Topic 7

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

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

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

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

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

Assessment item 1

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