A 'WOW' from K12 online 07

Liz Kolb's excellent Presentation on the use of mobile (cell) phones in education - this was one of the Conference Highlights for myself and many others. Here is Liz's pre-conference 'teaser video'





k12online07

Google Doc's and SpreadSheets by CommonCraft

De- mystify Google Documents and Spreadsheets thanks the Lee LeFever and those CommonCraft folks....

Blown Away by Derek Wenmouth !

All I can say is 'WOW!!!!' K12 Online 07 has just come alive for me with Derek's presentation today. What a great, simple message on enabling us to question and reflect on our practice in the use of ICT in our classrooms.
The E-P-S Landscape System that CORE through Derek and Dr Vince Ham have developed is going to be a must for my practice going forward.
It was interesting also to hear from the New Zealand based E-Fellows, explaining how their practice has been challenged and extended by having been able to carry out 12 months of action research into the use of ICT and how it should be embedded in pedagogy.

This Presentation will become a must for many driving Professional Development in their areas - it certainly will be for me - tomorrow I will be passing the url for this to all of the colleagues that I have who are ready to hear the message....

Thank You Derek and of course all at K12 Online 07

Find CORE here.
Link to the K12 online page for Derek's presentation here.


k12online07

Transglobal Teachers Forum

** A date for your Diary**
I have gone ahead and booked a FlashMeeting for this coming Saturday at 22.00 UK time (5pm US) (9am Sunday NZ).
When we were thinking about this session Jane Nicholls suggested everyone brings a friend, this makes it sound kind of cosy. There is no specific topic for the conversation, however with K12 Online being in full flow it would be great to hear views on the conference so far :) I will tweet this closer to time..... so go tell your online friends (the meeting is booked for 20 attendees)

Meeting Details
Main Help

Transglobal Teachers Forum
Date & Time
Sat, 20 Oct 2007 22:00:00 +0100Meeting duration is 1 hours 29 minutes

The meeting will start in 5 days 1 hours 37 minutes (this web page will refresh every 3 minutes on javascript enabled browsers)

Meeting Access

Go to the meeting

Download an ICScalendar file
Attendees can enter meetings as guests. However, in order to access all of FlashMeeting's functionality and to be able to fully participate in a meeting, attendees will need to 'Sign In'. To register for a new Sign In account click here
The replay of this meeting will be public. After the end of the meeting, access to the replay will be available from this web page, or, from the public pages

Chinswing is a global message board where anyone can add voice messages to ongoing topical discussions. Share your personal interests or hobbies, debate hot issues or find answers to questions. We've combined features of podcasting, text forums and live voice chat to create a whole new way to talk.
Following the demise of YackPack to subscription only Chinswing has been suggested as a viable alternative for those wishing to participate in the Creating a Global Communication Centre Project, it looks like a good alternative. Visit Chinswing and let's start the conversation.

Streamed Social Networking Web Video Sites

Intrigued by the phenomenon of online video streaming I have been looking at 2 such sites today.
I caught up with Will Richardson videocasting in Ustream this afternoon quite by accident when following up links from Kim Cofino's Delicious Links. Will had tried out Operator 11 previously and was broadcasting live on Saturday 13th October here is his feed. Todays Weblogg-ed Show was on video gaming at MediaTech


Will who is out there at the edge searching for new ways to deliver Web 2.0 technologies in an educational setting has been using Ustream for some time, tried out Operator 11 with some IT colleagues last week.


In the chat alongside UStream today I asked Will about his take on the two applications... there is an advantage in O11 that you can allow other participants to broadcast (operating like FlashMeeting with each person having air time to talk) - this does not appear to be available in UStream which seems to be what it says - you streaming (there is a chatroom also in UStream - so that participants can contribute - very like webcasting from Worldbridges.) However Will did have a problem in Operator11, even though you have the power as a 'director' to allow people in to participate, it appears that they can come in anyway and could try to take over the conversation - this reminded me of the live 'seat of the pants' When Night Falls, Skypecasts for K12Online06 which made them very difficult to control...
Neither site would not be appropriate spaces for students to access either, due to inappropriate content on start-up pages.
Presentations can be embedded as above though for use if necessary at a later date. Not really in the spirit of live interaction. It is interesting to see how these applications spring up, each having useful elements - both of these would be useful for teacher PD or Workshops with built in interactivity... Follow the developments by keeping up with people like Will, David Jakes et al.

