MDE New Technologies - Recently Updated Pages

how to create an online group

MikeDon — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:48:22 CST

An online group is where people go to meet each other and share their interests.

Before you actually create a group, decide upon what the group will actually “be about” – the subject of the group.

Depending on the appeal of your group (and the size of its potential audience), do some quick checking to see if there are other groups out there like the one you intend to create. There may be competition unless you differentiate your group in some way, such as picking a very small niche topic or something with a local appeal.

Places like Yahoo and Google allow you to create groups once you establish a free account with them.

Depending on where you create your group, you and your members may have the ability to:

Invite people to the group
Share messages and message archives
Upload and review photos
Plan events through a calendar application
Conduct polls
Share links with each other

My Favorite Web Tooll

scsporto — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:28:22 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

Allison's web tools

scsporto — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:46:38 CDT

Allison Kipta has created another wiki with an awesome list of web tools for different uses. This is a major addition to our toolbox here...
Check it out - http://mdetools.wikispaces.com/

How to bookmark online

MikeDon — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:39:25 CDT

Creating a bookmark through your Web browser is a simple way to go back to specific Web pages or other URL-based information you want to visit in the future. Each Web browser (Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, etc.) may have a slightly different technique in the bookmarking process and variations may also exist based on the browser version. Use the following basic procedures to create bookmarks for Internet Explorer and/or Mozilla Firefox.

Internet Explorer (IE)

Bookmarks are referred to as Favorites in IE. Once created, they are accessible through a number of methods based on how you have IE configured. The most common methods are through a Favorites menu or button located at the top of the IE screen (for specific information, see IE’s online Help).

The IE Help states:

To add a page to your list of favorite pages

Go to the page that you want to add to your Favorites list.
On the Favorites menu, click Add to Favorites.
Type a new name for the page if you want to.

Notes:

To open one of your favorite pages, on the Favorites menu, click the page you want to open. · As your list of favorite pages grows, you can organize them by moving them into subfolders.

Mozilla Firefox

Bookmarks in Firefox are accessed in a similar way to IE, but with some additional features. Like IE, how you have Firefox configured makes a difference in how you access Bookmarks.

Firefox’s Help states:

Bookmarks menu

To bookmark the page you are currently viewing, click on the Bookmarks menu and choose Bookmark This Page....

For more detailed information on Bookmarks in Firefox, go to this link on How to bookmark a page.

References

Microsoft Internet Explorer Online Help (2004). To add a page to your list of favorite pages. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.

Mozilla Firefox Online Help (2009). Bookmarks. Mountain View, CA: Mozilla Corporation.

how to create a wiki

MikeDon — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:35:10 CDT

Most wikis are easy-to-make websites, often used by people to build a place where they and others can collaborate and communicate with each other. Some are focused on specific subjects while others are designed more like online interactive communities.

To make their creation easier, wiki hosts provide “what you see is what you get” (WYSIWYG) editing tools for users. These tools allow you to input and change text, design screens, and other features. Although there are similarities between wiki host sites, the tools may vary from place to place. The general intent though is very much the same – to give authorized users a simple and controlled way in which to create their own wiki space.

Using the Wetpaint wiki host and creation website as an example, here is how you might create your wiki:

After accessing wetpaint.com, type a name for your wiki and its URL.
Type a description stating what your site is about and then select a category the site might belong to (this makes the site easier to find by others).
Select what types of people can view your site (invitees vs. everyone).
Select the style of your site – templates typically include color scheme, screen format, fonts, etc. This can often be changed at a later date.
Create an account that authorizes you to change the site, edit content, and so forth.
Using the site’s publishing tools, create some content, invite others to do the same (if applicable), and enjoy your ready-made wiki!

Note: Actual instructions will differ based on the wiki hosting site. These instructions may also change at the Wetpaint site at some point in the future.

how to create a podcast

scsporto — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:25:38 CDT

Make sure you have seen the definition page: "What is podcasting?"

Podcasts can be created with several tools, but basically you have two pieces you need to consider: the recording tool and the hosting tool

Before you look into tools and hosting issues, I think it is a great idea to listen to this recording on tips of how to enhance "your lame podcast". Very useful, and then it is audio, so you get to use the same medium, as you intend on using with podcasts...

They start talking about equipment, but one of the most important points made in this presentation is BE PREPARED

this means you need a full script or something that works as a script
trying to talk without a script does not work

if you are interviewing other people

make sure you ask the questions and let the expert talk

edit your recording and get rid of the noise, the stuttering and back-and-forth that is not to the point
Focus on story telling... make it short and to the point. Use editing to get to this.

As a recording tool, you might have tools within your computer, such as "Garage Band" inside the Mac. One free tool that has been used frequently by UMUC folks is Audacity.

How to do a podcast using Audacity...

