Widgets in Wikispaces

We talked briefly about widgets in class last Saturday. Here's an entry from the wikispaces e-newsletter:

2. Widgets and User Statistics
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Our new Widget tool. Why it's awesome.
Wikispaces now has Widgets! What does this mean? You can now put a
video, calendar, spreadsheet, poll, chat room, slideshow, map, or any
other tool, gadget, or plugin on your Wikispace. You want to put that
YouTube video on lunar eclipses directly on your wiki or share your
Google calendar? You can. To add a Widget, click on the Widget button
on our toolbar (it looks like a little TV) which leads you to a handy
list of widgets that you can use, along with helpful instructions
where necessary.

To learn more on how to easily add these Widgets to
your wiki, read our blog post at
http://blog.wikispaces.com/2007/09/widgets.html .

Member statistics. Very handy for teachers.
We have added the capability for you to view member statistics for
your space. When you go to your "Usage Statistics" page, there is a
tab at the top labeled "members." By clicking on it, you can find out
how many page edits and messages each member of the site has made over
a period of time. This is especially handy for teachers, as you can
now more easily follow how each student is contributing to your space,
providing you will the ability to measure the progress of each
individual in the class. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Social Networking + Language Learning=Effective Practice?

You have read in your text about social networking with sites like myspace and facebook. Since we have at least one ESL teacher in the class and several multi-lingual students, I thought you might be interested in this post about LiveMocha. It's a site that's using the power of collaborative technologies to help people learn a foreign language.

Here's what I like about thinking of LiveMocha. It reminds me that although in our class we need to learn these technologies, and practice using them; then, in our blogs and in our discussions, we need to continue past "how to use it" and continue on to "how can I use it effective for development and performance improvement?" To consider how we can capitalize on the potential presented by these emerging technologies to more easily/more effectively/more efficiently develop the people with whom we work.

As always, I'll be interested in your thoughts.

Follow up to Weekend 1

Thanks for a good weekend full of new information and technical skills. (Hopefully we've started to make a dent on the "I want to be able to do it" expectation!)

A few things (mostly about BB):

• Week 1 folder--the list of items was starting to get kind of long, so I put everything from this weekend, including Jean's documents, in the Week 1 folder in course documents.


• I also moved the pre-assignment into its' own folder so it would not take up so much visual space in the course documents folder.


• I've added the list of expectations and concerns to the Week 1 folder.


• I've started a "misc. class related resources" folder. Most of what I'll put in here has been prompted by class or 1:1 discussions.


• Don't forget there are three wikis to which you need to add information (links are all in the Course Documents folder): your blog URL, your contact info, and who's reading whose blog.

I'm looking forward to reading your blogs between now and the next class!
Be sure to let me know if you have any questions!

Adding HTML text to your blog

I realize (even after class) some of you still may be a bit unsure how to add HTML text to your blog to spiff it up. In particular, I want to be sure you know how to add the HTML tag that allows your links to open up in new browser windows.

(Remember, if you just add the link in blogger and leave it that way; when someone clicks on a link it opens up in the current browser window replacing your blog! We definitely don't want that. It's better that the link opens up in a new browser window. When that happens, your readers can follow the link and still have a window open with your blog in it!)

Click the start box on the video screen at the end of this post to see a presentation reminding you how to do this! (I created this presentation as a way to start getting familar with Splashcast. See my previous post Splashcast for more information on this.)

A few hints:

1. There is audio, so be sure you're wearing headphones or somewhere where it's OK to play audio!


2. You need to double-click on the start bar to start the show (I can't explain why, but it's what I had to do)


3. This powerpoint presentation contains screenshots of the blogger editing window...it's pretty small...so you may want to click the fullscreen button on the video control bar. It says "full" and has a little picture of a video screen. This will open a new window with a fullscreen view of the show.


4. Unfortunately, going to a fullscreen seems to stop the show. So you'll need to click on the left arrow on the video navigation bar (below the video, near the left bottom corner of the screen) to go back to the beginning and have the show start over. Sometimes this takes you back to the table of contents for the shows. If it does, just double click on the show to start it.


