Thing #23

Time flies...9 weeks came and went, leaving one last thing to do now. It has really been a learning journey for me. I've finally been exposed to Web 2.0 tools that I've heard so much about.

What was the learning experience like? The activities were fun to do, and most times I completed them with a sense of achievement, and sometimes with some frustration in between. However, I do seem to rush to meet the weekly deadlines, and feel that I need to spend more time exploring the tools in order to exploit them fully. I also feel that if we do not use the tools often enough, we will forget how to use them very soon. It always happens.

So what now? The learning landscape will change with time. Better tools will emerge prompting us to switch to them. The stubborn ones among us will stick to what we like to use, while others will switch willingly. Technology evolves quickly, and we need to make the best of technology to create a learning journey. Happy learning...

Thing #22

I love the audio eBooks that allow me to see pictures and text while listening to someone reading it. This can be found in the online gallery of the British library. I also like it because the larger text allows people with poor eyesight to read the ebook.

Although LibriVox has the literature book "Where Angels to Tread", it gets a little boring to just listen to it. This may be good enough though for people with failing eyesights or are blind. They can still "listen" to a good book.

That literature book can also be downloaded in various formats from "Best Places to Get Free Books", which is good. Now I can read it without having to buy it, and still play my part on saving the Earth by not cutting down more trees. :)

My preference is to be able to download the eBook to "read" at leisure. It is a little slow to open up the eBooks sometimes when the internet traffic is very heavy. Having the files will also allow me to "read" them when commuting on public transport.

Thing #21

As found in Wikipedia, podcast is actually a personal on demand broadcasting that is typically found in RSS feeds. It can be a video or audio clip.

I tried podcast.net and Yahoo Podcasts but they no longer exist. Then I tried the famous Mr Brown podcast and hear his latest on how a big shot civil servant helps Singaporeans by spending money in Paris to learn how to cook, so that they can cook at home and spend time with their family members. Such irony, when the poor can hardly make ends meet. Sigh.

Well, I installed the Jing software and capture an image of Mr Brown's podcast page. Aha...the number of Things to do are getting fewer, which means that I've been exposed to many Things. :)

Thing #20

Report on the latest items in my 2 RSS feeds from before
From Google Reader, one of the feed is on AutoCAD Tips Newsletter and the latest 4 articles written on 18 Jan 2009 were contributed by ellen@ellenfinkelstein.com. They covered some tips on editing drawings using DXF, speeding work through keyboard shortcuts, saving objects to separate files through write blocks, and displaying a lost custom toolbar.

The other feed is on Gardening Ideas. There were 28 entries and the last entry on 18 Jan 2009 featured a photo of the week of Amazon Passion - a photo of a South African garden at a place without snow during this period of time. Cool!

Embed a video in my Blog post
I find the following YouTube video very interesting as it shows how a sustainable structure can be built easily by the local people in Nepal. Readily available material such as sand and cement are used for the construction. It's really amazing. It's just too bad that we lack these very materials in Singapore. I'll try to put the same video into MeL for the module on landscape construction principles.

Thing #19

Well, I certainly love the LibraryThing, especially when I can see the covers of all the books that I've catalogued. It's very easy to add the books from Amazon, and to add one in manually.

Allowing me to keep my catalogue private and to only share with my friends is great. I'll share it with the rest of the whole when I'm ready.

I think I'll use this online tool to keep track of the books that I use for my classes. :)

Thing #18

The online productivity tools such as Zoho and Google Docs allow easy sharing of information and portability. All the team members can collaborate at any time of the day wherever they may be. They allow us to use tools similar to that provided by Microsoft, without the hassle of software compatibility issues, which is excellent.

However, it seems a little slow depending on the capacity of the network bandwidth and the volume of user traffic. I'm also a little concerned that hackers or "phishers" may gain access to my information that is so easily accessible to all. What is the possibility of the document being corrupted? Can it be lost in the virtual world? I guess it's always better to have a backup. Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. Knowing that my documents are always totally secured will definitely allow me to have a peace of mind when using online tools.

Thing #17

Adding an entry to the Learning 2.0 Sandbox wiki
It was interesting to read about the story of the dog. Based on the comments, most of the participants tried to continue with the story as best as they can, including me. I'm not so sure if we all make sense but it was fun.

How I might use wikis with my students?
I'll create an online space for group project within the team members, and a space for all the groups to share and exchange information. I think there should also be a space too for the students to upload photos or sketches of landscapes or details that they deemed nice for all to comment. Then they can benefit from collaborative learning, and we can compile a database of common questions and visual pictures for future reference.

Thing #16

Well, Christmas and New Year came and went. I finally settled down to the next 8 things to do. The next thing being Wikis.

From what I gathered, Wikis allow people from all over the world to contribute their ideas and knowledge to a common interest. They can work on it at different time zones, as and when they have the time to do so. An example is the socialtext wiki that allows contributors to create a book by writing articles on topics that they are interested in or are knowledgeable in, as listed on the content page. It also allows people to exchange ideas and comments. Another example is the famous Wikipedia, which is an online encyclopedia that we go to for information.

Wetpaint wikis are useful for beginners to wikis. They are free and easy to use. There are templates to start off with and allow people to build upon. They offer similar functions to our MeL, such as Announcements, putting up notes and teaching plans. As it allows us to control who can contribute, and what they have contributed, it may be safe to use in an educational institute.

In conclusion, Wikis allow people from all walks of life to contribute to a common interest, at any time of the day. It encourages collaboration, exchange of information, and mobility, and it's here to stay.