Blog away

Green POD group project

2009-10-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

The Greenie POD group have made a Wiki to place our research into for Assignment 2
http://greeniespod.wikispaces.com/

HOW GREENIES STARTED THEIR ONLINE COMMUNITY GROUP PROJECT

We began by emailing each other to discuss how we should meet online. Janice created the Greenie Etherpad where we meet once a week to discuss Assignment 2.
http://greenies.etherpad.com/1?

Its a great tool because it records our discussions for review later if required. We are a very co operative group and our online community has been sustained by sharing the research, reporting our findings weekly and we are sensitive to online etiquette. For example we start and end our discussions with salutations and we wait until one conversation has ended before making a comment for uninterrupted conversation.

Janice then created a Greenie Ning site which worked well.
http://greeniespod.ning.com/?xgi=dASbAkb
We could add chunks of research text like a blog but unfortunately our discussions we not recorded.
Ann then created the Wiki with the address mentioned above where we store our research in appropriate headings. We use the Etherpad to discuss what parts of the assignment, found in the Wiki, need editing.
Our Wiki and Etherpad sites has been very effective because of their usability. These tools over come physical distance between Greenie members, allow continual flow of conversation through synchronous communication, offers security by limiting access to only Greenie members and easy navigation of the sites. I had some difficulties with my internet connection during meeting at times, but I was able to catch up by looking at etherpad conversation the next day.

Topic 10

2009-10-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

Exercise 10.1 CSU interact Chat room
A • Kenneth Eustace (Aug 19, 2009 8:01 PM EST) Please stand!
B • Denise De Paoli (Aug 19, 2009 8:02 PM EST) so this is where the party is at, good evening!
C • Jennifer Waterman (Aug 19, 2009 8:02 PM EST) lucky you, I couldn't get to do anything last week, so bought a new computer
D • Diana Briscoe (Aug 19, 2009 8:02 PM EST) We have already been having a bit of a chat so it's now gone quiet with your entrance ken!
• Kenneth Eustace (Aug 19, 2009 8:02 PM EST) Gosh brings back memories... and don't forget the value of humour... used often in online meetings out of control.
E • Lesley Anderson (Aug 19, 2009 8:02 PM EST) National Anthem, Ken??
• Lesley Anderson (Aug 19, 2009 8:02 PM EST) salute the flag?
• Diana Briscoe (Aug 19, 2009 8:02 PM EST) Definitely like a good party
F • Jeanie Axton (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) and flag!
G • Sarah Eade (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) Or at least a raise of glasses in a toast!
• Lesley Anderson (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) oath to the queen?
H • James Vyhnal (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) which nation?
• Jeanie Axton (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) And flag raising
• Lesley Anderson (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) we could sing a chorus of True Blue
• Jeanie Axton (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) Adelaide crows athem
• Kenneth Eustace (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) Seems the chat tool has run out of colours for each participant... I know the 7 in the rainbow were enough for us!
I • Thomas Banks (Aug 19, 2009 8:03 PM EST) I'm exhausted tonight, I cannot think of anything to talk about
• Diana Briscoe (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) Am really enjoying this course although I don't quite know what I am doing' Had a go at secondlife which was fun but weird - an avatar asked how old I was, didn't let on lol
J • Deborah Morden (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) HI everyone, had great difficult last week in trying to connect to the gmail chat so pleased to have more sucess tonight
K • Ashleigh Johnston (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) hehe same thomas. i suggest you use a bunch of emoticons and that's it
• Diana Briscoe (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) Where are you all from?
• Kenneth Eustace (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) `lesley yes hard to do in ASCII text.
• Diana Briscoe (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) Where are you all from?
L • Antoinette McDonald (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) I found second life a weird experience too
• Thomas Banks (Aug 19, 2009 8:04 PM EST) I only discovered yesterday that there are three more topics up, I was keeping an eye on the interact area, not the other page that they go up
• Jeanie Axton (Aug 19, 2009 8:05 PM EST) Secong life was certainly interesting... i got told to get lost in first 5 seconds!!!
• Thomas Banks (Aug 19, 2009 8:05 PM EST) I had a bash at second life a few years ago, didn't care for it :\
• Antoinette McDonald (Aug 19, 2009 8:05 PM EST) Was quite surprised by my reaction
M • Dylan O'Donnell (Aug 19, 2009 8:05 PM EST) Yes that caught me by surprise too Thomas.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M
A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
B	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
E	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
F	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
G	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
H	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
I	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
K	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
L	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
M	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0

The social network analysis above was based on CSU interact chat room. A chat room is a place where analysis would should how frequently interactions take place between
-two or more people
-lurkers making few comments
-leaders posing questions in a forum

This chat room was made up of a lecturer and students which may explain frequent interaction between A (lecturer) and DEFGH (students). Some students interacted with each other more than others depending on their connection for example some students may be in the same POD.

