommends. (It actually recommends nearly 2000 sites.) From what was written on the Moodle site, and from what I observed in the several sites I visited, I developed the following opinion about Moodle. Moodle is basically like Blackboard, but free. Many of the sites listed in the United States belong to non-profit organizations. My guess is they want to have many features of a Learning Management System (LMS) but can’t afford one. So, they download Moodle for free and effectively set up their own LMS system.
Very cool. (What do “cool” people say now days instead of cool? I hate to keep dating myself.) So as a teacher you could download Moodle and set up your own course management system exclusively for the classes you teach. Each student could have a login and password. You could also assign each student a “key” so they could only access the classes they were signed up for. They could all use the site to collaborate on their coursework.
I like it a lot.
OK. So I still don’t know much about Moodle. I hope to read much more about it in the coming weeks though. I truly see some important applications for it. I definitely want to add it to my EDTEC tool box.
Thursday, June 03, 2004
Wiki and Blog
I found a number of other sites with information about wikis today. Athabasca University’s International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) web site contains a wealth of information. I really enjoyed reading the article about Educational Wikis. I made sure to bookmark the IRRODL web site, especially since distance education is one of my primary interests in educational technology.
I like the flexibility wikis offer. Being able to use them as “knowledge repositories” seems a great tool to use in any course. Their functionality as tools to help create communities of practice is another key benefit. The fact that anyone can edit any page on a wiki has been a deterrent to their more rapid adoption; nevertheless, being able to password protect pages should overcome this obstacle. Although there are other significant challenges, such as issues related to formatting and attributing credit for postings, the benefits offered by wikis seem to make them a worthwhile tool to include in any educational technologist’s repertoire.
I also read an interesting article on using blogs as project management tools. The Virtues of Chitchat discusses how many IT organizations in particular are blogging to track implementation of various projects. It even gives another name to it – plog – standing for project log. One big caution the article mentioned I need to be careful of. “Yes, ‘blogorrhea’—the unedited stream-of-consciousness blather that afflicts so many bloggers—is a genuine risk.” I hope I do not fall into that pattern in my admittedly somewhat long posts. I’ll let you be the judge of that.
One more short note.
Someone recently referred me to a tool to use for off-line blogging. Apparently it allows users to write their blogs off-line. They can connect to the internet at a later time and upload their blogs. It works with Blogger, Moveable Type, and several others. For more information go to the Blogjet web site.
I like the flexibility wikis offer. Being able to use them as “knowledge repositories” seems a great tool to use in any course. Their functionality as tools to help create communities of practice is another key benefit. The fact that anyone can edit any page on a wiki has been a deterrent to their more rapid adoption; nevertheless, being able to password protect pages should overcome this obstacle. Although there are other significant challenges, such as issues related to formatting and attributing credit for postings, the benefits offered by wikis seem to make them a worthwhile tool to include in any educational technologist’s repertoire.
I also read an interesting article on using blogs as project management tools. The Virtues of Chitchat discusses how many IT organizations in particular are blogging to track implementation of various projects. It even gives another name to it – plog – standing for project log. One big caution the article mentioned I need to be careful of. “Yes, ‘blogorrhea’—the unedited stream-of-consciousness blather that afflicts so many bloggers—is a genuine risk.” I hope I do not fall into that pattern in my admittedly somewhat long posts. I’ll let you be the judge of that.
One more short note.
Someone recently referred me to a tool to use for off-line blogging. Apparently it allows users to write their blogs off-line. They can connect to the internet at a later time and upload their blogs. It works with Blogger, Moveable Type, and several others. For more information go to the Blogjet web site.
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
More about social software
Saw a very interesting looking paper this morning about social software. The paper, Distributed Social Software, discussed many of the limitations with much of the current "service-centric" software.
Oh no! I am only just starting to learn about social software and how it can benefit my training design and delivery. Already I am reading there are problems with it. Not to worry. Being aware of the problems is good; by knowing what some of the problems are I can take steps to mitigate them. The key is to not be incapacitated by the problems.
I also came across a new blog intended to describe RSS in some detail. It is by Dave Winer, one of the pioneers of blogging and RSS. It's titled Really Simple Syndication. Although I only saw a few posts Dave should know what he is talking about so it should be worthwhile to check for updates.
I also found an interesting blog site with more information about educational technology. It is Kim Cavanaugh's Brain Frieze. If nothing else you gotta' like the name of the site.
Oh no! I am only just starting to learn about social software and how it can benefit my training design and delivery. Already I am reading there are problems with it. Not to worry. Being aware of the problems is good; by knowing what some of the problems are I can take steps to mitigate them. The key is to not be incapacitated by the problems.
I also came across a new blog intended to describe RSS in some detail. It is by Dave Winer, one of the pioneers of blogging and RSS. It's titled Really Simple Syndication. Although I only saw a few posts Dave should know what he is talking about so it should be worthwhile to check for updates.
I also found an interesting blog site with more information about educational technology. It is Kim Cavanaugh's Brain Frieze. If nothing else you gotta' like the name of the site.
Emerging Technologies
I read several articles today about emerging technologies being used in education. Many of these were links from my EDTEC572 class, Technologies for Course Delivery. I also viewed a Breeze presentation referenced in one of the articles. The presentation is "Connecting Learning Objects with RSS, Trackback and Weblogs" by Alan Levine, Brian Lamb and D'Arcy Norman. It is available at: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/show.nmc103/. This was a great introduction for me to the world of RSS, something I previously knew next to nothing about. As a result I think my next big project for my site - either my web site or my blog site - will be to add RSS feeds from several sites I am interested in. Stay tuned.
I also learned much more today about wikis including where the word came from. "Wiki wiki" meaning quick in Hawaiian. More importantly I learned more about how a wiki can be used to foster collaborative learning. It is also a useful means to foster a sense of community among any group. I can think of many applications for wikis.
I need to take more time to digest what else I read today before I discuss much of it.
I also learned much more today about wikis including where the word came from. "Wiki wiki" meaning quick in Hawaiian. More importantly I learned more about how a wiki can be used to foster collaborative learning. It is also a useful means to foster a sense of community among any group. I can think of many applications for wikis.
I need to take more time to digest what else I read today before I discuss much of it.
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