StigmergicWeb

I love Google Docs and I love the videos made by Common Craft. The combination of the two makes me positively giddy:

Video: Google Docs in Plain English | Common Craft - In Plain English Our second client production was for the Google Docs team. For the first time, we got a chance to work on a product that we use every day. This video was timed to accompany the release of Google’s new presentation product.

These guys produce the best videos to explain some of the basic web technologies. Their video on RSS is a must view. When I want to explain some of these things to teachers, I’ll point them to these videos. Thanks to MColeman for the link via Twitter.

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We knew this was coming when Google acquired Tonic back in April. And now its here. {Happy dance}

No longer shall we be held hostage by Microsoft. From now on our allegiance shall be with Google. That’s an improvement, right? :^)

I’m getting started on a couple of interesting instructional design projects right now. One is the design of an online computer science class for Grade 11 students. I’ve taught CompSci many times before and used a blended instructional model where the students and I were all in the same room, and all the resources and assignments were online. It shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to adapt that to being completely online. I have a personal stake in how well the course is designed because I’ll be teaching it next semester.

I’m also working with Alec in the design of a grad level class (Ed Curriculum and Instruction 831 from the University of Regina if you’re interested in joining the fun). We’re going to be looking at open, connected and social technologies in the classroom and appropriate pedagogies in the connected age. It should be a lot of fun, but I guess that’s the whole point of these things.

My problem with both of these projects is where to organize all my notes and ideas. I have OmniOutliner Pro for organizing all my hierarchical lists like to do lists, learning objectives and that sort of thing. Or I could use Notebook from Circus Ponies, or Journler to keep track of general sorts of notes in addition to hierarchical things. Freemind is a great program for brainstorming or mind mapping, and it’s even open source to add to the goodness. In keeping with the spirit of the EC and I class, I could use some of the terrific online tools - Google Docs and Google Notebook for collaborative writing/note taking. How about Mindmeister or bubbl.us for some mind maps online. Of course, there’s always good old Wikispaces or PB Wiki (or many others that I don’t use or know about). My brain is addled with the surfeit of tools and choices that I’m not sure where to begin.

Maybe I’ll just go back to the basics!


(by Olivander, released under Creative Commons AT,NC,SA license)

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I’ve been reading a few blog posts from the Building Learning Communities conference, mostly from Dean, but Will’s post Why is it so Hard for Educators to Focus on Their Own Learning? hit on a topic that I’ve been trying to gain some perspective on for a while. We have a lot of terrific free read-write webbish tools around us - the entire google suite of apps (possibly evil but I still love ‘em), mind mapping tools, blogging tools, wiki tools and so on. I’ve struggled, and sometimes it feels like a real uphill battle, trying to show teachers how useful these can be as tools for their students. Will has a slightly different perspective, and maybe its the way that I should be looking at this:

Weblogg-ed » Why is it so Hard for Educators to Focus on Their Own Learning? And even as I sit in this session with Tim Tyson at Building Learning Communities, one principal says “I want to learn more about these tools so I can help my teachers use them in the classroom.” I want to jump up and say “No! You are missing a step! You want to learn more about these tools for yourself so you can help your teachers learn from them too.” So what’s that all about? Is it just habit? Is it just such a focus on curriculum delivery that “learning” is all about how to do that job better? Is changing the way we do our own business just too darn hard? Or is this such a huge shift, this idea that we can actually learn through the use of technology that most people just don’t think they have to go there, that they can just keep using it as a way to communicate without the surrounding connective tissue where the real learning takes place?

As a teacher, I think I do tend to think about my students’ learning to the exclusion of thinking about my own learning. I have at times been more concerned with pumping out the curriculum - leading the students through their learning journey more than becoming an equal participant in a group learning journey. I think the communication and connection is the key - connecting with other learners who are playing around (isn’t that how all real learning takes place when you think about it?) with some of these tools. But if I’m using these tools to communicate and collaborate, would it be possible for me to avoid the learning that takes place concurrently? I’m not sure about that one. I think that if we are communicating and connecting with others who have some common interests, we can’t help but learn as we share pieces of information. Regardless, thinking of these tools as something for teachers to learn with, not (just) teach with or teach about, is a valuable perspective and one that I’ll keep in mind next school year when I’m working with other teachers.

