Web 2.0 for Collaboration and Learning

This is the end, Beautiful Friend...

2008-11-19T13:58:00.000Z

Well, that's it, no more of that there Web 2.0 Wednesdays...

I'd really like to thank you all for your marvelous contributions - it's of course in the very nature of Web 2.0 that the course has been very much a two-way (multi-way, indeed!) process and so it is thanks to you all that we reached such a magnificent conclusion in your thoughtful, funny, well-presented and dynamic final presentation. As soon as WebCT lets me, I'll upload the full unexpurgated recording of your presentation ot the course section, which you can then - if you should wish - download and edit in audacity.

Many thanks to Marios and Helen for their ever-present good sense and willingness to help out along the way.

And many congratulations to all of you for sticking with it - you should be proud: I am!

Week 5: Podcasting

2008-11-12T10:00:00.000Z

This week, you'll be doing all the work - by creating a podcast, which you will upload to your course blog and write about.

By the time you get to this, you're a seasoned podcasting professional - however, there's more information about podcasts here, here and here.

For the rest of the week, you will be preparing for your in-class presentation.

By the way, something I missed in the OLiA blog is where to find podcasts (to subscribe to) - here's a few places you might look:

Week 4 Collaborative Task

2008-11-05T09:41:00.000Z

This is fully a part of preparation for your final week presentation:

Create appropriate pages in the course wiki so that the wiki is in a state of readiness for future development
Write a note or two on each page, suggestions as to what the content might be...

Week 4, Task 3: Your Wiki

2008-11-05T09:40:00.000Z

Use your usual Google account details to claim your own Wiki(s) here (btw, Google have chosen to call their Wikis 'sites', but a rose by any other name...).
Watch this video to learn how to set up and develop your Wiki. Browse through the help pages to learn more.
Write a blog post suggesting how you might develop/sustain your Wiki. Also, how might a wiki best be used for professional/work/educational purposes?

Week 4, Task 1: Wikilist

2008-11-05T09:38:00.000Z

Browse this scarily extensive 'List of Wikis' and blog on two or three of them - and answer the question: what are the main features of a useful/successful/sustainable wiki?

Week 4: Wikis

2008-11-05T09:35:00.000Z

The word is from the Hawaiian for 'quick' and a wiki is simply a collection of web pages that can be edited by a group. Quickly.

So, if you want quick, here's but the place to start is, as usual, with the video produced by the 'Plain English' people:

Here's the course wiki and here are some more resources to get a good overview of the world of the Wiki:

How Stuff Works: Wiki is well worth a read
Wiki by Wikipedia
Wikipedia by Wikipedia

Social Bookmarking for academics

2008-10-30T12:24:00.002Z

A rather good post on social bookmarking for academics here (if I do say so myself, ahem).

Week 3, Task 3: Presentation Preparation

2008-10-29T10:02:00.000Z

This task is intended to help you begin to prepare for your final presentation:

Blog about MindMeister, to include some discussion of your presentation task - especially with regard to how you might go about it and which Web 2.0 tools might best help you.
Add a picture or a video to your blog to illustrate your blog post or as the subject of your blog post.
Work as a team to begin to create a set of shared bookmarks in Del.icio.us to support your presentation task - include me in your sharing!
Work as a team to create bulleted list of what makes a good blog (use a self-created Google Document - making sure that I'm invited as a viewer).

Week 3, Task 2: Blogging Del.icio.us

2008-10-29T10:01:00.000Z

Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research or learning? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere? How might this tool best be used to support your work?

Week 3, Task 1: Get Del.icio.us

2008-10-29T10:00:00.000Z

Many users find that the real power of Del.icio.us is in the social network aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as nebbing around somebody's filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network. To get started:

Go to http://del.icio.us/ to sign up and add the buttons to your browser (Firefox del.icio.us buttons can be found here).
Start bookmarking sites with tags.
Learn more about del.icio.us by reviewing the about page and a confession from a delicious addict. Both provide a good overview of the tool as well as possible uses.
Explore the excellent Del.icio.us help pages.
Be social - notice how useful and fun other people's bookmarks can be. Try some of the things here, especially adding people to your network and sharing links...

Information - Group Presentation Task

2008-10-29T09:30:00.001Z

This assignment is intended to consolidate all of the work you've done so far. It is intended to demonstrate both the new tools and your new skills, and especially the way in which Web 2.0 approaches might be incorporated into your own professional practice.

You are to give a group presentation on the subject of "Web 2.0 for Collaboration and Learning"
The presentation will take place during the lesson in the final week of the course.
You will use the MindMeister mind mapping tool as the basis of your presentation, and will make reference to a significant number of Web 2.0 tools of your choosing.
You will demonstrate how the new tools you have learnt and skills you have acquired can be used to advantage at any or all levels of the University – it's up to you and your group what you focus on, but it might include, for example: personal and professional development, communication, administration, personal productivity, learning, collaboration, communication...

Week 3: Getting Social with Del.icio.us Bookmarking and Tags

2008-10-29T09:17:00.000Z

This week, our focus is on a particular Web 2.0 service with the tasty title of 'Del.icio.us', which comes under the overall heading of 'Social Bookmarking'. Find out much more about these things at this gorgeous blog.

The main focus of this week's tasks is to have a look at Del.icio.us, a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks. Your Web 2.0 course presentation is also introduced.

