TechTicker - Latest Comments

Re: DIY Animation with GoAnimate

GoAnimate — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 19:33:33 -0000

Hi Mike,
I am the Online Community Manager for GoAnimate. I recently saw a link to your blog on Twitter. Thank you for promoting our site! It really is a fun and easy to use web based application for all ages. Within the next week we hope to release our very own character creator that will allow users to completely customize the cast of their animations! If you need any help or have questions about how the studio works, please feel free to email me at michelle@goanimate.com

I noticed that you mentioned the possibilities for educational uses and we currently do have quite a few educators that use it for this purpose. We are also in the midst of creating a new site that would be strictly for schools and grades K-12.

We also offer what we call GoAnimate-in-a-Box, it is a self contained animation studio that can added to any site. For more information on that product you can visit http://goanimate.com/gib

Re: Networked Individualism and Disruptive Technology

barrywellman — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:16:32 -0000

Thanks for a nice summary. It helps me to understand myself better. A year from now, Lee Rainie and Barry Wellman, _Networked_ will come out as a book (MIT Press)

Re: Then and Now: The Industrial Model of Education

RichardFlemming — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:14:00 -0000

The truth is that education has been outclassed by the rapid jumps that the society made over 30 years. In the last 30 years the society has developed a lot and education has failed to integrate all the new aspects of life and aspirations of the young. The truth is that few institutions today actually ofer the freedom of choice for their students. That is a real problem that education can't handle because of the industrial model which protects a very stric algorithm of offering education products.
__________________________________
Rewards Program

Re: Kaltura – Open Source Video

jimgroom — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:00:25 -0000

Mike,

This post is, indeed, very useful. When I was at UVA a few months back they had mentioned they would be exploring Kaltura, and I wasn't sure exactly what it was, they gave e a brief description, but your post fills in many gaps, and it actually makes me want to explore it a little bit. So, thanks!

Re: Kaltura – Open Source Video

Zohar Babin — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:46:15 -0000

Hi Mike,

Thanks for this awesome review!
We are glad that you enjoyed it and learned.

Your feedback is important and will help us make the future webinars and community activities better and more fun.

See my recap at:
http://www.kaltura.org/kalt...

Video, Answers and Presentations will be soon available on kaltura.org .

Re: Twitter Update Preservation Society

Mike Bogle — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:40:11 -0000

Sure you could. In fact for a while I was subscribing to the feed for the search results for the term UNSW in Google Reader. Even though I've since unsubscribed from the feed I'm still able to locate tweets using the Google Reader Search. Good idea, I'd completely forgotten about that.

Re: Twitter Update Preservation Society

James Corbett — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:03:33 -0000

Just thinking out loud here but couldn't you simply subscribe to the RSS feed for the hashtag search query in Google Reader and thereby keep an unlimited searchable record of all instances?

Re: Tweets in Perpetuity: An experiment in syndication

Mike Bogle — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:38:42 -0000

I’ve investigated the issue of clickable vs unclickable links further and it turns out the differences are visible in the feeds themselves. When the RSS feed is rendered in a browser, the @ replies and links are clickable in the feed coming through the search results for the hashtag, but not in the feed that exists for each user. So barring another RSS source for individual Twitter users or a change from the Twitter developers, there may not be a way to fix this.

Re: Tweets in Perpetuity: An experiment in syndication

Mike Bogle — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:52:49 -0000

Hi Ed,

I'm not so sure about releasing this widely as a service necessarily, however I am quite happy to add you to the list - in fact I've just begun to aggregate and syndicate your updates. I've added them to their own category here: http://p2.techticker.net/?c...

I think my preference would be to err on the side of caution in the short term, while I assess how well things are working. So limiting the number of feeds coming through (at least initially) seems like the safest plan.

That said I'm happy to assist/advise others on how they can set up similar systems if they desire and will continue to document the process I'm working through - including issues or pleasant surprises. It's not very difficult and yet lets you retain control over your data (whether you choose to release it under open licenses or not).

