Blogging from the Barrio

Sun, 08 Jun 2003 02:50:23 GMT

Team Tasks Tool. Last year we spent some time working on a Radio UserLand tool which we were calling Team Tasks Tool. The basic idea was leveraging on the power of Radio's embedded object database, outliner and web server to create a p2p task management and tracking tool. We went pretty far with the development, we were actually using the tool internally, until our company's downsizing forced us to freeze the project (we didn't have the necessary resource to finish it nor enough tasks and people to manage). I had totally forgot about this tool until a few days ago I received an email from Robert Barksdale asking me about it. We still have no time to work on it, but maybe somebody out there is willing to work a little on it or simply use it (it already works). So, just as a test, we are releasing it under a Creative Commons License. Feel free to contact me () if you have any idea about this cool tool. [Paolo Valdemarin: Paolo's Weblog] I have to check that out...

Sun, 08 Jun 2003 02:13:21 GMT

Shrook. Criminny! There's a new RSS reader in town, and boy does it look shiny. OSX people! check out Shrook. first... [Ben Hammersley.com] Another kickin RSS reader on OSX

Sun, 08 Jun 2003 02:07:23 GMT

Roles and responsibilities.

This excellent resource was listed on brandon-hall list as part of a discussion on roles and responsibilities in elearning design. The resource itself is not focused on elearning...but it transfers very nicely. It covers the spectrum, including process review, stakeholder analysis, building a team, implemenation, evaluation...and much more.

[elearnspace blog] The question of the how we get the ball rolling around a vision or idea is critical. It means a true meeting of the minds and true collaboration. I think it is here that good ideas turn sour or just do not get off the ground. One needs to leave one's ego at the door.

Sat, 31 May 2003 04:30:22 GMT

Word cleaner. "We must put all our Word documents online." Eight words that strike fear into the hearts of web professionals everywhere. Why MS Word generates bad HTML. A free tool that fixes Word's bad HTML. Other things you can do to improve the health of web pages that started as Word docs (including talking to your colleagues who write the documents). [Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report] I did tip... not because of the free software but because I want to see an independent developer succeed and I want to see textpattern live!

Think outside the semester box

Fri, 23 May 2003 11:16:58 GMT

Reflections on WebCT.

Interesting reflections by Emily at Filament on using WebCT:

"My big complaint about WebCT is that it cuts students off from the real internet. I especially hate that the messaging system is not real email and doesn't allow you to email outside of the program. It creates these little communities and then abruptly disbands them at the end of the semester instead of allowing the continued networking of real internet communities." [Filament]

Absolutely! Knock down the walls says I!

[James Farmer's Radio Weblog] Imagine an educator who has her or his students having a great debate or discussion online during a course and then..... where does this great conversation of ideas, thoughts, and notions go after the course is over... does it get "thrown out" like so many things these days? After you get into weblogging, you see where something like webct may be coming short and has the potential to be better than it is. or not? I have been thinking about that myself when some of our staff have classes at the local university. I say.. why not blog your cousework as an option.. some are willing.. but the professor is another story. I do not get emails back from professors on this. If work for a class is to be authentic as it can be, the journey to one's answers and conclusions should be posted. Teachers can take the knowledge they have gained and extend and refine their thinking and practice as they work though the year. This is heavy.... Why am I, a elementary school techie thinking over a challenge that people who make a lot more money than I do at the university level, should be seriously looking at.

Fri, 23 May 2003 11:02:26 GMT

WIRED: BLOG SPACE.

"Ever since the Web entered the popular consciousness, observers have noted that it puts information at your fingertips but tends to keep wisdom out of reach. In a space organized around connected minds, however, the search for wisdom becomes more promising." [elearningpost]

Another good quote: "What happens when you start seeing the Web as a matrix of minds, not documents?"

Good question!

[James Farmer's Radio Weblog] Had to post this for the quotes!

Wed, 21 May 2003 03:26:00 GMT

Weblogs in Education by David Carraher. David Carraher presents some valuable ideas; his Quicktime map attempts to integrate a number of players into an educational feedback matrix. JH _______ Weblogs In Education - Part II. There are barriers separating teacher education, curriculum development, and research about learning and teaching. When I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, some folks asked me to clarify my views about how these separate activities might be united. Here are some "thoughts about an online course" (.mov 600 kB)--sketches about how a course in math or science education might be structured to address these concerns. The part about the weblogs comes near the end. Sorry for being abstract. In the coming weeks, I'll try to think about specific implementation ideas for classrooms. [David Carraher] [EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online] Cool

Wed, 21 May 2003 01:21:04 GMT

Cetis - Pedagogy.

