Group items tagged

This is a great way to emped all types of documents directly into a blog post -- I'l be teseting this on my blog. This is very cool and is yet another way that people are sharing content. It is less about WHAT is being shared and more just about the fact that we can share it.

This is a website that lets documents be embedded in a web page and is another example of how collaboration is happening.

Blog It lets Facebook users create blog posts and post them through any one of 10 blogging services, including Blogger, Movable Type, TypePad, Twitter, Vox, and WordPress.

Scott McLeod talks about how to rank one's success as a weblog -- talking about comment intensity. I think comments are important, however, comments are often correlated with controversy and the vocality of readership.

Some backlash against e-mail is beginning to be seen as people realize that the inundations of e-mail is leaving to innefficiency. (This is also true for educational organizations -- too much productivity is being lost in email when we should be creating those reports using wikis and reflecting using blogs.) This lets one see how businesses are realizing that moving from e-mail collaboration to global collaboration using blogs and wikis may just be more efficient - -there are some new studies showing this as well.

This lets one see how businesses are realizing that moving from e-mail collaboration to global collaboration using blogs and wikis may just be more efficient - -there are some new studies showing this as well.

When one sees cartoons popping up like this, one can tell that blogging is becoming an issue that companies are grappling with. Many do not understand the "mystery" of blogs and how to drive traffic.

This humorous cartoon shows how companies are struggling with blogs and how they work.

This is a very honest, open discussion between educators about why diigo or delicious -- I think the fact we can have this conversation within diigo at all says a lot for the usefulness of the tool. Diigo is an emerging tool for social bookmarking and collective intelligence.

Look at the conversations betwen educators occuring on diigo about this tool.

How twitter was used to backchannel a conference.

Excellent overview from Jeremiah about the use of twiter to backchannel at a conference. Backchanneling is something I think that is very important, but there is very definitely a best practice. Here were my comments to Jeremiah: "I am a classroom teacher and LOVE the backchannel (they are great for test reviews -- like group notes and more) and won't do a conference presentation without one, that being said, I wouldn't use twitter for it. Like you said, many people don't use twitter or get it. I like to create a "backchannel room" so that it is archived and recruit ahead of time at least two people: 1) A backchannel "moderator" - they answer questions and I call on them several times to ask for their summary of what is going on in the backchannel (this is when I'm the main presenter) 2) A google jockey -- they drop the links I'm talking about in the backchannel chat. I also like to ask the people in the backchannel to share best practice and what they are doing. I've had people comment that the one hour with a backchannel and me presenting was more meaningful than a whole day at a conference. (More compliments to the backchannel, I'm sure.) I've seen backchannels handled very poorly and it was TERRIBLE. It was chaos. And actually downright rude to the speaker. (More like backstabbing than backchanneling.) I've also seen it used well and it was incredible! The archiving of the backchannel gave me rich links as a presenter and participant AND also feedback on the session which I referred to later as the presenter. The backchannel is great -- I just like to use a backchannel ROOM especially for the session (inviting "friends" from around the world who are also watching on ustream) -- and then creating an archived copy of it. I think backchannels are very important and you've hit on the core of what is happening in the evolution of professional development and conferences. "

Wow! This student says so much very eloquently about Don Tapscott's keynote: My tenth grader says in this blog post: "A teacher should, as Don Tapscott said, no longer be a transmitter of information, but a regulator of educational settings. Our teacher Mrs. Vicki could stand in from of the class room all day and lecture us on exactly what to do and how to do it. We would ace tests and learn a lot . . . for a while… However by next year about 65% of what we learned will be irrelevant due to technology changes and development. Instead, she gives us projects to complete that pose challenges to us that can repeat themselves. Such as giving us a project to make a video by using a program we are unfamiliar with. Though we may not ever make another video, it is inevitable that we face the challenge of having to use an unfamiliar program, ergo, we will be prepared to deal with this for the rest of our lives. So in conclusion, the role of a teacher is now: to regulate the educational environment; to introduce students to the realm of ambiguities; and to no longer evaluate our overall knowledge, but our constructive, creative, and adaptive capabilities." Wow! I am humbled and impressed at what students have to say when asked and challenged!

A student's rumination on teacher roles in the classroom.

Tried to leave a comment but it said I had unspecified parameters. Maybe I was just to long-winded. Anyway I wrote up my comment as a blog entry at http://ict07598.wordpress.com/in-house-dc-electrical-generating-plants/

Business people and management should read this article about the transformation of business by using workplace communities. "Workplace communities are designed to solve workplace-related challenges" -- they focus on tasks. I would find it interesting to see a business REALLY use technology to change things. Having the business in a business network (OK a NING) and let people tag their posts with the business related PROBLEMS they are having and blog, video, or photograph it-- the tag cloud would tell the business IMMEDIATELY what the problems are in the company. The problem with this model is that there are few corporate executives who REALLY want to know the problems within their organizations. They don't want to be problem solvers, just opportunity creators. However, when managers open their eyes (and I'm a former General Manager myself) and see that two things give business opportunity: problem solving and innovation. And they are directly related. True innovation solves problems. Read this article and think about how you may solve problems using the networks you may now create. If you don't want everyone to know, keep it private and only allow people in your company in.

Important article about why businesses need to change.

A webcast with Diane Hammond, organizer of Yes I Can Science about her experiences organizing a blogging project between middle school science students and an astronaut on the space station. She has some interesting insights on the importance of active teacher involvement and engagement of the classroom.

This project is a great one to look at and Diane Hammond from Yes I Can Science is a wonderful resource!

An overview and review of teacher tube vs. Youtube -- I think there are some very good points here -- and why don't schools just unblock youtube? I think this is a great overview and has made me think about a few things about TeacherTube, I haven't gotten before.

This incredible chart says it all about the importance of wiki collaboration. This should also be a message to bloated bureaucracies looking to squeeze that last bit of efficiency out of already overworked staff. This is an important chart for horizon project students to include, I believe.

this is a very important graphic for including in the Horizon Project material.

When ever a government initiative is prefaced by a refference to nine eleven it makes me clench a bit.

So all that time I spent just watching Get Smart didn't help my Cognitive account. Does it count if I can still recite all the best lines? So your Mr.Big... So your Mr. Smart.

the 31 day comment challenge is a program to promote effective, meaningful comments run by several amazing edubloggers -- this is an example of something that those interested in facilitating effective communications should discuss and participate in.

Looking at the safety aspect of humans with machines is important.

Responsible use of electronic devices is going to become increasingly important because today cell phone is a distraction --- tomorrow it will be in car movies or gps devices. It is the behavior that is the problem and proper focus on real life has to be something we emphasize as we discuss the proper relationship of humans with "gadgets."

followed the link through to the University of Chicago project on Wisdom. http://wisdomresearch.org/ I hope the Lord has mercy on my soul. I certainly won't insist on justice:>)

Information summarizing an article on online safety -- something important for education subgroups to cover.

Juggling spreadsheets, music, and reports between PCs may get a lot easier with a new Microsoft service called Live Mesh.

The service allows you to create a Web-based Live Desktop complete with Windows-like folders that can be shared with others and can be synched to multiple PCs. Can be extended to cell phones.