Life is now in post project mode, meaning I get to re-acquaint myself with some long forgotten activities such as doing housework/yardwork, sleeping for more than 5 hours a night and the ever popular wasting my time online. My first distraction from WISBD (”what I should be doing” which in this case is marking some Biology 20 assignments) is Twitter. If you are interested in how I am wasting time, here’s my twitter page

So far, I am at Alan Levine’s second stage of the twitter life cycle. I still don’t get it. But after two entries, I’m not in a position to make a thoughtful reflection. So far, it seems like a kind of web-based social Skinner box - keep tapping at those keys and checking on your friends, and you will be occasionally rewarded. I expect it is a random schedule of reinforcement, like slot machines, so infrequent small reinforcement produces a behaviour that extinguishes very slowly. It is, in other words, designed to be addictive. Well, it’s too late - I’m already in. I’m just worried that twitter is a gateway social networking tool that eventually leads to harder stuff like MySpace. I promise to restrict myself to being an occasional twitterer - just a few tweets on weekends to relax with friends!

It’s a great feeling when something you’ve done is so interesting to spammers, that they contact you personally. I received a comment to moderate in my e-mail this morning from Roger (I’m not giving a last name, and I’m definitely not going to put an URL up here) asking about my scuttle spam-proofing hack. Here’s the comment that Roger tried to leave:

I tried this with one of my scuttle sites, and I don’t see any difference. I must be doing somthing wrong. After I made the change what should I see when I log in as user with id 1? I checked sc_users and the Id I am using to log in is the user ID 1. Plus if you can help me limit the max tags per post. I am getting spammed to death…

The irony here is almost too much. Really, Roger, did you think I’d allow a comment - even an inocuous one before checking up on the commenter? Leaving the link to the web site - an installation of scuttle that is used for “internet marketing” was enough to mark you as a newbie, but to give your e-mail address so I can check the site for your “internet marketing company”. That’s just not thinking, buddy.

I was happy to see that you are up to date on all the latest social software, though. At least you’re staying on top of the latest web trends. Nice to see that you are offering advice on using social bookmarking and RSS to market a product. The software you offer sounds really interesting:

If you want to learn more about social bookmarking, or need a tool to automate the posting to many social bookmarking sites visit one of my other sites called XXXXXXXXXXX and learn more about social bookmarking and automation software…

Wow - you wanted me to give you more info on my hack so you could incorporate it into the next version of your software. I’m touched - really, there’s a small teardrop running down my cheek, I’m so overcome with emotion. But the irony of a spammer asking me advice for stopping spam - ROTFLMAO!!! Stop, Roger, my ribs are hurting.

The other irony here is that my hack is no longer effective against spammers, so the site has been shut down. Roger, you sly dog - were you the one who figured out how to spam my school’s bookmarking site? Or were you jealous that someone else figured out how to do it first? Sadly my hack is no longer effective - school’s get kinda touchy about someone leaving the kind of links that you left, Roger (or some other sleaze-ball spammer, whoever you are).

I’m not going to leave Roger’s full name here, or any mention of his site, or his “automation” software - sorry, Roger, I’m not going to give you any of my google-juice. But if anyone else in the edu-blogospere wants the above information, I’d be happy to let you know via e-mail. I’m at robwall@gmail.com (sorry, Roger, the gmail filters are pretty darn good at keeping you away from me). If I know of you, or you pass my scrutiny, I’ll send you the info.

And Roger, one more thing - spam this, buddy:

..|..(’_') ..|..

and give this a big smooch:

( )x( )