Good list of presentations from the Cetis Pedagogy Forum launch meeting in April.

[elearnspace blog]

Treat Educators as Professionals...

Tue, 20 May 2003 23:17:44 GMT

Organizational learning.

Organizational Learning is No Accident makes an important point: effective learning requires time to reflect...and our "right now" form of communication (email, IM, etc.) doesn't allow reflection time...making it difficult for people and organizations to change (time being an important component to acclimate to changes).

[elearnspace blog] My hypothesis is that blogging or any other disruptive technology tool may be appropriate for educators to put their thoughts and ideas onto digitial paper. We need more voices from the field of teachers who successful despite tbeing oppressed by politicians who have no notion on how to constructivetly help educators in the field nor about how children learn.

The Whittier School Manila Hub

Wed, 14 May 2003 11:33:52 GMT

Right now, I am focusing on working on the Whittier School Manila Hub and slowing figuring out our Plone server. What seems cool about Plone is that one can show off as much as one wants to and yet maintain a private area on one account. Most of my time is spent working on Manila and catching up on the new additions. I am working with a community organization on developing a space we have provided them . I am also trying to document my march with Manila and Plone on our Praxis with Manila and Plone weblog.

Wed, 14 May 2003 10:58:19 GMT

Online Communities.

Online Communities for Professional Development...extensive links and commentary on the definition, role, and process of developing online communities

[elearnspace blog] Good Resource on a challenge for educators to develope communities online. Like it has been said, a community of practice is a way to start.

Its about the Benjamins!!!

Wed, 07 May 2003 23:25:17 GMT

Analysts and pols are hemming and hawing about the propriety of Halliburton being given the oil industry of Iraq. Come on, this is too easy. Even if it had been put up for bid, Halliburton shouldn't have been considered because the vice-president was the CEO of the company before running for office. And it wasn't put up for bid, they just gave the contract to Halliburton. Here's strike three -- they still haven't found any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This is a scandal. [Scripting News] Follow the MONEY!

Say no to the digital robber barons

Tue, 06 May 2003 11:00:02 GMT

Media conglomeration. On 2 June 2003 the FCC proposes to remove laws that prevent any single company from owning every TV channel or newspaper in your city. Learn more and fight back. [Jeffrey Zeldman Presents: The Daily Report] Say no to the digital robber barons

Whittier School Learning Commons on Plone

Tue, 06 May 2003 04:51:24 GMT

Thanks to Jim Roepcke of Tyrell.Com for helping me install Plone to run on port 80. Right now I am just getting used to the way Plone works. Next is installation of a Wiki and RSS feed maker.

Manila 9.1 Update will be Greatly Appreciatied!!!

Tue, 06 May 2003 01:39:38 GMT

Frontier 9.1 feature list and release date. UserLand has announced a May 19, 2003 release date for Frontier 9.1. See this page on the Frontier site for a list of changes since the last major release. [Jake's Radio 'Blog]
Jake Writes, Hi Al, I spoke with John Robb earlier today about this, and we've slated it for the 9.1 release. Keep an eye on the manila-dev mail list for a beta of the required changes within the next couple of days. Thanks, -Jake
Yes! Yes! Yes! And it can't come at a better time! Big time Thanks to Sam Devore for telling us edbloggers that Jake was getting busy in Cambridge. Thanks to all edbloggers who sent email and posted info on the Manila dev group board. Pat Delaney was moving behind the scenes as well. Thanks to Userland for listening!

Mon, 05 May 2003 12:08:47 GMT

Internet Search Skills: Tutorials and Courses. I'm re-posting this valuable article about learning Internet search skills from the Web Tools Newsletter maintained by the Education Development Office of the City University of Hong Kong (I first saw the article mentioned in the Ed Tech Dev weblog). Consult the home page maintained by the Center, on Web Tools for Learning, for additional articles. (Click on the enclosure.) ____ Internet Search Skills: Tutorials and Courses. The latest Web Tools newsletter concerns learning to better search for information on the web. There's now a substantial range of help organised as tutorials and courses for every level: in this week's Web Tools Newsletter, we look at some of the best available. [Ed Tech Dev] [EduResources Weblog--Higher Education Resources Online] Book it!

