RSS as GLU
Here’s a great presentation by Alexander Hayes rethinking what it means to use RSS as “glu” for an open teaching/learning environment. As Nancy White notes, Alex isn’t just suggesting a new educational environment, but a new way of living for educators.
Twitter vs. Jaiku?
vs. 
While I’ve not yet done a whole lot with the microblogging tool Twitter, I just came across this thorough introduction to how one might use Twitter.
If you want to give Twitter a try, you can sign-up for a free account here. You can find me at Twitter at http://twitter.com/jrhode
I wonder as enamored as it seems young people are these days with texting and social networking tools like this, are us “old folks” missing out by not being actively involved in the whole social presence phenomenon?
While I’m going to give Twitter a try and keep an open mind about it, I must admit that I’m really apprehensive about taking the time to post what I’m doing. Does anyone really care anyway what I’m doing? I know there are people who do, but will they want to subscribe follow me electronically? Maybe they do…and I’m being totally “20th century” about this.
Anyway…I’d love to hear from anyone who is either actively using Twitter, Jaiku, or some other microblogging tool. Or, maybe you’re considering just trying one. What are your thoughts on this?
Another question I’m going to throw out…what’s the big difference between Twitter and Jaiku? I’ve got a Jaiku account as well, but I’m not sure why I would want to use one over the other. Certainly, the fact the Google now owns Jaiku certainly catapults the development capital and potentially the longevity of Jaiku.
Chime in with your thoughts!
Living, Learning, Communicating in a Networked World
George Siemens posted this presentation discussing how the future of education needs to be based on deep understanding, not shallow awareness…and the “disciplines of understanding” needed to achieve this.
SecondLife and Course ReDesign Listservs
The Ohio Learning Network (OLN) has announced the following two new online communities (listservs):
Second Life:
OLN invites you to join this interactive environment for open conversation. Members of the Second Life Listserv can share ideas about using SL in education, get support, share SL objects, and gain insights regarding effective SL practices. They will also have the opportunity to participate in guided SL tours. Two Ohio experts on SL will moderate this listserv: Fleep Tuque (Chris Collins, University of Cincinnati) and Hambone Senior (Paul Shovlin, Ohio University) will spark conversation, seek answers, provide support, and discuss the latest news and updates about Second Life. This list will be a great resource to all interested in Second Life!
Course ReDesign:
This listserv is intended to support the needs of instructors, support staff and administrators in redesigning courses by integrating technology to improve student learning outcomes and reduce instructional costs. Primarily centered on the NCAT models (The National Center for Academic Transformation) the listserv is intended for those in higher education seeking to transform traditional courses. David Wright, University of Dayton, will be moderating this list. The postings are intended to support redesign efforts applicable to any discipline or type of institution. Although redesign efforts are often targeted to high-enrollment or multi-section courses, the listserv can be a great resource for all types of course redesign initiatives.
To subscribe to either of these listservs, visit: http://www.oln.org/lists.php
SeeqPod: Playable Search
Looking for music and video that is freely available online? Try seeqpod.com. SeeqPod boasts to be the, “first consumer site empowers users by allowing them to search and discover music and video all over the Web. Our intelligent software robots work with targeted crawling systems to auto-submit content to the site. This, combined with user submissions, results in a large and rich search and discovery index. This process can be viewed in real-time via the PodCrawler.” Read more about SeeqPod here.
So, how might this search tool be used to benefit your online course development efforts? Well…for one, it’s another place to search for resources and media. Second, if you have a podcast, you can submit the URL for your podcast feed so that as you release new episodes, they will be added to the searchable index of freely available media.
The technology that is powering SeeqPod is really powerful! My guess is….down the line, Google will end up purchasing this and incorporate media searching into it’s search suite, just like it has purchased other innovative startups like JotSpot, GrandCentral, & Jaiku. You may want to try searching SeeqPod to explore what other online media in your discipline is already available. Give SeeqPod a try!
Anyone already tried SeeqPod? What are your impressions?