Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
Three drafts
Hi. I'm posting here because the ultralab server is down, so I can't post to my new blog, nor view it nor catch up with community stuff in First Class and also because blogger released a new interface yesterday so I wanted to try it out. In my mind I have three journal entries which are in danger of getting left unposted forever if I don't get something down now, so here are three draft entries.
1) is about a year one lesson which I took yesterday afternoon, after the teacher approached me at lunchtime. The curriculum mentions different types of media used by 'the information around us' so I decided to demonstrate the use of video and we produced some impromptu short 'silent movies'. The children had to think up mimes which were videoed, downloaded onto the computers and then played back when the other group turned up and had to guess what had been going on. I worked well with class teacher, definitely using some reflection-in-practice techniques there, all the learning objectives were covered, not just ICT but numeracy and literacy as well, and the kinaesthetic element will mean they remember it for a long time. So it was one of those occasional times when everything went right, and worth recording for that.
===========
2) this is my PDP - personal development plan, medium term overview.
It's broken down into spheres of activity I would like to develop.
* Technician
OS X administration, network management, netboot image updates, general OS X stuff.
Also control and monitoring equipment, digitalbrain and elc stuff
*ICT Coordinator
Planning, cross curriculum, assessment
*Teaching
gain some experience with adults.
*ICT Tutor
learn how to use the DV cam.
develop the ict-tutor.co.uk website
*Internet
learn how to install software in my own webspace for blogging, WIKI and mailing list software,
How to provide an aggregate RSS feed
*Self employment
setting up a business, applying for funding
*music
go to more gigs
setting up a home recording studio
Finishing off the 20 songs I wrote in Spain last year.
seeking local venues and audience
*personal finance
provision for retirement
investment
investigate possibilities for telecommuting, relocation.
===========
3) This one is a discovery I made while surfing random blogs. I read an entry from someone about to go to their first 'blogmeet'. He was looking forward to meeting people he's been exchanging blog comments with for a long time, and was wondering how blogger would recognise each other. This read just like someone from a newsgroup about to link up with their community face -to-face- for the first time and it has made me rethink my ideas about blogs and community. Bloggers seem to feel the need to identify their geographical location, and there are several web services which provide for this - chalk , geourl, London bloggers etc.
So while the things bloggers blog about tend to be person-centric, and the technology leads to nebulous links with fuzzy edges, the sense of community may be emerging for some in a different way, at the location level.
1) is about a year one lesson which I took yesterday afternoon, after the teacher approached me at lunchtime. The curriculum mentions different types of media used by 'the information around us' so I decided to demonstrate the use of video and we produced some impromptu short 'silent movies'. The children had to think up mimes which were videoed, downloaded onto the computers and then played back when the other group turned up and had to guess what had been going on. I worked well with class teacher, definitely using some reflection-in-practice techniques there, all the learning objectives were covered, not just ICT but numeracy and literacy as well, and the kinaesthetic element will mean they remember it for a long time. So it was one of those occasional times when everything went right, and worth recording for that.
===========
2) this is my PDP - personal development plan, medium term overview.
It's broken down into spheres of activity I would like to develop.
* Technician
OS X administration, network management, netboot image updates, general OS X stuff.
Also control and monitoring equipment, digitalbrain and elc stuff
*ICT Coordinator
Planning, cross curriculum, assessment
*Teaching
gain some experience with adults.
*ICT Tutor
learn how to use the DV cam.
develop the ict-tutor.co.uk website
*Internet
learn how to install software in my own webspace for blogging, WIKI and mailing list software,
How to provide an aggregate RSS feed
*Self employment
setting up a business, applying for funding
*music
go to more gigs
setting up a home recording studio
Finishing off the 20 songs I wrote in Spain last year.
seeking local venues and audience
*personal finance
provision for retirement
investment
investigate possibilities for telecommuting, relocation.
===========
3) This one is a discovery I made while surfing random blogs. I read an entry from someone about to go to their first 'blogmeet'. He was looking forward to meeting people he's been exchanging blog comments with for a long time, and was wondering how blogger would recognise each other. This read just like someone from a newsgroup about to link up with their community face -to-face- for the first time and it has made me rethink my ideas about blogs and community. Bloggers seem to feel the need to identify their geographical location, and there are several web services which provide for this - chalk , geourl, London bloggers etc.
So while the things bloggers blog about tend to be person-centric, and the technology leads to nebulous links with fuzzy edges, the sense of community may be emerging for some in a different way, at the location level.
