Apple Learning Interchange: more open content

I just read in Michael Stanton's Edumorphology blog an entry about a possible hidden gem of web-based open content...
Apple is the Sleeping Giant : Edumorphology

I visited Apple Learning Interchange site and ran a few searches. Lots of materials, from class activities to collections of presentations, categories are based on tags well adapted to the educational jargon, including grades, subject matter, etc. One has to create an account, but no need for an extra email or user name. Interesting experiments using technologies in the classroom are reported.

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Use of audio within Wikipedia

For the first time, I encountered by chance a full recorded article within Wikipedia. It was a surprise. I was searching for definitions of Podcasting to be used within the MDE wiki on New Technologies (project recently initiated within the MDE faculty community). It made sense to have a recorded version of the full article on Podcast. I went a bit further to find out that one can get access to an entire list of spoken articles within Wikipedia:
Wikipedia:Spoken articles

The addition of audio is a major addition for online students on the go. All books should be coming out with options for RSS feeds of all or some chapters. Recording of excerpts of book by instructor interspersed with comments in a form of lectures, would certainly be a significant addition in supporting students and their different learning styles.

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Other resources for e-portfolios and e-learning

Weebly is another option for those who simply want to create a website. It can also be a blog, but not necessarily. Simple to use and it has a drag and drop interface. Tie this up with Scribd, where you can store your documents, and you can really have a creative and comprehensive e-portfolio. Both sites offer services for free.

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SPRIG (or SPRING) - a good acronym - I used it and didn't know it

Transparent Office: A Moment of Clarity
Michael Idinopulo's just posted something on his blog that rung a bell for me. I just started a wiki within the MDE faculty group, which although had good motivation, didn't have vast planning. In any case, it followed exactly the interesting acronym suggested by Michael as a good way to get a wiki off the ground. SPRIG (or SPRING) stands for: Structure - Populate - Review - I(N)vite - Garden. The Garden is in fact a bit of a repeat of the last few steps, because wiki's are always an ongoing project. Talking about "catchy" acronyms, we could change Garden for Care or Nourish, or maybe add the word Nourish, which will actually play the 'N' in the acronym... In any case, this is certainly a good and simple advice for a starter.

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An interesting debate about SL, virtual reality and web 2.0

This debate includes CEOs of several companies, including Linden Labs (SL), IBM and Sun Microsystems about virtual reality, SL, gaming, immersed environments. Predictions, human behavior and people's interaction are all discussed in this conversation. Worth watching, but it is almost 10 minutes...

Even easier to add content...

Triggit: WYSIWYG Content Insertion from Dion Almaer on Vimeo.

This development from Triggit allows users to add content to any page (for which they have permission), such as a blog, without having to embed any kind of html. Really a major addition in terms of ease of use.

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To understand the Semantic Web

11 Things To Know About Semantic Web - ReadWriteWeb
Excellent article about what we can expect from the upcoming wave, called the "Semantic Web" or sometimes referred to as "Web 3.0", as if it could actually be a sequel for web 2.0. It is certainly not a sequel, as this easy-reading article, explains, but it certainly is a new wave that build more on something that has already been adopted. Some observations that I found particularly interesting from this article are:

• The decline of relational database technology, enabling the possibility of creating "structure" on the fly.
• The focus is now on "integration" and "structure" of information and services
• Vertical search: the use of many tools to create structure in a single domain
• (and here is my favorite) Tagging is THE disruptive technology. We will continue to tag, but now adding more structure.
• If Web 2.0 enabled the community to add "content", the semantic web will allow this community to add "structure" to this content, which in the end adds greater meaning to the content.
  

The tools to add structure will be as easy-to-use as the ones created to add content, thus becoming appealing to the common user to become even more active in his/her creation. Again, the same paradigm that the user adds value remains. And this once more will have a significant impact in learning.

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A little useful guide for Flock...

A Newbie's Guide to Flock | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone
The other day, I made a comment about Flock, and this guide is actually excellent to explain what is great about Flock. The quick equation of Flock = Firefox + web 2.0_friendliness really explains it very well. I have been extremely pleased with Flock so far. All the web 2.0 buttons at the tip of your fingers, including: organizing RSS feeds; blog on things that you find on the Internet with one click; search videos, without having to actually use a full browser window, are just some of the niceties of this browser.

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Wow! A great list of the open-source apps you need now...

The Top 50 Proprietary Programs that Drive You Crazy — and Their Open Source Alternatives | WHDb

Just found out about this web post through Diggs. In less than a day, it had already more than 1200 diggs! Totally worth it, thought!

Check out the list. I'm sure you will find several applications that you use and you have to here and there pay for upgrades, which are very annoying. The list contains Opensource alternatives, which are ALWAYS evolving. Adopting Open source is becoming a way of life... it tells something about us and who we support. I would say it makes sense in the same way that recycling and not using the grocery store plastic bags makes sense. Enjoy!

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Open Source ePortfolio software

Mahara Project

"Mahara is a fully featured open source electronic portfolio, weblog, resume builder and social networking system, connecting users and creating online communities. Mahara is designed to provide users with the tools to demonstrate their life-long learning, skills and development over time to selected audiences."

"Established in 2006, Mahara is the result of a collaborative venture funded by New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission's e-learning Collaborative Development Fund (eCDF), involving Massey University, Auckland University of Technology, The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand and Victoria University of Wellington."

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Some good recent findings... worth checking out!

• e-Consultant = Excellent list of categorized web 2.0 apps: http://web2.econsultant.com/
• Flock = Amazing browser, with seamless access to preferred web 2.0 apps: http://www.flock.com (I have made it my default browser - putting Safari and Firefox to the side)
• Goowy = Exciting widgets added to your blog or website: http://www.goowy.com

Project MOSEP on e-Portfolios

Just read in Graham Attwell's blog about the project MOSEP. The associated wiki is an incredible source for materials about e-portfolios. It has a form of a tutorial and also includes interesting multimedia components.

The possible connection between PLEs and the institutions

Just read Graham Attwell's post, which refers to Scott Wilson's diagram on "PLEs and the institutions". This goes beyond the discussion of the importance of PLEs and how they are evolving. It directly helps to answer the question of how institutions might be able to embrace the new paradigm. I'm really grateful for this graphical description, because it serves as a map to the necessary change. For larger institutions, the path to such new environment might just not be smooth, but it is inevitable. It is inevitable, because the choice of using the available tools are coming from grassroots and are not part of an institutional plan.