iSean

i have been fiddling with Google’s writely lately. i signed up before Google bought writely, but i wanted to see how Google was coming into play now that they’ve had the site for about a half of a year. my initial review is here. in fact, you can see my initial writely document with a quick update at this link. you won’t see the interface of writely, but you can see the document.

the biggest influence i notice from Google is that writely now has tagging enabled. if you are a blogger yourself, you know all about tagging. i think much of my traffic shows up because of the tags i use at the end of each blog post (via technorati, of course). Macintosh computers have tagging built in, though i think tagging is still something more likely to be used by geeks than the general public. but, wow is tagging powerful. everything i do with regard to an ED 205 course i teach is tagged each semester like this: 205_063. the 063 tells me it’s from 2006 and the 3rd semester (1st is winter, 2nd is spring/summer, and 3rd is fall). i also use tags for the content (e.g., digital divide). i can search for digital divide tags that also include 205_063 or from last semester 205_062. i no longer have to use folders like i used to do. i just make a dated folder every few weeks and drop everything on my desktop into the folder and move it out of the way. i can hit command-space bar and type a tag or two and have any file(s) in about 2 - 3 seconds. that’s power.

well, writely now has tagging built in (click to view larger version):

no more messy folders. if you use Gmail, you have an idea how this can play out. i have thousands of emails in gmail, but no folders. i can quickly search and narrow down emails i am seeking. writely appears headed in a similar direction. writely has more . . . for example, you can easily use writely to write blog entries and even save writely files straight to a blog:

i think writely is shaping up to be a nice cheap alternative to MS Office. i sure hope schools are able to find a way to save money and use something like writely. then again, how long will writely remain free? (sigh)

Technorati Tags: blogging, Google, writely.com, Word, word processing, writely

this isn’t really ed tech, but it’s geeky enough that i had to point it out. i have been using a custom google page as my starting point on the internet. on this page, i have Digg headlines; NY TImes headlines; Wired News; Stock Market; Weather; Sports Illustrated; Inside Higher Ed; my Gmail account; etc. on this front page. i have a 23″ display so it all fits nicely. i have thought about adding more, but stuff that falls below the main screen tends to get ignored as i don’t like scrolling.

well, Google has added a new feature borrowed from tabbed browsing. they added the ability to use tabs on this customized page. i just added a new tab that i titled “ed tech” — obviously, i placed ed tech feeds on this page. the Google pages make it easy to add RSS feeds as content on the custom pages. i added, “Stephen’s Web ~ by Stephen Downes ~ OLDaily RSS 2.0” which contains hundreds of various ed tech blogs. i added a bunch of other RSS feeds as well. pretty nifty to have it all on one page. sure, i get it all using NetNewsWire (an RSS / Atom news reader that’s really good), but that’s a completely different application and sometimes i get stuck in the web browser.

just quickly, since i am touting something from Google, i figured i’d explain how i use my gmail account . . . my university uses Groupwise (no link; it’s crummy). i use a few different computers (my laptop and desktop). well, my sent mail often gets lost. if i send something on my desktop, i rarely can find it on my laptop even though all machines are using IMAP with everything stored on the server. well, with Thunderbird you can have every email you send also automatically blind carbon copied to any email address you choose. i do this to my gmail account and then use a filter to have every email from me labeled as such and removed from the main inbox into it’s own little hideaway. anytime i want to see my sent mail from any computer, it’s easily accessible.

