MoCoZone Blog

Mobile Learning for HealthCare

2009-04-22T17:47:00.002-06:00

Today I attended an Elluminate sponsored presentation about mobile devices and healthcare--very informative. The presenters provided examples of devices that relate to patient care, billing, and continuing ed for healthcare professionals.
Key issues? Privacy, standardization of health care records and systems.

But I will stop for a minute--one example the military is using is an ICEphone--I carry it on me, it provides critical health info if something happens to me. It also contains medical contacts and is a means of communciation for a health-care professional at treating me at the scene

Here's a recording to the session and future opportunities on various topics:

https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/event/description?instance_id=15560

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Video Intros for Courses

2009-03-08T10:51:00.009-06:00

I'm still having trouble posting to the Teaching and Learning Blog. CMC and CCCOnline Faculty have the opportunity to share a few workshop offerings, and the current workshop is about online discussions.

We have just been discussing building community and are talking about how audio and video could be preferred formats for online. So I did a little search to see if there were some examples of student introductions done in video. There were several for this particular class. Here's one example:

Sixty Second Lectures?

2009-03-08T09:48:00.001-06:00

Hi All,

I've been trying to post this to the CMC Teaching and Learning Blog, but I'm getting a java time-out error message. So here goes. Will post it here and link to it from there as a Plan B.

Last week the Chronicle posted this item about focused lectures for use on-line.
The idea of these very short lectures (one to three minutes) is to introduce and frame key concepts, then have students go on to activities that would have them work with the concepts.

Here's the link to the article; it includes the feature, a sample video (included here) and a "how-to" link in case you want to give it a try.

"Gone in a Minute"

Tweet In and Tweet Out from Second Life

2009-03-07T19:03:00.002-07:00

Here's one more convergence--a HUD device for Tweeting from Second Life. Tweets from others you are following are also viewable by the HUD owner in Second Life.

It was easy to get going with it too. I just put the banner for the site on the side bar too.

http://www.sltweets.com/

New Mobile Content Community Looks Good

2009-02-20T06:46:00.002-07:00

Tony Karrer announced that Judy Brown (mlearning field) has launched a new content community. Looks like a wiki--interesting idea that it is introduced as a "content community."

At first glance, I'm going to want to go back here--she's having us look at video created for the phone, has a post about an app for creating flashcards for the mobile also.

http://cc.mlearnopedia.com/

Dump the Drone: Livelier Elearning

2009-02-08T10:11:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: So I'm on the roll w/ the slideshares. Great tips for adding energy to courses.

Dump the Drone: Livelier Elearning

View more presentations from Cathy Moore. (tags: design instructional)

Presentation of Avatar Languages

2009-02-08T10:03:00.001-07:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: Avatar Languages is a for-profit language instructuction business. They offer learning using multiple internet-related tools--email, Skype, Second Life, Google Docs (and there may be more...).

Presentation of Avatar Languages

View more presentations from AvatarLanguages.com. (tags: e-learning elearning)

Second Life Language Conference in May

2009-02-08T08:50:00.001-07:00

SLanguages 2009 Conference - 8&9 May 2009

View more presentations from slanguages. (tags: spanish ele)

Second Life: Teachers' Perceptions

2009-02-07T15:15:00.001-07:00

Here is another slide show about the teaching and learning in Second Life.

Second Life: Teachers' Perceptions

View more presentations from Paul Penfold. (tags: worlds virtual)

Into 2009

2009-01-05T21:47:00.003-07:00

Greetings All,

What is the forward moving direction for 2009? Or at least, what do you or I have in mind? After seeing some people say that Web2.0 is blase, thought I'd do a search. The best I came up w/ for higher ed was the question of whether a wiki could do as well as a CMS/LMS for course delivery. It most certainly can. The flip side is how students are loaded into courses--because LMS's can interface w/ data systems, they score some points for institutions who are offering tech-mediated or online courses at any scale.

Two directions that have my attention are global learning and open learning. Badrul Khan, Mauri Collins, and myself have developed a few professional development workshops with a global intent. (Go to McWeadon. Com.) Additionally, visit wiki educators and David Wiley's Open Learning Course offered for both (paying) transcripted grad credit and just plain learning.

Last Louisianna Community College System is launching courses that include mobile phone elements....I hope to evaluate their delivery very soon. Worth pursing this year is the higher-ed value of virtual ed. and the quality of mobile phone support for effective learning.

Happy 2009, Alice

More Dubai

2008-12-06T17:15:00.006-07:00

Although short, the trip to Dubai was great. See Slide 13 below: My avatar beat me to the Burj al Arab!

BTW, the host and I had agreed that I would send the PPT ahead of time. When it became evident that even the zipped file was not going to go over, I put the show on Slideshare and they easily downloaded from their end.

Sl Checklist

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own.

Mobile Phones and "Random Camels"

2008-11-24T05:13:00.010-07:00

Creative Commons Licensed at:
http://fohn.net/camel-pictures-facts/arabian-camels-4.html

I'm here in Dubai without a phone and very aware of it. Saw a bunch of camels today and asked my host to tell me about them--she joked that they were "random camels" (but said there might be a farm near by). If I'd had my phone I could have snapped a picture and sent it over to this blog.

Luckily a search of "random camels" + Creative Commons" produced this one.

Or a number of other things according to this blogpost--it provides an extensive list of educational uses for the mobile.

http://thinkingmachine.pbwiki.com/Think%20Mobile%20Phones%20for%20Learning

Sent via Skype

2008-10-30T10:12:00.003-06:00

Spouse Rick and I talk each day using Skype while he is in China. He was sharing with me the warm welcome he and a colleague received at this university. He said he was sending the photo in email, but it wasn't working. I suggested he try sending it in our Skype conversation and it transmitted beautifully.

New SpringWidget

2008-10-23T09:16:00.001-06:00

Get this widget!

Twenty-Five Tools

2008-10-23T07:29:00.001-06:00

25 Tools

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: learning tools)

Stanza Book Reading App on Iphone--How do I get more books?

2008-10-11T10:26:00.004-06:00

While at the Apple Store last weekend, we were helped by a most enthusiastic sales guy who wanted to show us the reader he'd downloaded. I'd used another (eRead?) and thought it was cludgy, but also recognize some of these responses are due to my own learning curves.

He said he'd just seen this one first, but was really happy with it. So I downloaded the free app, loaded a couple public domain books, and started to play with it. The settings for font and page work well, and the claim is you can bookmark and it opens up to where you left off. I showed it to someone else and she agreed the reading format was visually agreeable.

The same day or so after the visit, one of the higher ed sources had an article about how Stanza was giving Kindle a run for its use. So now I want to know more about adding other books and how that works w/ the desktop/laptop. Of course there
are digital divide questions too, and a large and potentially promising question about how these devices will forward the use of open-content educational resources.

Questions about Using Stanza

trying to find the CMC Condo at Ed Tech Island

2008-09-23T18:54:00.001-06:00

posted by MustangQuimby Messmer on EdTech using a blogHUD : [permalink]

Faxing from the IPhone

2008-09-21T21:30:00.002-06:00

I'm taking a free training workshop at wikieducator.org. One of the requirements is to fill out and fax a learning contract. I was able to do so by printing it out, taking a picture of it with my phone, and faxing it through a service called qipit.