Friday, April 23, 2004
Weblogs creating whole new campus culture
BY NAHAL TOOSI
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE - (KRT) - Lucas Carlson was interested in what other people were thinking. Specifically, what other students at Reed College were thinking.
So last fall, he hung posters on the small Oregon school's campus, inviting Reed students to start a Weblog - an online journal - through a site he'd set up: www.reediejournals.com.
Word spread quickly. Now, more than 140 "Reedies" keep Web diaries on Carlson's site. That's more than 10 percent of Reed's 1,340 students.
Blogging is a relatively small but quickly growing phenomenon in the world of Internet users, and, like other online technologies, it is slowly invading college life. Professors are using blogs to teach and publish. College administrators use the diaries to recruit. Students use them to learn, to opine (and whine), and to network.
In the Reed case, blogging has led to a student community beyond the borders of the campus, a community that Reed administrators can't control but can peek at.
Some Reedies blog about world issues and everyday angst.
"After studying Barth for 8 hours ... The flesh is weak," wrote Michael in December. "Wretched man that I am! Who shall save me from this body of death?"
Others post pictures. Some write poetry. One dedicates her blog to her dog, Dingus, because, she insists, "my dog is cooler than you are."
"There are some people that are angry and some that are very happy and some that are lonely," said Carlson, 21, a junior. "It's really just like what you would expect out of the diversity of human emotions."
Perseus Development Corp. recently conducted a limited survey of blogging through eight major blog-hosting services and estimates at least 4.12 million such diaries exist, though many are rarely updated.
Blogs are dominated by the young, the study found. More than 92 percent are created by people younger than 30, with 51.5 percent by those ages 13 to 19. Women are slightly more likely to blog than men.
Phil Ejercito, a University of Wisconsin-Madison senior, runs a blog called the Consortium for Undermining Conservative Thought. He'd hoped to turn it into a mini-Drudge Report for the Madison, Wis., area, but it became more about the drama in his life, such as the day he was almost mistaken for a murder suspect.
Ejercito is retooling www.cfuct.org to make it a nexus for progressive groups in town, though he continues to blog as well. He said being in college gives him freedom to write what he wants. Once he gets a job, he'll have to be more careful so as not to offend or embarrass his employer, he said.
"I know for sure I have a pretty dedicated core audience on campus," said Ejercito, 22. "I don't keep track of my stats too tightly. But I do get comments from random people."
Marquette University junior Elizabeth Hadley said she's stopped blogging because she found it too time-consuming, but she follows the lives of friends elsewhere through their blogs.
Hadley finds it's a faster method of getting updated on a friend's life than a regular conversation, though obviously less personal, she said. No doubt some parents appreciate their children keeping blogs, as well.
At the University of Waterloo in Canada and Saint Michael's College in Vermont, a handful of students keep blogs that are promoted on the universities' Web sites and available to the public, especially to prospective students.
The student bloggers don't limit their online entries to school cheerleading. One learns, for instance, that Anne of the University of Waterloo is afraid of animals and small children and how Craig of Saint Michael's felt about visiting El Salvador.
On LiveJournal.com, a blog-hosting service, there's a community blog for students of Wisconsin's Beloit College. The school doesn't control it. The blog has evolved into a forum for current and prospective students who discuss the college's vices and virtues and post information about upcoming events.
Bryan Alexander, co-director of the Center for Educational Technology at Middlebury College in Vermont, taught a class on the history of the British novel using blogs. One tactic he'd use was to tell students to read a particular novel, post a few paragraphs on their blogs about some aspect of it, then check out classmates' blogs and post responses to their views.
"One thing we do know is that shy people or people who don't feel comfortable leaping into conversation do take advantage of technology to post later," Alexander said.
Stanford Law School's Lawrence Lessig is among the most well-known professors to blog. At www.lessig.org/blog, a visitor can find out which major newspaper recently quoted the copyright expert, read some of his articles, or simply learn Lessig's latest thoughts on the race for president. Readers can post feedback.
For many students, though, the academic applications of blogging are not the most appealing aspect. What leads many to blog is the chance to reveal emotions and thoughts, and perhaps some wisdom, during a time when life is all about transitions.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
MILWAUKEE - (KRT) - Lucas Carlson was interested in what other people were thinking. Specifically, what other students at Reed College were thinking.
So last fall, he hung posters on the small Oregon school's campus, inviting Reed students to start a Weblog - an online journal - through a site he'd set up: www.reediejournals.com.
Word spread quickly. Now, more than 140 "Reedies" keep Web diaries on Carlson's site. That's more than 10 percent of Reed's 1,340 students.