One of the main considerations at this stage is load and capacity. I have no idea what sort of strain syndication will exert on the system - or what thresholds may exist after which things start to have trouble. I seem to recall that one of my colleagues at UNSW ran into problems syndicating the feeds of many blogs, and which ultimately started bringing down the server. I don't expect it would happen in this instance - because he was pulling in several hundred blogs-worth of data - however it is a possibility to bear in mind.

I've also just discovered that the feeds from individual users are being handled differently from those of hashtags. @ references and weblinks are being made formatted as clickable links in the instance of hashtags, but not for individual users - and I have no idea why that's the case.

Realistically there's a fair amount of work and investigation I want to do to ensure the system is reliable and effective. So as long as you're happy for things to be occasionally unpredictable you're more than welcome aboard. :)

Re: Tweets in Perpetuity: An experiment in syndication

Ed Webb — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:11:36 -0000

Very interesting work, Mike. I don't suppose you're thinking of offering this as an archiving service more broadly, are you? I'd love to volunteer as an alpha tester if so ;) All my tweets are CC licensed: http://tweetcc.com/results/...

Re: TweepML – Share groups of Twitter Users

courosa — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:28:23 -0000

Thanks for the mention and I think your suggestions for improvement are sound. Btw, I took the results of this Google Form http://eci831.wikispaces.co... ... copied the twitter column (in .xls), and batch deleted the http://twitter.com/ from the addresses and was able to import rather quickly. Not as tedious as 1 by 1, but not as easy as it could be.

Cheers.

Re: Culture Shock and Disillusionment

Lani — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 10:51:30 -0000

Hi Mike,

You mentioned "hope is the most powerful thing there is." and immediately I thought back to a post by Barbara Ganley who wrote eloquently about hope and beyond hope-- it so resonated with me that luckily I quoted from her blog since it is now gone. She quotes Derrick Jensen: "All these false hopes bind us to unlivable situations, and blind us to real possibilities When we realize the degree of agency we actually do have, we no longer have to hope at all. We simply do the work."

I go back to the post in which I quoted Barbara Ganley often since her blog at Middlebury is gone and wonder if her thoughts might have any value to you: http://possibilitiesabound....

Best,
Lani

Re: Culture Shock and Disillusionment

leighblackall — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:41:56 -0000

Another view point to consider:

This lobby for change has been going on for a while now, converting people along its way. Now only the silly ones remain - the last mile will be the hardest.

Re: Culture Shock and Disillusionment

Mike Bogle — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:39:23 -0000

Some really valuable thoughts here, Lisa. Thanks very much for this! Quite literally in several places I thought "ooooooh that's deep."

For example, the thought had never occurred to me that this "...is the only place you *can* affect change." I was so caught up in melancholy navel-gazing about the fact "nobody agrees with me" (which isn't necessarily true anyway) that I overlooked the fact that if everyone did agree with me there would be no need for change - it would have already taken place. Great point :)

Secondly, and more importantly, your point about the positive impacts of our efforts not being immediately revealed. Quite true again. It's all too easy to take see the voices of criticism (or indeed those who agree with you) as being representative of an entire group - and yet that's not necessarily the case.

More than likely there is a range of opinion on the matter, with only a select few feeling compelled or confident enough to make their opinions known. Blogging is a lot like that too come to think of it.

The recurring theme I've seen in response to this is the notion that change takes time. People need space and opportunity to internalise new concepts and ideas, synthesize and make sense of them and determine how it might relate or assist in their local context.

You also can't expect to please everyone anyway, or expect that everyone will agree with you. That's just not realistic either.

Finally, me, a "teacher?" That is a truly frightening thought - for the world mind you, not so much me :)

Thanks for the comment - seeing things from your perspective has helped tremendously.

Re: Culture Shock and Disillusionment

Mike Bogle — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 16:23:58 -0000

Thanks Lauren :) Your first sentence was one of the main reasons for sharing my train of thought. I find personally that witnessing or observing how people approach failure or adversity are as valuable an experience or example as how they handle successes - sometimes even more so.

And of course too, by discussing the areas where we're having trouble or confusion, we put ourselves in a position where others can begin to share their experiences or thoughts on the matter and add an additional layer of perspective that would have been absence otherwise.

