• Topic 4 - Exercise 3c

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 8:24 pm by admin

    Visit http://sites.google.com/site/buildingapln/ Do you have a personal learning network?
    Look at the potential and challenges of each new site as platforms for learning and inclusion in a PLN?

    I found it amazing when I accessed this site to find how many different places these three ladies were represented on the internet and how widespread their personal learning networks are. They seemed to have personal profiles at so many different sites it was unbelievable. The video on the site definitely made me think just how valuable the various sites could be as tools for enabling and facilitating learning in many different environments and situations.
    I couldn’t help but think how we as eductors are challenged to think of ways to utilise  these sites as tools to enhance both our own further learning and those of others we come in contact with. These are the tools that people are becoming more  familiar with in their lives and use to constantly keep in touch within their personal and learning  networks.

    Then I began to look at my own personal learning network and was even more astounded to find that I belong to many of the same sites.  Here is my list -

    Social Networking Sites & IDs.

    Site ID
    Facebook Lesley Anderson
    MSN Lesleyaa@hotmail.com
    Skype lesley.anderson.3
    Delicious lesleyando
    Yahoo lesleyando
    SecondLife Lesander Lexington
    Blog Lesley Anderson
    Gmail lesleyaa
    Ning Lesley Anderson
    Flickr lesleyando
    Twitter lesleyando
    Diigo lesleyando
    Interact lander18
    SINA landerson
    Genforum aussiemum
    Edublogs mrsando
    Moo LesleyA
    ISP andoshouse
    Runescape Lesander58

    Already I have found many of these sites useful to me - to bring information and resources to my students, my colleagues - in Professional Development and, of course, myself.

    54 comments OLR Exercises, Topic 4

  • Topic 4 - Exercise 3b

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 7:52 pm by admin

    Make a up a social profile at two new social networking sites,
    using one from each list or from any you found online.

    Liz Evans - a fellow  member of Red Pod created a Ning site for our pod. Consequently I have created a new social profile there and I have also created profiles at  Twitter and Diigo in an effort to expand my Personal Learning Network. 
    After installing a plug-in to my blog that enables me to insert tables - for my last posting, I am now trying to link my Twitter page to my blog - I definitely enjoy a challenge!

     

    60 comments OLR Exercises, Topic 4

  • Topic 4 - Exercise 3a(ii)

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 6:45 pm by admin

    Social Networking tools for your “PLN”

    Using your set of own heuristics, Make up a new new table from lists A and B showing which sites have or do not have potential and challenges as platforms for Learning or Professional Development.

    Social Networking: Software Possible Options

    Software Learning Professional Dev
    Facebook Age restrictions - 13 yrs and over Could encourage dialogue between professionals. Room for discussion and formation of groups.
    YouTube Blocked across many schools Good resource for tutorials or information videos
    TeacherTube Both YouTube and TeacherTube would be a great place for students to post videos they have created Good resource for teachers to access video content for the classroom or for PD
    Ning Age restrictions - 13 yrs and over Easily set up social network allowing for pers and collaborative work
    Delicious Could link students with similar interests or allow them to contact "experts" if needed Bookmarking that links to interest groups
    ReyVu Could be used for any learning groups to read reviews or contribute their own -review site, for books, videos etc.
    Flickr Repository for photos Tutorials for photography and image manipulation included
    Bubbl.us Online brainstorming site would be valuable for all learning groups
    Diigo This site could also link students and experts as for Delicious Bookmarking site which has excellent linking to groups based around interests/tags
    Yahoo Age restriction-18yrs and over Allows restricted groups
    SocialGo Age restriction-18yrs and over Make good personal blogsite which connects to forums etc
    MySpace Age restriction-13yrs and over Could be used as personal CV site-elect portfolio
    Twitter Age restriction-13yrs and over microblog could link professionals
    LinkedIn Age restriction-18yrs and over good personal profile/portfolio/CV
    Bebo Age restriction-13yrs and over Photo repository to store and display photos
    Reddit News site - read and review current news items could be suitable for learning across all learning groups

    Read the rest of this entry »

    51 comments OLR Exercises, Topic 4

  • Topic 4 - Exercise 3a(i)

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 2:39 pm by admin

    Social Networking Tools for your “PLN”

    View the commoncraft show presentation called Social Networking in Plain English at
    YouTube and then TeacherTube     http://teachertube.com
    Watching video creations from others is an excellent way to offer professional development
    on a topic such as how to make a Flash movie.