The chat room interaction would be different to POD because PODs are smaller in size thus more chance for even interaction between people. Some interaction may not be between individuals but an individual with the whole group. For example, asking general group questions will receive a variety of answers. The frequency of Interaction may vary depending on the roles of individuals in the POD. There may be a leader who interacts with all members and there may be followers who interact with the leader and individuals.

Topic 8

2009-10-08T20:18:00.001-07:00

Exercise 8.1
Morning Coastal day
I generally do exercise in the mornings, before busy commuters head to work and before I am awake enough to talk myself out of my nice warm bed. I am lucky I live in a beautiful coastal area so where ever I roam, the view of the beach, ocean, cliffs and expensive house are all around me. I live in a hilly area so when going up hill, I try to comfort myself with the thought of cruising down hill at the crest. As I walk through the windy neighbourhood streets, I greet some running friends and a couple walking their dog. They were heading down to the lagoon where dogs can be unleashed and free to run around and poo, yuk! Dog owners are supposed to cleanup after their dogs but its common to see the foot print of a previous unlucky walker in dog remains.
I make my way past the lagoon to see a dog barking at a pelican from behind a fence. The dog then jumped the fence and chased the pelican across the lagoon with the owner calling for him. The dog was very persistent and as the lagoon got deeper the dog began to swim after the pelican and bark at the same time. The owner jumped in the nearest canoe and paddled after his pet which was now 100m away. The pelicans were surprised when the swimming dog caught up with them and flew away as it barked again. By now the frantic owner was herding his pet to the shore. The dog seemed proud of its efforts and as it walked out the of the water, it shook it self dry, wetting the owner who swore and trotted back home.
Exercise 8.2
So many applications so little time!
In my computer experience, I have discovered that no one is an expert at all the applications out there, so I will need to be patient and content at understanding the ones that I encounter in my work place. I have also seen that people are happy to share information and ask for help in the use of these application so I shouldn’t feel too alone about learning IT .
As an educator using the computer new technologies, will this make me available 24hrs a day to my students?
My teaching hours are 8.30am to 3pm so when will I have time to answer forum questions and mark online submissions of assignments?At the moment, questions are answered in the class and most marking is done in the afternoons or weekends. I may need to set forum times and look into collaborative marking (Web 2.0 tools) involving the whole class to management time more effectively.
What marking guidelines will I use?
Class work and Assignments submitted using these new technologies will incorporate a variety of media, images, video and references. Clear instructions/templates for students on what to incorporate into work submitted to will avoid unnecessary and miss leading information. New more specific marking guidelines will need to be developed to help students stay focused on the task at hand.
Exercise 8.3
Data movement between Twitter and Facebook
Allows users to keep up to date with the latest movement/thoughts of friends
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2007/Semantic_Web.asp
What is the Semantic Web?

Where Web 2.0 is focused on people and communicating by social interaction using simple applications, the Semantic Web is focused on machines. A computer alone can not find, search and aggregate information with out a human operator. The Semantic Web is a project that aims to change that by presenting Web page data in such a way that it is understood by computers, enabling machines to do the searching, aggregating and combining of the Web's information — without a human operator. This is done by RDF(Resource Description Framework) which turns a web page into meta data that computer can use. RDF details information such as a site's sitemap, the dates of when updates were made, keywords that search engines look for and the Web page's intellectual property rights.
Semantic Web technologies are used in research and life sciences where researchers collect data on different medicines and illnesses that have multiple names in different parts of the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FOAF_(software)
FOAF (Friend of a friend) is similar to the Semantic Web in that it is focused on the machine to describe persons, their activities and their relations to other people and objects using RDF and OWL (Web Ontology Language). Anyone can use FOAF to describe him or herself. FOAF allows groups of people to describe social networks without the need for a centralised database.
Exercise 8.4
http://www.whatisrss.com/
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RSS.html
http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci498311,00.html
Syndication is the reuse of material such as new feeds across the web and aggregation is summarising online material for reuse.
Rss (Really Simple Syndication) allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in such as music charts, news feeds, discussion forums and events listings. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter.
RSS can be combined with Digg it. Social bookmarking of articles, images and videos re submitted to Digg it and to keep track of updated articles use the Swarm and Stack tools.
b) Delicious is effective for work groups to access their favourite sites on any computer. This is a convenient way to share sites because data can be transferred and accessed in any location. The user has to create a delicious account then the user tags sites of interest which is like copying the websites address and storing it at delicious. To access the website again on another computer, the user opens up their delicious account (similar to favourites on computers) and clicks on the site.

c) http://www.go2web20.net/about/
Is a directory of web2.0 applications in the one place which makes navigation through the web easier instead of searching for them individually. This site also ensures searches on working web2.0 sites only to avoid wasting time. Currently in my workplace of education, schools are exploring web2.0 application for classroom use to be prepared of the government issue laptops that will be distributed in NSW schools. The tools used so far are story bird for creating stories and masher which makes videos by combining music and photos. The end products can be shared privately or publically. Very good for group work.
d) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgg_(software)
Elgg is a free open source social networking platform. It offers blogging, networking, community, collecting of news using feeds aggregation and file sharing features. Everything can be shared among users with access controls and everything can be cataloged by tags as well. Edspaces is part of the Elgg community which is the largest social networking site for educational purposes, my workplace. All of the users content can be tagged to create their own personal learning network.