The user establishes an account, links it to a phone, and proceeds. Images can also be uploaded to qipit via camera as well. Check out the information at the site that describes the quality of image you are likely to get based on your phone make and model.

Join the Carnies! Carnival of the Mobilists

2008-09-01T18:57:00.004-06:00

I first learned about blog carnvials a couple years ago--a willing blogger "hosts" a review of various blog entries that are sent to him or her. He or she then writes a cohesive review of these sites, and links the reader back to the original blog submissions so readers can go to specific entries and blogs.

I liken it to being a review at a music festival. The reviewer visits several stages or performances, then goes home and writes up observations on points of interest.

So here it is, the 139th carnival of mobile technology enthusiasts, along with their future events and directions for participating. Mobscure is this week's host.

Carnival of the Mobilists

Justin K Lin's China 365 Series

2008-08-17T18:18:00.006-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/ut_rss?type=username&arg=USChinaGuy

KJ Lin is a senior film student from USC. He spent the last year in a program at Beijing University, the same our son attended. Here's his film series from that experience. I decided to just include the rss feed for the channel because you can read the description, then click on the episode title and go to the video.

I have some notes he sent me on what he used to produce this work--it looked like freely available applications. I'll update this note as soon as I pull the details.
He and a friend also produced all the music.

Way to go, Justin.

Social Media in Plain English

2008-07-14T18:01:00.002-06:00

While this is not my favorite of Brad Lefever's videos, this recent video by Brad Lefever shares these points about social networking tools:
these tools allow people to share information or ideas with others and get the feedback of others to inform or validate prodcut or other ideas.

I'm sitting here with...

2008-06-19T14:22:00.001-06:00

I'm sitting here with Peggy(?) Doyle and we're exploring how Jott exports into a blogger, we're also interested in how it might export into Ning(?) listen

Powered by Jott

Don't Text and Drive - Use Jott Instead

2008-06-15T22:56:00.006-06:00

Jott allows you post items to multiple venues via phone and voice rather than by texting on the phone. I saw two videos on YouTube that demonstrate Jott posts to email and other computer folders. I need to explore more Jott possibilities, at http://www.jott.com

Jott to Blog, New Facebook Apps, Udutu

2008-06-15T16:41:00.006-06:00

Web 2.0 and mobile apps just keep happening. Last year I photo and voice-blogged from my cell during Ride the Rockies at the Rockyriders blog using mobile blogging at Blogger and Gabcast. This year Rocketman is the blogger for this event and we got him ready for the task with Jott and mobile photo-blogging.

Jott allows 30 second posts to either Twitter or Blogger. Twitter allows posts of only 140 characters, though, so I wonder if it truncates the posts (You can speak more than 140 characters in 30 seconds.)

I add ed-related apps to my Facebook--I can go to Skoolpool and look for colleges to apply to and even view others who've applied if they have released that info. With the Blackboard app,I can log in to Facebook and see if any new items have come out in my courses. Based on that info., I can then decide I'd better go to my Blackboard course login.

I can also share and view tests that people have posted to postyourtest.com, which takes us back to all the pertinent questions about what high stakes testing really accomplishes when it comes to learning.

Last is Udutu--I can create courses that can run off of Facebook. Need to spend more time with it.

Common Craft Explains Twitter in 2.25 Minutes

2008-05-28T13:52:00.004-06:00

Brad Lefever has done it again with his folksy tech video. This one is about Twitter. I'm embedding the video verson from DotSub because DotSub provides captioning.

(View one set of my Twitter posts to your right.)

Roaring Fork River

2008-05-20T21:47:00.002-06:00

I've just uploaded this video from camera to YouTube. To do so, I connected the camer to the computer. I needed to create an account in YouTube, then download an uploader from YouTube because the file was bigger than 100MB. I then uploaded the video to YouTube and created the settings to post it to this blog from the YouTube settings also.

Traditional and Mobile

2008-04-28T19:39:00.006-06:00

I've been wanting to post this photo for a while for what it represents (courtesy of Rick Voorhees): This young woman is a server at a Beijing tea house/restaurant located in a former home of a Chinese member of court. She is beautifully dressed in period costume and sending our order to the kitchen with her handheld device. By nature, we tend to think in dichotomous terms--it's certainly not an "either/or" solution here!

Posting from Second Life

2008-04-09T14:23:00.002-06:00

posted by MustangQuimby Messmer on NMC Orientation using a blogHUD : [permalink]

Last fall l I bought a BlogHud (posting device) that was supposed to allow me to create blog posts from Second Life and have the post to one of my existing blogs. I finally got it to work. This is my first successful post out to this blog.

Widget Blidget 2

2008-03-25T21:45:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure why the blidgets for Iphone and Mocozone blogs are currently not showing up.
(Why you see nothing more than the titles MoCoZone/MoCoZone Blog for March 17th and 19th posts...

When I look at edit screens, I see the code...(?)

MoCoZone Blog

2008-03-19T06:37:00.001-06:00

Smart Classrooms in Distance Ed

From: Silver_Tomorrow, 4 days ago

| View | Upload your own

A "Tech tidbit" presentation explaining how UND's IDT program 'tweaked' a smart classroom for distance education

SlideShare Link

MoCoZone Blog

2008-03-17T13:12:00.001-06:00

Widget, Blidget

2008-03-17T12:15:00.005-06:00

A widget is a piece of code that allows you to add some device to a webpage or a blog. A blidget allows you to turn your blog into a widget and put it on someone else's webpage or blog (Or?).

Note the blidget for the Widgetbox and IPhone Apps blogs over at the right, and the one of the very blog in the post above. I posted them to this blog directly from the Widgetbox site:
http://www.widgetbox.com/

Veodia--Live Streaming on the Web and in SL

2008-03-08T20:56:00.002-07:00

I 've been meaning to write about this convergence again, because I would love to host a live poetry reading from multiple sites during National Poetry Month in April, and I would like it to also simulcast into Second Life. Veodia is the product that has this capacity.

Guess I just need to get an account and get after it AND figure out where I can get the script placed in SL (because I don't own any land...). More about it here from the SL Blog:
http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/10/16/the-next-best-thing-to-being-there/

Being There Now Via Phones, Classroom, and a Virtual Meeting Room

2008-02-13T15:22:00.004-07:00

This afternoon I was a guest in a meeting happening with a grad class in a Virginia classroom, online, and from my cell in Colorado. Graduate learners in Badrul Khan's class at George Mason University have been in an online dialogue about a paper I wrote applying Badrul's Flexible E-Learning Model to a Second Life course experience I had last term (I took it as a post-grad learner.).

Badrul called me on the phone and had most of the learners together in a room. One person was participating via a virtual conferencing software. I was visiting from my cell. We all had the chance to share additional Q and A about the current paper.

Additionally, I talked to them about how the online collaboration tools we now have available are so helpful to scholars who want to share their ideas about something they are working on for a couple of great reasons: 1) Honest dialogue in community really surfaces audience issues as the piece develops; 2) In the case of designing a study, multiple sites could establish criteria together, then move to doing the studies simultaneously at different sites, bringing a study to scale much more quickly.