Technorati Tags: Google, NetNewsWire, email, Thunderbird, RSS

i’ve met a new colleague at GVSU named Charlie Lowe. Charlie is writing professor and he is also an open source geek (like me) and that’s how a person in IT got us connected. well as it turns out, Charlie is very involved in helping educators shift to using Drupal if that’s what they want to do. as you can tell from reading back in my blog, i made the decision to start using Drupal this semester early in the summer. i was well on my way — errrr — actually, i was pretty far from realizing some of the potential of Drupal. when you start using a tool and you aren’t sure of its potential, you sometimes have a difficult time figuring out what you don’t know . . . fortunately, that’s where Charlie comes in.

earlier this month, i met Bill Fitzgerald online at openacademic.org. he provided me with some guidance for using Drupal. little did i know at the time, but he works very closely with Charlie on a resource called drupaled.org, which is a resource i had been exploring for months now. Charlie has hooked me up with a bunch of other educators who are using Drupal and I am well on my way to using this tool more effectively in my teaching. whew!

one of the nice things they are working on at drupaled.org and at Bill’s funnymonkey.com is that they want to create an education distribution for Drupal so that an educator or an education institution could download and install a pre configured Drupal site. from experience, i can attest that most mere mortals would never be able to install Drupal and customize it for learning on their own. in fact, i am a geek and i needed a lot of help along the way just to save some time that i didn’t have — and i started months ago (loosely, of course). so, when the distribution is ready in the future, a teacher or an education institution will be able to download a pre configured Drupal site that is customized for education and that has much documentation to provide guidance. what a terrific treat that will be for my students who often ask me about the tools i use in my teaching because they’d like to replicate things in their own future classrooms. kudos to the folks helping out the educational community.

Tags: drupal, online learning, education, funnymonkey, drupaled, openacademic, LMS

the knowledge tree (TKT) is an online journal published down under that i’ve recently become aware of. this journal is focused on innovative technology practices in learning. in fact, i have been invited to write a lead article for this online journal, which i have accepted. there are many things i appreciate about this journal and many reasons i want to be a part of what they are doing. first, you may recall a discussion on my blog from a few weeks ago where the topic of the future of scholarly journals came up. i stated that i would love to see scholarly journals open up their process and take advantage of newer technologies. the knowledge tree is only on edition 10, but they recently made an exciting transformation. instead of just writing an article and submitting this article to the editor, i will actually be writing my article right into a WordPress blog. i’ll go through some drafts along the way and i’ll likely invite my blogging audience (all 2 of you) to visit all through the writing process. the actual article will then be published in blog format. but, the innovation of TKT goes beyond just the recognition of the power of blogging; they are also having me record my my article into a podcast (mp3), which will be available on the site as well. finally, i will participate in a live session to discuss the article with other professionals and interested parties who tune in at the specified time (down under time, mind you).

i am just finishing up an article with my wife and then i will finish up with thesis students on August 8. we’re flying out to the Rockies for some R&R through the middle of August, but i’ll get started on my article in middle to late august. i’ll post a link at that time so you can scrutinize my writing, which is due by the middle of october. i’ll use my time in the mountains to clarify my thinking and to get my topic into shape, but i anticipate writing a ground-breaking and provocative piece, so stay tuned. in the meantime, you can visit TKT today and read up on past topics.

Tags: The Knowledge Tree, blog, blogging, blogs, scholarly journals, wordpress

Howard Gardner is the father of the theory of multiple intelligence (MI). and, for the last 20+ years, the educational community has had a moderate or even high influence by the theory of MI. curricular materials have been adopted; syllabi have been written; lessons implemented; assessment materials have been developed; inservice trainings have been conducted . . . all based on this theory. much school reform has been based on MI. my question is this: why? the answer: mob mentality (okay, that’s a bit strong, but the gist is correct). it sounds good and folks just went with it.

the problem with schools adopting the MI materials is that there doesn’t exist a body of scholarly research to support spending the hundreds of thousands of dollars (or millions) wasted on MI. i am not saying that MI is a bad theory; rather, i am saying that the tie to education is not mature enough for schools to have jumped on the bandwagon. Larry Cuban even writes:

MI has had the greatest influence on educators’ beliefs and talk about differences in children’s intelligence, moderate to high influence on the formal curriculum and instructional materials, and least influence on mainstream teaching and assessment practices.