Blogging is a relatively small but quickly growing phenomenon in the world of Internet users, and, like other online technologies, it is slowly invading college life. Professors are using blogs to teach and publish. College administrators use the diaries to recruit. Students use them to learn, to opine (and whine), and to network.
In the Reed case, blogging has led to a student community beyond the borders of the campus, a community that Reed administrators can't control but can peek at.
Some Reedies blog about world issues and everyday angst.
"After studying Barth for 8 hours ... The flesh is weak," wrote Michael in December. "Wretched man that I am! Who shall save me from this body of death?"
Others post pictures. Some write poetry. One dedicates her blog to her dog, Dingus, because, she insists, "my dog is cooler than you are."
"There are some people that are angry and some that are very happy and some that are lonely," said Carlson, 21, a junior. "It's really just like what you would expect out of the diversity of human emotions."
Perseus Development Corp. recently conducted a limited survey of blogging through eight major blog-hosting services and estimates at least 4.12 million such diaries exist, though many are rarely updated.
Blogs are dominated by the young, the study found. More than 92 percent are created by people younger than 30, with 51.5 percent by those ages 13 to 19. Women are slightly more likely to blog than men.
Phil Ejercito, a University of Wisconsin-Madison senior, runs a blog called the Consortium for Undermining Conservative Thought. He'd hoped to turn it into a mini-Drudge Report for the Madison, Wis., area, but it became more about the drama in his life, such as the day he was almost mistaken for a murder suspect.
Ejercito is retooling www.cfuct.org to make it a nexus for progressive groups in town, though he continues to blog as well. He said being in college gives him freedom to write what he wants. Once he gets a job, he'll have to be more careful so as not to offend or embarrass his employer, he said.
"I know for sure I have a pretty dedicated core audience on campus," said Ejercito, 22. "I don't keep track of my stats too tightly. But I do get comments from random people."
Marquette University junior Elizabeth Hadley said she's stopped blogging because she found it too time-consuming, but she follows the lives of friends elsewhere through their blogs.
Hadley finds it's a faster method of getting updated on a friend's life than a regular conversation, though obviously less personal, she said. No doubt some parents appreciate their children keeping blogs, as well.
At the University of Waterloo in Canada and Saint Michael's College in Vermont, a handful of students keep blogs that are promoted on the universities' Web sites and available to the public, especially to prospective students.
The student bloggers don't limit their online entries to school cheerleading. One learns, for instance, that Anne of the University of Waterloo is afraid of animals and small children and how Craig of Saint Michael's felt about visiting El Salvador.
On LiveJournal.com, a blog-hosting service, there's a community blog for students of Wisconsin's Beloit College. The school doesn't control it. The blog has evolved into a forum for current and prospective students who discuss the college's vices and virtues and post information about upcoming events.
Bryan Alexander, co-director of the Center for Educational Technology at Middlebury College in Vermont, taught a class on the history of the British novel using blogs. One tactic he'd use was to tell students to read a particular novel, post a few paragraphs on their blogs about some aspect of it, then check out classmates' blogs and post responses to their views.
"One thing we do know is that shy people or people who don't feel comfortable leaping into conversation do take advantage of technology to post later," Alexander said.
Stanford Law School's Lawrence Lessig is among the most well-known professors to blog. At www.lessig.org/blog, a visitor can find out which major newspaper recently quoted the copyright expert, read some of his articles, or simply learn Lessig's latest thoughts on the race for president. Readers can post feedback.
For many students, though, the academic applications of blogging are not the most appealing aspect. What leads many to blog is the chance to reveal emotions and thoughts, and perhaps some wisdom, during a time when life is all about transitions.
Monday, March 15, 2004
The Last Post
cue lone trumpet player.....
So this is the last post to blogger, a useful though somewhat isolating resource. It's time to move on, with new tools available, a new way of making online communities, and a new ultraversity assignment to log. My new blog is located here:
blog.ultralab.net/~blogger/andy
So this is the last post to blogger, a useful though somewhat isolating resource. It's time to move on, with new tools available, a new way of making online communities, and a new ultraversity assignment to log. My new blog is located here:
blog.ultralab.net/~blogger/andy
Friday, March 12, 2004
Penultimate Post
This is probably going to be the penultimate post to this particular blog. The reason is mainly for anti-proliferation purposes. I've been learning about blogs, syndication, RSS feeds and bottom up communities to the point where I'm going too need a blog which both allows comments, and can also provide an XML feed of the type which can be read into an aggregated newsfeed reader such NetNewsWired Lite ( for Mac ) or Feedreader ( for Wintel ). Blogger won't do either of these without upgrading. The only problem is I have at least three alternatives, so it may be a short while before the Ultimate Last Post appears, which will contain a forwarding address to the next step of the blog journey.