Virtual Social Worlds and the Future of Learning

2008-01-27T14:18:00.001-07:00

This video provides great examples of what virtual worlds have to offer. However, recent talk is about the limitations of Second Life due to the fact interest is in mobile experiences: Habbo is one virtual world launching mobile phone capability

MP3 and MP4 Player Vending Machine

2008-01-16T07:42:00.000-07:00

Son Bennet and I were walking around the grounds of Beijing Normal University when we came across this MP3 and MP4 Player Vending Machine.

Quick, I need to listen to the podcast before class! Wish I could have read what was on the machines and what the choices were...

Online Photo Sharing from Common Craft

2008-01-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

Brad Lefever at Common Craft now has a two minute something video for online photo sharing. Clever. Clever. I'm posting the version from Dotsub.com because it is captioned.

NMC Session on Teaching and Learning in SL

2008-01-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

Avatars left to right: Jeremy Braver, Geneva Watkins, and MustangQuimby Messmer(my avatar)

New Media Consortium invited graduate learners from Teaching and Learning in SL (ED 597 at Boise State) to present two sessions on our Challenges-and-Solutions Piece we'd posted on the Second Life Listserv.

The first two links are to the NMC posts about the two panels, the last is to our initial post of challenges and solutions:

http://sl.nmc.org/2008/01/09/challenges-solutions-2/

a href="http://sl.nmc.org/2008/01/10/challenges-solutions-day2">

http://lisadawley.googlepages.com/challengesolutionBSU.htm

That NMC has created an orientation and process for educators to more easily join the Second Life Experience is most appreciated: NMC's Orientation Island

An Instititutional Checklist for Second Life Course Offerings

2008-01-08T06:38:00.004-07:00

Tonight some colleagues and I will participate in a SL panel hosted by New Media Consortium. Here's a checklist I've been working on as a result of the paper I wrote for the class.

An Institutional Checklist for Second Life Course Offerings

At its best, SL is a highly engaging, immersive learning environment which allows learners “to interact with a variety of SL teachers, students, and researchers, attend virtual field trips, plan and conduct workshops, build out teaching resources for other educators, and work on individualized projects and research. This is a wonderful opportunity to become part of the emerging network of virtual world educators.” (Dawley, 2007b, Used with permission.)

This is the first version of a checklist based on an earlier evaluation of a course about teaching and learning in Second Life using Dr. Badrul Khan’s Flexible E-Learning Model (Bedard-Voorhees, 2007). Badrul Khan‘s flexible e-learning model (Khan, n.d.) is expansive in that it provides an integrated approach to the design and delivery of an e-learning experience, one which considers multiple aspects institution-wide. As illustrated by Figure 1, Khan’s complete model includes eight considerations: Institutional, Management, Technological, Pedagogical, Ethical, Interface Design, Resource Support, and Evaluation (n.d., 2005a, 2005b). While some of these considerations fall directly with the department or the instructor providing the course, the institutional considerations fill out the student’s total experience. In generating this checklist, the more general questions are to be credited to Khan’s works, while items which specifically refer to Second Life details are based on this writer’s experience and additional research.

Figure 1. Khan’s E-Learning Framework (Used with Permission.)

Institutional Considerations

Khan's institutional considerations include such categories as budget, support services, institutional partnership or sole effort, and policy (2005a).

What advantage exists for utilizing SL (market, particular disciplinary/learning advantages)?

Does your institution already provide e-learning or distance learning opportunities?
Is there an existing orientation?
How will orientation for SL be provided? (See New Media Consortium: http://virtualworlds.nmc.org/2007/10/10/nmc-rolls-out-orientation-island/)
What other deliveries will support student success and retention (email communications, web-based instruction, face-to-face)

Will your institution offer the SL experience alone or with partners?

What are the SL budget considerations?
Free space or purchased space?
Design costs for Second Life Environment or Objects (Time or Design)?

How will institutional policy provide for SL Course Experiences?
Conduct expectations in SL
Disclaimer for non-educational experiences
Universal Access (ADA)

What existing institutional resources will support learners and faculty in these courses (Khan, 2005a, Khan 2005b)?
Advisement
Policies
Bookstore
Library
Student Services
ADA
Tutoring
Counseling
Technical Support

Management Considerations
Who will carry out the roles of “instructional designer, programmer, graphic artist, and project manager” (Khan, 2005b, p. 105)?
Who will manage the roles during development, during implementation?
Will students be called to fulfill any of these roles in the immersive, constructivist environment that SL offers?

Technological Considerations
In addition to hardware and software support, what digital literacy, sharable objects, and policy topics need consideration (Khan, 2005b)?
How will tech specifications and permissions for downloading and functioning in SL be met (video cards, voice, and ISP)?
Will baseline faculty and learner technology-skills are expected for this course?
What will be the policy for objects created by learners in the course (shared as a condition for the course? Sales allowed?)
What Plan B considerations need to be communicated if the SL grid is not functioning during a specific time period?

Pedagogical Considerations
Which activities will best support the defined outcomes for the course offering(s)?
Which activities will best be carried out in SL and which will be better experienced with other educational activities than SL?
How will activities capitalize on the immersive and social capabilities of SL?
What SL resources have been identified in SL (field trips, other listed educational events, simulation and role-playing sites)?
Which guest experts are available?
What directions will be needed for various activities?

Ethical Considerations
How will offering(s) address “social and political influences, cultural diversity, bias, geographical diversity, learner diversity, digital divide, etiquette, and legal issues” (Khan, 2005b, p. 293) including plagiarism and intellectual property rights?
How will geographical time zones affect choices of meetings in Second Life (in-world sessions)?
Will learners need to be introduced to SL etiquette?
What documents already exist for online etiquette for other course interactions?
Has thought been given to equivalent learning activities that may be required for universal access (ADA accommodations)?

Interface Design Considerations
Do learners clearly understand which activities will occur in SL and where others will occur if they are web-based or face-to-face?
If web-based activity complements SL, is the design clean and easy to navigate?
What design considerations are needed for activities in SL (locations and inventory?)
While SL accommodates hearing-impaired learners, how will equivalent experiences be provided to accommodate mobility or visually impaired learners?

Resource Support Considerations
What provision will be made for library resources, tutorials, and object repositories (Khan, 2005a, 2005b)?
What campus-based resources already exist and how will these be communicated and made available to learners?
Will this course provide SL skill-building sessions, or send learners to ongoing building classes freely offered in SL?
Will the course provide extra tutoring assistance in SL (tutor, TA?)?

Evaluation Considerations
How will the following be evaluated: content development, e-learning environment, program and institutional evaluation, and learning assessment and success (Khan 2005b)?
Does your institution already use content evaluation (like Quality Matters?)? If so, will it need to be adapted for SL content?
What mechanisms for course and program evaluations currently exist and will they need to be modified in any way to reflect the SL offering(s)?
What SL and other formats will be used for formative assessment (in-world) as well as formative assessment for other activities in other class formats?
What types of assessment activities in SL and out of SL will best measure the learning outcomes for the course offering(s)?
What mechanisms can be used to provide feedback in-world (email mechanisms, a class debrief in text or voice-chat)?
Will rubrics for activities be provided by the faculty or negotiated with learners for both formative and summative assessment?

References

Bedard-Voorhees, A. (2007). Evaluating EDTECH 597: Teaching and Learning in Second Life with Badrul Khan’s Flexible Learning Model. Unpublished paper. Submitted to Boise State University, Boise Idaho.