in other words . . . much money is being spent with very little to show in the classroom. further, the research that exists on the implementation of MI demonstrates that the money being spent is NOT JUSTIFIED. to recap — neat idea (on paper — or on screen), no research supporting the initiative, and much money being spent — can there be a better recipe for failure?

now i want to link the story above to the previous discussion about blogs and their place in the educational community. the problem i see with blogging and “meaningful conversations” contained therein is that a “mob” of visitors can easily come to a conclusion that what they believe is the correct conclusion. depending on who comments on any particular blog story, the “meaningful conversation” can drift into half-truths and thrive on the hopes and biases that exists in the minds of the participants. if no dissension exists to steer the conversation back on track then the participants leave with incorrect assumptions and beliefs. or, the dissension that does exist can be easily dismissed by folks who want to believe a more hopeful conclusion. that cannot be a good thing for education.

i came across a story recently that claimed that there are 69,000 educational blogs that exist. i don’t know that i believe that, but even if the number is 10% of that, then there are a heck of a lot of edu blogs. who monitors that much traffic to ensure that valid and reliable information is being disseminated? who monitors that portion of the blogosphere to ensure that the educational community is safe from itself? i don’t think it matters as long as we realize that blogs are not the source of “meaningful” change in education. if a new theory or reform movement (or even a teaching strategy) is to emerge in blogs the logical next step is to conduct research and test the research for reproducibility, etc. — the scholarly process is still king and will remain so for as long as we’re around, lest we take a step backward (and this happens far too often as it is).

my esteemed peer from Texas, Miguel, directed me to an initiative that the journal of Nature is trying where they are opening up the peer review process to the whole scientific community. kudos to them. i have much to say on this topic so i’ll save it for my next entry — i also believe this is a different issue. for now, i am content to stick with my warning on personal blogs.

Tags: multiple intelligence, blogs, scholarly, gardner, blogging, education, school reform

in my last entry, i mentioned a discussion i was having with another blogger about the role blogs can serve. Miguel added a new blog entry to address our discussion and in the comments he mentioned, with regard to blogs that:

The goal is is to facilitate sharing of ideas and research, reflection of such, and, as Vicki writes, “meaningful conversation.”

Blogs aren’t the end all, but other approaches, including open access journals, present an intriguing alternative to the way things have been done. The change is coming…what role will you play as researcher to facilitate it?

i guess the bottom line for me is that “meaningful conversation” is fine and i have no problem with having these discussions. in fact, i enjoy them quite a bit for their entertainment value and they even help to shape my thinking on various topics — but this is already happening without any new focus or direction for blogging. my worry is that “meaningful conversations” will end up being given more weight than is deserved. i love discussion as i wrestle with various new ideas, beliefs and philosophies, etc., but i wouldn’t expect a school or classroom to change their educational practice(s) primarily based on a “meaningful conversation” that takes place on my blog or another blog. does anyone have this expectation? i think the question becomes . . . what role do these conversations serve that they aren’t currently serving?

i have a follow up blog entry that will develop this thought much more fully and help to illustrate the danger of giving too much credence to the blogosphere . . . i’ll develop this thinking more as i have time in the next few days.

Tags: blogs, blogging, research, education, peer-review, scholarly, journal

i came across a blogger the other day who was arguing that blogs could replace scholarly journals for some people. here’s the actual text:

a colleague knew i was thinking of switching to Drupal as my LMS this fall, so he sent me a link to a presentation by Tim Lindgren (of Boston College) on using Drupal as an Instructional Design Tool. The whole presentation is powered by Drupal, which is a nice change from the typical PowerPoint set of slides, especially if the thing is going to be posted on the Internet. This presentation provides a nice overview of Drupal, but the real value is that he provides 3 case studies demonstrating the use of Drupal in learning. Neat stuff. I appreciate that someone is sharing this information. I also plan to detail each step of the process as I begin work on my Drupal conversion later in July.

