Social Networking in Plain, Delicious English

So I was stumbling around on YouTube, and I came across this *fantastic* video that explains social networking using a town that produces ice cream as an analogy.

Is that brilliant or what? In one of my courses, we have a unit on social media. Because I frequently teach adults, explaining the concept of social media can often be a bit confusing; this example explains it in very user-friendly terms and completely avoids tech-speak, which is a big plus.

Brilliant, easy to understand, and mouthwatering - what more could an educator ask for?

My TagRoll is del.icio.us!

Yum yum! Check out my del.icio.us tag roll!



A lot of this has to deal with my adult education classes, but there are some really fun games on my del.icio.us account that would work for younger audiences too - cybercrime can strike anyone!







Educational Blogs Galore!

I've always felt that education - particularly higher education, which is my field - has been slow to grasp technology. Surprising, isn't it, that academia - the means of exploration through academic growth - is afraid of change? Yet so often at every turn, when the suggestion of  utilizing technology in a classroom or to further advance university processes or marketing initiatives is brought forward there are a dozen reasons why it "can't" happen.

These reasons often include fear of technology by those high on the academic food chain, or frankly, those who are so rooted into their positions but do not understand the first thing about technology that they immediately poo-poo it as a fad. Either is unacceptable, in my opinion, and only serves to create a stagnated learning environment.

During the course of my master of science in computer education program, I've been pleasantly surprised by many of the articles that I've read, especially those that approach technology with such vibrance as the three sites I'll be discussing momentarily.

First off, let me examine The Teaching Professor. This is a fantastic, well-written, and most important to me - AUTHENTIC - blog about education and technology that definitely does *not* suck. (Perhaps not the most educated turn of phrase, but so true! What's worse than reading blog posts by self-important educators who are just writing for bragging rights? Why not write about something practical!)

Case in point to my parenthesied rant - the post about Self-Assessment. I'm currently teaching an evening class for working adults - they LOVE self-assessment. And in most instances, are far more honest about their own work than I would tend to be in grading them. While this article suggested that students are "dismal" when it comes to looking at their work objectively, my experience has been quite the opposite. Or perhaps I'm too optimistic and tend to see my classroom through rose-colored glasses. Either could be the case, and I'm quite good enough at self-assessment myself to admit this. (*wink*)

This blog, in all honesty, is a teacher's best friend. It's the "off the record" and behind the scenes stuff that all teachers want to know and talk about, but don't. I found this blog in its entirety to be a breath of fresh air.

Next, my favorite named educational blog, mainly because it references Heinlein, who is one of my favorite authors of all time. Meet Teacher in a Strange Land, a blog by the fantastic and amazing Nancy Flanagan, who I could choose to call an education goddess. I *could.*

When I need to feel professionally inspired ... Nancy is my go-to girl! Using extensive personal experience - she's got 30-plus years in education so in my book, that makes her an expert - Nancy is not afraid to tell it like it is. As a new teacher, this is not only refreshing, but really inspiring. If you only ever read one post from Nancy, check out 20th Century Learning.

Using tales of her own grandmother, Nancy illustrates how learning has changed, will continue to change, yet still stayed very true to it's intent in different time periods. Comparing and contrasting her grandmother's educational experience with some moments from today was a really interesting read, not only because I love personal stories, but because again, it was authentic. Nancy really expressed how even in education and technology today, life is a full cycle and things always come back around.

Finally, we have Edumacation. Had I not seen the Heinlein-esque Teacher in a Strange Land, this would have been my favorite blog in name alone.

I've actually added this blog to my daily RSS feed, and constantly find myself as a  new teacher laughing, smiling, and wincing at the experiences thoughts of "the hurt," a fellow new teacher.  

I'm absolutely loving the tie-ins with pop culture and current events (see: Thoughts About Obama's Inaguration Speech). The real gem I found on this blog, however, was Debunking the Digital Divide, which is a must read. This is authentic, genuine, and very honest. THIS is the kind of stuff that students learning to be teachers should be reading; this is what is going on in the trenches. Kevin, the author of this blog, is not afraid of change - this earns him a big blue ribbon from this eduKitor. 

More later - look for fun stuff about social bookmarking coming up. (And yes, that means del.icio.us even though iKeepBookmarks is better!) *wink*

Second Life: Baptiste Breguet Goes to School!

I've been on SecondLife for about two years now and seen it's many ups and downs. I've built houses, changed my avatar's skin, body type, even clothing. He's learned how to play the piano, ballroom dance, and even speak different languages. He can also turn into a cat. These are all things I've never been able to do ... yet, at least. ;-)

I have never, however, used SecondLife for educational purposes. 

