Using NUS Module Blogs : Read/Write Web

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

Snippets

Kenneth Gerard PINTO — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 07:51:00 GMT

Blog2Learn Wiki by Anne Davis

I'm glad that it's Blog2Learn instead of Blog2Teach. We're all learners! Anne's blog is a wide-ranging collection of links to edublogging resources and projects (K-12 through to tertiary level). Click on the SideBar link to see the navigation menu. Anne teaches writing, and she says this about blogs:

[They] give us an avenue to teach writing (blogging) as a cluster of complex thinking and writing behaviors that provide ownership to the student and the possibility of getting a multitude of responses from others. We have to orchestrate that. Yes, it takes time but we can truly model this process through our own blogs and provide the type of environment to support young writers and give them the challenges necessary to foster writing development. What a joy!

Mobile Learning, Vol 8, No 2 (2007), The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning via elearnspace

Mobile learning is an area in educational technology which is fraught with issues. The emphasis tends to be on how content can be delivered via mobile devices. This brings with the the problem of compatibility: operating systems, file formats, screen sizes, battery life, storage capacity... you get the drift. On the other hand, those that want to exploit the use of mobile devices in classroom projects need to overcome issues with sufficient and equitable access to the necessary tools. Regardless of what you conceive m-learning and how it will affect education, this issue of IRRODL has a number of peer-reviewed journal articles which explore mobile learning.

Reflections from EduBloggerCon07: Crafting a Compelling, Cogent Message for Change by Chris Sessums

Chris Sessums summarises a session he participated in at EduBloggerCon07, bringing together the thoughts of the participants:

For many educators who are actively engaged in the blogging process, weblogs have reportedly transformed the way they learn; it has challenged them about the ways they think about themselves individually, as well as the way they think about teaching and learning.

For many educators at this meet-up, blogging extends their ability to connect to other people and ideas, enhancing both personal and professional relationships. Weblogging has reportedly challenged them to learn more about themselves as well as challenging the way we think about a variety of subjects.

Two Zs: Zotero and Zentation

Zotero is a browser extension which "helps you collect, manage, and cite your research sources" from within the Firefox. I've not installed it yet, but it might be a handy tool. No harm trying - it's free!

I've mentioned Slideshare a few times previously. It's been called the YouTube of PowerPoint, and it works as advertised. But a presentation slides are just that: presentation slides. Where's the actual presentation?

Zentation promises to change that. You can upload your slides to Zentation and upload the video recording to Google Video (chosen for its ability to jump to any point of the video during streaming). Zentation puts them together. You get an shareable online webcast. Very nice if you're not on campus.

Technorati Tags: blog, wiki, learning, mobile learning, professional development, citation, research tool, presentation

Software for students (and everyone else too)!

Kenneth Gerard PINTO — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:01:00 GMT

Education is not cheap. Likewise, the tools students need to support their education aren't cheap too. Despite academic pricing, some software is still out of reach of some students. Also, a lot of software have more features than you will possibly use. What's a student to do?

There are alternatives to paid-for bloatware.

At home, I try to use as many web-based applications and free/open source software as possible. Many of the services I use were recently highlighted in Read/WriteWeb's feature on a whole bunch of useful Web 2.0 applications for students. Josh Catone suggests various apps for office, note taking, mind mapping, studying, bookmarking, collaboration, calendars, calculations and other tools.

However, some of these are not free services. Me? I'm a fan of the Google services. They're free, and they're great! I feel I'm too dependent on them, but I can't get away from their excellent software.

Here are a few more web apps to add to Josh's list:

Slideshare: The YouTube for PowerPoint slides
Motiji: Online video annotation service
DotSub: Collaborative online video subtitling
Fleck: Webpage annotation
BibMe: Bibliography tool

For truly free software, check out Software for Starving Students. The creators of this website have compiled the best free and open source software for Windows and Mac. You download the relevant version, then burn the ISO image file to CD (burning instructions for Win/Mac).

From the CD, you can install various free/open source software "including a fully-featured office suite, a cutting-edge web browser, multi-media packages, academic tools, utilities and more." Since the software is on a single disk image, the individual titles might be slightly out-of-date. You can download the programmes individually from the software authors instead. Check out the software list, then click the titles to go to the homepage for the respective software.

Even if you're not starving or even if you're not a student, there's definitely something for you.

Do you have any other software to add to this list? Please share your recommendations in the comments!

Youtube and beyond: What you want to know but never knew who to ask

Kenneth Gerard PINTO — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 01:55:00 GMT

If you've been wondering how to create your own videos for the web, wonder no more. Kevin Lim is conducting a talk on video for the web next Tuesday. He knows his stuff, and he is really passionate about what he does. This talk will be worth your time. And it's free!

“Youtube and beyond: What you want to know but never knew who to ask”
A public talk on the present and future of online video sharing by Kevin Lim

When
Tuesday, 19 Jun 2007
7:00PM - 8.30PM
(I’ll be there at 6pm for the early birds!)

Where
Multi-purpose Room, Central Lending Library
(Basement of National Library, Victoria Street)
Click for Map

What
Youtubers, Videobloggers, Video podcasters, or anyone who wants to get started with sharing videos online, this interactive session is perfect for you! Here are 5 reasons why you have to join in:

* Explore the world of free video sharing services -> going beyond Youtube
* Learn tips to producing great video for web -> high quality, small file size
* How to protect yourself by staying legal -> copyright, Creative Commons
* See the future of online videos -> Lifecasting and searching within videos
* Make friends and show your clips with fellow video bloggers!

Plus: If there’s time, learn how to videocast without spending a bomb on web hosting, by integrating Internet Archive with your blog.

Who
Kevin Lim [of theory.isthereason.com] is currently pursuing his PhD in Communication and is teaching in the Educational Technology Center at the University at Buffalo (SUNY). He studies the wide-ranging cultural affordances of technology, focusing particularly on the pedagogical aspects of social media. Being passionate about making and sharing videos, Kevin is currently challenging notions of virtuality through his modular “sousveillance” backpack. In an attempt at enhancing the usefulness of video, this unique backpack allows him to experiment with lifecasting, ambient intimacy, and video as a form of memory prosthetic (also see eyetap and wearcam).

Click to add to your calendar