I will be attending the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning that takes place in early August. Very much looking forward to it. The conference organizers have prepared a list of suggested hashtags:
Will be interesting to see how these are used on Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram, etc.
I Would Tweet This Image But Twitter Is Down…
Power Searching With Google
I received my certificate for successfully completing the “Power Searching with Google” online course. I decided to upload to the site rather than following Google’s suggestion to print out the certificate and affix to my wall.
I was impressed with what Google put together. Essentially this was a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) with short video presentations/tutorials immediately followed by short exercises to demonstrate learning. The element that I found less impressive was the use of Google Groups discussion boards – meaningful conversation was drowned out by the sheer number of participants. However, this criticism is endemic to MOOCS.
Also, Google did a great job at transcribing the videos. In some ways the written elements are an easier method to learn. Printing these out (or viewing them on a second screen) whilst watching the videos was a good way to learn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEbNZPIXaZ
BoingBoing has a very apt (and quick) response to the news….
Tom Jacobs at DePaul shared an article with me yesterday that genuinely made me interested in actually using Pinterest. I scavenged an account early when the service was launched, but saw little reason to use it. However, a blogpost (A researcher’s survival guide to information overload and curation tools) on LSE’s website has given me pause to reconsider.
I think I will give it a go now, perhaps spending a week or two to see if the concept grows on me.
The article also shares some other social media tools. Definitely worth reading.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_rIR0cT468
Very nice video from Google, that simply explains how Search (for Google) works.
I recently finished reading Charles Duhigg’s rather excellent book “The Power of Habit.” The book explores why habits form, and what can be done to change them. It is a very entertaining and interesting read. Reading the book, I started to think about some of my habits – which ones I wanted to change, which ones I could change, how one habit change might effect other habit changes.
One experiment that I have decided to begin is taking a daily photograph. The plan from here on is to take one photograph a day, and then post it to the Internet. Instagram is the weapon of choice here, and I will see how taking that picture changes other habits and behavior. The pictures should show up on the site here, but they will also appear on:
Google Power Search
I have signed up for the “Power Searching With Google” course that starts in July. I am very interested in seeing what is covered, and the types of people who will sign up. The cynical part of me assumes that there will be a significant SEO / Internet Marketing presence (looking for ways to optimize their organic search listings), rather than ordinary folks looking to search smarter/quicker/better. Anyway, my understanding so far is that the course officially launches on the 10th July, with a series of one-hour asynchronous sessions:
We saw the movie “The Social Network” last night, which dramatically charts the birth and rapid growth of Facebook. The film is loosely based on the book “Accidental Billionaires” by Ben Mezrich. (Some scenes are significantly different to what is found in the book).
I enjoyed the movie. The original story may be less than interesting to those who don’t really care about Facebook, but the filmmakers managed to both craft a compelling narrative and tension. Well worth watching.
Monday through Wednesday was happily spent at the Desire2Learn (D2L) Fusion Conference. Work will be migrating from Blackboard to this (to my mind) superior Learning Management System. The change cannot happen too quickly for me.
Like all conferences, Fusion2010 was a mix of fascinating presentations and less-than-stellar presentations. Like most conference attendees I was in a constant state of partial attention – checking and tapping away on my mobile telephone. And here (according to one of the presenters) I age myself, because I use the term “mobile telephone.” To the younger generation all ‘phones are mobile. No distinction is necessary.
The ‘phone was essential – a device to record notes from the good presentations, and portal to escape through during the deathly dull presentations (though keeping one ear open for the occasional pearl of wisdom). Here are my assembled notes from the conference.
The D2L conference distinguishes itself from more prosaic conferences by being more playful and mentally stimulating. For example, each table at breakfast and lunch had 3-D architectural puzzles (Empire State Building, Taj Mahal, etc.) for participants to complete. Little touches like this made a noticeable difference.
The topic of the opening keynote by Stuart Brown (Play) resonated with me, but the meandering delivery and lack of engagement with the audience turned me off. Somewhere beneath the keynote was something valuable to share, but the keynote wasn’t working for me. Perhaps I should just read the book.
The organizers had asked for me to relate some of my D2L experiences on camera. I have no idea whether this will see the light of day….
The University of Wisconsin Colleges Online provided a well-prepared session on multiple-choice quizzes (“Advanced Use of the Feedback Feature in Multiple-Choice Quizzes”). The level of the session was lower than I had expected, but the presenters did well in creating useful handouts and an example account for participants to experiment with. I share their feedback suggestions here:
Julie Evans, Chief Executive at Project Tomorrow, was our lunchtime keynote speaker. I found her findings to be both interesting and helpful – paralleling some of my observations at work.
Beth Rubin presented the research that four of us at DePaul had collaborated on with “Effect of Using Desire2Learn on Student and Faculty Outcomes” – we both enjoyed the chance to interact with attendees at this session and at the poster session earlier in the day.
One of the most helpful sessions of the day was “Tips and Tricks for Administrators,” which provided me with a deeper understanding of D2L.
D2L had provided all attendees and presenters with access to the D2L LMS, with the intention to share, collaborate and discuss. Whilst this is a great idea, the concept did not really seem to work – a few days later there seemed to be little interaction on the site, and less handouts/documentation from presenters than I had hoped for.
Lunch was particularly entertaining. The keynote speaker (Joel Cohen, writer and co-executive producer on The Simpsons) had the audience in his hand with “The Business Tao of Homer: Lessons in Creativity and Innovation From The Simpsons.”
Anyroad, I enjoyed my first Fusion conference and look forward to more.