David Jakes made an interesting observation in the chat today, suggesting that there have perhaps been too many new social networking applications recently which has taken educators away from their core role, I for one would agree with that remark. It is difficult enough to get tried and tested Web 2.0 technologies into everyday teaching, we must be looking long term for some of the latest developments to appear in a classroom near you.

Many Thanks to Kim Cofino for setting me off on this research. You can find more at Kim's Delicio.us links.

*apologies for earlier spelling/grammar - I blame it on feeling rotten with a cold when typing up this blog - that's my story anyway !!!! :-)

Delicious Links

K12 Online 07

K12 Online 07 is about to burst into life - The conference this year is focused on 'Playing with the Boundaries' and is aimed not only at the beginner, but also at showing those who have already begun to use Web 2.0 tools and are considering the ways in which they can use it creatively in classrooms, and also something which interests me - how we can use the new technology for teachers Professional Development and to develop Networks.
To find out where the strands of K12 Online07 are heading check out the wiki here.
The timetable of events began with David Warlick's keynote on 8th October and continues from 15th October until the closing event of the 24 hour When Night Falls session.

I would recommend everyone to dip in and listen to at least one of the presentations, I think that like me once you get in you will find many things to push your own boundaries, and tools which you will see a use for in your own classroom situation.

Thanks from me the Sharon and Lani and the rest of the K12 Online 07 Team for all of their efforts to pull the strings for the conference..... enjoy

Wiziq

"Use WiZiQ's virtual classroom
equipped with live audio-video communication, chat, content sharing, and session recording
capabilities. No download is required since it
works with any web browser and on any operating system."
I dropped in too late to join Jeff Utecht and company when they tried out WIZIQ last weekend, but having listened to the playback here, WiZiQ certainly looks like an excellent FREE video/audio conferencing virtual classroom - and will give FlashMeeting a run for its money. Wiziq offers IM chat, audio or video conferencing and an interactive whiteboard and the facility to upload ppt and swf files ahead of time into a store ready to import into your session. In addition it allows the upload of images. There do appear to be glitches with some uploads which I hope that the WiziQ people will be able to iron out( WiziQ didn't like some of my ppt files??) If you get to listen to the whole playback you will hear how The Teacher controls speakers and those able to interact with the whiteboard, it also allows The Teacher to 'buzz pupils' ahead of time to remind them to speak ( this is only heard by the specific student.
As far as those in the room were concerned the application seemed to press the correct buttons - the only drawback that some folks would have liked is the desktop sharing which is available in Elluminate - but and this is a big BUT - the application is FREE and does not require a download - give it a go sign up - I would very much like to get into the next WiZiQ session :)

Transglobal Edubloggers Meeting 3

Using the Open University's FlashMeeting Video Conferencing site, last night we held the 3rd informal discussion between Web 2.0 enthusiastic teachers. The discussion ranged across a variety of topics from why we blog and podcast, through possible pitfalls with the technology, to Mo-Blogging. I am grateful to all of the teachers who turned up -

Uploaded with Skitch!

Joe Dale (UK), Lisa (Spanish teacher from Sutton Coldfield UK), Kristin Hokanson (US), Joe Thibault (US), Lisa Durff (US), Jo Rhys Jones (UK),Jane Nicholls (NZ), Vinnie Vrotny (US), Allanah King (NZ), Kristian Still (UK),Iain Cook Bonney (NZ)and myself here in Wales.

As you can see from the Skitch screenshot above there was a great geographical spread of teachers. Here you can see this using FlashMeeting's excellent meeting details.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Below is a screenshot taken by Jane Nicholls during the meeting.


Image Courtesy of Jane Nicholls ICTUCAN
The next Skitch image is what the public relay now viewable looks like -

Uploaded with Skitch!

FlashMeeting also allows you to keep an eye on the pattern of viewers of the meeting-

Uploaded with Skitch!