Here is a video that explains how to use Audacity

Here is another video explaining the use of Audacity

Other resources...

http://blog.podcasting.oln.org/ How to create your podcast - a post in a blog about podcasting.
http://podcasttoolbox.com/ Tips and tools to develop podcasts
Recently I have tried using Gabcast. This is an online tool where the recording is done through the phone using a 1-800 number. The hosting is done through the Gabcast site. Your will have an account and you can create different channels for different podcasts you maintain.
Creating podcasts with instructions from iTunes
Creating podcast tutorial with audio and text
Podcasting tools:

What is Web 2.0

scsporto — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:41:16 CDT

Tim O'Reilley the so-called creator of the term... (50'')

A REALLY cool definition without words (4'30'')

and then the response to the COOL video, which is worth watching (3'16''):

And a not as cool but accurate definition with many words (5'18''):

Here is the definition given by Google's CEO (1'50''):

A list of web 2.0 apps with ratings and comments... growing everyday!

Resources

LisaMarieBlaschke — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:18:43 CDT

DE & Access:
- Distance education and the right - or access - to education. (Asian Journal of Distance Education, Distances et savoirs, EURODL, Journal of Asynchronous Learning Network, IRRODL, Open Praxis
http://www.distanceandaccesstoeducation.org/

MDLA 2008 conference:
Presentation on more information and resources on Web 2.0 tools
URL: http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/joelk-53098-top-10-web-2-0-p...

First Monday: 2008. Critical Perspectives on Web 2.0. 13(3).
http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/

Assessment & Activities:
- The Facebook classroom: 25 Facebook apps that are perfect for online education
http://www.collegedegree.com/library/college-life/15-facebook-apps-perfect-for-online-education
- WIDS Performance Assessment Task Library (from Northwestern Michigan
College):
- Using the debate as a teaching tool in the online classroom.
https://dspace.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/44259
- Implementing Authentic Tasks in Web-Based Learning Environments
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarte...
- Authentic task designs in web-based learning environments -
Framework
http://www.authentictasks.uow.edu.au/framework.html
- Working in Teams - Virtually
http://terrymorris.net/teamwork/index.htm
- Doing Collaborative Learning
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/archive/cl1/CL/doingCL/start.htm
- WebQuests
http:webquest.org/index.php
http:www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/webquests/index.html
- MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT)
http://jolt.merlot.org/index.html
Angelo, T., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A
handbook for college teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Opinion piece:
- Trent Batson (Campus Technology newsletter).
http://campustechnology.com/articles/59341_1/

Experience using wiki in learning

scsporto — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:19:13 CST

Using wikis for group collaboration

http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ECAR/SupportingKnowledgeCreati/46110

"wikis enable any group member to add, delete or modify wiki content"
"wiki software enables version control"
There is a "strong need to establish conventions to enable long-term success"

establishing wiki guidelines and making sure these are followed

Using Wikipedia as the assignment

Guidelines to editing wikipedia

Wikipedia_an d_academia
Examples

Students in the UK graded on wikipedia assignments
Assignment project in facebook (includes blog posts and wikipedia)

Experiences using wikis

By Hillary Burgess (Rutgers School of Law)

Wiki's in Burgess' courses
"“every class is a writing class.”

Several ideas and guidelines from Edutopia

other interesting wikis to work with: Wikiquote, Wiktionary, Wikinews (which you can use as a substitute to a blog of current events for students)

Other hosting engines (see what is a wiki)

A fine wiki about using wikis in education, right here in wetpaint...

Other technologies

scsporto — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:17:30 CST

This section was created so we could share other technologies that are being made available, which might use web 2.0 platforms, but are not immediately related to the new web 2.0 tools listed in this wiki.

Synchonous platforms

scsporto — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:14:11 CST

Dimdim is a free web meeting service based on the open source platform.
"Dimdim is a browser-based web 2.0 service that allows anybody to share their desktop, show slides, as well as talk, listen, chat, and broadcast via webcam. Dimdim´s hosted service is available for free and can be easily used for small gatherings, to seminars with hundreds of attendees. With absolutely no software to download for attendees, Dimdim gives everyone the opportunity to hold Web meetings and to customize and brand these meetings."

Web 3.0 or the semantic web

scsporto — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:05:56 CST

Here is a Wikipedia definition for Web 3.0 to start...
And the Wikipedia definition for Semantic Web

An interesting video explaining semantic web:

what is podcasting

scsporto — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:44:23 CST

Initial side question: How is podcasting different than simple audio files?

Quick and smart definition:

Wikipedia definition

Here is the audio description of the definition

"a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers."

"distinguished from other digital media formats by its ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content is added, using an aggregator or feed reader capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or Atom."

MOBILITY, SUBSCRIPTION & AUTOMATIC DOWNLOAD

Next a video from Northern Illinois University explaining what is a podcast.

Some examples of podcasts and ways to subscribe

iTunes for example has many podcasts that one can sign-up to.

So you can actually from your iTunes interface, search for podcasts in the same way that your search for music.

Podcasts are searchable over the net as well:

Searching for podcasts through Mediafly

Searching for podcasts through Podcast.net

EPN - Educational Podcast Network

Many ways to produce podcasts

Recording with a desktop app and then uploading the MP3 file

Using Gabcast to record podcasts

what is blogging

scsporto — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 06:54:45 CST

Definitions and Examples:

Wikipedia definition of blogging

"A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs."