Of course even after that I could still make a postultimate entry.
Of course even after that I could still make a postultimate entry.
Friday, February 06, 2004
Gordon Pask
I came across the ideas of Gordon Pask while researching reflection theory, relating to reflective dialogue.
Andrew Gordon Speedie-Pask, cybernetician, producer for the stage and lyricist, born June 28, 1928; died March 29, 1996.
http://tip.psychology.org/pask.html
The Conversation Theory developed by G. Pask originated from a cybernetics framework and attempts to explain learning in both living organisms and machines. The fundamental idea of the theory was that learning occurs through conversations about a subject matter which serve to make knowledge explicit
....
Pask identified two different types of learning strategies: serialists who progress through an entailment structure in a sequential fashion and holists who look for higher order relations.
http://www.pangaro.com/Pask-Archive/guardian-obit.html
Gordon Pask, who has died aged 67, spent his life developing an elegant theory of learning that stands without peer. His achievement was to establish a unifying framework that subsumes the subjectivity of human experience and the objectivity of scientific tradition. Sponsored by governments and industries on both sides of the Atlantic, his life-long research spanned biological computing, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, logic, linguistics, psychology, and artificial life. His was an original approach to age-old questions of how the human organism learns from its environment and relates to others through language.
http://artsci-ccwin.concordia.ca/edtech/ETEC606/paskboyd.html
Conversation Theory (CT) in a Nutshell
A "P-individual" (= participant) originates (by internal conversation) a conceptual procedure which when "applied" (i.e. executed) produces a representation or an action. Another P-individual tries to do the same, if the representations or actions that they produce and display in shared space, are regarded by each other to be about the same, then an agreement has been reached, and the agreed concept can be given one label which both participants can confidently use in further conversation. If however, the productions differ, then the participants need to exhibit the ways in which they are executing their concepts in order to establish a distinction between the two. At this point they become able to assign two different agreed labels. In which case each participant gains a new concept. There is however in CT, a strange recursion underlying such conversational learning, because the participants themselves are taken to be no more than emergents from previous conversational agreements, all executing in some informationally coupled M-individuals (= biological-bodies &/or machines). (See also: Glanville, "Pask a Slight Primer", (1993).
Andrew Gordon Speedie-Pask, cybernetician, producer for the stage and lyricist, born June 28, 1928; died March 29, 1996.
http://tip.psychology.org/pask.html
The Conversation Theory developed by G. Pask originated from a cybernetics framework and attempts to explain learning in both living organisms and machines. The fundamental idea of the theory was that learning occurs through conversations about a subject matter which serve to make knowledge explicit
....
Pask identified two different types of learning strategies: serialists who progress through an entailment structure in a sequential fashion and holists who look for higher order relations.
http://www.pangaro.com/Pask-Archive/guardian-obit.html
Gordon Pask, who has died aged 67, spent his life developing an elegant theory of learning that stands without peer. His achievement was to establish a unifying framework that subsumes the subjectivity of human experience and the objectivity of scientific tradition. Sponsored by governments and industries on both sides of the Atlantic, his life-long research spanned biological computing, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, logic, linguistics, psychology, and artificial life. His was an original approach to age-old questions of how the human organism learns from its environment and relates to others through language.
http://artsci-ccwin.concordia.ca/edtech/ETEC606/paskboyd.html
Conversation Theory (CT) in a Nutshell
A "P-individual" (= participant) originates (by internal conversation) a conceptual procedure which when "applied" (i.e. executed) produces a representation or an action. Another P-individual tries to do the same, if the representations or actions that they produce and display in shared space, are regarded by each other to be about the same, then an agreement has been reached, and the agreed concept can be given one label which both participants can confidently use in further conversation. If however, the productions differ, then the participants need to exhibit the ways in which they are executing their concepts in order to establish a distinction between the two. At this point they become able to assign two different agreed labels. In which case each participant gains a new concept. There is however in CT, a strange recursion underlying such conversational learning, because the participants themselves are taken to be no more than emergents from previous conversational agreements, all executing in some informationally coupled M-individuals (= biological-bodies &/or machines). (See also: Glanville, "Pask a Slight Primer", (1993).