The half-dozen @replies I saw on Twitter when I logged in this morning are testimony to that. The social power of social media is an amazing thing.

Re: Culture Shock and Disillusionment

Lauren Bott — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 15:25:02 -0000

It was actually encouraging and comforting to me to know that someone else feels the same disillusionment and frustration that I do. But I do think there's hope for change -- it's just going to take a long time. People are very unwilling to change, or even admit there's a possibility they could be doing things better. I'm converting one at a time. Hang in there!

Re: Culture Shock and Disillusionment

$166165 — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 14:21:36 -0000

I have a couple of quick responses to choose from:
- welcome to my world
- don't knock disillusionment; it leads to growth
and the one I'll use
- that's why I live in San Diego County

You wrote:
"How on Earth can I make a difference and affect change in a culture that is almost diametrically opposed to my way of thinking?"

That is the only place you *can* affect change. What, you want to live in a place where everyone thinks like you? what kind of help could you provide there? [Note: I grew up in Bakersfield, conservative armpit of California, but I've been a radical all my life. Went to school in Santa Barbara, which was relaxing, but now in north San Diego County, I'm again surrounded by conservative thinking. Where else would I want to have an influence?]

I responded in Facebook about workshops themselves; let me add here that I think it's time to co-opt your "brightly burning beacons" into giving workshops.

Remember what Stephen Downes said about modeling? It's awfully important. You all modeled with Etherpad.

So here's the wrapup. Teachers forever do not know what influence they have. The "positive impacts" of your efforts as a teacher (which is what you were) don't get revealed to you during the session. Some, maybe just a few, of your session participants got exposed to something, and it will become significant to them later, probably while they're doing something else. It could end up having great meaning in their lives. You won't know this. That's how the game goes.

And yeah, anytime you want to come down off that ed tech high and get real, we're here for you, babe. ;-)

Re: Buddhism, chaos and complexity theory

Buddhism Facts — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 04:42:10 -0000

Buddhism that many practitioners say they bring to their business lives and although lot of people questioning Buddhism..I'm always believe in Buddhism spiritual practice added value to our life

Re: Twitter: Mitigating the Noise with Seesmic & TweetDeck Groups

Mike Bogle — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 01:30:04 -0000

Chris! How've you been? I notice a major shortage of posts on your blog as of late. Are you going to start writing again?

Yeah Seesmic is a nice app. Though admittedly I use TweetDeck more because it lets you sync your colums, groups and other configurations across machines by tying them together with an online account.

If I were only on one machine it would be a non-issue, but I use at least 5 different ones (between home, work, laptop and dual-booting machines), so the sync option comes in really handy.

I have to say that using the group option the last few days makes me wonder how I ever went without it. Follow people who rarely post, so it's good to be able to keep track of what they have to say.

Hope all is well! Talk to you later.

Re: Twitter: Mitigating the Noise with Seesmic & TweetDeck Groups

Chris Dominguez — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:45:09 -0000

Seesmic has been very helpful to me, I just need to use it more. Need to set up my groups so I can read the tweets I care about most.

Re: Distributed Models of Sharing

$166165 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:17:57 -0000

Jim and Mike,

I found myself nodding at Jim's remarks about problems with commenting syndication and log-ins.

Blogs are what we have, but they really seem to be the wrong format for discussion. They are post and reply. Their main advantage is subscription, but you're right that commenting subscription is inconsistent (I almost missed Jim's reply here because I thought I had subscribed to this discussion, and it didn't go through -- when it does go through I have to confirm, which is annoying, proving his point). In some ways, a subscribable forum might be a better way to have a discussion. But, as Jim notes, then the participant isn't participating from his own space. It seems we haven't built the good bridges yet between spaces, even when they're public.

Students having to tag, and do it correctly, is cumbersome. And how can tags filter effectively unless they are being used consistently, which may (or may not) be possible in an institutional system, but is impossible on the open web, where I'd prefer to work? I don't buy the theory that massive participation will result in the information I want -- that's why I still search Google still as well as Delicious. Little tools like the one Alan discovered for Twitter are highly geeky, a problem I recently criticized in my own blog (do let me know if the comment subscriptions are working...).