On SecondLife, I've been known as Baptist Breguet. While I have always considered SecondLife as a learning experience, I've never considered it a learning experience like in a typical classroom.

I've done a lot of reading about this subject as of late - when I saw the original assignment, I had to swallow a grain of salt and realize that I'm not the smartest person in the world. 

SecondLife is cool - don't get me wrong. I've just recently come to despise it once its grid became the Windlight grid - it slowed everything down, and I shuttered my house building business that had become somewhat profitable.

I digress - I found a great article that spoke to me in one simple sentence - "Virtually all college students have had experience with games. Games represent active, immersive learning environments where users integrate information to solve a problem."  This is such a great thing to say - and a brilliant analogy. I've said it on many discussion boards - learning CAN and SHOULD be fun! SecondLife certainly crosses this bridge. Plus, putting a classroom behind a locked door in a building can make it great for an uninterrupted lesson - and even more "lifelike" if the participants have microphones.

SecondLife could (and I use that word cautiously) be the wave of the future in education - but they really need to work out all the connectivity issues and slowness to ensure that happens.

Classroom 2.0 - You Live Where?

"Geography is irrelevant, learning is not." 

Clarence Fisher, presented "Classroom 2.0 or You Live Where?" made this remark during the 2008 K12 online conference, and truer words in relation to the web and it's impact upon education could not be spoken!

While education (and even the classroom itself!) used to be about preparing kids to work where they live, things changed dramatically when the classroom shook hands with the Internet and the world wide web.

Recently, I was discussing the impact that Web 2.0 has had on education - and how many teachers, while recognizing it's "cool factor," can rarely successfully integrate that factor into their classrooms. Fisher presents not only how to do this, but why it is truly relevant to today's world. (And, being a man of his word, the entire presentation is available online - in a handy dandy iPod format! )

To me, the most relevant thing Fisher said during this lecture - and the most simple, really - was that we, as educators,  have to stop telling students to regurgitate information, and instead encourage them to be creative and think. We need to examine our pedagogy.

He's not saying to not teach the curriculum, but our relationship to that curriculum needs to be constantly examined and it's true value determined. And moreso, understand that our world went from being just what we can see in the classroom to being world-wide. Our students have many open doors - using Classroom 2.0 to help show them those doors is the educator's newest challenge.

Twitter - It Can Actually Be Useful!

So I'll admit, I got on the Twitter bandwagon quite awhile ago, and got pretty tired of the constant updates (and updating!) so I just kind of let my account go to the wayside. In short - I found it interesting, but not interesting enough to keep up with on a regular basis.

First, I suppose I should explain exactly what Twitter is. Basically, Twitter is kind of like MySpace, kind of like Blogger, and kind of like del.icio.us. Confused? Think of it as a social networking site where you can keep up with your friends or professional contacts and a short information blip that they can post as often as they'd like. A sentence here, a new sentence five minutes later ... you get the picture.

So, with all that in mind, I will admit that I was wrong about Twitter. I don't hate it. I actually see it's positive uses - at least in a classroom setting. Socially, I still think it's kind of like the annoying child tugging on his mother's dress when she's on an especially long phone call - annoying, but not punish-worthy.

In particular, I found two Twitterers that had websites that I find valuable - and I'll keep checking their Twitters to see when these sites are updated. The first Twitterer - TechJulia - writes the TechJulia Blog. It's newish, fresh, and something that I can see myself professionally emulating in my current position at my job.

Secondly, Education is another Twitterer that I will definitely follow! This person's blog - The Internet Writing Journal - will certainly be one that I check back on as often as possible.

So, Twitter ... you've won this round. You've got my attention ... at least for a bit longer. ;-)

Writing Good Content

So frequently, my web editors at Fontbonne will ask me "What makes good web content?"

While this is a legitimate question, one could easily retort, "What's the meaning of life?" "Why is the sky blue?" or "Why do good things happen to bad people?" (That last one was an intentional juxtaposition, btw.)

Content, it would seem, varies on the message. Sometimes, one needs to convey a complicated message, hence, more interesting, dynamic copy. Often, however, a short message or idea should be conveyed ... well ... shortly.

I stumbled across a great slideshow on SlideShare today. (Check it out here if you can't see the video below.)

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Next, we have the *very* energetic Sage Lewis discussing the same topic - tips for good web writing. Don't let Sage's boisterous attitude or excitement about the topic scare you off - this is a good, succinct resource. He and his partner, Rocky, know their stuff - and it's short, sweet, and right to the point. (Check out the video if the embed isn't working on your computer.)