Boise State University (2004). Information for enrolled students. [Online]
http://itc.boisestate.edu/orient/orient.htm

Dawley, L. (2007a) Persistent learning webinar. Retrieved on December 11, 2007, from
http://edtech.acrobat.com/p17101188/

Dawley, L. (2007b). Syllabus for EDTECH 597: Teaching and Learning in Second Life.
Boise State University. Boise, Idaho.

Foster, A.L. (2007, October 15). Thought-controlled avatars emerge in Second Life. The
Wired Chronicle. Retrieved on December 11, 2007, from Thought Controlled Avatars>>

Khan, B. (2005a). E-learning quick checklist. Hershey, PA: Information Science
Publishing.

Khan, B. (2005b). Managing E-Learning Strategies: Design, Delivery, Implementation and Evaluation. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.

Khan, B. (n.d.). The e-learning framework. Retrieved on December 11, 2007, from
http://asianvu.com/bookstoread/framework/

Linden Research, Inc. (2007). Second Life blog. Retrieved on December 12, 2007, from
http://blog.secondlife.com/

Madison Area College Technical College. (2005). Screen readers and blackboard for
students. Retrieved on December 10, 2007, from
http://matcmadison.edu/trc/blackboard/Accessibility/screenreaders_students.htm

New Media Consortium (2007). NMC virtual worlds. Retrieved on January 6, 2008, from http://virtualworlds.nmc.org/2007/10/10/nmc-rolls-out-orientation-island/.

Ohio State University. (2007). Ohio university Second Life campus community standards. Retrieved on December 12, 2007, from http://vital.cs.ohiou.edu/vitalwiki/index.php/Ohio_University_Second_Life_Campus_Community_Standards
Sierra. (2007). IBM project: Second life accessible for blind people. Techpin: Daily Tech News. 24 September 2007. Retrieved on November 13, 2007, from
http://www.techpin.com/ibm-project-second-life-accessible-for-blind-people/#comment-1205

©Alice Bedard-Voorhees (SL: MustangQuimby Messmer) 2007 (Attribution Required)

Streaming Live Video into Second Life

2007-12-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

On some occassions, people will be meeting in a room

I want to know how to stream live video into Second Life:

Alan Levine writes about it at CogDogBlog:

Second Live Live Video Streatm Setup

I have looked at a demo of Veodia also, but it's all new to me.

I'm also thinking that in order to accomplish this you have to have ownership rights/permissions to the land in SL.

SmartBoard Podcast wins EduBlogger Award

2007-12-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

http://feeds.feedburner.com/SmartboardLessonsPodcast

I had to capture this podcast--we use Smart Boards at Colorado Mountain College.

Traveler/Geography Games

2007-11-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

Here's our chance to dream about mobility in this life--enjoy the challenge of these geography games at this travel site that includes the opportunity to start your own travel blog.

http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq

SL Access for the Visually Impaired

2007-11-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

SL Accessibility Issues

Problem
I have been thinking about technological and sensory accessibility in Second Life. The user in this post is in a wheel chair, a motor disability that does not affect access.In an earlier blogpost, http://mocozone.blogspot.com/2007_10_14_archive.html, I included an article about a headgear that allowed people with neuron-muscular disabilities to direct avatar movement through though and transmission through the headgear . But in that post I also wondered aloud about how people with full visual impairment could participate in Second Life.

Potential Solution
An article entitled “IBM Project: Second Life Accessible of Blind People,” (Sierra, 2007), describes IBM’s efforts to make SL accessible through sound (“leaves rustling,” for example) and text-speech software integration. It is still in the R and D stage.

Bedard-Voorhees, A. (2007). Neuromobility. Mocozone Blog. Retrieved on November
13, 2007, from http://mocozone.blogspot.com/2007_10_14_archive.html

Sierra. (2007). IBM project: Second life accessible for blind people.
Techpin: Daily Tech News. 24 September 2007. Retrieved on November 13,
2007, from http://www.techpin.com/ibm-project-second-life-accessible-for- blind-people/#comment-1205.

Welcome to the CMC Condo in SL Boise State provided us with the space on EdTech Island

2007-11-13T14:41:00.001-07:00

posted by MustangQuimby Messmer on EdTech using a blogHUD : [permalink]

BlogHud and Reflection, and More Learning Curveballs

2007-11-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

I spent a long time tonight preparing a learning assessment package for Teaching in Second Life. When considering which assessment tool or strategy I would share with classmates this week, I recalled the blogHUD, a device that allows avatars to post to create blog posts inworld, posts that then appear on web.

Educators Kolb (1984), Brookfield and Preskill(1999) stress the value of reflection as part of the learning process. Journals have often been used for this practice, and blogs now allow for that reflective expression. Now mobile applications allow the learner to post in proximity to the learning context that may well be away from the confines of the traditional brick and mortar class or library or study desk (Trafford, 2005). Bloghud has such portability for learners in Second Life. The blogHUD allows the learner-avatar to post from any SL location, sending the post to the web: http://www.bloghud.com/

Dear RadEd Statowski was the first avatar friend to ever mention BlogHuds. There are two types of Bloghuds, free or PRO(paid). Both publishe to bloghud.com, though the PRO is supposed to allow cross-posting to variety of blogs you may already have. I bought the PRO, but at this posting have not been able to set it to cross post to my blogger blog. Also, when I tried to cut and paste this lengthy post with my BlogHUD inworld, there was just too much text to fully appear in one post.

On a more general note, I’ve been thinking about data gathering and research about learning activity in SL to date and thinking that these questions look similar to earlier stages of research about online learning: How many are engaging in online learning; why do some people like online learning, what irritates learners about online learning, how many people are participating in online learning, and is there a relationship between online learning participation and certain online practices?
TLT (http://tltgroup.org) asks the questions why SL and how does it compare to other options for delivery.

Nonetheless, there's encouraging evidence that more sophisticated questions and data gathering tools are coming into play to ask and answer research questions about learner patterns and persistence in SL. Mali and our Eric Hackathorn, guest from NOAA and Maya Realities so vividly modeled for us in class the other night.

Kolb, D. (1984) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Englewood-Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1984.

Brookfield, S., & Preskill, S. (1999). Discussion as a way of teaching: Tools and techniques for Democratic Classrooms. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Teaching and Learning in Second Life. November 6, 2007, class session at EdTech Island.

Trafford, P. (2005). Mobile blogs, personal reflections and learning environments"
Ariadne 44 . Retrieved on November 4, 2007, from http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue44/trafford/intro.html

Jeremy Kemp in SL: "20 Months and 20 Lessons"

2007-11-02T14:13:00.000-06:00

Sabine's AECT Slideshow -- Slideshare + UTube

2007-11-01T12:05:00.001-06:00

Here's another example of how SL supports instructional purpose. Sabine uses both Slideshare and a YouTube video for this presentation. She also links to some great resources for educators trying to answer questions about joining and using SL.

AECT2007SReljic

From: sreljic, 4 days ago

| View | Upload your own

10/27/2007--Online multiuser virtual environments such as Second Life offer a non-threatening space for learners to practice a foreign language or receive pre-departure information. The simulated landscape provides an immersive experience that complements and facilitates the learning process. Meeting language natives is one of the most important value-added offered by SL's 3D online format. Aspects of social presence are discussed. Implementation recommendations are suggested. This ppt does not include the conference's audio explaining the slides.