Monday, January 19, 2004
FirstClass impressions, and remaining purpose of ultrastudents email group
A week or so ago I was wondering whether the ultrastudents group would die out now that we have all the facilities of FirstClass. It would remain there if people wanted to use it , but what purpose would it serve?
But over the weekend, while we were writing up our activity one, several of us sought answers to questions, help with quotes etc on the group and received prompt useful answers. I feel this has served as a model which can only reinforce the community purpose and identity.
Why choose to post to the email group instead of to FC?
possible answers:
*One group instead of fragmented.
*it's unofficial, students amongst themselves
*disorienting effect of FC structure, red flags and so on - simple unfamiliarity?
Problems with FirstClass are not technical, but social and existential.
There are many Â?write onlyÂ? posts, people posting because they have to.
Also itÂ?s already becoming a bit of a dumping ground, with crossposts and extracts from other conversations arriving confusingly in the middle of threads. ThereÂ?s no common culture, with a mixture of top posting and bottom posting, quoting and not quoting, big pink blobby letters and plain courier.
Advantages of FC are that it�s fast and efficient, you can get replies from LFs in your own tutor group, you can reach a wide group of people in the common areas, the close integration of group posts and private mail. Lots of extra facilities such as the Summarize function, private Chat, documents, Résumé , homepage and so on. And it�s compulsory anyway, which forces people to contribute - but is that an advantage I wonder?
But over the weekend, while we were writing up our activity one, several of us sought answers to questions, help with quotes etc on the group and received prompt useful answers. I feel this has served as a model which can only reinforce the community purpose and identity.
Why choose to post to the email group instead of to FC?
possible answers:
*One group instead of fragmented.
*it's unofficial, students amongst themselves
*disorienting effect of FC structure, red flags and so on - simple unfamiliarity?
Problems with FirstClass are not technical, but social and existential.
There are many Â?write onlyÂ? posts, people posting because they have to.
Also itÂ?s already becoming a bit of a dumping ground, with crossposts and extracts from other conversations arriving confusingly in the middle of threads. ThereÂ?s no common culture, with a mixture of top posting and bottom posting, quoting and not quoting, big pink blobby letters and plain courier.
Advantages of FC are that it�s fast and efficient, you can get replies from LFs in your own tutor group, you can reach a wide group of people in the common areas, the close integration of group posts and private mail. Lots of extra facilities such as the Summarize function, private Chat, documents, Résumé , homepage and so on. And it�s compulsory anyway, which forces people to contribute - but is that an advantage I wonder?
Sunday, January 18, 2004
an "aha" moment
Yesterday I started to write up Learning Activity 1, which is about looking into the theoretical background and developing an understanding of 'reflection'. It took me quite a while to get back into the swing of this kind of formal, non conversational writing and thinking and I kept wanting to distract myself by checking for new messages in various places instead. After a few hours I ran out of my allotted time, but felt that I had only just circled around the topic and messed about with the format without really getting to the nub. This made me feel restless the whole day through, and worried about getting to the end of the assignment in time.
Then when I woke up this morning, as I lay in bed, I started thinking forward, imagining myself writing the next part. I imagined writing a list of bullet points to cover the key concepts which I have discovered and understood. At this point I suddenly realised that this was all I needed to do! I had been making much too heavy weather of it and with this new insight I could now see a way to get to the end. So I got up straight away, worked for a short while ( before I forgot again ) and then felt happy enough to go back to bed and enjoy a nice Sunday morning lie in [details removed]
Then when I woke up this morning, as I lay in bed, I started thinking forward, imagining myself writing the next part. I imagined writing a list of bullet points to cover the key concepts which I have discovered and understood. At this point I suddenly realised that this was all I needed to do! I had been making much too heavy weather of it and with this new insight I could now see a way to get to the end. So I got up straight away, worked for a short while ( before I forgot again ) and then felt happy enough to go back to bed and enjoy a nice Sunday morning lie in [details removed]
Monday, January 12, 2004
New journal started
I've just started today keeping a short note after each ICT lesson that actually takes place, how it went, what was my role, and what worked and didn't. I write it as quickly as possible, and as soon as possible. Just a simple page per day, with one paragraph per lesson, loosely formatted I'm going to try to discuss briefly with the teachers afterwards as well, and note their feelings. I think I might be able to keep this up because I already make a regular diary entry about which class was timetabled, whether they turned up, and what was done. I've just decided to expand it a little and view it as another learning journal.