Manila Praxis at Whittier School

Mon, 05 May 2003 11:54:24 GMT

Started a Praxis weblog on using Manila. A space to plan, take note and get a better handle on Manila use in my school community

Sat, 03 May 2003 03:39:03 GMT

FTP Static Rendering Beta. Eric Soroos has released a beta of an FTP filewriter for Manila's static rendering. Instructions for installing and testing are in this message on the manila-dev mail list. Keep an eye on ProductNews.UserLand.Com for announcements of new features. [Jake's Radio 'Blog] Got this bookmarked!!!

Fri, 02 May 2003 12:58:37 GMT

BlogTalk paper: personal characteristics that support blogging.

Responses to the Question 7. Which personal characteristics support blogging?

Somehow I[base ']ve got into a funny style with this one :) So, the collective portrait of bloggers.

Bloggers

have passionate curiosity and eager to discover new things
like, feel easy, have a habit or want to improve writing
care about passing ideas or [base "]paying back[per thou] to their community
are not afraid to expose ideas at the early stage
have a desire to collect, organise and connect ideas
like explaining
believe that articulation helps understanding
look for a feedback and critical discussion
like conversations
believe that sharing and open discussion are important to craft understanding, to progress and to create a better world
like networking
don[base ']t mind or even want exposure

Some bloggers

are introverts
actively looking for new contacts
[base "]have a bad memory[per thou]
believe that [base "]if you don[base ']t express and talk you won[base ']t reach out[per thou]
are educators with [base "]a desire to connect with the learners in as many authentic ways as possible[per thou]
[base "]hate secrets and lack of openness[per thou]

My conclusions in brief:

Coming to the previous entry (posted on purpose ;): it seems that most bloggers belong to the [base "]knowledge seekers[per thou] and [base "]knowledge sharers[per thou] tribes.

[Mathemagenic]

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 02:30:43 GMT

Open Source Courseware -- Evaluation and Rating.

Rob Reynolds over at Xplana has posted this useful piece that helps frame some of the issues an institution should factor in when considering looking at an open source solution to course management systems, proposes a rating scheme based on these factors and rates many of the currently available options. While I might differ on a few small points (OCW is not a CMS!!) I think I would also end up suggesting the same four products that show up in his 2 top 3 lists (CHEF, LON-CAPA, Moodle, FLE3) are the most likely contenders.

There are a few things I think we at edutools can learn for the factors he highlights as important (we allow reviews by features, but don't tie features to these kinds of factors in any strong manner). That said, one lesson I think we've learned is that you end up getting way to much clumping in the middle on a 5 point scale (mean on this was 21 with highest score 24 and lowest 17). But I'm probably getting nitpicky as it is getting to the end of the day - SWL

[EdTechPost] Very good overview of what is available out there in Open Source.

Ride the MetaMap Train

Wed, 30 Apr 2003 01:18:23 GMT

MetaMap - Graphical Map of Metadata and other Standards Initiatives.

"The MetaMap is a pedagogical graphic which takes the form of a subway map. Its aim is to help the information science community to understand metadata standards, sets, and initiatives of interest in this area."

Now this is extremely cool and helpful - this map shows both what issues particular standards and initiatives try to address (the 'lines' they reside on), the media types they apply to (the colours of the subway 'lines') and also the interrelation of various standards and initiatives (where the lines have shared 'stops'). Cooler still is that it seems to run off of (or at least have a connection to) a structured directory that catalogues these standards and initiatives. Does require the SVG plugin, and they explain why they have chosen this format. - SWL

- via David Mattison's [TenThousandYearBlog] which I subscribe to, yet only found this by chance as his main RSS feed seems to be broken. Still, dig further into his categories as he is still blogging and finding great stuff.

[EdTechPost] Ride this train. The end product of a university course. Nice to see where we have been.

Off to California

Thu, 24 Apr 2003 12:07:53 GMT

Off to Santa Barbara til Sunday. National Writing Project Urban sites meetings.