SlideShare Link

SL Objects to be tagged and sent to Merlot.org

2007-10-30T18:16:00.000-06:00

One more way to get the word out on objects of educational value was announced today.

Jonathan Richter (SL: Wainbrave Bernal) from U of OR announced on the SL educators listserv today that a beta copy of a HUD was now available to tag objects in SL. The free device allows SL visitors to tag items based on some questions provided with the HUD. The project will then place the tagged items in a wiki, where participants can vote on what gets listed at Merlot.org, a large educational object referatory. Peer recommendations will certainly be helpful.

You can get a copy of the HUD at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Eduisland/167/27/21/

What other ways will help people consider the value of SL? I just put together PPT on condo space loaned to our institution at Boise State. The presentation provides shots of that space which includes a slide show which answers a specific learning question: How is SL being used for the study of literature?

Additionally, includes questions educators are asking about value, orientation for students and faculty, and liabilities. It provides a link to one institutions expectation for student participation in their SL space as well.

I've been seeking out faculty who are currently participated in SL and one person participated in the recent online presentation we did with faculty from our institution.

I recently also sent marketing and recruitment folks the link to a college fair on the Teen Grid--and would really like to have a couple questions added to the student evaluations about their use of technology and the related communities.

I'd love to hear about what other people are doing relative to awareness and consideration of using SL for classes in your institutions or systems or organizations.

Mobile Phone Software, Fishermen, and Tapan Parikh

2007-10-29T16:09:00.000-06:00

This is not a new news item, but I didn't want it to go without notice. Technology Magazine named doctoral student Tapan Parikh a 2007 Humanitarism awardee for software that helped fishermen in India locate markets that needed their net harvest on a given day, rather than the fishermen randomly boating from market to market, hoping to find market need.

http://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?TRID=619

Google Docs in Plain English

2007-10-29T15:56:00.001-06:00

Google Docs allow people who don't have word processing and presentation software to create and collaborate online with Google.

There are some limitations, if I remember correctly --

Social Bookmarking in Plain English

2007-10-29T15:53:00.001-06:00

I missed this LeFever production.

There are numerous social bookmarking sites, but the two most popular seem to be del.icio.us and technorati.

Barriers Be Gone: NMC and the Andragogue

2007-10-23T15:20:00.000-06:00

I not only have my hesitant moments in SL because I'm just an insecure avatar (Can you say, late blooming Digital Immigrant?). And last week I got to teach in Second Life as part of a course I'm taking called Teaching in Second Life.. Because we weren't able to use voice, I also compressed my text-delivered remarks about the slide show I was giving. Then I froze up. I mean I just couldn't get my avatar to move and other avatars did not appear to be able to move either. So I quit Second Life and re-entered. My co-presenters were admirabley proceeding with our intended lesson. Then I froze up again and had to leave. And return again.

Even though I know the Second Life environment is not always stable, I was disappointed. I mentally started re-visiting Patricia Cross' and others' writings on the adult learning barrier literature--institutional barriers (SL?), situational barriers (like adult lack of time or money, babysitter, car, headset, microphone...), dispositional (lack of confidence), and epistomological (real or learner-perception about the difficulty of a subject--does that include navigating in SL?).

Only a few days before, my friend and colleague Phyllis had sent me the link to New Media Consortium's response to (adult) educators' experiences with SL Orientation Island--Interaction with avatars who were less than appropriate and confusion.

http://sl.nmc.org/2007/10/10/nmcs-orientation-island-honors-the-home-of-linden-lab/

I am happy to see a proposed solution for reducing barriers for entry and comfort level w/ Second Life. Comfort level and enough practionar knowledge to know how to prepare for a Plan B (if the grid gets wonky, for example) will add to how educators use and identify the value of the virtual environment.

Netizens--reaching across worlds

2007-10-22T22:19:00.000-06:00

So I was looking at Stephen Downes’ e-letter again today and he was talking about his wiki book project on the history of the internet:
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?AFolkHistoryOfTheInternet

He invites people to contribute and says it eventually will become a book and contributors will be credited. So I begin by orienting myself to the index/categories that are listed there. It links years to certain categories and some of them seem random. But I do glom on to one and that is Netizens: http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/wiki.cgi?action=browse&diff=1&id=AFolkHistoryOfTheInternet/Netizens

Michael Hauben’s 1992 article defined people who realize their connectedness to the world community via the internet as “netizens”:
http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/IEC/hauben.html, a nomenclature that has the effect of several smart coffees with extra shots.

And by 2007, the netizens belong to more than one world.
They are Stephen Downes, http://www.downes.ca/; there is Jayne Cravens with UN and other world volunteerism: http://www.coyotecommunications.com/me/aboutme.html, Andy Carvin across the digital divide: http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/acarvin; there is Alan Levine presenting in Australia last week Live with Ustream, Twitter, and SL: http://cogdogroo.wikispaces.com/Being+There;Mali Young, Intellagirl Tully and Lyr Lobo and both Second Life grids; and LeRoy Jenkins a folk hero in WOW (which my DNative colleagues called “The New Golf”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeroy_Jenkins. And there is Norman Coombs in work with accessibility: http://www.rit.edu/~nrcgsh/; Badrul Khan in his wish for affordable global education models: http://www.badrulkhan.com, AND my family simultaneously online in Skype in the US, Bahrain, and China: http://www.skype.com.

And I have to say, all are between and among worlds and some are between real and virtual worlds, but like all about the power is in connecting people from various quadrants.

Using Mobile Phones for Learning

2007-10-18T10:55:00.000-06:00

No need to re-write the book on paying attention to the potential of mobile phones:

Is was here in the 2007 Horizon Report (Click on the blog-post title to view the article)

This article says though the world as we know it is about 2 -3 years out from widely using phones for educational experiences and delivery, it lists many current examples: elementary students sending data to their teachers via text and photos, student services using phones for to disseminate information to students.

One particularly engaging piece is

20 Ideas: Getting Students to Use Their Mobile Phones as Learning Tools

Live from Australia

2007-10-18T09:57:00.001-06:00

This is the first time I had the opportunity to watch UStream TV. Knowing Alan's expertise (which he addresses/dismisses/qualifies/elluminates) and his openness to trying new techniques certainly played a part in wanting to see how this event would go. I thought the transmission quality was great.

Here's his take on it:
http://cogdogroo.wordpress.com/

Quite the roadshow with multiple displays of opportunities for interactions via technology: notifying (Twittering) people that the show was launching along with colleagues checking in w/ Alan, SMS used to exchange questions and answers with participants at the physical conference site, an audio cast of the session in SL, and the live ITV transmission.

The message behind the presentation? Being open to technology opens us to how we might use it for educational purposes (in this case). AND the power of our expertise given the rate and breadth of tech development is our networks and that capacity of those within it.

Woo Woo. (Or should that be Woof Woof in honor of CDBarkley?)

Live From...UStreamTV

2007-10-17T16:38:00.000-06:00

Create streaming video now from your webcam or videocam. The title of this post is linked to an article which provides tips to do so.