Topic 9

2009-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Exercise 9.1
Research IBM, 2006, Social Computing Group Publications, , accessed 9 October 2009.
Jason Dowell, 2006, LinkIn Profitable – Is Social Networking A Business Model? , accessed 6 October 2009

The advantages and disadvantages of Social Networking, 2009,< com="" tag="search"> accessed 9 October 2009

Pros	Cons
Generally most social networks are free to set up for business	Expensive for extra feature like advertising for jobs
Maintain a large pool of business contacts as well as friends in a click of a button
Opportunity to search for employment. Provides resume templates Rates jobs on how close you are to your contacts Research information about desired employment through your contacts using InMail service for a free	Can not be anonymous especially if you want to search for employment or ask technical questions you are supposed to know , you need to create a new identity but may lose contacts
Find out professional and personal information about clients and their clients	No group wide communication tool, individuals can not broadcast messages
Gain client confidence due to the use of technology
Job related questions can be answered in the Answers area similar to a blog	Loss of potential clients that lack IT skills who prefer face to face contact
Autonomous business model where users use their initiative to buy and sell products and create contacts

Exercise 9.2

Martin Stewart-Weeks, 2009, Policy 2.0: towards whole-of-government policy development, http://gov2.net.au/, accessed 9 October 2009

Ramon Padilla, 2009, Blogs vs Wikis <http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5711955.html?tag=search > accessed 9 October 2009

Wiki in government used for
Editing documents/policies for public discussion
Help desk tools
FAQs

Graig Thomler, 2009,<>, accessed 8 October 2009
Twitter in government used for
Customer service
Advertise about government blogs
Makes politicians more ‘human’ for voters
Follow topics to keep track of what people are saying about the government
Send out information about an emergency and disasters

With the spread of IT through Australian homes and the world, it is inevitable that the government incorporates IT into it offices. New political university graduates have gained IT skills that should be used in their workplace. Web 2.0 technologies in particular offer better communication across government departments and jurisdictional areas for government policy development for example via a private government website. Wiki tools could be used for developing and drafting policy documents, summarizing policy settings and stresses, and identifying possible directions. Blogs could be used by policy developers to debate and discuss as the policy emerges.
As with the new emerging technology, it will task time for government agencies to adapt with the use of Web 2.0 tools so that experts can contribute freely and without restriction and trust that security breeches will be minimised.

Topic 7

2009-10-08T20:03:00.000-07:00

Exercise 7.1
http://www.touchscreens.com/intro-anatomy.html
Touch screens allow the users to operate a device by touching icons on the screen. For example, the iPod touch screen has a touch responsive surface that has an electrical current passing through it. When a bare finger/stylus touches the screen the electric current alters and the location of the touch is determined.
Advantages of touch screen mobile devices to other devices
Finger/stylus offer precise manipulation of objects on screen.
The touch screen is easy to clean and has less mechanical parts that may break down.
No keyboard required. The touch screen is better than a keyboard particularly in a high use area like a mall. Touch screens are available to search for store information.
Touch screens on mobile phones does away with the keypad which leaves more room to increase screen size for visibility. It also allows improved visual effects especially for internet use and games.

Exercise 7.2
http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?172

Touch screens are used for people who have difficulties using a keyboard and mouse due to physical or cognitive disabilities. If the touch screen can not be used or is broken, voice recognition can be used or a similar stylus device such as a mouthstick. The touch screen is not useful for the blind because it lacks brail.

http://www.abilitynet.org.uk/athome_course_ict

People that suffer dyslexia have reading and writing problems and computers with appropriate software can help.
• Better spell checking and automatic correction ... without cost
• Effective options for presenting text on the computer screen
• Word prediction and word banks, Planning tools and mind mapping
• Scanning and optical character recognition
• The computer reading text back – Text to Speech
• Voice recognition... potential and reality, current systems, criteria for choice

http://www.smartthinking.ukideas.com/Asmarthomeguide.html

Smart homes are homes designed for disabled people or the elderly. The homes have inexpensive devices installed to do simple tasks such as turning on a light via a remote control. The technology can also be used to monitor the occupant’s activities and provide alerts during emergencies.
These technologies allow for a more comfortable and independent lifestyle