Perhaps the real difficulty is simply asynchronicity. We're trying to do as a group what we are used to doing in person as a group, or by writing individually. It could be as basic as this: we don't have the skills yet to envision what we want. Thank goodness we have visionaries like you two.

More on Mike's new post coming up, 'cause otherwise I'll have to do all this in my space instead! :-)

Re: Distributed Models of Sharing

jimgroom — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:45:43 -0000

Mike and Lisa,

I see the possibilities and limitations of this model, and while we have been using it regularly at UMW, there are still a few things we need to streamline. Have students tag their posts with a unique tag for a specific class was a bit of a challenge at first, but over time it seems like it has gotten a bit easier. If they tag it right, it does republish in the course blog. A benefit of this is that everyone in the course can subscribe to one singl feed in the course blog for all the distributed updates, and the eprmalinks will actually revert back to the student's blog, not the course blog. Another possible beenefit is that everyone's post is not only their own, but also republished within a course space that traces and archives the specific posts for that course.

That said, it has a major weakness, and that is syndicating in comments. So while the commentary happens on the students' blogs, it cannot be republished on the appropriate posts on the course blog which is still an issue, especially when we recognize the commentary can be just as powerful, if not more so, than the original post. That said, it still leaves control of the comments and original posts in the hands of the students, not the course blog. This is a tricky slope that something like Disqus or Intense Debate may help solve eventually---but their requisite login and the like is a barrier to commenting.

One think I like about this model at UMW, is that it gives us a series of spaces that represent course nodes in the larger publishing network that we can highlight and use to filter all the work going on. And I think that is the purpose of the tag, a way to simply and intelligently filter syndicated content that is relative to a specific group of students, while at the same time letting them use their own spaces for a variety of other course, personal posts, reflections, movies reviews, etc.

While far from a perfct model I do like the way it pushes us to think about ways to imagine aggregation, and in is running parallel to developments like Google Wave nd the like, but just not as integrated and easy. Google will perfect that, and we may very well be turning to engines like that for ease of use, but I still think the model, when aggregated through a twitter hashtag through a twitter plugin as CoGDog points out here, offers a lot of ways to approach this through a series of broadcasting tools.

And Mike, you frame it here brilliantly, so thank you.

Re: Regaining some perspective

suifaijohnmak — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:56:06 -0000

Well said Mike.
I think I could resonate with your ideas in many of my posts in Education and Learning http://suifaijohnmak.wordpr... and so I won't repeat my responses here.
It takes great courage to voice our opinions as bloggers, irrespective of the pressures we all face. When it comes to education reforms, it may be like landing on the moon, one small step in human (our individual "transformation"), but a big step in human history (our voices resonated through). We have aspired to an education and learning paradigm which opens up the door to more people in society - like open education, cooperative/collaborative community and networked learning that could benefit more people, more businesses in society, locally, and globally. These initiatives would be more equitable, more responsive to the needs of society, and equip people with 21st century skills. These are all attributed to people who like to contribute, and make a difference to the present system. If we are to start from ourselves in this education movement, then we could each behaves like a butterfly, flap our wings, and change ourselves to serve and help others. These are the bridges that each of us is building through these sharing, interaction and support. You have been instrumental in this leadership initiative. Would I call this passion? That I share?

Re: Regaining some perspective

gminks — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:13:33 -0000

I feel the same way - about different things. Ok, grad school and mapping the history of HPT isn't helping. The trick (I think) is realizing what the game is while remembering that you can never truly change this game. You have to create change that runs in parallel to the current system, and build build bridges from the old to the new, and find out how to convince folks to cross the bridges and leave the old behind.
It takes time. It takes patience. It requires support from others, so you know when to take a break from it. Breaks are the only way to build up a tolerance for the resistance you'll meet (which includes the apathy).

Re: Distributed Models of Sharing

Mike Bogle — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 18:03:33 -0000

I started responding to this as a comment but it quickly grew into something else so I've devoted a new post to it: "Use Case for the Distributed Model." Comments, skepticism and debate welcome :D