Here's one programming site brought to us by NMC's Alan Levine (aka CD Barkley)

So can I view this in SL? Cogdog ustream URL

Neuro-Mobility

2007-10-15T22:16:00.000-06:00

The Chronicle of Higher Ed posted this today: There is a neuro-application that will let people with mobility issues direct their avatars' movment in SL. I'm reminded of someone I knew once: we were discussing what we would do if we had an hour to do anything we wanted. He, who was blind, said, "I'd fly again."

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/index.php?id=2454

On one hand, this article expresses wonderful capacity. Since I have spacial issue, I certainly welcome it! Though as I think of my friend who said he would fly again, I'm also reminded that SL has visual limitations and sometimes auditory limitations.

Intellagirl Talks about the Educational Qualities of SL

2007-10-03T15:29:00.001-06:00

I spent this week examining my Digital-Immigrant-Learner ambivilence about SL in light of its appeal as a fanciful, playful environment that I don't seem to get, because I'm purpose driven and don't really know how to all-out play! To balance that is this presentation because Intellagirl gets SL so well as a social and as a learning environment.

The title of this entry links to the transcript for this slideshow.

Educause Project Parlor Presentation

From: intellagirl, 6 months ago

An overview of Second Life, how it works for education, and examples of SL uses for a selection of subjects.

SlideShare Link

Moving Among Communication Styles: VBLOG from NAD and dot.sub

2007-10-02T10:52:00.000-06:00

This example forwards our thinking about universal design and the various worlds of communication. Here is a captioned video, a video done in sign language. Adding an audio version could add yet another dimension!

Adding a texture to an object in second life

2007-09-23T10:07:00.001-06:00

I needed to learn how to do this, so I searched you.tube and sent the video here so I know where it is!

Create a cube and resize it in Second Life

2007-09-23T10:06:00.001-06:00

I searched out and grabbed this video as a resource for work I'm doing in a class.

Josh Spear at Zeitgeist Europe 2007: "Mobile is my center of gravity."

2007-09-19T10:47:00.001-06:00

Now hear this: "Mobile is my center of gravity." His points about trends is that regular net marketing doesn't work with this generation, that cell phone interactions are about alerting the user to connecting to others, dating as gaming, and where to buy unique items such as virtual gifts, real clothing and jewelry and ring tones.

Take away audio posts for this blog

2007-09-12T15:16:00.000-06:00

Talkr.com turns text into audio from a web space like this blog. It allows for an MP3 download for each post if the right script is placed in the template. I still need to figure the placement out, but it's good to have audio capacity--it's a universal design thing.

If you have an RSS reader on your browser, you can expect to read the RSS and see the mp3's for a number of blog posts.

Sending Email to a Text Screen on a Cell Phone

2007-09-10T11:51:00.000-06:00

So you are at your desktop/laptop, but the person you are writing the email to is off w/o a computer, but has a cell on him or her. This person does not have a wireless data package either, where he or she receives downloads from their web service. But he or she is able to receive text messages.

If the cell has text capacity, there is now a way to send email as a text message, according to the Online Wallstreet Journal writer Lyneka Little. It also seems that the cost to the recipient depends on their cell package (so it may cost nothing, or it might cost the viewer an extra charge). The sender also needs to know who the recipient's cell provider is--Verizon, Tmobile, AT&T, and Cingular were ones noted in the article:

Texting Via Computer

Basically, here's how to do it. Type the email, but instead of entering the person's email address, use one of the following:

Type the phone number w/ no hypens@phoneserviceprovider.domain (net or com, depending):

Example: Someone with the phone number 123-456-7890 has phone service with TMobile(@tmomail.net)--the To line looks like this: 1234567890@tmomail.net

Other providers:

Verizon -- @vtext.com
AT&T -- @txt.att.net
Cingular (for the time being) -- @cingularme.com

Avators on the Move

2007-09-04T22:01:00.000-06:00

This is an interesting item--it's about the creation of avatars that could possibly move across platforms. The Universal Girl (or Guy) so to speak.

And we thought having a couple avatars around the SL would be convenient.

http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2007/07/virtualworlds-1.html?

Student-Generated Content

2007-08-31T11:56:00.000-06:00

The tools we are exploring offer great opportunity for student-created content. As Judith Boettecher says in the first article, allowing students to use the tools that enthuse them are likely to increase their engagement.

This wiki entry about student-created content was the result of the Sloan-C researcher going out to DEOS-L and asking people to talk about student-generated content. It was great to see his acknowledgement of the multiple contributors and his remark that the contributions came from around the world. So the contributors were mobilized to contribute.

http://www.sloan-c-wiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=What_Is_Student-Generated_Content%3F

And now for student created-content and mobile content—phones, web, and web-based video and image services, social-networking spaces, blogs, wikis, and virtual worlds offer potential for student-created content.

And with such opportunity comes the ethical considerations for those who teach—what student content do we want catalogued by the web?

The Horizon Project invited learners from around the globe to explore technological trends and their impacts on various societal quadrants. My interest, of course, is higher education, but cross pollination is a good thing! And here’s the link to the user-created content part of this project:

http://horizonproject.wikispaces.com/User-Created+Content

Here also, is an article about student produced TV: http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/showstory.cfm?ArticleID=6312

Mocozone: In Need of Technical Revision

2007-08-31T11:55:00.001-06:00

Hi All,

As you can see, the layout is goofed up. I think it is the height and width settings on the videos I imported. I'll see what I can do.

Cheers,

Alice

EdTech Island on Second Life (Revised)

2007-08-31T08:50:00.001-06:00

I'm taking a course at Ed Tech Island this term called Teaching and Learning in Second Life.

American Indian College Fund Video

2007-08-31T08:38:00.001-06:00

This is a nicely done video--it IS about the stories and the images and sound really add to the effect.

Second Life Camera Control

2007-08-28T16:45:00.001-06:00

Now, from SLife: "Camera Control"

Second Life Tutorial - How to send and create a notecard

2007-08-28T16:34:00.001-06:00

Here's another Second Life Skill--"How to Create and Send a Notecard."

Second Life Tutorial - How to use the building grid

2007-08-28T16:29:00.001-06:00

I worked on building a sign before in SL, but this looks like a way to get better at building prims in Second Life.

Social Networking in Plain English

2007-08-02T16:00:00.001-06:00

Lee LeFever has done it again. In less than two minutes, he explains online social networks. (Though the captioning here is in English, many other languages or available at dotsub.com)

I have to think about this one, though. A person still has to have some sense of the the contacts a person is making in a very public network.

A Great Post: The Case for Short Instructional Podcasts

2007-07-31T15:27:00.000-06:00

I just came across a great post created by Janet Clarey in her blog Technology Escapades.

Soon after I began searching and listening to educational podcasts, I concluded not many of us would listen to something so long and stay attentive for very long.

Janet recommends a 3 - 5 minute podcast providing suggestions such an audio response to specific student assigments or an introduction to the class.

I was pleased to create an overview for a class I facilitated last term and included it and the written script in my course shell. If you look to the RSS feed at the right, it's the third audio file down the list. It's not perfect, but our feedback had been that the former learners had been intimidated by the theorist readings at the beginning of the term, and I wanted to assure them that reading about theorists would not be the entire course experience.