The general feeling among those online last night was that there should be a further meeting, and everyone who wishes to attend is asked to bring along a friend - I will ensure that we are booked for 25 people.
If you need any information about FlashMeeting itself or on how to attend don't hesitate to contact myself, Jane or Joe Dale.

** Plug for Joe - on Saturday 13th October (and on Friday evening where there will be a Show and Tell in a local hostelry) at Nodehill Middle School Joe will be hosting The Isle of Wight ICT Conference. Joe has lined up an excellent group of presenters who will ensure that there is something for everyone - plus heaps of networking opportunities check it out here at Joe's Blog.**

What is Moodle ?

I came across this video description of Moodle at the Ning 'Coming of Age' pages, upoaded by Julien Ridden... Moodle Evangelist from Sydney Australia. I am trying to get my head around Moodle and this certainly helps.

Find more videos like this on Coming of Age

Podcast Stats

It is very heartening to find when logging on to our school Podomatic account that our stats are holding up so well, even though we haven't been podcasting for quite a while.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Uploaded with Skitch!

We can't wait to get podcasting again next week - new class very keen to seek their audience.... thank you to all of our loyal listeners :)

Embedded Podcast Audio

With thanks of course as always to the lady with her finger on the pulse of Web 2.0 - Allanah King and her 'Bling for your Blog' blog for her help with the code - the snippet needed to embed the podcast directly into your blog should be in the BOX.NET box in in the right side bar when you read this post - thanks AK you're a star:)
The UnPlug download is a Firefox plugin so beware all of you non-Firefox users it may not work for you.
One tip that I found is that you actually need to be on 'My Podcast Page' that is your actual podcast page before you engage the green frog (UnPlug) as this will then give you your mp3 or mp4/4a url for embedding then simply insert it into the code ( see BOX)

Wow what a long time Off-Line!!!

Isn't it strange the effect of returning to school after a long summer break. It has been so hectic getting used to working in a new team, with a new Year Group that it has taken this 'Old' Welsh Dragon over a week to get back to the life blood of blogging.
Not that I have been totally out of contact, I am taking part in a Skype based 'Speed Teaching' event on Thursday 13th September run in Dunedin by Jane Nicholls, I know that Allanah King from Nelson will also be taking part, I am really looking forward to talking to 'like minded' teachers again!
On Saturday 15th I have a Flashmeeting booked for any web 2.0 teachers to take part in, we hope to get Paul McMahon in on the conversation, Paul will be at the Web 2.0 Conference in Shanghai rather than his home in Hong Kong... the link is at FlashMeeting, the hope is that we extend the discussion to the use of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.

In school we are about to re-enter the podcasting world, I have pairs of pupils trained and ready to roll, and I am about to introduce my Y6 pupils to Making the News the excellent on-line journalism/ newsreporting site run by E2BN

School !

This blog may be quiet for a day or two - no bad thing some may say :) As we are back in school and a certain Ddraig-Goch has a lot of setting up and planning to do.... so do bear with us until the first few days are over....... having spent the day throwing stuff out of my room and liberating space - I now have room for at least 2 pc's ( only 1 on the net) side by side in my room... I will post some pictures of the new working space ( with no teacher's desk in it - apparently they are not needed - just wonder where the rubbish will gather, we'll see.

If anyone is interested in coming in on the next FlashMeeting which will be on the 15th September at 10pm UK (16th for Aus and NZ). I am keen that we use the time to perhaps do a round up of new useful tools for Web 2.0 in schools or that we debate how to encourage more schools to join in... I am keen that we move forward from just discussing the merits of FlashMeeting itself again.

