Social Annotation

Social Annotation: Seamless Integration of Social Bookmarking, Web Highlighter, Sticky-Note & Clipping Annotated

learning accounting...
Originally uploaded by rnav1234

Two posts in a row about interesting web tools...

I've just discovered a web based service called diigo. (Yet another cool idea with a silly name! I would have pronounced it die-go, but apparently it is dee-go.) The site describes itself as a Social Annotation tool... which perhaps doesn't help explain much. The welcome screen adds:

Social Annotation: Seamless Integration of Social Bookmarking, Web Highlighter, Sticky-Note & Clipping

Highlight, Clip and Sticky-Note for any webpage

• Just as you would on paper ⇒ Write on any webpage!
  
• Make them private or public ⇒ Interact on any webpage

Share your online findings with your friends and colleagues

• Complete with highlights and sticky notes
• As lists, as blogs, as albums, as feeds, or via email
• In groups

Still in the dark? It reminded me of the the review tools in Microsoft Word which I've used a few times with students - someone sends me a Word document and I add comments and suggested edits. The review tools can track changes I make as well as highlighting sections and adding notes in the margin. I can then send the annotated Word document back to the author and a conversation grows around the original document and our comments. When I first started using this feature of Word, I thought it would be great if you could do that with web pages. Imagine being able to get a class of students to collaborate on a web page: to highlighting sections, share their understanding, ask questions and add extra information. With diigo, that's exactly what you could do.

Add to that online social bookmarking (which can be linked to other bookmarking services such as del.icio.us), the ability to highlight any text on a page and search for it on a range of search services using a pop-up menu, to blog about a page and link non-diigo users to your annotations on that page (this blog posted was created using the diigo Blog this tool) and a host of other features ...and you have a stunningly valuable educational tool.

I think I'll be spending a lot more time on this site in the near future and I'm already plotting ways I could use it with students. What do you think? How could this service be used in the classroom?

By DavidDMuir

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Technorati Tags: diigo, social annotation, social bookmarking, DavidDMuir, EdCompBlog

VoiceThread

Those of you who have read previous EduFlickr posts will know that one of the reasons I like Flickr is because it gives students adifferent way of telling stories (for example EduFlickr: Telling Tales). Thanks to a recent David Warlick Podcast (Episode 84: Bloggers’ Cafe at NECC 2007) I heard about a new (well new to me) web service called VoiceThread.

It looks interesting. Photos can be posted and then any number of people can add text or voice comments to the picture - they can even doodle on top of the photo to highlight or add to the information. It is therefore easy to gather a variety of views on a single event or picture. It is also possible to link a number of photos together and gather different comments on each photo.

Photos can be uploaded from your computer or imported directly from Flickr and Facebook. However, you are not just limited to threading photos together. You can upload Powerpoint documents, Adobe Documents, Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets and videos. How useful would that be in the classroom? Post a Powerpoint presentation, or some other document and get your class to comment. Everyone gets three threads for free but teachers can apply for a free educator account.

The final trick is you can embed the thread in a blog, web page or whatever. Here are three I made earlier showing three different ways of linking to the thread: large, small and text link.

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View this VoiceThread on the site.

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View this VoiceThread on the site.

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VoiceThread about Computer Labs.

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Technorati Tags: EduFlickr, VoiceThread, DavidDMuir, EdCompBlog

We all know what that looks like...

David Stow
Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

You may or may not know that the Education Faculty of the University of Strathclyde (where I work) is going to move. The plan is to move us from the Jordanhill Campus to a new location in the town centre by 2010. It will be a shame to leave the old buildings and all the history behind when we move but it is interesting to consider what it will be like - "State of the art and fit for purpose. An education building fit for the 21st century." we are told.

There has been consultation on the design, but from where I am, it has mostly been bickering about how big our offices should be. :-) However, recently I found myself on a sub-committee looking at the AV/IT support that should be available in the new building's learning spaces. We were looking at three levels of provision for three types of rooms: rooms for small groups, rooms for medium sized groups and "lecture theatres" for large groups. We had a good first meeting talking about how the spaces could be used and the kind of activities they could support. It was good to talk about learning and teaching issues rather than just who gets what space.

However, it was a throw away comment made near the end of meeting that really started me thinking. The chair of the meeting said something like, "Lecture theatres, well we all know what they look like..." and the discussion moved swiftly on to the other types of rooms. It was only afterwards that it struck me that I know what lecture theatres look like just now, but what about a lecture theatre that's "fit for the 21st century"?

What do we want from a space that can hold hundreds of students? What should a lecture theatre look like? Can it be designed to support effective learning where there is one lecturer and hundreds of students? Can we justify dedicating such a large space to this way of learning?