Blogging and Podcasting via Cell Phone

2007-06-26T10:20:00.000-06:00

We just participated in Ride the Rockies, a bike tour. I posted photos and podcasts via my cell phone along the way. I still need to do some more clean-up, but it was a great experience.

Since I didn't have a car charger for my phone, I did rely on scouting out places to plug the charger in (like under the counter at a restaurant, in the school cafeteria, at an internet cafe and coffee shop). I'm ready for a solar charger--

Rocky Riders Blog and Podcasts

Journal Issue on Mobile Learning

2007-06-26T10:18:00.000-06:00

The current issue of International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning focuses on mobile learning.

The opening editorial gives a nice overview:
Guest Editor Ally

Journal Contents:
International Review of Online Distance Learning

Articles are available in MP3 format as well as HTML and PDF.

Common Craft's Cool Wiki Video and Portable Media Devices

2007-06-04T16:57:00.000-06:00

Lee Lefever of Common Craft has done it again by creating a three minute something video on using wikis. It's available in more than one format from more than one video source, and he has included a captioned version and a transcript.

Dotsub.com is the host for this video and provides captioning capability(several languages). There is a demo at their site so you can try the captioning tool out as well. While I can send videos from UTube directly to Blogger, I did have to cut and copy the code at dotSub then manually paste it in here.

Text Transcript: http://www.commoncraft.com/transcript-wikis-plain-english-video

I couldn't get the captioned Wiki video to come over.

However--the code for the RSS Feed Video does display with captions--so here it is again (a repeat from the earlier UTube version).

Lee's best screens are examples of the simplicity needed for the small screens of portable media players. I do like the universal design possibilities of dotSub. Just with I could figure out where the Wiki video glitch was!

Using Cell Phones for Workplace ESL

2007-06-03T18:23:00.000-06:00

I've been wanting to learn more about Athabasca's phone ESL project for a while and today I had the opportunity to look at it more closely. One option given the learners was to access the content by phone and complete quizzes by phone. The learners read short lessons on cell and used text options to answer quizzes on points of grammar, 5 - 9 questions long.

Visit the lessons and quizzes.

http://www.eslau.ca/

Why did I automatically assume the first part of the lesson was audio? It brings up the question of when content as text is more appropriate. Also makes me think about how this could pair up with a services like gabcast which allows for the creation of mp3's via phone. Add that to the cell capacity to download mp3's too.

Google Gears: Sort of Mobile RSS, at Least Offline

2007-06-03T15:22:00.000-06:00

Google released a plug-in this past week to allow a person to download up to 2000 RSS feed items to the user’s desktop and then read them.

While I'm not excited about needed 2000 more items at my fingertips, I can see
the value of being able to catch up on a feed when I'm out of range for online access, as I am in airplanes or when I'm in some physical classrooms where reference to a particular feed would be helpful.

Google Gears is only in Beta, and people are asking to have it for mobile phones (makes sense).

Chris Wetherell introduces you to the plug-in and tells you about its use:

http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2007/05/oh-sam-i-am-can-i-read-it-on-tram.html

Once you have downloaded Google Gears and installed it, you can see whether you are online or offline by viewing the downward arrow next to your login name at the right top of your Google Reader page.

If the arrow is blue, you are offline; if the arrow is green you are back online, and any RSS feeds will automatically be uploading to the feeds in your reader.

Port-ability at the Platte River

2007-05-06T19:15:00.000-06:00

Last week I was thinking this blog might have been called Port-Ability. Mobile/portable content is not only about the devices that make and transmit it, but how how the tech convergences allow mobility for the creator as well.

So here we were today. We were out doing a training ride for Ride the Rockies, a bike event in Colorado. The Platte River was running high and rolling so much that we couldn't bike under some bridges due to the rising water. We did meet goslings with their parents though.(Sorry, I missed that photo opp.) So I snapped this picture with my phone.

On my to do list: Get Better at Taking Cell Pictures

I could also have called in a voice commentary to my Gabcast account--just didn't get to it.

Common Craft's Cool RSS Video and Portable Media Devices

2007-05-01T07:39:00.000-06:00

At the TCC 2007 Online Conference in April there was a session about one institution's use of "enhanced podcasts"--audio podcasts w/ ppts of visual models relevant to the audio content. One of the issues discussed was screen design and display challenges on smaller portable media players.

I was reminded of their discussion this week when I came across LeFever's delightful video about RSS feeds(referenced by both Robin Goode and Stephen Downe's blogs).

Click To Play

"There are two types of Internet users, those that use RSS and those that don't. This video is for the people who could save time using RSS, but don't know where to start."

I placed the cool 3.5 video on a couple blogs (View it above), but wondered how this video would show on a small screen of a portable media player (Ipod, Sansa). So I saved it to .wmv on my desktop and then moved it to may Sansa. Well my portable media play has a 1.5" by 1.5" screen. This particular session didn't do too bad, considering.

Screens w/ a bunch of print displayed poorly. I think this one would have done well on a larger display model, however.

While really good visuals complement rather than repeat text or audio content, more complex models may still be problematic for portables at this point.

I can think of something like art slides, or flashcard type screens as workable screen choices.

BTW: This video came from BlinkTV. The viewer can choose the video format for viewing. While the selection doesn't make a difference for posting to a blog, it made a difference for downloading the link from emailto a specific machine, and would make the difference for saving to Itunes/Ipod or Sansa.

Portable Apps Feed Reader at Your Right

2007-04-25T16:01:00.000-06:00

So now at your right is a widget Feed Reader that happens to contain the latest releases from Portable Apps. The screen is small though, but if you click on it, the full screen will pop up and you can read about the latest and greatest of portable applications. More opportunity to create content without being tied to one machine.

Phone Software that Reads Scanned Info

2007-04-02T09:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the NY Times had a story about phone technology that has been used in Japan for some time. The phone contains a software that can read bar-coded information from buildings or other sources. It is being touted as "the link between the virtual and physical world."

For a trial run, go to the article and see if your phone can run the trial. Sounds like its coming to a market near you soon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/business/01code.html?ex=1333080000&en=8bb117f940e7a895&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Phone or Pen (Cursor)?

2007-03-29T08:47:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about how we articulate what we have learned—by our developed thinking, writing, and speaking skills. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about assessments requiring only writing, especially in online courses where learners are also doing a lot of writing in discussions as well. Because I taught composition for years, the demonstration was the writing, though I did assign a research presentation so that the class could share their research efforts.

With the evolution of phone casting, there are now some opportunities to allow students to demonstrate some of the learning via the phone.

So today, I posted the option to submit a case study in written or spoken format using my paid Gabcast account ($6/month). I wanted them to be able to create files that wouldn't automatically be published and to do that in Gabcast, you have to have a paid account.

I did invite everyone to just go in and try the service to see what it is like.

If they choose this option, they can script their assignments and call them in. They are required to submit a reference list via the courseroom for any sources they've drawn from.

Students could also record sound files on their desktops w/ Audacity or Garage Band and submit those.

Stay tuned…I’ll report back. I'm interested in seeing if anyone will use this option. I plan to offer it more than once this term.

Teaching-Blog Carnival #22 is Up!

2007-03-15T17:49:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Teaching-Blog Carnival #22 which visits blogs about literature, writing, reading, tech tools, Second Life, and using the net and phone to both connect our students to the learning as well as connecting with them.