Electronic Assistive Technology (EAT)
Assistive Technology that ranges from wheelchairs through to whole house systems. Basically any supportive technology that is electronic can come into this category, although recently the term is being used to mean electronic devices that support disabled people. http://www.smartthinking.ukideas.com/Asmarthomeguide.html
Iris Recognition
In a similar manner to fingerprints our eyes have a unique and identifiable pattern. Iris recognition systems use cameras to view and analyse the patterns of the iris with a much higher level of certainty than can be applied to say a fingerprint. This is currently being trailed for cashpoint dispensers and other security features. http://www.smartthinking.ukideas.com/Asmarthomeguide.html
Personal Data Assistants (PDA)
A small computer with limited, although extending, functionality. PDAs were developed as a sort of electronic filofax, combining diary, address book, notebook and alarm clock together. More recent PDAs have featured links to personal computers handwriting recognition and e-mail, cameras, MP3 players and fax facilities. The use of PDAs can be developed for people with memory problems and other cognitive impairments. PDAs are increasingly becoming more complex and are able to use IR Bluetooth connectivity as well as an adapted Windows interface. http://www.smartthinking.ukideas.com/Asmarthomeguide.html

Assignment 2: Social Networking Research

2009-10-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

Keywords

About.com, (2009), < http://webtreandes.about.com/od/web20-glossary.htm>, accessed 8 October 2009.

Teacher.tube.com, (2007) http://teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=7604&title=Blogs_Wiki_RSS_Basic_training, accessed 10 October 2009.

What is mashup?, http://news.zdnet.com/2422-13569_22152729.htm, accessed 8 October 2009

Blog- short for web log and used like journal

Web 2.0- refers to tools such as blogs, wikis for online human interaction

Mashup- information from a combination of websites to be visually pleasing.

Social network- building online communities

Wiki- website for collaborative editing activies

Microblog- like a blog but limited number of words used. Eg Wiki

Professional development- training to improve work related skills

Baseline Studies

Second Life, http://secondlife.com/>, accessed 5 October 2009.

Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/>, accessed 5 October 2009.

Twitter- users type short messages or updates

Secondlife- social network that uses an imaginative 3D visual virtual world

Facebook- social network that uses photos, video and text

Beyond Baseline Studies

Gralla, P & Widman, J (2008), Facebook vs LinkedIn: Which is better for business, <http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9065398/Facebook_vs._LinkedIn_Which_is_better_for_business_?taxonomyId=16&pageNumber=2> accessed 8 October 2009.

Linked-In

Pros	Cons
Maintain business contacts as well as friends	Expensive to advertise jobs
Opportunity to search for employment. Provides resume templates Rats jobs on how close you are to your contacts Research information about desired employment through your contacts using InMail service for a fee	Can not be anonymous, you need to create a new identity but may lose contacts
Find information about clients and their clients	No group wide communication tool, individuals can not broadcast messages
Job related questions can be answered in the Answers area similar to a blog

Teachade

Teachade online community for teachers, (2009), <http://www.teachade.com/faqs.do>, accessed 9 October 2009.

TeachAde is an American website for K-12 teachers for sharing resources for free, however it incoporates

Web 2.0 tools

Finds colleague feature

Lesson planning

Group forums

edna

Edna Australia's free online network for teachers, (2009) <http://www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/help/me/pid/2033>, accessed 9 October 2009.

edna is an Australian free online network for educators and incorporates

resource sharing

Career development

Blog entries

Join communities with similar professional interests

Recommendation Four (Recommendation 1 - 5 found on Greenie POD wiki) http://greeniespod.wikispaces.com/

Develop a sociability plan to sustain the community

Preece, J, Maloney-Krichmar, D. (2003) Online Communities. University of Maryland, Baltimore

Supporting sociability to sustain the community Preece says you need Purpose, People and Policies

Purpose- clear purpose defined so that users can see goals of the community. This will encourage only users who share common ground and empathy which then establishes a social presence and thus trust.
People- Access to the community should be restricted to teachers and students to sustain the community as a school community only. Some access could be provided to families too.
Policies- Guidelines developed and enforce to sustain positive behaviour.

Research Questions

A. What are the issues involved with using social networks for professional development in the workplace?

Please feel free to make changes to the table- regards Denise

Pros	Cons
Generally most social networks are free to set up for business Eg Facebook, Secoond Life	Expensive for extra features like advertising for jobs Eg LinkIn
Maintain a large pool of teacher contacts as well as friends in a click of a button without geographical restrictions Eg Facebook	Time wasted at work socialising and using Web2.0 tools
Opportunity to search for employment. Provides resume templates. Eg LinkIn Rates jobs on how close you are to your contacts.Eg LinkIn Research information about desired employment through your contactsEg LinkIn	Can not be anonymous especially if you want to search for employment or ask technical questions you are supposed to know , you need to create a new identity but may lose contacts Eg Facebook??
Find out professional and personal information about teachers and schools Eg Facebook
Gain client confidence due to the use of technology and displaying personality	Personal information can expose embarrassing information
Job related questions can be answered in chat room	Loss of potential clients that lack IT skills who prefer face to face contact
Autonomous business model which encourages individual contribiutions

B. How do Web 2.0 tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts and video lectures) complement such social networks?

