How to reply to a comment on my blog.
How to communicate with Martin and Natalie except by First Class.
How to comment on Martin's edublog.
Arrgghhh.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Task 8
Well, I got ahead of myself. I created a wiki, www.PeterandSydney@wikispaces.com, as part of Task 7. Then, when I got to Task 8, I tried to comply by going to the Sandbox to join that wiki and could not find the "new page" icon to which the instructions refer. This was a bit frustrating. I've not completed that part of Task 8 as a result.
I'm still fiddling with the wiki. It seems easier to deal with than trying to create a web page through First Class or @Paideia. I've uploaded several class photos and included descriptions of what we are doing. However, the graphics are not as professional, at least as far as I can tell. I may not use it as a "web page" after all, but more as is intended as a discussion page.
I found a wonderful feed today through The Chronicle of HIgher Education. Arts and Letters Daily purports to include the best writing from news outlets around the world. I especially like getting a different perspective than my usual New York Times. Check it out at http://www.aldaily.com.
I'm still fiddling with the wiki. It seems easier to deal with than trying to create a web page through First Class or @Paideia. I've uploaded several class photos and included descriptions of what we are doing. However, the graphics are not as professional, at least as far as I can tell. I may not use it as a "web page" after all, but more as is intended as a discussion page.
I found a wonderful feed today through The Chronicle of HIgher Education. Arts and Letters Daily purports to include the best writing from news outlets around the world. I especially like getting a different perspective than my usual New York Times. Check it out at http://www.aldaily.com.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Task 6
I've added Twitter, Skype, and Ta-Da.
Twitter seems of limited utility to me so far. I've followed some famous folks, who still tweet about their own children and what restaurant they are in far more than anything interesting from the world of ideas. This is just a marketing tool for them (and for many) I think. It's only value seems to be to summarize ideas from conferences and send them to folks who couldn't attend. Maybe I'd use it more if it came to my phone. I see no real classroom use for it.
I read about Ta-Da on Natalie's blog, and I wanted to try it. I made a list, put Ta-Da onto my Bookmarks, but don't think I'll use it. I prefer the to do list gadget which appears as a tiny legal pad on my Google homepage.
I DO think I'll like Skype. I've downloaded it --simple 2 minutes-- and now I'm contacting my family to see who has the video capability. More importantly, I'm now set up to use it in my classroom this week to talk with my contact at the British Museum.
Twitter seems of limited utility to me so far. I've followed some famous folks, who still tweet about their own children and what restaurant they are in far more than anything interesting from the world of ideas. This is just a marketing tool for them (and for many) I think. It's only value seems to be to summarize ideas from conferences and send them to folks who couldn't attend. Maybe I'd use it more if it came to my phone. I see no real classroom use for it.
I read about Ta-Da on Natalie's blog, and I wanted to try it. I made a list, put Ta-Da onto my Bookmarks, but don't think I'll use it. I prefer the to do list gadget which appears as a tiny legal pad on my Google homepage.
I DO think I'll like Skype. I've downloaded it --simple 2 minutes-- and now I'm contacting my family to see who has the video capability. More importantly, I'm now set up to use it in my classroom this week to talk with my contact at the British Museum.
Task 5
I finally figured out how to add Martin and Natalie's blogs to my Reader. Glad to have them there and not have to chase them through Google. However, I'd like to find out how, if at all, one could jump from the Reader directly to a blog to post a comment.
I've added a couple of things to the Reader, but can already see that I'm overwhelmed. I don't read The New Yorker every week or The New York Times every day in their entirety anymore (except in summer) so I wonder how I'l manage all this information.
This goes to my point that "all information is not created equal". I agree with Martin that the true Creators, as distinguished from the Mavens and Salespeople and from "faux creators", are few. The trick with this technology seems to be to find ways to use it to inspire our students to create and to think for themselves. So, I"ll tend toward original sources or toward sites that direct me to original sources. Opinion sites are my least favorite, least used so far.