Friday, January 02, 2004
Holidays
During the holidays I've been trying to keep up the ultraversity work because I know next term will be short, and busy with the possibility of some evening work for me. And I'm hoping to have a real holiday at Easter at last.
Unfortunately the detailed learning plans ( ILP2) for next term haven't been released, and the Ultralab Staff are all away on holiday so It's difficult to get ahead of myself.
So what have I done so far? I have:
*maintained contact with some fellow students through the email group. This has thrown up some useful links on the subjects of reflection and action enquiry.
*researched and discussed the implementation of the new community software (First Class) with others, including LFs.
*learned how to set up a wiki site, understood the advantages and appropriate applications for Wiki, and begun to get contributions.
*designed an entry page for my own personal ultraversity work site.
*promoted and studied a peer review process, tried it in collaboration with others, learned lessons and published some initial guidelines on the peer review wiki page. This involved reading several other students reports.
*revamped the ultrastudents.co.uk site with multiple pages and buttons, incorporating links to the wiki pages.
*begun to set up a structure for next term's work and discussed action enquiry and reflection.
Unfortunately the detailed learning plans ( ILP2) for next term haven't been released, and the Ultralab Staff are all away on holiday so It's difficult to get ahead of myself.
So what have I done so far? I have:
*maintained contact with some fellow students through the email group. This has thrown up some useful links on the subjects of reflection and action enquiry.
*researched and discussed the implementation of the new community software (First Class) with others, including LFs.
*learned how to set up a wiki site, understood the advantages and appropriate applications for Wiki, and begun to get contributions.
*designed an entry page for my own personal ultraversity work site.
*promoted and studied a peer review process, tried it in collaboration with others, learned lessons and published some initial guidelines on the peer review wiki page. This involved reading several other students reports.
*revamped the ultrastudents.co.uk site with multiple pages and buttons, incorporating links to the wiki pages.
*begun to set up a structure for next term's work and discussed action enquiry and reflection.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Resumption after short gap in blog
I haven't wriitten in my blog for quite some time, this is because of the overwhelming focus on producing Report 1 quickly followed by report 2 with strict deadlines to meet. I don't feel too bad about letting the journal lapse a little though, because I know the other students have done the same. This is one of the benefits of being part of an online learning community rather than isolated on other types of individual and conventional distance learning courses. One of the strange feelings immediately after the reports was that it was nice to get back to getting on with learning again, even though the reports themselves necessitated a consolidation of experience, reflection and brushing up on presentation skills, it still felt like an interruption of the term's rhythm rather than a part of it. I think next term should be less disconcerting, through familiarity.
Friday, November 28, 2003
On JellyOS after 2 months
Stengths and Weaknesses
This post in reponse to the discussion started by Jolyon Miller - Making a better JellyOS.
The strength of jellyOS lies in the ability for almost anybody to create a simple homepage, upload photos, make a guestboook and link to others. The weakness is in the functionality of discussions - having to scroll slowly through lots of old messages only to find there a re no new ones, no ability to sort for most recent, by author, or anything like that.
So I conclude that the best way to make a better jellyOS would be to keep it as it is for some purposes, but to move all the serious discussions and extended conversations onto another platform. Unless this is done pretty soonish, then a lot of the advantages of online community will be tragically missed. I'm not exectly sure how the linking will work between the jelly pages and the new discussion forums, but I hope someone is working on this right now. Who wrote jellyOS anyway? I was impressed to read that ultralab collaborated with Oracle over think.com and If I heard it was Macromedia themselves helping with jellyOS then I'd have confidence in it's future development.
This post in reponse to the discussion started by Jolyon Miller - Making a better JellyOS.
The strength of jellyOS lies in the ability for almost anybody to create a simple homepage, upload photos, make a guestboook and link to others. The weakness is in the functionality of discussions - having to scroll slowly through lots of old messages only to find there a re no new ones, no ability to sort for most recent, by author, or anything like that.
So I conclude that the best way to make a better jellyOS would be to keep it as it is for some purposes, but to move all the serious discussions and extended conversations onto another platform. Unless this is done pretty soonish, then a lot of the advantages of online community will be tragically missed. I'm not exectly sure how the linking will work between the jelly pages and the new discussion forums, but I hope someone is working on this right now. Who wrote jellyOS anyway? I was impressed to read that ultralab collaborated with Oracle over think.com and If I heard it was Macromedia themselves helping with jellyOS then I'd have confidence in it's future development.
Friday, November 21, 2003
peer to peer learning - new practise and observations
Since I've been exposed to all this theory about the importance of peer learning groups, I took advantage of an opportunity to try out a different approach with a class of year 5 children today. It was their first lesson with the new eMac computers and OS X desktop.