Here are some advantages of Web 2.0 tools- cheers Denise

Web 2.0 compliment social networks and most are free such as these reputable sites Wiki, Blogger, Twitter
Web 2.0 tools are easy to set up (usability) and allow teachers to work from home
Access to use web 2.0 tools is restricted to invited people
Internal school blogs and forums for teachers to communicate work related ideas.
A variety of tools allows a variety of information to be shared eg video, podcasts and digital images
Builds up a interlaced web of connected thoughts
Closer contact to clients
Web 2.0 allows 'word of mouth' advertising to potential clients such enrolments to a school
Reduces spam

C. How is a work-related social network developed and sustained?

Some thoughts below - cheers Denise

A school is an ideal place where a work related social network can be sustained especially with the implementation of the government issue laptops. Most teachers and students are currently using social networks and Web 2.0 tools in their homes so these skills can be transferred to school. At the moment, there are many In services available for teachers to bring them up to speed with the use of social networks and new laptop software which should sustain a social network at a school.
Schools have been allocated extra IT staff to help with any laptop trouble shooting and to assist in developing and sustaining social networks.

Topic 6

2009-09-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Exercise 6.1

Purpose	People	Community size
Subject using the forum gives students a sense of focus	The CSU forum overcomes geographical and time boundaries which allows unrestricted discussion at anytime	The class sizes are smaller than they are outside the University Forum which is good for subject specific discussion.
The CSU forum is reliable and secure	Students can answer each others questions without having to email the lecture.	Some subjects rarely have activities that promote the use of the CSU forum so its use is limited and thus ideas are not shared
The CSU forum encourages sharing of ideas	Computer technical problems or age of home computers or level of IT skills can keep users from accessing the forum. They could feel left out and miss important messages about assessments and exams.	The CSU forum allows students to build up professional contacts

Exercise 6.2
• What is it about the design of the wiki and Moodle that you liked or disliked?
Moodle is an excellent platform for educational purposes. It is similar to the CSU forum where details about subjects, assessments and student forums can be found at anytime. However, Moodle may disadvantage students who are not self motivated learners and require prompting by teachers in a class room setting.
What features do wiki and Moodle have in common and what are the differences (eg a Wiki, Forum and blogtool is also groupware design feature inside a Moodle site) ?
Moodle is a great tool for managing a whole subject. It provides information about topics within subjects, subject calendar, subject resources, forum and class enrolments. Moodle provides the exchange of large amount of information between enrolled students and teachers. Wiki on the other hand is a simple tool used within a subject for simple exercises that require student collaboration. It can be accessed by any internet user for small information exchange.
Is the presence of likeable features also a combination of the design tips for usability, sociability and sustainability, as advocated by Preece and Kim in earlier topics?
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/preece.html
http://www.linezine.com/4.1/interviews/ajkbgswoc.htm

Moodle and Wiki are free and keep their opening login page very simple which draws users into participating in their site. When these sites are used in education their online community is restricted to a school population, providing socialisation amongst pupils and teachers on common ground. This provides a secure online environment from external users. The combination of ease of use and school IT curriculum, Moodle and Wiki can be sustained in an educational setting.

Exercise 6.3
SocialGO is an online community that is similar to Facebook and Myspace as they are all free to join or have a trial service and are self explanatory to use. The familiar usability between these social networks supports the credibility of SocialGO. The site provides businesses and social groups a variety of existing tools for users to socialise such as videochat, photo sharing and blogs. Users can also find out what events and communities their associates are involved in for off line communication. SocialGO allows users to control which associates they want to communicate with which builds on the trust and safe reputation of the site. Online technical support is also available when required.
However, SocialGo would offer a different level of security, than CSU interact. SocialGo provides the user the option to reveal personal information by customising their login page unlike CSU interact where communication is mainly focused on exchanging subject information. Users can trust that the CSU site is secure because only members that are enrolled in the University can communicate on the site keeping the online community population smaller than SocialGO. Being a University site, it is a highly reputable site for students and lectures to exchange course information and assessment. It uses familiar communication tools such as forums and chat which eases sociability.