PodcampUK

A nearly live blog from PodcampUK Birmingham

The above shot was taken on the laptop iSight camera during the first session at PodcampUK when Trevor Dann ( search for podcampuk feeds - sorry no mac mouse!!!)from the Radio Academy gave a session on how Podcasting is just being recognised by 'institutional media outlets' and how liberating that is for Podcasters in the UK.
For the record in the foreground on the left is David Noble (Booruch) and Mark Pentleton(CoffeeBreak Spanish/French).... out of shot to my side was Joe Dale (TES Blog). David Noble deserves special mention as he had travelled down from Dalgetty Bay, Fife in Scotland ..... for the day!!!! ( by Coach).
The reason that it is almost live is that I had planned to live blog including iSight camera shots - unfortunately for me the organisers were streaming live to BlogTV ( and will be tomorrow if anyone wants to see us all in action!!) - this meant that there was such a strain on the network plus a firewall problem that apart from Twitter nothing else was accessible!!!
So live blogging failed unfortunately...... further short tale after a fine evening meal with the above mentioned gentleman - trying to blog from Hotel Room - airport failed to link to a network.... result laptop linked by old fashioned cable.... but hey link is now super fast :)

PodcampUk is an interesting mix of commercial podcasters, educational ( non profit making ) podcasters to newbies..... one great contact for me was Hugh Fraser from Storynory, we have loved listening to the Storynory output for a long while now and it was really good to be able to have an in depth discussion with Hugh.
Thoughts on the first day of PodcampUK - it was excellent to be able to chat with people who not only know what you are talking about with social networking and Web 2.0 tools, but actually know a great deal more than you do..... slight downside as an educator used to timetables is the true Un-Conference time keeping ( especially if you travel from home on the morning for an 8.30am start - and it doesn't actually begin until 10.10 am - one for the organisers next time ?)....
Hopefully more blogging/twitter from PodcampUK tomorrow and remember you can follow the live feeds from the presentation rooms at BlogTv.

Social Networking Update

I tagged onto my previous rant on Social Networking a link to a Channel 4 (UK) news item from Thursday 30th August, which is about employers beginning to ban the use of social networking sites such as FaceBook and MySpace from the workplace - I feel that this is a bit like King Canute trying to stop the tide - look out there's a big wave coming!!!!

I am gradually warming to Facebook, while self restricting my access to it ( Twitter seems to be running in the background though!).

I was reading Graham Attwell's article re the usefulness of some of the widgets available in Facebook and yes some are shall we say politely 'less than useful', but some are great and lead me to use FaceBook more and more as a 'One Stop Shop' aggregator some of the more useful add ons for me would be :

* Skype online

* My Blogs - a widget which shows the titles of new posts from friends blogs

* Del.icio.us - a great widget which allows you to switch to your Del.iciou.us page

* Twittervision - a widget which works on your own contact list

* YouTube - a widget which allows you to play YouTube vids in your space

* Friend finder - a great way to find if your e-mail list friends are also on FaceBook

and the latest which is thanks to Graham ,

* Zoho Online Office - a widget which allows you from within facebook to view shared files and upload new files to your Zoho account.

These are fab attachments which added to the constant updating of friends data makes it a must in order to keep 'in the mix'. A good example of how our kids are using FaceBook - my eldest daughter Sian came back from a few days in Paris yesterday evening and immediately downloaded all of the pictures from her mobile phone to FaceBook for all of her friends to see, they have posted theirs thus giving the group of 7 kids who went a vast library of images of their experiences..... 21st Century who needs old fashioned photographs??



As you can see from this post, my panic about constant online time in Social Networking is beginning to ease (or am I coming more under its spell?) - it was a timely thought as others such as Karyn Romeis is also looking into the use of the Social Networking Phenomenon.... I think that I am going out into the 'real world' now .............. not quite sure, as the line are a bit blurred between the two :)

facebook
karyn romeis

Blog Day 2007

Hey It's BLOG DAY 2007, a chance for us all to have alook at blogs which we would not normally read - as I spend a bit of my time getting in a tizzy about the lack of Bloggers in Wales I thought that it might be interesting to showcase some which are out there in the blogosphere, in addition there may be a few newbie bloggers who it is always good to give a shout out to.

1. First up is a blog called Not Since School - which is the Diary and thoughts of a Welsh Language Learner. I came across the blog when I actually caught some Welsh in a few Twitter Posts which was absolutely fantastic. A group of learnbers have decided to use Twitter's 140 character limit chat as a means for practicing their language work - Da iawn leiawelsh (twitter name for those interested in the Welsh Tweets).

