Weekend Reflection

Despite war, starvation, and general ill feelings that are spread about around the world, there is an innate urge in us to share and to communicate. Perhaps align one's thinking with another person's thinking - a reality check of sorts.

As I surveyed several news organizations over the weekend, and all of them had links to podcasts, and blogs. Reading some of the comments posted by bloggers made me think that one should be required to obtain a license to blog - as if there isn't enough crap on the "wire." My thinking went through a metamorphosis, and I felt comfortable that people could "have their say." At the end of the day, it was annoying to sift through so much hyperbole to get to some point - even if it was not a perspective I shared. A light went off in my head - or maybe it was a car, rapidly approaching with its headlights focused on me. The idea of a "no nonsense filter" came into my head.

We can block sites which contain profanity, pornography, etc..., so, why shouldn't we be able to block nonsensical commentary on the Internet and on blogs? Aggregate this, I say!

The clock struck 9PM, and I revisited some of the sites from an earlier Internet excursion (thanks to bookmarks). Time changed, but the threads of conversations seemed to remain the same. It might be that there are "universal truths." By bloggy, I think I'll find them.

Wikibilities

Wikies, bickies, and blogs.... Oh, My!

The comments that some of the cohort members made about their blogging experience were interesting to me. Some loved it, and felt like the medium acted as a catalyst to unleash the creative writer in all of us. Conversely, some did not want to share their thoughts with an audience. The interesting part comes into to play because wikis have applications that both types of computer users can use. One user can publish and edit, and the other user can utilize the wiki as a portal for information. In each case, users interface with technology, collaborate, and connect to the greater world wide web.

Cool Tools for Teachers

Class today was way cool. We learned the following tools:

• RSS – subscribing to feeds from other peoples websites, blogs, etc
• Google Reader - an aggregator
• netvibes.com - http://netvibes.com
• edublogs.org - www.edublogs.org
• gaggle.net - reading blog posts to students with reading disabilities

We looked at a number of blogs and how they could be used from an educational perspective. Here are some of the uses we explored:

• collaborative project
• school website
• teacher's classroom portal
• medium for instutional knowledge (similar to an Intranet)

We also started our Advocacy Wiki - http://pbwiki.com

Web 2.0

This graphic is the best depiction of what is Web 2.0. Like the short film out of University of Arkansas, it prefectly represents the notion that form is sepreate from content. Our thinking will be transformed from the grammatical/Syntax of spoken and written language.

The graphic is an adaptation of the huge bubble map created by Markus Angermeier. Click here to see the original.

Emerging Technology Face 2 Face

As we near the end of the Integrating Technology in Schools Masters Cohort, this course will help us focus on all that we have learned in the program. The fun part will be doing this whilst using emerging technology.

The purpose of this blog is reflective in nature, but I expect that it might take on new directions.

Please feel free to leave your thoughts.