Using NUS Module Blogs : Issues

Wiki, smiki, freeki?

Kenneth Gerard PINTO — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 01:57:00 GMT

During my presentation at last week's 2007 CIO & Digital Library Forum, I made the point that wiki use in education, unlike blogs, is not entirely ready for prime time. Educators who use it are pioneers (or early-adopters, in marketing-speak). That's not to say that wikis shouldn't be used. Just don't expect people to jump right in and use it.

That's a reminder to myself that I can get overenthusiastic about these tools, not realising that many people have yet to become familiar with them. Lee LeFever of the Common Craft Blog, who has an excellent video primer on wikis, points out some results of a survey on social media tools:

16% of the US online population is familiar with what a wiki is. Even if you just look at the online trendsetters (18-34 year olds), only 27% of those online users are familiar with wikis.
Blogs, which have universal awareness among nearly anyone reading this post, are only familiar to 35% of online users. And familiarity with social networks as a category still ranks below that of online forums at 28% and 35% respectfully.
For context, consider that 76% of the same population know of search engines and 97% of toilet paper.

Although this is a US-based survey, I figure that numbers are similar here. Traditional media can report about blogs and wikis but the general public is still unfamiliar with these, particularly the latter.

Technorati Tags: wiki, education, learning, teaching

Turnitin Bibliography, Academic Culture, Educational Podcasting, Free Geography Tools

Kenneth Gerard PINTO — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:14:00 GMT

Turnitin Bibliography by Charles P. Nelson via Stephen Downes

Charles has written and collated a rich treasure trove of Turnitin (an online plagiarism detection service) resources. While it is touted as a solution to a problem, not all educators approve of Turnitin's methods and philosophy. The bibliography reflects boths sides of the story. Charles also shares his thoughts about Using Turnitin, concluding that: "Turnitin, used properly, can be one tool among others, not simply for catching plagiarism, but more importantly for teaching students how to use sources appropriately."

If you're a NUS faculty staff, you can use Turnitin. Log in to IVLE, click Resources on the left hand toolbar, then click the Plagiarism Prevention link. (P.S. I am at a loss as to why it is labelled 'Plagiarism Prevention' here.)

Academic Culture eModule, Centre for Instructional Technology, NUS

Since we are on the topic of plagiarism, you might want to check out the Academic Culture eModule. This self-contained interactive module introduces university students to the academic norms, values and practices. Through video-based scenarios and interactive questions, students learn about Academic Conventions, Academic Inquiry and Academic Ethics. The eModule is freely accessible, so do have a look.

A Teaching with Technology White Paper: Podcasting [download pdf] by Ashley Deal via Stephen Downes

A useful primer on podcasting in education. This includes a look at what podcasting is, how it can be used in education and some examples of classroom use. This primer brings to mind a recent post I read by Jacob Christenson, reflecting on the reasons his department's podcasting project failed.

Free Geography Tools via Google Earth Blog

The Free Geography Tools blog is about the latest in "free tools for GIS, GPS, Google Earth, neogeography, and more".

Technorati Tags: turnitin, plagiarism, academic integrity, academic culture, educational technology, podcast, geography, tools

A short note on copyright

Kenneth Gerard PINTO — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 09:09:00 GMT

Thus far, I have not touched on intellectual property issues because I feel that these have been adequately covered in the media and on campus. The university's policies regarding use of IT resources are also quite clear on copyright. Nevertheless, it...(read more)

Wikipedia, secondary sources and authority

Kenneth Gerard PINTO — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 02:04:00 GMT

I'm not sure how prevalent this is here but there is a big debate going on in the United States about using Wikipedia for research . Andy Carvin at learning.now points out that Middlebury College officially disallows citations from Wikipedia . However:...(read more)