Over to you. What do you think a lecture theatre should look like?

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Technorati Tags: education, lecture theatre, DavidDMuir, EdCompBlog

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Rush in Concert

259/365: One little victory
Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

Now, I know your thinking, "Why is he doing a concert review in an Educational blog? Didn't he say he wanted to do more about the Scottish Learning Festival?" Well, I happen to think Rush are very educational... and it's my blog, so there. :-)

I'm serious about the educational bit. I think music can have the power to engage teenagers and introduce them to a world and to ideas that they might not encounter otherwise. From my own experience, it was because of Rush that I first used an inter-library loan system. I'd been a user of the Glasgow public libraries for some time but it never occurred to me that you could borrow stuff that wasn't on the shelves. However, Rush did a song called 2112 which I heard was based on a book by Ayn Rand called Anthem. I knew nothing more than this and when I couldn't find the book on the shelves (or indeed any book by Ayn Rand) I plucked up my courage and asked a librarian. Soon I was filling in a form and within a week I had the book. To be honest, I like the song better then the book. And I didn't really buy into her philosophy, but then I don't always fully buy into Rush's philosophy either. The point is, the music of Rush introduced me to new ideas and new ways of thinking.

They still make me think. Mr W. has commented elsewhere that it was a very political gig (which it was) Neil Peart's lyrics always have been political - even in their sci-fi days. A less enlightened friend described Neil's lyrics as "pretentious twaddle" - well, if it is twaddle, it's twaddle that raises important issues. Take for example The Larger Bowl from their latest album Snakes and Arrows:

If we are so much the same, like I always hear
why such different fortunes and fates?
Some of us live in a cloud of fear.
Some live behind iron gates.

Why such different fortunes and fates?
Some are blessed and some are cursed.
Some live behind iron gates
while others only see the worst.

Some are blessed and some are cursed.
The golden one or scarred from birth
while others only see the worst.
Such a lot of pain on the earth.

The golden one or scarred from birth.
Some things can never be changed.
Such a lot of pain on this earth.
It's somehow so badly arranged.

Some things can never be changed.
Some reasons will never come clear.
It's somehow so badly arranged.
If we're so much the same, like I always hear.

Interesting stuff and even more impressive in concert where it was paired with some really powerful images on the big screens at the back of the stage. Not only do the lyrics challenge me, but also, because of this song, I now know what a pantoum is. Perhaps you already know about pantoums, but if you don't, look it up! Learn something from Rush. :-)

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Technorati Tags: Rush, lyrics, pantoum, DavidDMuir, EdCompBlog


P.S. I got an email the other day from Rock Radio FM asking if they could post a couple of my Rush pictures on their website. I was happy for them to do this. :-)

The Captain posted this one and Tom Russell also used one of Alex playing Hope.

TacheBack - the final push!

TacheBack - Day 29
Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

There's only one day of moustache growing to go before it gets shaved off. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the Everyman cancer charity. The total donated for my efforts to grow a moustache is currently £246.44 - which I think is pretty good!

I have been especially pleased the way people have reacted to what is, let's face it, a silly idea. The students were great with many coming up to me in the cafe and in corridors to give me money. A couple entered into the spirit and one posted a look-a-like picture Borat.

TeachMeet also reacted well with Ewan also posting a look-a-like (Clouseau this time). Also, at TeachMeet, Merlin John took possibly the best photo of of my moustache and wrote a great blog entry about my fundraising efforts.

And then there were friends and readers of this blog who reacted generously, including Kenneth who produced two look-a-like movies - Renee and Clouseau (again!).

I've also been accused of looking like Magnum PI and both Basil Fawlty and Manuel... but no look-a-like evidence for any of these. :-)

Finally, here is a short slideshow of the whole tache growing effort.



Although the TacheBack campaign ends on September 30th, I think you will be able to donate online for a while yet, so if you haven't done so already, it's not too late.

Thanks again everyone.

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Technorati Tags: TacheBack, TacheBack07, Everyman, cancer charity, DavidDMuir, EdCompBlog

Maps and mobiles

Avian GPS
Originally uploaded by 4tunate1

We interrupt our normal program...

I have a few more posts I want to make about the Scottish Learning Festival and TeachMeet but I found a new trick that I can do with my camera phone and wanted to share it now while I was still ridiculously pleased with what I discovered I could do. :-)

I have not made an EduFlickr post for some time (something I'll need to put right soon) but over a year ago I talked about geotagging. It has become easier to geotag photographs, for example Flickr allows you to place a photo on a map, but I still find it fiddly. During the summer however, I bought a version of TomTom that runs on my PDA and uses Bluetooth to connect to an external GPS unit. I thought this would help with geotagging and to a certain extent it does. I used it a fair bit while on holiday in Bath (see for example this view over the cricket pitch at Norton St Philips). What I did was use TomTom at the location I took pictures and noted the latitude and longitude from the GPS. While this was easier than fiddling about with online maps after the event, it was still a pain because I couldn't find a way to export the location data from TomTom. What I had to do was write down the position myself beside a label that I hoped would remind me where I was when I took the photo. As I said, easier than messing about with online maps but prone to errors and still more fiddly that I would have liked.