5. At the end of the show it will take you to a table of contents (there's only one show right now), but if there were more than one you could double-click to start any of the shows!


6. Just close the window with the fullscreen when you're done. The blog is still open in another window.


7. whew...seems like a lot of hints are required just to use this viewer! (Hopefully I'll figure out ways around some of this as I get more familiar with Splashcast. )On with the show!

Splashcast

I've been playing around today with a new (for me) website called Splashcast. Apparently Splashcast allows you to create a streaming media channel that is hosted on their servers (which is good, because all servers--like ours at Drake--are not set up to handle streaming media), but which you can present on your blog, website, or social networking page (like myspace).

You can import lots of different items into your splashcast including video, photos, audio files, .pdf files and powerpoint. You can also record audio in Splashcast for these various items. I'm going to include a Splashcast in my next post.

I'm still not sure what I think about Splashcast, but I'll keep playing with it and we may talk about it in class. Of course you are welcome to start playing with it now as well!

Resource: Drake Writing Workshop

Here's information on the Drake writing workshop It's called a "workshop" because it's a place for you to "work" on your papers/writing, but they work with you one-on-one (it's not a class). It is a great resource! (and one that I think is really underused by our students!)
-----------------------------------------------------------

The WRITING WORKSHOP is now open for student appointments.

There is a new sign-up procedure. Students can sign up online at the following website: http://turing.cs.drake.edu/wws.html

Students may also phone the workshop 271-2729, Elizabeth Robertson (the director) 271-3806 or the English Department, 271-3777 with questions, or if they are having difficulty making an appointment.

• Writing workshop hours:
• M-Th: 225 Howard Hall (various morning and afternoon hours available.)
• M-TH: Room 23 Cowles Library 7-10 pm
• Sunday: Basement, Herriot Hall 7-10 pm

Quechup

We'll be looking at several social networking sites as a part of class (linkedin, myspace, facebook, ning) and you may already have experimented with them outside of class or as a result of your pre-reading. I did want to bring you a "watch out" for a fairly new social networking site called Quechup. Apparently, in an effort to be helpful, Quechup looks at all the people in your address book to see if anyone is already a member of Quechup...to give a head start to your social network. Unfortunately, it also automatically sends invitations to join your Quechup network to everyone in your address book who is not already a member, and it does this without your knowledge, permission or control. (essentially you're SPAMming everyone in your contact list. So my advice, and based on the experience of others ...stay away from Quechup or you'll be sending emails to everyone in your contact list as well...apologizing!

This brings up a series of questions about software you "expose" yourself to, and the precautions you need to take for the safety of you, your computer and your privacy. And your reputation (as in this case where Quechup does not indicate that this is a result of a bot , but makes is seem as if it comes from you!) It also brings up the bigger ethical issue of exposing (involving?) someone else in an activity that has the potential for negative reprocussions for them (Quechup example: if someone responds to the automated invitation to join your network...when they join their entire address book is SPAMmed too! Getting them in potential hot water with their friends, family, customers, contacts, etc)

Trouble with the survey

As several of you pointed out to me (thanks!), there was a problem with the pre-assessment.

My dad, who is an auto mechanic, used to say that most of the problems he saw in his garage were a result of the nut behind the wheel.
:-)

Well, apparently that was the problem with the pre-assessment...but I took care of it and it's working now. So if you had a problem selected the rating you wanted in the pre-assessment, give it another try and it should work like a charm!

It's an interesting way to start a class on technology! But as always, there's a lesson: there may not necessarily be any more "opps" with technology supported learning than with face to face learning, but it is likely that with technology you won't be around the "opps" when it happens. What are the implications of this for students in terms of their learning process, motivation, and engagement? What is the implication for you (or in this case me) and your credibility as a leader of the learning and/or SME? Or the way(s) in which you need to stay involved in the learning intervention?