Assessment item 2: Sustaining an online community

2009-09-24T02:29:00.000-07:00

Mash up video

web 2.0 glossary

benefits of web2.0

video applying web2 to school

1. Issues with using social networks for professional development

Pros	Cons
Work related questions can be resolved using blogs	Time wasted navigating web 2.0 sites reading feeds
Conferences and events can be found using Upcoming.org	Only place work related information on your social network to avoid exposing embarrassing information to co workers
Join groups related to your business	Lack of technical expertise for some professionals
News feeds can be refined to alert you of important work related updates	Plagiarism
Create a profile similar to what your work desk looks like to show your personality
Communicate to co workers across the world with out restrictions of time differences and geography
Social networks encourages individual employee contributions to business

2. Web 2.0 compliment social networks
Work from home to reduce office space
Internal business blogs and forums for workers to communicate work related ideas.
A variety of tools allows a variety of information to be shared eg video, podcasts and digital images
Builds up a interlaced web of connected thoughts
Closer contact to clients
Web 2.0 allows 'word of mouth' advertising to potential clients
Reduces spam

3. Work related network developed an sustained
Technical support provided to maintain IT equipment and provide assistance to workers.
Appropriate content to allow flow of discussions.

Twitter

2009-09-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

I became a member of twitter and have customised my home page

Assessment item 1

2009-09-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

Assessment item 1: Building an online community

Adam Curry and Dave Winer are both pioneers in the development of online communities. They envisioned a society that could communicate personal thoughts and world wide events using the freedom and accessibility of online communities.

Adam Curry’s entertainment career got him into IT by experimenting with the Net and was then involved in the development of podcasting. Since the 1980s, he used IT to inform the world of the latest events in the celebrity world. In the 1990s his IT consulting businesses merged from one to another until Answerthink Inc was created. In 2000, helped initiate podcasting and in 2005 helped established http://www.mevio.com/about/ a site for documentaries and footage involving celebrities.

Dave Winer graduated in Computer Science and like Adam Curry, helped distribute modern day events through the web. In 1990s, Winer was a constructive software developer in America and he developed RSS, MetaWeblog and worked with Adam Curry on podcasting. He was acknowledged as one of ‘Top Ten Technology Innovators’.

Both Curry and Winer are thorough change managers. They continue to implement new and developing communication technologies to benefit from a constant evolving IT industry. Curry regularly contributes to his podcast No Agenda and Winer uses his Scripting News to update users about his life and business.

Curry and Winer have been successful at implementing IT and online communities into society that it has become common place in house holds. Society has benefited from this technology because of the variety of ways that society can maintain contact. Blogs and wikis allow people to maintain contact and exchange personal information using video and photos.

In NSW, the Digital Education Revolution (DER)program is incorporating these technologies into education as the government issue laptops roll out into schools this year. Blogs, Wikis, Pod casts, video footage and digital photos are being used as tools to engage students in learning the curriculum. Instead of exercise books, students will be using their laptops to blog subject information, participate in subject online chats and submit creative more purposeful assignments. Students and teachers will have access to working with a wider network of learners, not limited to the geographic area. Collaborating with guest speakers and other schools from interstate or across the world improves learning by providing expert knowledge and cultural exchange.

As a teacher, I am glad that the Department of Education has finally caught up with the idea to use online communication in education which is currently being used successfully in Universities as well as in the general society. Schools will become platforms of sharing ideas where everyone can provide input and be acknowledged. This generates more positive, engaged and creative learning which is the quality teaching educators want to achieve.

Jenny Preece

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Preece

http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/~preece/

www.id-book.com

Dave Winer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Winer

http://www.sigmainfotech.com.au/articles/web-development-how-to-create-an-RSS-web-feed.html

Adam Curry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Curry

http://www.mevio.com/about/

Ward Cunningham

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham

http://www.aboutus.org/Ward_Cunningham

Topic 5

2009-09-11T06:02:00.000-07:00

Exercise 5.1
Online identities
myCSU ebox
Gmail
Hotmail
Blog
Wiki
Facebook
MOODLE
Etherpad

I maintain a baseline persistent identity across all the above identities such as name and employment. Depending on the requirements and appropriateness of each online community above will depend how much information I give. Due to Griefers and spys , personal information such as home address, phone numbers and financial information is hidden.

Exercise 5.2

1. Social architects are designers of an environment for human interaction.
2.

Community	Objective	Rules	Features
Photograb	A game where you can admire shared photos by finding objects on photos whilst being timed.	Simple. A little tutorial guides you quickly through to start the game. Each level you achieve lets you add your own photos from Facebook and create your own game.	Sign in as a Facebook member and your profile shift across to Photograb so you don’t have to create a new identify.
Whyville	Its like a children’s version of Second life. Children learn the skills of communicating in online communities with simple rules of engagement.	The Safety Tools icon provides clear rules on behaviour in Whyville. Parental permission and a chat licence is required before children can join.	Creating your own cartoon profile was fun and allowed freedom to represent yourself .