What I wanted was a way to automate the process as much as possible, or at least a way to export the GPS data electronically so I could copy and paste the geotags into Flickr. I know that some cameras are beginning to appear that have GPS built in but a quick check on Google confirms that they are still unusual and expensive... besides I already have a GPS unit and a perfectly adequate camera.

I was very pleased therefore to discover this article on the Avec Mobile site: The Easy Way to Post Photos with Geographic Coordinates on a Map. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Brilliant! Stunningly brilliant even! It uses the Shozu service (which I've used a bit before, e.g. Science Cow) and makes use of Shozu's GPS feature - something that I wasn't even aware existed. What's the matter with the Shozu people? They should be shouting about this feature from the rooftops! It's still not perfect, but it's as close to perfect as I'll get for free with my existing kit. Now when I want to geotag a picture, I'll just take a second picture with the cameraphone and let Shozu geotag it. Then, later on, I can replace the cameraphone photo with the photo from my camera - which will inherit the geotags from the low-resolution version. Have I said before that this is brilliant? :-)

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Technorati Tags: EduFlickr, geotag, Shozu, Flickr, photo sharing, education, DavidDMuir, EdCompBlog

Stephen Heppell @ The Scottish Learning Festival

{I wrote briefly about Stephen Heppell's keynote speech on the Connected Live blog but I wanted to capture a bit more here while it was still relatively fresh in my mind.}

Stephen Heppell,
originally uploaded by DavidDMuir.

Stephen thinks we live in a world that has to be built bottom up and that the Scottish Learning Festival is a great example of this. Everywhere he looks he sees groups of teachers meeting together, talking together and getting excited about education.

Identity

The Internet doesn’t really do identity well. How many identities do you have on the Internet and who will you trust with your identity. We don’t trust politicians or companies or… Perhaps we trust our community. Perhaps we trust the educators in this room. We should be more in control of our digital identity.

Time is also treated badly – can you still access the web page you wrote five years ago?

Small is effective

What happens in our schools? We’ve ignored phones, we have poor real time data and find it hard/impossible to measure what we think is/will be important. Used SketchUp, claymation and Mark’s Coffee Break Spanish as examples of the great things that are happening that
haven't been planned from on high and/or that are hard to measure.

We make the mistake of assuming one-size fits all is a sensible approach. We need to move to quality assurance rather than quality control. Not telling them what to do but allowing schools/pupils/parents to do what works.

Showed us Wage Slips 4 U, Instant Life Experience Degree and Cheat House Online. He remarked that, "Bits of paper are worthless!" How do we represent process? How do I prove my experience? He showed a video of a Chinese midwife who could only get a job in a hospital kitchen in the UK. If we assume that certificating everything is the solution we will get it wrong.

Everyone is a publisher

From - To,
originally uploaded by DavidDMuir.

{Stephen displayed one of the From --> To slides that I like. Managed to capture this one in a picture.} Moved from educational research (based in institutions) to learning research (based in communities). Stephen is not impressed by the idea that we can identify good practice in a school and then tell everyone to copy it. Doesn't work because schools are different. People are different. Better to look at it like a series of ingredients that schools can look at and then make up their own recipes. {Like the restaurant we went to after the TeachMeet. :-) - DM} Recognise schools as research centres. If we start from the assumption that our schools could be better, the scholarship is to look around and see what ingredients can be used to make our school better. Borrow good ideas – take ingredients and make a recipe for a better school. End of the process is to exhibit what they have done. A third of the staff does this action research at the time and in the end is rewarded with a doctorate. He talked a lot about this Learnometer project.

Successful nations

Blurry but readable?,
originally uploaded by DavidDMuir.

{Last time I heard Stephen talk about this I wasn't fast enough to write it all down... This time, I got a picture! - DM}

Nations that are showing astonishing progress are typically:

• small, agile nations
  
• stable culturally
  
• track record of effective education
• embracing a sense of change
• embracing new technologies
• outward facing often with global migration patterns
• stable politically and administratively
• egalitarian
  

Does this look like Scotland? Stephen thinks so.

A few closing quotes

A school’s policy should be: "We could so do this".
We don’t know how good or children can be – let’s find out.
Learning can inoculate children against poverty.

{John Connell has already picked up on this final quote.}