As an avid fan of RSS, I was pleased to see Search Engine Watch dedicating some space to RSS.
Search Engine Watch has provided an easy to understand 3 part series on RSS feeds with Part 1 on What is RSS and why should you care? These contain useful links for those discovering RSS, possibly for the first time, or curious to find out more about feeds.
Part 2 is on RSS Search Engines and includes a comparison on different search engines, giving the thumbs up to Yahoo as "arguably the farthest along with RSS. Yahoo's advanced search lets you limit results to XML, RDF and RSS file types." Easy integration with MyYahoo! personalised space.
Part 3 in the series (on RSS readers) is out tomorrow.
Lots of different feeds to subscribe to on their webfeeds page.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Open vs Private groups on EdNA Groups
EdNA Groups (based on Moodle) has proved to be very successful in the short 6 months it has been providing a free service to the Australian education and training community. EdNA Groups is updating its services with some custom enhancements which will ultimately enhance Moodle upgrades.
One excellent example is the Online Mentoring Network providing resources, activities and discussion about "exploring tools for, and methods of, mentoring and coaching online." These include collaborative resource wikis on topics such as emerging tools and technologies and mentoring resources.
So what's the controversy?
Leigh Blackall (Teach and Learn Online blog) has posted thoughts on whether EdNA Groups should provide open or private spaces with an interesting reference to longevity of the resource and the usefulness of social software available elsewhere. Value of folksonomy and aggregation possibilities!
Leigh believes that "... teachers and educationalists would be better spent engaged with the open Network, learning the popular tools and understanding the nature of the Internet..." It is sheltering individuals and groups from 'global conversation'.
I use EdNA Groups, my (work) Moodle site and various social software tools and can see EdNA Groups filling a valuable need in providing opportunities for collaborative workspaces, both open and closed. Some developing communities value the ability to conduct discussions and share resources in a private space, protected from the glare of cyberspace.
I also use and promote social software and Web 2.0 tools in facilitating global dialogue and professional learning.
One excellent example is the Online Mentoring Network providing resources, activities and discussion about "exploring tools for, and methods of, mentoring and coaching online." These include collaborative resource wikis on topics such as emerging tools and technologies and mentoring resources.
So what's the controversy?
Leigh Blackall (Teach and Learn Online blog) has posted thoughts on whether EdNA Groups should provide open or private spaces with an interesting reference to longevity of the resource and the usefulness of social software available elsewhere. Value of folksonomy and aggregation possibilities!
Leigh believes that "... teachers and educationalists would be better spent engaged with the open Network, learning the popular tools and understanding the nature of the Internet..." It is sheltering individuals and groups from 'global conversation'.
I use EdNA Groups, my (work) Moodle site and various social software tools and can see EdNA Groups filling a valuable need in providing opportunities for collaborative workspaces, both open and closed. Some developing communities value the ability to conduct discussions and share resources in a private space, protected from the glare of cyberspace.
I also use and promote social software and Web 2.0 tools in facilitating global dialogue and professional learning.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Engaging Youth with Emerging Technologies
Found this link on the ETN blog to an archived Australian Flexible Learners Network webcast (via Elluminate) on Engaging Youth with Emerging Technologies. Audio was very inconsistent and, at times ear shattering, but the content was well worth the pain! In particular, the discussion on m-learning (a project called txt me - using mobile phones and SMS) with disengaged youth.
Points included multi level preparation, critical criteria, mobile phone etiquette, impact on learners and practitioners. Good advice for those interested in m-learning on how young people view their phones (mobile, personal space) and having a saturation point so avoid use verging on spamming.
Ended with some insights on using podcasts with a similar target group and some URLs to follow up the projects discussed.
Points included multi level preparation, critical criteria, mobile phone etiquette, impact on learners and practitioners. Good advice for those interested in m-learning on how young people view their phones (mobile, personal space) and having a saturation point so avoid use verging on spamming.
Ended with some insights on using podcasts with a similar target group and some URLs to follow up the projects discussed.