Thu, 24 Apr 2003 12:02:12 GMT

Smarter, Simpler, Social. Smarter, Simpler, Social Quote: "In some respects, this first wave of online communication technology adoption is coming to an end... [elearnspace blog] Good Article! For some reason,centralized bloatware is something that will haunt us for a while.

Even the General Accounting Office doesn't believe Bush Voodoo Economics

Tue, 22 Apr 2003 12:17:00 GMT

MEANWHILE ON THE HOME FRONT.

Now that Bush is back pushing his reckless "class warfare" tax cut for the rich, Kevin Moore of In Contempt comics reminds us what's at stake.

[How to Save the World] Even the General Accounting Office doesn't believe Bush Voodoo Economics. The GAO boss is a Republican and they can't figure out how Bush comes up with his conclusions

Mon, 21 Apr 2003 03:44:18 GMT

IF WAR ISN'T THE ANSWER, WHAT IS?.

Last month I asked the question "Who's Next After Iraq?" among the 81 countries (shown in purple on the map above) whose people live under undemocratic, mostly oppressive regimes, many with WMD or the potential to produce them, and most with long litanies of human rights abuses. The retort to the "Who's next?" question is often another question "If war isn't the answer, what is?" It's a fair question, even thought it is obviously ironic when it comes from formerly isolationist neocons.

Assuming the objective is to turn the purple in this map to yellow, or at least orange, here are the options, along with my personal assessment of the appropriateness of each:

Military intervention - This is always the last resort, only to be used when there is 'clear and present danger'. It always leaves a vacuum, always raises the spectre that what replaces it will be worse than what was vanquished, is always the most expensive solution in every sense of the word, and always leaves wounds that invite retaliation and prolonged violence. It also runs the risk of military failure and huge civilian casualties, either of which can escalate violence and destabilize whole regions, or the whole planet.
Military support for internal opposition - Same pros, cons and risks as military intervention, but sometimes more covert and cheaper, and often less effective. When it is effective, it's more durable than military intervention.
Political assassination - Same pros, cons and risks as military intervention, but much cheaper. Also illegal under international law.
Sanctions and embargoes - These almost never work, since they punish the people not the administration. There is abundant evidence that sanctions aganst Iraq have led to untold suffering by the Iraqi people and the premature death of half a million people, and had no effect whatsoever on the Iraq government.
International political pressure - Always necessary but rarely sufficient, as anyone from Amnesty International can tell you.
International inspections - The ultimate compromise. May not work. Never really given a fair try.
International trials - Time consuming and risky. May not work. Won't have a chance to work as long as Bush refuses the support, and continues to undermine, the International Court of Justice. A mechanism is needed for in absentia trials and for bringing those convicted and at large to justice.
International policing - Time consuming and risky. The counterpart and companion to international trials, this is more than just 'peacekeeping'.
Political support for internal opposition - Can be helpful, but rarely sufficient.
Do nothing

What do I think the answer is? It depends on what country we're talking about, how much suffering the regime is inflicting, and what could work under the circumstances. In a country with a benevolent dictatorship like Singapore, I'd do nothing. In a country like Rwanda a combination of options 6 and 7, and a massive expansion of the already-in-use options 5 and 8, would probably have been necessary in 1994 to avert the genocide by machete of almost a million people in three days. Instead, we actually reduced the UN police presence in the area, and some feel we were therefore complicit in the massacre.

In Iraq, I believe the neoliberal-supported sanctions, which have caused massive suffering and premature death, have been as destructive as the neocons' war. A combination of options 5, 6, 7 and 8 could have worked, and would have sent a much more effective and UN-endorsed message to the rest of the world's despots, and the people suffering under them, than the cynical military adventure of the Bush regime. And this four-option combination might have actually led to freedom, instead of the Bush legacy the Iraq people must now face: anarchy, a crippled economy, military occupation, economic opportunism, deprivation and new tyranny.

Liberals and Democrats must stop condoning what Bush is doing at home and abroad, out of political cowardice, and instead start offering positive solutions and strategies to combat the incessantly negative, fear-mongering agenda of the Bush regime. Failing this, we risk losing our own freedoms.

[How to Save the World] This is a inquiry life and civics problem, if there ever was one! The idea is to use higher order thinking skills to come up with possible solution or solutions.