One of my colleagues recently asked me to talk about what it is a person does at the carnival site.

As a host, MoCoZone checked tags for teaching, teaching-carnival, teaching-blog carnival. Apologies to those who were tagged but not seen!

After doing so, the host wrote up her observations and embedded the links to the blogs posts, which will take the visitor to the original source behind the commentary.

Revision-Spiral wrote and simply told me to "have fun with it." Though I wasn't quite sure about how to go about it beyond what I described here, I really did enjoy it.

Mocozone's podcast guest Dr. Liz Kleinfeld gave two short interviews about hosting a teaching-blog carnival and a teaching-blog carnival as an assignment at Episodes #4 and #7.

Check out others at Teaching Carnival and email GeorgeHWilliams@gmail.com if you are adventurous and want to host.

At the Carnival & Exploring the Potential for....

Levity

Salt Box introduces the potential of Improv Wiki by tagging it "debate."

Reading

The Long 18th is teaching students to deduce history from the novels in her course. Her exercise to teach students involves comparing different relationships in literature across time, contrasting empirical evidence with non-empirical in a given period. It's a form of using a graphic mapping diagram to help learners see contrasts between different periods of time.

Yellow Dog has dumped "The Textbook" and others agree by offering their variations on that theme.

The Golden Swamp says paper texts are passe because of content creation and retrieval technologies that "screenagers" carry with them.

The Long 18th offers some women's history month sources.

Writing

M2H Blogging writes enthusiastically about a day with student writers in their wikis and their thoughts about writing as they learn to use the wiki tool.

Revision Spiral is recording comments to student papers and feels she more authentically provides feedback and that students are listening.

Cycling Through Ed Tech makes a case for using Web 2.0 tools to increase "student engagement."

Jertz's Literacy Weblog shares a blog carnival created by a student .

Digital Thinking and Doing

Silver in San Francisco explains a research and writing assignment involving a visit to the campus library to document exhibits and complete interviews in the campus library for posts on the class blog.

Silver included an Ira Glass video from NPR talking about how to "get good" at storytelling.

Second Life

Not all the avatars could get into New Media Consortium Storytelling Event.

If you are interested, New Media Consortium allow educators to take educational field trips in Second Life.

Intellagirl teaches comp in Second Life where students explore identity and integration at several levels which is addressed in a Second Life Podcast.

Not your usual tour of the Hebrides, RADEd is a traveler exploring education sites in SLsites at SLED Project with his colleague Ize Messmer.

Breaks, No Breaks

Cycling Through Ed Tech works on book and presentation projects over spring break.

Not of General Interest reinforces the notion of continued hard work on behalf of the career.

Human Connections

Various Observations on Writing wrestles with the news of a former student's fight with leukemia and calls her.

Steve McCarty, EFL instructor in Japan, invites colleagues to join a discussion group on the use of video in higher ed.

Mocozone podcast explains how guest discussants can be interviewed or brought in for class visits with some help from technology.

YouTube Education and Video Discussion Group

2007-03-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

I’m participating as a guest discussant in an Online Teaching and Learning course this week. One of the learners asked me about the use of video in the discussion area, and I responded that I was actually thinking about video as a content creation-tool but that a person could start a discussion by linking to a video in the opening remarks as the point of departure for the discussion.

Students can create short videos and post them to discussions as an option for addressing a topic too—the technical aspect becomes where the videos reside.

I did just learned about an educator discussion group in You Tube about the use of video in higher ed: http://www.youtube.com/group/educational.

Group founder Steve MCCarty is an educator who has created extensive resources (including a podcast) for EFL in Japan.

You will need to set up an account at UTube to join the discussion the group. Though it appears a number of people have joined the group, there are a limited number of discussions and some videos.

Where Oh Where Have the Phone Casts Gone?

2007-03-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

I was so excited a short while ago when Fonpods and Podlinez provided ways to attach phone numbers to RSS feeds for podcasts. I added some numbers and channels to my phone contacts lists for Second Life, Shakespeare, triatholon training, and the MoCoZone podcast.

Recently, the fonpod site showed up missing, and Podlinez had no new numbers available. The efforts to contact the owners through email produced no results either.

Work and SL colleague provided Ajax Girl's post that further explains Fonpod's tribulations.

Tag Your Blog for the Next Teaching Blog-Carnival

2007-03-07T21:50:00.000-07:00

MoCoZone's last blog entry linked to the interview w/ Dr. Liz Kleinfeld about her participation in a teaching-blog carnival.

Visit hers at Revision Spiral and the one which follows at Salt-Box.

Well, I up to bat next. If your blog is about some aspect of instruction in higher education, please tag it in del.icio.us or Technorati with the term "teaching-blog carnival."

Teaching Blog-Carnival #22 should be up on this blog on March 15th.

Mo Co Zone's Interviews and Liz's Blog Carnivals

2007-02-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

In the past few weeks, I've done the first two interviews on some innovative teaching practices: teaching-blog carnivals and teaching-blog assignments.

Dr. Liz Kleinfeld enthusiastically agreed to provide interviews for each of these topics. She also agreed to interviews using Skype and a phone line.

The podcast files: http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&id=6604 (See also the MoCoZone podcast link under links on this site).

Liz's Teaching Blog Carnival: http://revisionspiral.blog-city.com/teaching_carnival_20.htm

Teaching-Blog Carnival home: http://teachingcarnival.blogspot.com/

Liz was great, and I soon faced my own learning curve, ones I've heard are not unsual for beginning podcasters. With my colleague Rick H's help, the pod file took about (ouch) ten hours to clean up: I'd left some windows open while using Skype and the clicks on my track are caused by that.

The second file has not been cleaned up, but I hope to do so myself, under Rick's tutelage while I use Audacity.

There are more people I'd like to interview around other interesting instructional practices.

2007-01-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Martin Luther King

Yet another example of mobile content, relevant to today's U.S. holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King's Birthday. I can really appreciate how technology makes this historical piece so available.

Ipod Adds the Phone

2007-01-09T19:42:00.000-07:00

Greetings All,

While we have been noting services that allowed phones to dial in to podcasts, directly, Ipod announced the addition of phone capacity to Ipods today in Las Vegas--here are two articles on the announcement:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a1oX9fiY.0cw&refer=home

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/08/technology/circuits/08pogue.html?ex=1283832000&en=72979b085595fb7f&ei=5090

MoCoZone Launches First Podcast Episode

2007-01-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first Podcast Episode for MoCoZone describing some services that allow you to dial directly to listen to podcast content.

MoCoZone 1:

Phone Numbers for Podcasts

Formative MP3

2006-03-14T17:52:00.002-07:00

Formative Assessment/Feedback MP3

2006-03-14T17:52:00.001-07:00

EDUCAUSE REVIEW | May/June 2005, Volume 40, Number 3

2005-07-26T15:57:00.000-06:00

EDUCAUSE REVIEW | May/June 2005, Volume 40, Number 3

This article helpfully describes the arrival of mobile learning. Ellen Wagner also defines key terms.

Welcome to the MoCoZone

2005-07-26T14:55:00.000-06:00

What do you get when you combine mobile content with higher ed? Welcome to the blog whose intent is to explore the next space in learning--the convergence of mobile devices and content with post-secondary learning models.

"Can you hear me now?"

Alice