"online journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption" (reference)

"Many blogs syndicate their content to subscribers using RSS, a popular content distribution tool."

Examples:

Classblogmeister: a blog engine developed for classroom use

Ms. Andrews class

Terry Anderson's blog - The virtual Canuck

A quick definition using video (2'58'')...

Now to make blogging work for you and for others who want to be updated on your blog posts, we need to understand what and RSS feed is...

Here is a video explanation of an RSS feeds (3'44''):

Blogging 101 del.icio.us RSS feed from Beyondpodcasting blog

In this site...

How to create a blog
How to add new components to the blog
Learning experiences

Why do these technologies matter

scsporto — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:00:04 CST

"A short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. "

Created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students at Kansas State University (4'44'')

Experience using blogs

scsporto — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:56:27 CST

Class blogs

Class blogs can have many purposes, such as providing students with posts of current events related to the subject matter. These are tagged and then easily retrieved at the end of the semester for a summative analysis.
Another possibility through the class blog is to create the blog with a focus on a specific topic, most likely related to current context. For example: on 2008 elections, Google and Microsoft market dispute, etc.
Class blogs can be edited only by the instructor (more of a push-content model) or as a collaborative class environment.

Student blogs

Students might be requested to keep a class blog (or even a program blog). It could serve as simple learning log that allows instructors to have a formative assessment of the learning process, with little or a lot of guidance.

In many cases, depending on the structure, blogs can serve as e-portfolio tools for a course and/or program
Blogs could be used by groups to keep information about a specific on-going topic or project. It can be used to display the project, given all the components that can be added to it.
The blog can be an assignment, in which students are requested to post entries on specific topics and use their critical thinking, while linking each reflective/analytical post to resources on the web.
Students might be required to provide comments in other students posts

Creating community outside of the classroom

Lounge that might keep students connected to the institution and the program
Graduates share and inspire current students
Program directors can keep students informed about immediate information, current news in the field, and inform about opportunities of events and jobs.

The MDE Blog

And then there is all you can add to blog...

External resources:

Blogs for Learning

Experience using social bookmarking in learning

scsporto — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:54:02 CST

Collaborative literature review using social bookmarking:

GOAL: collaborative literature review or annotated bibliography
STRUCTURE: Students are assigned a research paper or project. One of the steps of this project it to create a literature review and/or an annotated bibliography.
Students will create a group account in a bookmarking service such as del.icio.us.
Students will use a specific tagging system to categorize their web-references.
The tag cloud or the simple link to the their bookmark collection can be easily added to a group blog, or to a class blog.

The group can generate an RSS feed with the project tag that is either posted on the group blog, or even the class blog.
The instructor will be able to asses progress at any given time.
From a collection of references to an annotated bibliography, everything can be done collaboratively and online

Webliography for a class or course

GOAL: A webliography for a course or a class that is an ongoing collaborative effort from an entire class and becomes a resource used in all terms of this course.
STRUCTURE: This can be an ongoing project, and students my be graded based on their contributions to this online base.

A webliograpy can be built with ratings and comments for a specific course, shared among sections of this course, updated every term

Categories according to the course topics might be created to help students in their search

References to such webliography as part of course content can easily be included from one semester to the other.

In browsers, such as Flock, bookmarking with your browser immediately allows one to bookmark using a specific tool online.

what is a wiki

scsporto — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:52:11 CST

Definition and examples

Wikipedia definition of "wiki"

"A wiki is software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites."

This is wiki... check the tutorial to see a full explanation of wikis and Wetpaint wikis

A video that explains the concept and the motivation for it (3'52'')...

Another video explaining the concept,
with specific reference to wetpaint wiki. (2'34'')..

Examples of wiki engines

What is social bookmarking

scsporto — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:47:25 CST

Definition and example of social bookmarking:

Bookmarking

Bookmarks are Web page locations (URLs) that can be retrieved.
Browsers hold bookmarks

Social bookmarking

Sharing bookmarks online
Extensive use of tagging for purposes of categorization and searching
"services provide web feeds for their lists of bookmarks, including lists organized by tags." (Wikipedia)
added extra features such as

ratings and comments

import and export from browsers

emailing

web annotation, and groups or other social network features

An explanation using video (3'25'')...

Some services and tools:

Collaborative tagging (or folksonomy)

"practice and method of collaboratively creating and managing tags to annotate and categorize content"

Tagging

Folksonomy

In this site...

Learning experiences with shared Office-like enviroments

scsporto — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:16:04 CST

There are several online apps that allow collaborative writing in the more traditional document-sharing fashion...

To see a few of these applications, visit what is social writing

Google docs
Zoho.com
Editgrid (spreadsheets online)
Scribd (share all sorts of documents - the home of iPaper)
Thinkfree (share and collaborate online)

Artifacts that you can develop with these apps:

Research papers, essays, etc.
Online slideshows
Databases
Spreadsheets