2. Is the blog of Mike John a research student from The University of Glamorgan, who lists in his Facebook entry his main interest as - breathing :) The blog is called On a Hill with the subtitle ' Better to be on a hill thinking about God, than in a church thinking about hills - it was from Mike's blog that I picked up the figures on how many Facebook accounts there are amongst students at Welsh Universities.

3. This is yet another Welsh Blog, and is one which I should read and have only just discovered is not in my Bloglines Aggregator it is the Wales Wide Web Blog from the illustrious Graham Attwell, now this is a blog to read, invariably packed with relevant issues of the moment from the blogging and podcasting world - really a blog for your aggregator - and mine!!!! ( when I have finished this post)

4. My fourth offering is a blog from another academic Michael Webb, Head of the University of Wales Newport, IT and Media Services Department. IT and Media Services are responsible for all core IT services within the University, including myLearning Essentials and myCommunity. Michael's most recent blog post would be appreciated by any Welsh person ( as we are often called 'Taffies' - after the River Taff which flows through Cardiff ) - it is an experimental search engine from the University called Tafiti - Michael also posts about Facebook amongst many other topics ( as you would expect from the Head of IT and Media ).

Can I make it a full house of Welsh Bloggers ?????

Well almost my final blog is called 'Dancing The Polka With Miss El Cajon ' and is the blog of Chris Cope who describes himself thus - Chris Cope Cardiff, Wales Unable to give a straight answer as to whether I'm Texan or Minnesotan, I've moved to Wales. If I am anything, I am a beer drinker. I may also be a Welsh speaker, a writer, and a 31-year-old dirty old man. I dream big and achieve little... so as you can see it technically counts as a Welsh Blog even though the blogger is not from Wales - I love the journey from Barry ( Barri) to Aberthaw that Chris documents in pictures and audio....

That just about completes my task, all that remains is for me to drop a comment on each of these good people's blogs and wish you a good night ( Noswaith dda) it is now BlogDay as it is 0.40am her in glorious but dark, Wales.

BlogDay2007

Imagiverse Activities for this School Year

We were involved in the Hands Around the World experience from Imagiverse last year which was absolutely fabulous and gave us great enjoyment looking for all of the places around The World that our hands came from ( we even had one of our own do the Round Trip from Wales to California and back again !) - so as we all embark on our new school year in the
Northern Hemisphere - part way through the year in the Southern Hemisphere - I thought we might need the inspiration of some of the Imagiverse Projects to get us going so I have included the e-mail I recieved from Michelle Mock of Imagiverse ....

30 August 2007
Vol. 2 No. 2

Dear Paul,

Welcome back to another exciting school year! I hope it is an enjoyable one for you and that all your students have fun learning new things.

Imagiverse is sponsoring several projects that can add something new to your teaching and most are very easy to incorporate into your curriculum. Click on the images to learn more about the individual projects.

Postcards Around the World - There will be two exchanges (Fall and Spring) which are limited to 100 participants each. There are very few spots left in the Fall exchange. We have 95 interested and nearly 80 have completed and confirmed their registration. Nearly 50 have already expressed interest in the Spring exchange. These are very popular! If you wish to participate, don't wait.

Hands Around the World - Students from classrooms around the world will create cut out paper "handprints" which they will send to Imagiverse for distribution to other participants. You will receive as many handprints as you send (at least one per student). There will be two exchanges. The Fall exchange is themed "Holidays Around the World". We have not yet settled on a theme for the Spring Exchange. There is no participant limit! This is a very easy activity, perfect for inclement weather days when your students can't go play outside. :-)

Weather Around the World - This is an ongoing activity. You can adapt it however you want. It is a great way to learn geography and about the weather in different places. Classrooms can report on their climate and seasons and later send weather reports. Reports can be sent regularly or only when there is something significant to report. The best part of this project is that it stimulates interest in things we sometimes take for granted. Lately I have been taking photographs of clouds passing through Southern California on the heels of Hurricane Dean. They are amazing, large, fluffy white cumulus clouds which are not frequently seen in this area. Where you live, this may be an every day sight. By observing and sharing, students learn in a fun, interactive way.