Topic 4

2009-08-31T01:02:00.000-07:00

Exercise 4.1

1. I use Blogger for this subject. It was easy to set up, up date and personalise. I chose to base my blog page on a template available that had a structured design for the ease of use for myself and visitors. I can see this would be a good tool in the classroom for incorporating IT but also as a continuous log book of class work, like a computerised exercise book. Students can refer back to notes and adjust them and teachers can monitor their progress through the content.

2. Design for growth and change

Once you have created your blog page, log on and you can easily make any changed to it by clicking customise. You can adjust the page layout and postings.

Create and maintain community feedback.

Blogs can be created using mobile phones to maintain continuous discussion. Blogger is available in many languages for world wide community feedback. You can also restrict the view of your blog to only allow certain uses access.

Allow your members to gradually take more control.

Blogger has a Share tool to let readers "Share" the blog's URL to Twitter, Facebook, or Google Reader. The Reactions Tool lets readers say what they think of the blog and the Followers tool lets readers leave their profile on your blog.

Exercise 4.2a

1. Patience- people involved in online discussion should wait until one conversation has ended before making a comment for uninterrupted conversation. In a classroom ‘hands up’ means to ask a question which is difficult to do online lol.

2. AWOL- let people know when you wish to leave the conversation

3. Host- the host has the responsibility to guide the conversation by suggesting a discussion topic.

Exercise 4.2b

Having an interesting group of people definitely makes the conversation fun and interesting like the Gmail chat discussion on food and TV shows a few weeks ago.

I am a new at online communities so being welcomed at any online gathering makes it comfortable and acknowledged.

Online communities allow people to follow discussions and have the opportunity to join in at any time.

Exercise 4.2c

It is important to set “rules of engagement” with online verbal exchange because it appears to be easy to be anonymous online which may entice some users to abuse the trust of fellow users. The moo policy is a document that clearly defines appropriate behaviour online if users are prepared to read it. A more authoritative approach for sites like digg, would have better results at discouraging inappropriate behaviour because users can report rude users.

Exercise 4.3

List C

Yahoo

Delicious

Teacher tube

Ning

Digg

Socialgo

Bubbl.us

I made the above list for a platform for learning and professional development because these sites have the option to control who is involved in the social network, good rules of engagement and users can share a variety of material such as text, photos and videos.

Topic 3

2009-08-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Topic 3

Exercise 3.1 The Battle of Wesnoth

I grew up with ATARI computer games and on occasions with friends we would play for hours trying to get to the next level or beat the highest score until mum would shoo us outside. I haven’t played computer games for years but I have been exposed to them recently through the Wii and iPhone that my friends have bought for their children. Generally the adults take over the games especially the trivia and sport games.

I had a brief look at The Battle of Wesnoth and the graphics of the game was impressive but a bit too much for my computer to handle which slowed down my navigation around the site. Sitting for long periods playing a game is not really my thing, I’d rather be outside enjoying the day and interacting with people. I can see how people can get hooked on playing on stop because it can be accessed online at anytime. I worry about some of my tired students in my classroom who comment on staying up playing online games or texting.

Exercise 3.2

5 Mobile gaming and recent statistics
http://www.halflifesource.com/nintendo/article2533.html
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=17973
http://edugamesblog.wordpress.com/2007/07/11/educational-uses-for-the-nintendo-ds/
http://www.dogs.com.au/articles/420/nintendodsgames.shtml

A school in Japan encouraged the use of Nintendo DS for improved learning of English. Teachers claimed the teaching environment was more relaxed as route learning was reduced. The type of educational software is up to the school but the most popular English tutorial used characters such as Pingu, Doraemon and Pokemon.
The response from teachers using Nintendo DS has been positive. The economical, portable device is seen as a valuable teaching tool because it engages students, has a variety of features such as microphone and stylus ideal for language learning and reducing paper consumption and it can be quickly set up for use. Whereas computer rooms, if available, need to be booked in advance and classes need to be moved to the room.
The educational value of using the Nintendo DS was positive. There was an increase from 18% to 80% of students who mastered Junior high level English vocabulary if they used the Nintendo DS every day. The success of Nintendo DS so far has prompted Japanese schools to trial software for Mathematics and Japanese.
Nintendo DS can be connected through WiFi so students can play against each other on school grounds. In Australia WiFi for Nintendo DS is available at fast food chains where it matches players of similar ability.According to Interactive Australia 2007, an industry report by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia, 77% of parents in gaming households play computer games with their children. Sales of educational games averaged 50,000 units per month, in particular Mindscape's new games, which offers a variety of challenges and puzzles, technology and improves their motor and spatial skills.