    I often use You Tube or Teacher Tube for the “tuning in” or at the beginning of a topic with my classes. Unfortunately these items are blocked across our school network so any videos I need must be downloaded to my computer prior to needing them for a class and students are unable to access tutorials or “how to” videos which is unfortunate as there are many excellent resources available.
    Recently I was asked to facilitate to some professional development for our staff on the value of using technology in education and I downloaded a great video on 21st Century Skills and presented it to the staff.  Using a video is a great way to spark thoughts and ideas on a topic and this one was no exception and it helped initiate some excellent discussion on the topic.
    I found this particular video well described by its title and a clear and concise, plain language video to describe succinctly, how social networking works.

     

     

     

    52 comments Topic 4

  • Topic 4 - Exercise 2c

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 2:19 pm by admin

    Hosting good conversations: House Rules!

    Read the ISPG policy for user behaviour in a MOO at http://ispg.csu.edu.au/subjects/cscw/moo/moo-policy.doc and compare it with the Community Guidelines at http://digg.com/guidelines.
    Why do collaborative social software systems with synchronous and asynchronous communications need to develop a set of “rules of engagement“?

    An online community is no different to other communities and environments within our society. Each of these mayhave slightly different rules, as their needs may differ, but rules none the less. Rules exist for a reason and online collaborative social software systems also need them, to ensure that contributions and interactions are fair to all users.

    Users of collaborative social software systems need to feel safe using the particular site/software. They need to feel trust in the other community users and this will influence their participation within a community. Obviously if a user is abused or harassed by another user in the community, or a piece of writing or submission is plagiarised that trust is broken, conflict occurs and most likely the wronged user will stop contributing to the community.

    Consideration must be given to the type of technology being utilised in online conversation within these communities. Synchronous conversation occurring in online chat or instant messaging systems differs from asynchronous conversation occurring perhaps through email or postings on a discussion board. Read the rest of this entry »

    40 comments OLR Exercises, Topic 4

  • Topic 4 - Exercise 2b

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 2:09 pm by admin

    Hosting good conversations: House Rules!

    Howard Rheingold wrote the The Art of Hosting Good Conversations Online in 1998.
    What three rules or tips did you find interesting or have experienced so far in your online meetings or interaction?

    As we have encountered each part of this course so far and undertaken online meetings, using the various chosen tools such as Gmail, Skype and  CSU Interact, I believe our study group have come to each experience with
                “a spirit of group creativity, experimentation, exploration and good will”.
    We have definitely been challenged not so much by the human side of things but definitely by the “technological bugs” we have encountered along the way.
                “All online social systems are challenged by human social foibles and technological
                  bugs that tend to split groups apart.” Read the rest of this entry »

    54 comments OLR Exercises, Topic 4

  • Topic 4 - Exercise 2a

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 1:59 pm by admin

    Hosting good conversations: House Rules!

    Discuss three ways of providing users with more control in an online community.

    There is range of methods to provide users with control within online communities, such as 

     

    • Having a sense of value within a community,
      Users should feel that their contributions are valued and their point of view respected. User posts should be answered and/or discussed keeping in mind that contributors have a right to a particular point of view, even if it does differ from others community members.
    • Allowing users to make decisions,
      This involves giving users options, like linking to the community using RSS or to other members of the community via “twitter”. Perhaps users may choose to “lurk” in a community and gain information about it or a particular topic by doing so, or may choose to be more active within the community by commenting on posts, beginning or continuing discussions. Read the rest of this entry »

    43 comments Topic 4

  • Topic 4 - Exercise 1b

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 1:52 pm by admin

    Blog or Wiki Design.

    Select ONE blogging or wiki product, such as the one you use in this subject- eg Blogger.
    Write a 100-word summary of how it has supportive tools that are similar to the design advice in this topic.
    In your summary, consider how it satisfies the nine design requirements and the 3 underlying principles, suggested by Kim (2000a; 2000b)?

    I have used Wordpress as my blogging tool for this subject.  Designed specifically for online reflection and responsive interaction, it comes with supportive tools, which may vary across templates, and a huge number of optional “plug-ins” that can add to security, interactivity and usability. Flexibility, ease of installation and variety of tools allows a community blog to be created and customized to suit particular needs at any particular time.  This includes posts and comments being added, replied to, tracked and moderated as the community requires, either by visitors to the blog or those assigned user status through their blog profile.

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  • Topic 4 - Exercise 1a

    Posted on September 6th, 2009, 1:34 pm by admin

    Blog or Wiki Design

    How would you design and manage content in a blog? Use your blog experiences so far?

    After spending a few weeks blogging for this subject, I must say I have enjoyed the experience.
    I find blogging an efficient and satisfying way to respond to tasks, organise ideas and link to others within the subject group.

    The first thing I did was plot out the structure of my blog site. I have only included 2 separate pages in my blog - About and Home. About contains a short piece of information about myself and the Home page is where my recent postings appear. I have relied on categories for the major method of organisation of my posts, and find that works well for me. I have major categories organised with sub-categories as follows - Read the rest of this entry »

    54 comments Topic 4