Eugene Lee's & SocialText - Forgotten Post

Oops, I guess that I forgot to publish this one and instead saved it as a draft.

Eugene is a very enthusiastic and dynamic presenter. I really enjoyed how he incorporated story into his talk. It made him more personal and also provided examples of the statements that he was making. Eugene had asked us how we could use a tool like SocialText to promote learning in the workplace. During the presentation, I found myself envisioning each aspect of SocialText proving very beneficial at my work. For almost a year, my academy has been going through a process of strategic planning and reorganization. One of the goals is to include all staff in the process which is problematic with staff working all over the Bay Area.  I am excited to test out SocialText for myself and get in and play with the tool to see exactly what it is capable of.  This truly was one of the best speakers that I have encountered during my time in this program!

5 Frame Story

Mashups: Web Application Hybrid

Mashups:Web Application Hybrid

Here is my Slide Show


Or... you can see the text version of the presentation.

What is a Mashup?

• A web application that combines data from more than one source into a single integrated tool thereby creating a new and distinct web service that was not originally provided by either source.

How to Make a Mashup

• Mashed content is typically gathered from other sites through an API(application programming interface)

• API’s make it possible to use programs from within programs

• Ex. iGoogle, iGoogle gadgets, Google Docs, Windows Live, Yahoo Mail (think multi function programs on a webpage with out needing to re fresh the page)

APIs You Use













APIs = Computer Science

• APIs require coding like:

• .NET
• Java
• JavaScript
• PHP
• Python

• An API can require knowledge of all of these coding languages

But I don’t know code?

• Content can also be gathered by Web Feeds(RSS, ATOM) and Screen Scraping

Mashup Editors

• Mashup Editors: are WYSIWYGs for mashups. They provide a visual interface to build a mashup, often allowing the user to drag and drop data points into a web application.

n

Mashup Editors

• Orchestr8 AlchemyPoint
• WSO2 Mashup Server
• Microsoft Popfly
• Yahoo! Pipes
• QEDWiki by IBM
• Google Mashup Editor
• Serena Business Mashups
• Dapper
• Openkapow
• JackBe
• LiquidApps
• Open Mashups
• WaveMaker Ajax Studio

Yahoo Pipes

• Video

Dapper

• Video

Popfly

• Video

Ubiquity for Firefox

Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.
Mashups in Education

• Stop New Nukes
  An education/advocacy project to make folks aware of the impact of nuclear weapons. Combines Google Maps with Flickr photos of various nuclear hazards.

• The Globe is Warming
  If you’ve ever wondered what m ight happen to the coastal areas given the future impact of climate induced sea level rise (and who hasn’t?), then this apocalyptic before & after mashup is for you.

• CampusExplorer
  Search through 6,000 US universities by location, field of study or degree type. Results include a Google Maps view with plotted locations for each campus.

How Would You Use Mashups?

Could allow you access to our class Ning site from iLearn!

Reflections - Oct 3 - Eluminate

Every semester I have a class that is conducted through Eluminate. I appreciate each Eluminate class for the experience, but I really do not like them. I find them very hard to maintain focused on the class lecture/discussion. There always seem to be many audio/video problems that come up and really disrupt the flow of the class. I have not participated in a class via Eluminate as the sole online participant but it seems that Josh has an easier time moderating single users to 10+. I just do not see myself opting to participate on Eluminate unless I had no option but to miss class. Also, as an instructor I would not choose to use Eluminate unless I had a TA who could dedicate their time to managing it. It would be impossible for Kim to facilitate the students in class as well as on Eluminate. Really, Eluminate has a long way to come in usability for me to see it as a truely usefull tool. It is a great start though.

One of my favorite peer blog phrases from this class was, "although I got a flavor for the lecture, I really did miss out on being a participant." I think that really captures my experience with Eluminate as an online user.

Dr. Curt Bonk's Lecture

I really enjoyed Dr. Bonk's lecture. The real-time lecture at a distance really kept me interested. In other ITEC courses I have had distant guest lecturers but this experience was by far the best. I really appreciate that I could see Dr. Bonk. I guess that a talking box or talking powerpoint just does not capture that visual element in my learning process. It also helped that Dr. Bonk was very familiar with the video streaming software/hardware that he was using. I had watch some of his video lectures prior to class and they were all similar to what we all saw in class(with the exception of the interaction with us). He was able to vary what was displayed to his audience to keep people both interested and to remind us that he was able to see/hear us. This really allowed me to feel like he was actively participating in the role of facilitator/lecturer. Though there were a few minor challenges with the audio this presentation was really a refreshing experience for me.

I really liked hearing Dr. Bonk's perspective on scholarship in academics. I had never thought of this concept but once introduced to me it seemed like a very important and relevant point. We have been reading and discussing how technology has changed and will dramatically change education in the students learn and are taught. However, academics are not mentioned in this shift even though they are students as well simply learning by pulling information from many sources to develop an idea that may be unique in their field. This peer-based learning seems to me to be very constructivist. So why would they not be moving towards a change in what is considered scholarship? Well, like Dr. Bonk said, I agree that the academic field has been conducted in a similar fashion for centuries and because of the intense time and mental commitment needed for success there is a sense of superiority in the field. Therefore, those scholars want to maintain their well defined structure for gaging their success (# of reputable published peer-reviewed articles) as opposed to opening the flood gates of scholarly work. I mean who would be hurt by making current research readily available/accessible to the masses? I only see that most will benefit and a few will have bruised egos.

USF EdD - Learning and Instruction

Last Saturday I went to the School of Education Graduate Open House. I had seen the Learning & Instruction Doctoral program and I wanted to see if it was something that I would want to pursue. The most interesting information that I found was that their will be a new Faculty member as of Fa 2009 who's background is in ID. Additionally, there is a faculty member with a background in Educational Multimedia. This made me think more about it, but really I just wanted to put this info out there for all of you. If you would like to look at the program a little more: I & D Program.
I think that the program would be a good fit for anyone thinking about continuing their education in ID.