For what it’s worth, I am currently finishing up a quick 6 week course with my undergrads (Final next Wed.). I also have 13 thesis students and their chapter 1 was due earlier this week, which means I have a lot of reading on my plate. But, sometime next week I should be back here and able to contribute much more.

Tags: Drupal, LMS, CMS, teaching online

so, the rumor on those Internets is that Google is announcing a new web-based spreadsheet tomorrow. this is reported in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required). you may recall a post i made not too long ago when Google purchased writely.com — an online word processor. they haven’t released the Googlized version of this online word processor, but it’s no doubt coming soon.

i think Excel is the best application that Microsoft makes, fwiw. Google’s version doesn’t stand a chance to be competitive with Excel . . . not for a good long time. however, as i said with writely, the real beneficiaries in having a free/cheap online spreadsheet is going to be the k-12 market. as soon as they figure out that their students don’t need the full blown applications from Microsoft, these schools can start saving a lot of money per machine in their buildings. NO elementary school student is going to need any feature beyond what will be offered in the Google spreadsheet. schools have got to find a way to cut costs and break away from Office when they can use a cheap and viable alternative. in fact, there were features in writely.com that i played with that were better than MS Word (not a lot, mind you. . . but some). i haven’t heard anything about the details of a Google spreadsheet, so i won’t even try and speculate, but stay tuned tomorrow for the big news.

this is an edit, but i found the site to sign up (here). and here’s a preview:

Tags: Google, spreadsheet, writely, k-12

more and more often i am noticing that educators are shifting to using moodle as their course management system (CMS) of choice. i think it’s great that a developer is working on moodle specifically for the education community. moodle is free and open source and provides an alternative to Blackboard/Web CT (BB recently bought it’s main competition — Web CT). my university provides BB as our CMS option. and, to let you in a little secret . . . i think i’d prefer BB to moodle as long as i am not paying for using BB. i have played with moodle on my servers. it’s a nice early attempt at a CMS, but BB is much more refined. we recently upgraded to a later BB version and there are things that are impressive. that being said, i think BB is built on an older technology and the negatives outweigh the positives. if you don’t have a choice then sure, it’s a dandy choice. however . . .

drupal recently came out with version 4.7, which makes drupal much more interactive and user friendly (e.g., AJAX supported). wow! what an improvement over each of the tools i’ve listed earlier. and, i know what you’re thinking . . . drupal isn’t built for higher education. of course not, but the underlying code is being supported by a much larger community of developers than moodle and drupal is even much bigger than BB, plus drupal is open source. further, there is an initiative to make drupal more like moodle, in that it has tools added on that make it conducive to learning.

a week or so ago, i learned about Google’s Summer of Code 2006. many of the projects that Google is helping to support are geared towards drupal (EDIT: i should also note that moodle is also a sponsoring company included in this SOC project). in fact, one of the most promising projects is an Assignment/Gradebook (snippet):

Assignment/ Gradebook suite
Drupal 4.7
The Assignment/Gradebook suite will allow instructors to create assignments. Students will be able to respond to assignments, and instructors will subsequently be able to provide both a grade and written feedback on student work. While the course instructor will be able to see all student work, students will only be able to see their own work. Additionally, teachers will have the option of showing students an in-progress grade, or just sharing comments. Teachers will also be able to export grade info in csv format (for use in spreadsheets) and all comments to txt files (for use in narrative grade reports). As a security measure, student grades will be protected behind an additional login.

this module/add-on isn’t going to make drupal a BB killer. however, i think drupal and the developers using drupal are making huge strides towards having drupal in place to make waves in education. in fact, i am now planning on adopting drupal in my classes in the very near future. Stay tuned for updates as i discover new uses for current modules and various workarounds to making the best Content MS available also the best Course MS available for the classroom.

Tags: Blackboard, Web CT, Moodle, Drupal, Google, CMS