I suggested to the class teacher that instead of a demonstration by me, we would just let the children go straight in and experiment for themselves, then report back whatever they managed to find out.
I wrote up on the board ( instead of a learning objective taken from the QCA scheme) :
What can we learn from each other about the new computers?
1)
2)
3)
etc
Then I introduced the session by saying "today I am not going to show you what to do, you are going to learn from each other. "
Result: Chaos! But the lesson was sucessful in a number of ways and everybody was pleased. In particular, those children who aren't good at following instructions and usually get told off seemed to feel empowered by the liberating lack of constraint, eagerly reported back discoveries and displayed positive self esteem. The two TAs and the class teacher all learned things as well, without having to pretend they already know more than the kids.
So instead of me telling them "this is how to find your documents, this is how to find your applications" and then they go off and play with the CD eject button, they got all that out of their systems in one go and then went on to seek out the Internet Browser. Once one person found it, you could literally observe that knowlege spreading along the walls of the room in both directions, just like wild fire.
I'm quite excited writing this up, because this is the first instance really of the ideas I have come across on the degree course affecting the way I act at work and think and observe. And to top it all, I believe this is just the sort of thing these learning journals are meant to be used for.
I suggested to the class teacher that instead of a demonstration by me, we would just let the children go straight in and experiment for themselves, then report back whatever they managed to find out.
I wrote up on the board ( instead of a learning objective taken from the QCA scheme) :
What can we learn from each other about the new computers?
1)
2)
3)
etc
Then I introduced the session by saying "today I am not going to show you what to do, you are going to learn from each other. "
Result: Chaos! But the lesson was sucessful in a number of ways and everybody was pleased. In particular, those children who aren't good at following instructions and usually get told off seemed to feel empowered by the liberating lack of constraint, eagerly reported back discoveries and displayed positive self esteem. The two TAs and the class teacher all learned things as well, without having to pretend they already know more than the kids.
So instead of me telling them "this is how to find your documents, this is how to find your applications" and then they go off and play with the CD eject button, they got all that out of their systems in one go and then went on to seek out the Internet Browser. Once one person found it, you could literally observe that knowlege spreading along the walls of the room in both directions, just like wild fire.
I'm quite excited writing this up, because this is the first instance really of the ideas I have come across on the degree course affecting the way I act at work and think and observe. And to top it all, I believe this is just the sort of thing these learning journals are meant to be used for.
Thursday, November 20, 2003
Should a learning journal be public?
This is from my write up of activity 4, which is about setting up the blog in the first place, and my reflections on the use of blogs for Learning Journals.
"Should a learning journal be public?
Issues such as confidentiality and inhibition could mean that certain kinds of personal reflection can be included in a private LJ which couldn't in a public one. But writing for a perceived audience may improve quality or motivate to keep up to date. I find it useful to be able to share some of my writings, such as "my impression of jellyOS after a few days".
Some blogs allow others people to make comments on your writings. This turns the writer into a kind of interactive columnist, with feedback and discussions going on around the articles. Mine doesn't do that, and I suspect that this could make it harder to write in a spontaneous and uninhibited fashion. It's just a little bit too public for this specific application. Fine for internet 'celebrities' though.
Actually, I think it might be a great idea to set up a private blog with a comment facility, because this would allow me to read back over old thoughts and make comments myself, on my own past reflections, in the light of later experience. Yes, that seems very much in the spirit of the reflective practitioner philosophy. You could have a dialogue with yourself telescoping forward through time.
voice recorder
Another idea I have had is in response to the question I posed in my blog about mornings, afternoons and evenings. I decided it would be most useful to get one of those tiny digital voice recorders, so that I can 'jot down' any thoughts, information, questions, worth recording when I'm away from a computer. It may even be possible to upload the soundfiles rather than have to type in a transcript. I'm looking through eBay to see what's available."
What do you think?
"Should a learning journal be public?
Issues such as confidentiality and inhibition could mean that certain kinds of personal reflection can be included in a private LJ which couldn't in a public one. But writing for a perceived audience may improve quality or motivate to keep up to date. I find it useful to be able to share some of my writings, such as "my impression of jellyOS after a few days".
Some blogs allow others people to make comments on your writings. This turns the writer into a kind of interactive columnist, with feedback and discussions going on around the articles. Mine doesn't do that, and I suspect that this could make it harder to write in a spontaneous and uninhibited fashion. It's just a little bit too public for this specific application. Fine for internet 'celebrities' though.