Topic 2

2009-08-21T06:31:00.000-07:00

Topic 2
Exercise 2.1
I have been a member of Facebook for a while and I found it most useful whilst travelling to keep friends informed of my adventures with posts and pictures. But now that I’m working, theres not much to inform people about so I don’t really use it much. I’d rather telephone people if I have to speak to them. Facebook can be annoying when people you don’t want to speak to, find you!
I have joined the ITC510 group on Facebook.
B Social Cognition
http://philpapers.org/rec/STEFAT
Visual Cognition
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=5176925
Social Cognition is the thought processes during the interaction of people whereas Visual Cognition is the study of the perception of images. I think Facebook involves both these types of cognition, you can interact directly with people by leaving messages on the wall or asking them to join groups or indirectly by looking at the latest photos.
Exercise 2.2/2.3
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20070319/default_standard.htm
I watched the 4 corners episode on Second Life and it was really informative. I didn’t realise how popular and how lucrative the site was. You could create a second life, design your looks, house, partner, live a new identity. Second Life could get addictive as you make friends and increase wealth and you can actually forget that it is all a virtual world. It was fun pretending to be someone in the virtual world but I am happy with my “First Life” and prefer to be honest for sites like Facebook.
Being a citizen in Second Life could be tough, just as it is in the real world there were some unhappy characters in the site so my stay was short.

characters in the site so my stay was short.

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/students-learning-to-be-virtually-anyone-20090904-fbgq.html

This is an informative article where Second life was trialled at a school with year 9 students to improve social barriers for migrants.

Exercise 2.4
Dick Hardt talk was entertaining. He developed a program Identity 20 that allows users to use their identity simply and securely for use on line. This would be convenient for the user when setting up new online accounts because it would avoid having to repeat typing in personal data when it could be accessed from one place.
Phishing
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/RequestsForYourAccountInformation
are emails that look like they are genuinely from a financial institution that requests bank account and password details.

Pharming
http://www.symantec.com/norton/cybercrime/pharming.jsp
is similar to phishing but instead of the having to click on an email, the user is redirected to a bogus website where private information can be stolen.
Identity Theft
http://webopedia.internet.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2006/identity_theft.asp
The illegal access to personal information such as credit cards, addresses and drivers licence to commit fraud for financial gain.
Privacy Invasion
http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs18-cyb.htm
The illegal acquisition of private information from people using the internet through viruses and malicious software. Marketers and web bugs monitor sites that the user frequents to promote products. Spyware can track passwords and financial numbers.

POD

2009-08-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

online chat was fun on Wednesday 12/08 lots of good conversation happening, food and drinks and tv shows! Bit hard at first responding to all conversations until we became a group. Need to be a fast typer to keep up so lengthy conversations were limited. I hope there was spell checker too!

Topic1

2009-08-04T05:55:00.000-07:00

Exercise 1

Social Networking http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html

Online Community http://www.fullcirc.com/community/communitymanual.htm

A social network is a community of people communicating off or online. They usually have something in common with each other for example members of a social group, friends, hobbies, school or profession.

An online social network also called as an Online Community, allows users to contact people in cyber space all over the world using a variety of sites including MySpace, Cyworld, Bebo, FriendWise, FriendFinder and Facebook. Generally these sites have free membership and users can create their own social network within the sites.

By studying about Social Networks and online communities, I hope to gain skills in creating online communities for the subjects that I teach. Students in all schools in NSW will be receiving government issue laptops soon and I have been assigned the position of creating an online community using MOODLE. It is an Open Source Course Management System that is free online and provides platforms for online courses, student forums and access to assignments.

Exercise 2

http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&defl=en&q=define:folksonomy&ei=rMN0SvyIA9iGkAX-1rCoDA&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title

http://tomgruber.org/writing/ontology-of-folksonomy.htm

Folksonomy is the tagging of web information such as web sites and photos of interest so that they can be easily retrieved without having to do an internet search for them again. I have tagged photos on Facebook and bookmarked sites of interest with Del.icio.us.

FOAF

http://www.foaf-project.org/

http://www.ldodds.com/foaf/foaf-a-matic

FOAF (friend of a friend) is a program that tags information about yourself to allow automated searches to find you and the communities you’re linked to.

Exercise 3

Facebook

I used the Nielsen’s Heuristic evaluation form for Facebook. Facebook is easy to uses simple natural dialogue amongst its uses but also within the site itself. To start up your own website in Facebook is self explanatory. You need a Username and password to login and to log out you need to click on the logout button.

Introduction

2009-08-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Im Denise. I am a Secondary Science Teacher on the Central Coast and I am studying a Grad Cert in ICT Education to improve my computer skills before the government issue laptops come to NSW schools. So far i have created Webquests and now leaning to blog and I am enjoying the skills i am gaining. In my spare time i enjoy the coastal life, i am involved in the local surf club and play many sports. I am originally from the country and moved to the coast for employment opportunities.

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