Personal Blogs

In H800 we had to make an overview of my PLE which you can find here
These are the technologies I'm currently using.

For my study I use iGoole as my main account for Blogging and reading others' blogs. I find iGoogle a very useful tool because as soon as you open your account you get an overview of all your used applications. In my case this is: Google Calender (a shared calender with my class parents and students), Google Mail, Google Groups (virtual environment for my different classes), Blogs and Google Reader (aggregator for reading blogs).

For my e-portfolio (storing evidence) I use Google docs and Office Live. Lately I use Office live more often than Google Docs because I use quite a lot of Excel files which are not really compatible (IMHO) with google docs. I store my written work for the OU course and I have stored all my work files (worksheets, planning, time tables etc). I can share these documents with others as well but I have to invite them first and on the receiving end one has to create an account (same as with Google Docs).

For Blogging I use various accounts (all stored in Google Reader). For the OU I use my OU blog which is quite simple, but it does the job. I mainly write my personal reflections about what's keeping me busy during the course. This can be either personal notes and/or reflections regarding articles we have to read. When I write my TMA's I look back on what I've written, what kind of responses I've had. I also store interesting comments or blog posts in my iGoogle account (shared documents) which I also use for my TMA's.
On a personal level I also have a cycling log in which I write reviews about various cycle routes throughout Europe. I also have a class blog, where my primary students write about their schooltrips (protected area).

Favourite links, websites, articles and other stuff I find intersting, are saved in my Delicious account. I tag all my files to create an overview of my pile of links. I find this most useful especially when you are part of a network and see what others are saving. Sometimes I start searching for documents in Delicious first. Another interesting fact is the way people are tagging. For me this is quite often a learning experience, to see how other people are using specific keywords.

I have stored all my documents on the net (backup on a mobile hdd) except for my bankdetails and private details. I have no documents left on my laptop or computer anymore.

Currently I'm trying to experiment with "My Stuff" as well. Looks promising. I have to figure out all the different possibilities though. I quite like the "save" buton which directly saves interesting articles, video and comments into "My Stuff". I find this very usefull. I used to copy and paste interesting material into a Word document and then save it in Google Docs or Office Live. This is a fairly quicker way!

I'm wondering if anyone else uses other applications as well? Eportfolios, blogging, storing and sharing...I find this most interesting and above all very useful in my professional, student and private life.

Cheers, Eugene

Part 3&4 are about the implications for teachers:

Part 3:
Conole says on page 9 that the implications for teachers and others are less radical. She continues on page 10 to mention the fact that lack of participation by staff members in peer networks: “... students are in peer networks. The same is not true for academics; currently the majority of teachers are not connected in this way and hence the potential benefits of such networks are not apparent to them. Participation in the blogosphere or via microblogging services such as twitter or immersion in 3D-worlds such as second life, only have true value if others are contributing and if what they are saying is of interest to you as an individual, i.e. if it adds value to your practice. Academics currently struggle to see the practical benefits of these tools, being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity and potential possibilities and intimidated by the fact that incorporation of these new approaches will require a fundamental change in their role as ‘teacher’ and associated lose of authority.”

This is quite true I’m afraid. In our school the majority of teachers are not participating in peer networks and therefore gain no new knowledge. The most frequently heard argument is that they are afraid of violation of privacy. In my opinion it is the fear of using new technology because they haven’t experienced it yet.  I participate in a couple of peer networks for teachers in which one shares knowledge, materials and even problems. It is quite interesting and very different to other social network sites. A good example of an English version is the following website: http://teachade.com/

Part4:
How do we get teachers to be less afraid of web 2.0?  Perhaps we have to provide opportunity for them to participate and experience web 2.0, facilitate proper training and then give them a gentle push over the edge!
I have found, in my opinion, a very good website that helps people to get acquainted with web 2.0 tools. It is a an online learning program by the California School Library Association 2.0 team
http://classroomlearning2.blogspot.com/

It presents a very good example of bringing web 2.0 INTO the classroom. What is also important to note is that as a teacher, you can train yourself in your own pace and time!

Hi All,

These are my notes for assigment 1D with the Conole paper integrated and some web 2.0 websites or tools that are relevant to me. I have split my notes up in 4 parts otherwise this Blog Post is much too long. Enjoy reading and feel free to comment.

Part 1
Since 2002 our school organisation has made a massive shift in its use technology. It was the first year we had a proper ICT Budget and at last we could invest in our IT structure. We set up our school network and connected the kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and the administration department to it. Since then our school has changed drastically and become almost fully digitalised. (There are now computers in classrooms, IT rooms, smartboards, an email system, online admin tools, a website, digital video cameras, photo cameras, use of software in class, digital assessments, a digital follow up system, digital reports and the use of Office as a standard in our school)
In the same way that Conole described in her article, there were a couple of triggers that forced our school to make a swift change in its use of technology.  The triggers were the increasing use of internet and email, the sheer development of Windows based PC’S (we had old Macintosh computers) and the continuous development of our direct competitors (International Schools in the area).
I would conclude that up until 2005 we made good progress, but then things seemed to plateau. However, the current use of web 2.0 based applications by students and some teachers are triggers for our school to take the next step in IT development: creating an online or electronic environment to communicate with students (Moodle, StudyWiz) and installing Wi-Fi in our school to provide more teaching facilities for staff members and the use of laptops in school by students.

1. The various interviewees in the paper – Interviewee A, B, C, etc. – whose account do you find most interesting, or most relevant to your own personal or professional life, and why? You could start at the section headed ‘Interview data’ about half-way through the paper.

- Interviewee E’s experiences are quite similar to my own when I had just bought my Smartphone: I used to look up specific pages for my phone. Nowadays, pages automatically switch over to so called PDA sites, so you don’t have to look for them anymore.

- Interviewee B and his PDA: I am never without it. I think Smart phones have replaced PDA’S at the moment. I am never without my smart phone. I have all my data stored in it: agenda, meetings, lesson planning, music, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses...

- I was also interested in interviewee I (teacher of Spanish) and his idea to integrate a school trip into his lesson by using mobile phones and text messages.

At the moment I don’t use any mobile devices as a learning tool unless Senteo counts as a mobile device (it can only be used with Smart Boards though, so I guess it doesn’t count as one)

2. Where would you place your own use of mobile devices in comparison with those of the alumni in the paper above? I don’t mean, ‘Do you do more than them, or less?’ After all, they varied considerably. But what are the similarities and differences, and is this connected with the fact that the data for the paper was gathered in 2005?

I do believe that some percentages may have varied lately in comparison with the research. Mobile phone companies have certainly changed their contracts. Flatrates, sms-bundles, data bundles etc. It has become cheaper to access the internet and I have to say with a reasonable speed. I use my smartphone (A Nokia E90) for almost everything: access the internet, using the OU forum and put my tweets on twitter, text messaging and even blogging.

So there might be a difference in usage at this moment. Even the use of laptops might have decreased. I know that I use my netbook more often (as it is lighter and easier to carry).

3. Which areas would you explore if you were carrying out research into mobile practices now?

- Use of Mobile Devices for accessing social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Are people purchasing mobile devices because they offer the possibility to access social network applications and this is seen to be "cool", or are people purchasing them because the really do want to use them for this purpose?

- Is the netbook really replacing the laptop and has it potential to become a standardised learning tool?

Cheers,

Eugene