Learning 2005 Blog and Podcasts
Learning 2005 event is providing free video, audio and pdf files via this blog in the lead up to the conference. All content is freely available (Creative Commons License). Includes some interesting postings such as "Personalization and Learning" audio (Wayne Hodgins) - reasons for, challenges and future. An area of personal interest.
Other audio files include "Social Networking and The World of Learning" (Elliott Masie) and one with the curious title of "SME Burnout - Subject Matter Experts Exhausted" (Elliott Masie). Add these to my del.icio.us tags on personalisation, folksonomy and investigate SME.
Other audio files include "Social Networking and The World of Learning" (Elliott Masie) and one with the curious title of "SME Burnout - Subject Matter Experts Exhausted" (Elliott Masie). Add these to my del.icio.us tags on personalisation, folksonomy and investigate SME.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Piczo
Piczo provides another example of a free service (for now at least) for teens >13 and adults who wish to take advantage of the intuitive, instant publishing tools to create a webspace with images and lots of linked pages (use the template or create ones with titles of your choosing) and share ideas and photos with friends.
Very straightforward way to claim your own webspace and get up and running with a professional looking site in a very short time.
Very straightforward way to claim your own webspace and get up and running with a professional looking site in a very short time.
Ziepod - new podcast player, search, aggregation
Robin Good has highlighted a new podcasting tool on his MasterNewMedia blog, "Streaming Podcasts Is The Way To Go: Ziepod The Sleek Podcasting Player Is Here." I currently use iTunes 4.9 and have investigated iPodder but this sounds like it is worth exploring as he calls it
"a new, outstandingly designed podcasting player, search tool and aggregator."
Ziepod's site mentions its ease-of-use toolkit for findiing and managing audio-based content (podcasts). Has some cool tools like ratings.
Especially liked the link to Feedzie.com a handy website to locate quality podcasts. Yet another service to evaluate in this range of tools to support podcasting. Search by text feeds, audio feeds and tags. Integrates with Ziepod. Has a nifty slideshow as support material.
"a new, outstandingly designed podcasting player, search tool and aggregator."
Ziepod's site mentions its ease-of-use toolkit for findiing and managing audio-based content (podcasts). Has some cool tools like ratings.
Especially liked the link to Feedzie.com a handy website to locate quality podcasts. Yet another service to evaluate in this range of tools to support podcasting. Search by text feeds, audio feeds and tags. Integrates with Ziepod. Has a nifty slideshow as support material.
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Elgg.net Radio launched
I have been exploring the fuctionality of Elgg Learning Landscape, open source software and its functionality for blogs, e-portfolios and social collaboration. Elgg's stated goal is one of "connecting learners, instructors and resources creating communities of learning."
Elgg provides a personal presence online and a set of tools which facilitates interaction. (login with valid e-mail and experiment, obtain a hosted site or download source code and set up your own. Elgg provides all of the following "weblog, journal, store of files like photos and ... documents, communities, social networks." Elgg provides a personal space which can be shared with friends - sense of folksonomy.
Elgg is very exciting and is continually developing, making use of the functionality of Web 2.0 tools.
Elgg.net Radio has just been launched with a range of podcast discussions around emerging technologies, learning landscapes, online pedagogy ... with invited guests such as George Siemens, James Farmer, Helen Barrett and many more. These discussions promise rich and interesting dialogue - a must for your pod catcher.
Elgg provides a personal presence online and a set of tools which facilitates interaction. (login with valid e-mail and experiment, obtain a hosted site or download source code and set up your own. Elgg provides all of the following "weblog, journal, store of files like photos and ... documents, communities, social networks." Elgg provides a personal space which can be shared with friends - sense of folksonomy.
Elgg is very exciting and is continually developing, making use of the functionality of Web 2.0 tools.
Elgg.net Radio has just been launched with a range of podcast discussions around emerging technologies, learning landscapes, online pedagogy ... with invited guests such as George Siemens, James Farmer, Helen Barrett and many more. These discussions promise rich and interesting dialogue - a must for your pod catcher.
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