Actually, I think it might be a great idea to set up a private blog with a comment facility, because this would allow me to read back over old thoughts and make comments myself, on my own past reflections, in the light of later experience. Yes, that seems very much in the spirit of the reflective practitioner philosophy. You could have a dialogue with yourself telescoping forward through time.
voice recorder
Another idea I have had is in response to the question I posed in my blog about mornings, afternoons and evenings. I decided it would be most useful to get one of those tiny digital voice recorders, so that I can 'jot down' any thoughts, information, questions, worth recording when I'm away from a computer. It may even be possible to upload the soundfiles rather than have to type in a transcript. I'm looking through eBay to see what's available."
What do you think?
report 1
I haven't written an entry in this blog for a few days or more, and this is mainly because I have been chanelling my creative writing energies into my "report 1". This has to be submitted by this sunday, so I have only two weekday evenings and then saturday and sunday mornings left. What a fuss!
Friday, November 14, 2003
Action researcher
I discovered someone who works at my school sometimes who is familiar with the concept of action research and reflective practice, having studied and used it for many years. She may be willing to give some useful advice and feedback, perhaps in exchange for technical support with her projects, although she does always seem to be very busy. She left me with the suggestion that the essence of good teaching IS action research, and I think I understand why.
It has always seemed to be to be a bit of a waste that after an ICT lesson has taken place in the suite, with both myself and a class teacher present, there's should be a possibility to discuss afterwards, how did it go, what worked and what didn't work.
It has always seemed to be to be a bit of a waste that after an ICT lesson has taken place in the suite, with both myself and a class teacher present, there's should be a possibility to discuss afterwards, how did it go, what worked and what didn't work.
Mornings, afternoons and evenings
I often have my clearest thoughts in the mornings, perhaps when I'm travelling to work on the train but it isn't usually until the afternoon, when I'm feeling tired and take a break that I get around to recording them, if at all.
In the evening I like to catch up with lighter conversations and entertainment, but I have to get some things done then as well and often stay up late.
Given this understand of the pattern of my day, how can I make more out of it?
In the evening I like to catch up with lighter conversations and entertainment, but I have to get some things done then as well and often stay up late.
Given this understand of the pattern of my day, how can I make more out of it?
Saturday, November 08, 2003
A hard week
Events have conspired to make this last week particularly difficult, and I've been tired and tetchy some of the time. At this point, I'm wary that my ultraversity activities are having a detrimental effect even though I understand why that shouldn't be the case.
I have told people who are interested that I'm doing a degree course but it isn't really recognised on any formal basis. Communication is getting harder rather than easier, and the situation with upgrading the computers has got unnecessarily awkward.
Late nights and stressful travel have compounded the general frustrations and the endless questions about printer queues and lost files occasionally solicit a terse reply, which hasn't gone unnoticed.
I have told people who are interested that I'm doing a degree course but it isn't really recognised on any formal basis. Communication is getting harder rather than easier, and the situation with upgrading the computers has got unnecessarily awkward.
Late nights and stressful travel have compounded the general frustrations and the endless questions about printer queues and lost files occasionally solicit a terse reply, which hasn't gone unnoticed.
Monday, November 03, 2003
course
I received a letter from EiC Action Zone about attending a training course for evaluating software for the Curriculum Online content. Although I am sceptical about the whole concept of curriculum content software, preferring the contructivist approach, I suppose I had better register an interest so that I can take advantage of the opportunity. I'll also do some research about "schoolzone" the company behind this, 'creating success' 'creative tools' and 'Lewisham Education in Cities Action Zone' who work from an office upstairs in this school.
Back to work
I've had a good week getting on with the course activities and exploring jellyOS, and I feel glad that I now know a lot more about the course, what I'm expected to do and how it will shape up in practice. It all seemed a bit formless and abstract.
Meanwhile back at work, I'm still having to deal with the installation of a the new computers in the ICT suite. I had a terse phone conversation with the suppliers this morning and then the Head, which resulted in a plan to close the suite for 1 week and do it all in one go, rather than the phased transition which I had envisaged. Oh well, at least there is some communication going on rather than none at all.
Meanwhile back at work, I'm still having to deal with the installation of a the new computers in the ICT suite. I had a terse phone conversation with the suppliers this morning and then the Head, which resulted in a plan to close the suite for 1 week and do it all in one go, rather than the phased transition which I had envisaged. Oh well, at least there is some communication going on rather than none at all.
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