I've added a couple of things to the Reader, but can already see that I'm overwhelmed. I don't read The New Yorker every week or The New York Times every day in their entirety anymore (except in summer) so I wonder how I'l manage all this information.
This goes to my point that "all information is not created equal". I agree with Martin that the true Creators, as distinguished from the Mavens and Salespeople and from "faux creators", are few. The trick with this technology seems to be to find ways to use it to inspire our students to create and to think for themselves. So, I"ll tend toward original sources or toward sites that direct me to original sources. Opinion sites are my least favorite, least used so far.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Set to Skype
The Deputy Director of Portable Antiquities and Treasure at the British Museum in London will Skype with us about the Bayeux Tapestry next week!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
A New Way of Searching
Following up on one suggestion by Alan November, I searched Google for original sources for the Bayeux Tapestry. I entered the country code for France, the location of the Tapestry museum and found the web site (which could be viewed in English). On the site, I found reference to a scholarly conference held last summer at the British Museum, with an email address for a scholar there. While on the Tapestry Museum site, I emailed that web master with questions. No word back from that, but the curator/scholar at the British Museum replied immediately. We are working to set up a Skype session between him and our class next week. He has a current paper on a mystery about the Tapestry and looks to have a sense of humor (keeps chickens with Scandanavian names). This is something.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Task 4, or, Wow--I'm really into this now.
After hearing Alan November at yesterday's faculty meeting and returning to the Pi2.0 work, I feel energized. I've now made the leap...I get it. The internet itself, the mechanics of it all, has always been overwhelming to me. But with the right teacher(!), it seems far more manageable. The best teacher appears to be Lee at Common Craft. He breaks it down, idiotproofs it all. I didn't have to spend hours reading, scrolling really, through all the instructional information. I can always go back to get more detail, but I'm no longer stymied by too much information.
Thanks to Alan, I'm now on Twitter. I've not figured out how it will be useful to me in teaching or in my life, especially since I cannot get it on my mobile. And, I've already had to block some random person (Susan, a self-described shaman) from following me. Still, I am now following Scott Simon, which is pretty fun.
I now see how addictive all this information gathering can be. I think I'll have to set some of the same limits on my own screen time as I set on my children's video gaming over the years, as I could "waste up some time" on this. This, it seems to me, is really the key. Are we actually more productive? Are we doing things faster and better? Are we adding value to our teaching or complicating it? Or are we merely wading through the equivalent of everyone's mail and the Library of Congress without any guides? I'm in a search now for on-line "librarians" who have vetted material, or for better ways to search.
Speaking of better ways to search, just learning about site: countrycode or edu etc. was revolutionary for me.
As for the task at hand: I've started the Google Reader and read through one of the required three subscription sites, where I found an interesting article. The author posted sites that have original source media content. Although I don't see myself using these sites at the moment, I was happy to see someone interested in finding original sources and writing about fair use.
Thanks to Alan, I'm now on Twitter. I've not figured out how it will be useful to me in teaching or in my life, especially since I cannot get it on my mobile. And, I've already had to block some random person (Susan, a self-described shaman) from following me. Still, I am now following Scott Simon, which is pretty fun.
I now see how addictive all this information gathering can be. I think I'll have to set some of the same limits on my own screen time as I set on my children's video gaming over the years, as I could "waste up some time" on this. This, it seems to me, is really the key. Are we actually more productive? Are we doing things faster and better? Are we adding value to our teaching or complicating it? Or are we merely wading through the equivalent of everyone's mail and the Library of Congress without any guides? I'm in a search now for on-line "librarians" who have vetted material, or for better ways to search.
Speaking of better ways to search, just learning about site: countrycode or edu etc. was revolutionary for me.
As for the task at hand: I've started the Google Reader and read through one of the required three subscription sites, where I found an interesting article. The author posted sites that have original source media content. Although I don't see myself using these sites at the moment, I was happy to see someone interested in finding original sources and writing about fair use.
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