To learn more, or to register for these activities, please click on the Imagiverse - Universe of Imagination logo above. You can also go to our main pages at Imagiverse.ORG and click on activities.

We hope you have a wonderful school year and that Imagiverse.ORG becomes a frequent part of your lesson planning.

Michelle Mock

I hope that like me this gives you some food for thought ..... go on give one of the projects a go - we have a school assembly song that I am reminded of - Love is better if you give it away so this is your chance to spread it around The World.

Many Thanks to Michelle Mock and her team for all of their hard work on these projects

Social Networking ( addictive??)

Is it me??? A question I have been asking myself quite a bit over the past few days..... and I am not sure of the answer. I seem to have become a Facebook person over the past month. It all began when I joined to keep in touch with people in my Hockey Club (as Chairman I need to know what is going on).... it wasn't long before I began to explore Facebook further, and found how easy it is to tie up all of your links from other places to the 'One Stop Shop' that is Facebook. It can easily aggregate my Twitter feeds, Blog feeds, Delicious links, it can also import YouTube videos and much, much more.....( I even seem to be playing Scrabble with Dean Shareski in Canada!)......... oh yes, the question am I becoming addicted to Social Networking , and is it just me???
The answer I think must be Yes, I seem to be addicted. Evidence for this I know that at this precise moment I should be doing some much needed planning for the new School Year which starts for us next week..... however I appear to be blogging about Social Networking !!!! ( I began at 9am this morning - getting on for 2 hours ago just checking e-mails and messages!!!) - very addicted. As for is it me, No I don't think it is only me judging by this piece of research by Mike at 'On a Hill' who has looked into just students using Facebook in Welsh Colleges!

"Out of curiosity I've explored Facebook this morning and looked at the regional and college statistics for Wales. These figures are correct as of today. The WALES network has 65,952 members. In hierarchical order the college networks (in Wales) have the following numbers of members.
Cardiff, 15,104
Swansea, 6,447
Aber, 5,995
Bangor, 4,145
Uni Glam, 2,243
UW Institute Cardiff, 1,653
UW Newport, 716
Swansea IHE, 481
Lampeter, 469
Trinity, 333
RW College of Music and Drama, 332
NEWI, 356
A total of 38,274 facebook memberships. (How many students are there in Wales?) (How old are these networks?) To make sense of these figures, some statistical work will be required to show the number of facebook memberships as a percentage of the student population of each of the colleges, as we are not really comparing like with like here. (I suspect that Cardiff on Facebook includes the College of Medicine.) I wonder if I can find similar figures for Bebo or MySpace?"

I haven't dared to open up Twitter this morning as I know that this could put paid to my 'Real Life' and work for the rest of the morning. Twitter, using Twitteriffic and Twittervision is brilliant. Those brief 'to the point' messages or requests which come Tweeting in also can take over the task in hand...... In answer to a question from Allanah King in Nelson NZ, I prefer Twitter to Skype messaging at the moment as the message interface is so much more pleasing on the eye. I also allows me to pick up messages from a wider group of friends/colleagues.

I have one concern if it isn't just me, is everyone else substituting some of their 'Real Lives' to these 'Virtual Meeting Places'.... In a Flat World and Classrooms without Walls I guess the answer must be again Yes!

It is interesting to see how these spaces develop, it is very much the case that some 'take off' and some don't. personally speaking the main sufferer at the moment is the Ning Social Networking site - Facebook and Twitter are so much more instant and interactive that I don't seem to have the time to go and check out my Ning Networks.........there you go Mr H getting sucked into the discussion about which Social Networking Site is better ........ where do we go from here........ will I wait for a friend on Twitter or Facebook to point the way to the next development......... ( off to the 'real world' - q. Is it still light outside ???? )
Update on story (Friday 31st August ) - It looks as if I am not the only person worrying over the use of Social Networking, Channel 4 News in the UK ran a story last night about companies putting bans on the use of Facebook at work. Their experiences ran strangely parallel to my own in that as their 'expert' stated 10 minutes can become 30 minutes, then an hour, and before you know it 2 hours may have gone by while you have been online !!!!! addiction of the 21st Century? The jury is out ..... catch up on the article at this link


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