Guardian full text rss feeds

2008-10-24T21:09:00.001+01:00

Now, you don't even have to visit the original website to read the article/blog - just read the whole thing in your rss reader: Upgrading our RSS feeds

Using Google Chrome to manage your Web 2.0 services

2008-10-23T14:09:00.002+01:00

According to Google, "Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier." Well, they would say that, wouldn't they? However, it does have a minimal design and it is pretty fast - I like it and by opening all of our different Web 2.0 services in tabs and saving as home page, it's a good way of managing these services more efficiently.

You can download Google Chrome browser here.

Instructions here to set up your home page - although remember to put your services in tabs first and then choose 'use current'.

It's also worth reading about Chrome's minimal features and perhaps having a look at the introductory video: here.

One-click subscribe to Google Reader

2008-10-22T11:04:00.000+01:00

Long being a Firefox - and now Google Chrome - user, I was really thrown by Internet Explorer's apparent reluctance to make subscribing to feeds REALLY simple (after all, RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication) - I simply had no idea!

Having looked around the Internet it seems I'm not alone, as this excellent blog testifies whilst offering a work-round solution. So, either do what is suggested in that blog within Internet Explorer or make the switch to Firefox which is Really Simple Syndication.

Do what you can with this - in the meantime, let me know when you've got a few minutes and I can pop round and have a look at your browser set-up with you to make sure it's all working in the best way for you :-)

Week 2: Better Blogging

2008-10-22T10:02:00.001+01:00

What is RSS? What are news feeds? What is a Reader? And why do you need to know? Well, I guess I can just point you to this truly, ravishingly excellent, informative blog for everything you need to know at this point - and I especially advise you to watch and re-watch the video, which is superb!

Your main focus for week 2 is to extend the excellent blogging work you've already done - especially by subscribing to RSS feeds and further considering the practical uses of blogs. Your tasks follow this post...

Week 2, Task 2: If it moves, blog it!

2008-10-22T10:01:00.001+01:00

There is a Google doc shared by you all here. Add your examples of 'blogs-u-like' and 'how not to blog'.
Post a blog based on your recent experience: what advice would you give to somebody writing their first blog?
Keep looking at blogs and blogging on blogs – don't forget, it's your blog: you don't have to wait for course instructions - you are encouraged to start to develop your own theme: so, suggest up to 3 ideas for a blog which you think you could sustain (ie, it wouldn't become boring or a chore for you and you would be spurred to blog regularly and to comment on others' blogs).

(to be completed 6 days after your last lesson)

Week 2, Task 1: RSS, Feeds and Readers

2008-10-22T10:00:00.001+01:00

Using Google Reader, subscribe to all course blogs.

Subscribe to at least 5 other site or blog feeds - you'll find your own but there's plenty to be going on with here and here (incidentally, these are good sources of help, too).

Create a post in your blog about this exercise ("RSS, Feeds and Readers"). Don’t know what to blog about? Think about these questions:

What do you like about RSS and newsreaders?
What don't you like or find confusing?
How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your work or personal life?
How can Universities use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?

See Reader Help Centre for any issues with using Google Reader and RSS feeds.

(to be completed 4 days after your last lesson)

Blogs in History

2008-10-21T11:17:00.002+01:00

I'd be very interested to find out if any of these blogs are useful, interesting or worth a second visit...

Indeed, if there is a better, more rigorous academic blog resource out there, let us know!

Learning Journal

2008-10-15T09:18:00.001+01:00

Do remember to write your personal thoughts in your Learning Journal, which is within WebCT discussions. Try to keep this up on at least a weekly basis.

Enter the Blogosphere

2008-10-15T08:40:00.002+01:00

How to search for blogs - or enter the blogosphere.

At the moment there isn't a google of blog searching (it can't be long away), so I've collected the following together, although I don’t have experience of all of them - I’d be interested to know what others think:

Alternatively, you could just click on 'Next Blog' at the top of your own blog (if the author has removed this, just hit your browser 'back' button and click 'Next Blog' again).

Blogging Advice

2008-10-15T08:36:00.001+01:00

Just a couple to be going on with and it's by no means definitive:

Remember, you don't need to check it all out: google will help you find your own help!
However, this video really is a great place to start:

Week 1 Task: Blogging

2008-10-15T08:34:00.002+01:00

This task will take place online over the course of the next week. Your main blogging task is to get used to writing and publishing your blog and also to commenting on the blogs of your colleagues. Additionally, and in whatever order lights your candle, I'd like you to post the following to your blog:

look around the blogosphere and report on two blogs you really like, one that confuses you and one you dislike (for whatever reason);
Check out one or more of the Google tools that you have discovered this week and post a review of how the tools were to use and/or a way that you could see yourself, students or administrators using this service;
A consideration of your own experience of blogs and blogging - and you might start to think about how blogs could be used to enrich subject knowledge, support learning and/or administrative processes and procedures and how collaboration can help learning.

Remember also to read your colleagues' blog entries and remember that blogging only really works as a two-way process: you are heartily encouraged to leave comments if and when appropriate.

Welcome to Web 2.0 for Collaboration and Learning

2008-10-15T08:28:00.001+01:00

I'll be using this blog to communicate with you as the course progresses, including information about tasks and so on.

As you enter into the world of blogging remember this is your voice so just be yourself. Over time, a blog that is written in an authentic voice instead of a made up personae holds the attention of the audience longer and serves the author better.

Remember also that a blog publishes in 'reverse' order from what you might be used to.

If you find you need extra help with any particular task, remember that your colleagues in your new community of practice itself is your best resource - and you should make use of the communications tools that you are acquiring along the way. Naturally, I'm here to support everything you do, so don't hesitate to get in touch at any time and by any means...