Tipping Point?

Graham Wegner has posted this creative image, based on his current reading of Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Tipping Point,” in this post, "Web 2.0 Tipping Point For Education." Graham asks, "Is the tipping point for widespread recognition of web2 technologies in education far off ...? John Connell has provided some contextual (and edgy?) help in the true spirit of Web2.0 on his blog.
I am experimenting with a new poll widget from PollDaddy based on the idea of the Tipping Point. You can customise your poll, embed the widget in a website or blog and keep track of results via RSS.

Web2.0 showcase

Graham and Mike have already posted their reflections on the Web2.0 showcase which highlighted use of social software: "Web2.0 All you wanted to know but were too afraid to ask!" It covered blogs, social bookmarking, wikis, personal start pages, mashups and other social software and Deanne capped it off with her presentation on the new literacies.
View Mike's photos on Flickr.
Thanks to Mike, Graham, Al, Deanne, Karen, Enver and the rest of the team for a collaborative effort in sharing ideas, expertise and enthusiasm.
I have to agree with Graham that it was a challenge to do justice to the big audience (linked in via CENTRA) beyond the F2F group in the Discovery Centre. However, comments from the (CENTRA) text chat reveal that many folk appreciated the ability to connect from afar and not so far! Hopefully the next event will include some presenters from those who joined us online.
Mike's recording of his section was savvy and a good option to consider for future activities.
I will have to use Web2.0 tools myself to connect with folk attending a range of upcoming conferences which I am unable to attend (ACEC in Cairns, Sydney Moodle Conference and the Global Summit in Sydney) .

Rapid Bay Jetty lives on!

Good news! Here's an update on the ailing Rapid Bay Jetty in South Australia, home to SA's beautiful marine emblem, the Leafy Sea Dragon.

The state government announced today that $3.9m in funding will be provided to build a new, safer jetty, 260 m in length. This will be built parallel to the old wooden jetty and will provide access and amenity for recreational fishers, divers, locals and tourists.

The 'T-section' on the end of the old jetty will be maintained to provide shelter and protection to the fragile marine environment underneath. This area is one of the premier dive sites in Australia. It will become part of the proposed Encounter Marine Park.


The Media Release states that "the new jetty will be a concrete and steel structure to reduce the high maintenance costs of the current wooden structure."
The funding announcement is good news to many groups, including the Friends of Rapid Bay Jetty, divers, recreational fishers, environmental groups, local business and the Yankalilla District Council.

Read more in The Advertiser or visit the Friends of Rapid Bay Jetty website.

"Unleashing the potential" K-12 Online 06 Conference

Will Richardson's Weblogg-ed blog promotes the upcoming "Unleashing the potential" K-12 Online 2006 Conference" convention for teachers, administrators and educators ... interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice.

The event is being coordinated by Darren Kuropatwa, Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach and Will Richardson. Add Anne Davis, Ewan McIntosh and Bud Hunt into the mix so far. The coordinators, convenors and keynotes assembled to date promise for an exciting, not-to-be-missed online event.

Four strands are on offer over the 2 weeks with presentations made available and archived on the event blog in podcast or screencast formats.
Week 1
Strand A: A Week In The Classroom (practical pedagogical uses of online social tools (Web 2.0) and Strand B: Basic/Advanced Training.
Week 2
Strand A: Personal Professional Development
and Strand B: Overcoming Obstacles.

Visit Weblogg-ed for more detailed information and to keep up to date with program developments.

More about the Web2.0 showcase

South Australian educators have an opportunity to participate in a free Web2.0 showcase - All you wanted to know but were too afraid to ask! on September 21st at Technology School of the Future in Adelaide. Graham Wegner has already provided some advance publicity on his blog, 'Teaching Generation Z' and I'm looking forward to co-presenting with Graham, Al Upton, Mike Seyfang and Deanne Bullen.
The showcase promises to provide "an introduction to some of the collaborative Web2.0 resources that are quick, easy ... collaborative, connected and empowering for kids and teachers" and capitalises on the interest generated by numerous presentations and workshops on this theme at the recent CEGSA Conference.
Judy O'Connell on heyjude has also been ‘showcasing’ Web 2.0 ‘All Your Own Work’ in a Web 2.0 World' at a seminar in NSW.
Judy's "aim was to encourage teachers and teacher-librarians to re-examine what it means to create a community of enquiry for themselves and for their students…by participating in new forms of information organization and sharing…..like social bookmarking, wiki, and blogs."
Congratulations to Judy who has just celebrated her "quarter of a year blogging" milestone and become a favourite with many edubloggers.

DRM, copyright minefield in the Digital Age

A White Paper, just published by William W. Fisher & William McGeveran, provides a comprehensive 117 page report on the increasingly complex issues around DRM and copyright for educators in the Digital Era.
"The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age" The paper is part of the The Berkman Center for Internet & Society Research Publication Series and has a Creative Commons License.

"Digital technology makes informative content easier to find, to access, to manipulate and remix, and to disseminate." The ability to share and connect beyond the classroom enriches learning experiences but opens up a minefield as illustrated by a large range of examples and case studies in this report.

The authors suggest that "copyright law and related structures impede the full promise of digital technology for education where instead they should be enabling creative uses of content."

All is not gloom and doom however, as the report concludes with a discussion on recent trends in attempting to overcome the obstacles and possible paths to reform.

CEGSA Conference 2006

Just posted a selection of photos from the 2006 CEGSA Conference to Flickr.
Check out the photos on this page below the blog roll.
Photos include today's keynote speaker, Derek Wenmoth, from New Zealand.

The 2006 conference theme is "Learning, Thinking, Perceptions and Practices."