ruweb2? Podium Podcast

As I was doing my presentation James Watson recorded the session in a Podium podcast. To listen to a completely unedited version of the podcast about ruweb2? copy the hyperlink below and paste it into your favourite podcast player (e.g. iTunes).

http://www.dougdickinson.co.uk/podcast/DD290907170932/rss.xml

Naace Autumn Conference Friday/Saturday 28th/29th September

In the exceptional surroundings of the Cisco Centre near the River Thames at Runnymeade 50 odd (!) delegates came to discover if they were Web 2.0 or not. The discussion was enthusiastic and the texted questions and comment provided a link from the presentation to what people were actually thinking.

There was much interest in the use of a blog as a presentation tool and also with the way videos, slide shows and snapshot pop ups were enabled to enhance the presentaation . Real modelling of the Web 2 model.

Much interest was expressed in the educational concepts and the operation underpinning Honeycomb and people were excited about the prospect of getting their hands on this powerful, educational focused ICT tool.

Shanghai unconference

An interesting night. Unable to go to Shanghai I delivered my presentation, with the help of Eugenie Morley and Danielle Markland , to an audience at the Conference from my office at 2.45 AM this morning ( 9.45 Shanghai time!)

We used a normal Skype web cam video link which connected to Danielle's laptop and her web cam. This projected onto the Conference screen with my image on one side, the blog I was working from next to it and Skype Chat open for comments and links. People in the audience were on their laptops using the blog and links to explore while I was talking and Eugenie was taking in and responding to comments on her own Skype Chat. Participants were also Twittering about the session. I was actually chatting on Skype at the time with a guy in Chicargo who was following the Conference on Twitter and was hoping for a SkypeCast so he could join in ... perhaps next time.

As I was talking to people I recorded the session in a Podium podcast. To listen to a completely unedited version of the podcast about RUWEB 2.0. copy the hyperlink below and paste it into your favourite podcast player (e.g. iTunes).

http://www.dougdickinson.co.uk/podcast/DougDickinso190907161827/rss.xml

So really low tech as far as video conferencing was concerned but certainly fit for purpose.

My thanks to Danielle and Eugenie for handling the setting up in Shanghai and thanks to the Confernece organisers for publicising the event and sorting space in their crowded programme.

Honeycomb

For a while now we have been thinking about how we can move people forward so that they will take advantage of the enormous potential that Web 2.0 apps offer and how we can make them safe and secure for users in educational contexts but also take into account the power that comes with publication and peer review etc.

Moving people forward is like herding cats ... not for the faint hearted but gives immense satisfaction. As the man says 'I wouldn't do nothing else.' (thanks to Tricia for this)



(The video just seemed appropriate ... we have no connection with EDS)


And we have made a start ... it is called 'Honeycomb'

What is it ?

• It is an online tool … delivered online, used online and accessible from anywhere at any time and is always 'up-to-date'. No CDs to load, no updates to install. Every time you log on you are working on the latest version.
• It is a safe tool as it exists in a secure environment for which access is customisable at a personal variety of levels
• It is a collaborative tool designed for users to work alongside each other on documents and ideas from wherever they are
• It is an engaging tool as it fits the current idiom of customisation and personalisation. It is ‘your’ tool… a users tool !
• It is a creativity tool in the hands of creative people who will think in spaces and communicate appropriately
• It is a community tool because ideas created in it are designed to be shared
• It is an easy tool to publish ideas with as access can be granted to anyone anywhere
• It is a tool designed for education to move forward from the one person - one recording system idea into a multi-collaborative, cooperative environment
• It is an easy to use intuitive tool where items are placed, moved, changed and adapted to suit the developing ideas
• It is personal to each and every students
• It is a tool that can and will be integrated into every aspect of educational life

It is a honeycomb ... each bit tessellating with each other bits, separate but totally integrated. It is not a 'mash up', a collection of apps in a carrier bag. It is an entity and works as such.

So to find out what the bees do ... go to Softease and discover ...

e Safety and Web 2.0

From parents to Local Authorities the constant worry about using web 2.0 applications is one of security and who will have access to what. In this litiginous society everyone wants to be safe and secure. A quick type into Google shows numerous conferences and articles seeking to clear or even muddy the water.

The State of the Net Conference has some interesting bits on 'child safety on the net'

Nancy Willard has a good grasp of things to think about.

In the UK the agency Becta has the responsibility to lead.

In the UK the Government announce a new review about e-Safety:

Children, Schools and Families Secretary Ed Balls said:

“Children and young people have faster, easier and more immediate access to online information than ever before. More and more children and young people have mobile phones and play video games in their spare time.

“These technologies bring our children new, fantastic opportunities and lots of fun but we need to balance this with the risks and worries that parents have of their children accessing inappropriate content.

“This Review is not about stopping children having fun or preventing them from taking full advantage of the educational, social and entertainment benefits that the internet and video games technologies offer. But it is about making sure they can do so safely, as far as possible, without being exposed to harmful or inappropriate material.”

Why educational podcasting

Your views are urgently sought .... please

How's this for a start:

Why Educational Podcasting...?

• Provides another way of sharing and transmitting audio for teaching and learning in schools and at home
• Children and young people are able to record, produce and publish on the Internet podcasts of their very own
• Tailored to any curriculum area
• Can provide bespoke materials to support any learning situation
• Provides instructional content to reinforce learning
• Excellent for homework
• Potential to support or extend the work of any pupil with special needs
• Great community/school link potential
• Useful for children who miss sessions/ illness etc
• Useful for those with a reading difficulty or for English as a second or third language
• Promotes a concept of ownership of materials
• Promotes sustained effort in publishing for specific audiences
• An easy vehicle for personalised learning.

Some Contexts

School weekly magazine

Reports of school visits on line

Development of collections of poetry

Collaborative work with other schools

Audio jargon busters

Information for parents

Information for new pupils

Historical interviews

Regular school sports reports

Summary …Podcasting has the potential to offer the following for personalised learning in schools:

• creating audio material for learning "on demand", at anytime and anywhere
• using differential materials that can be matched to the abilities, needs and motivation of identified children and young people
• engaging in curriculum activities grounded in an emerging technology and integral to the world-wide communication revolution
• providing curriculum-related teaching and learning in a wide range of contexts and in different locations both within and away from school
• As with all technologies, podcasting has the potential for releasing the imagination of children, young people, their teachers and parents/carers.

The thing about podcasting is that for it to work in a classroom context the technical issues have to be none existent and the software that is used has to be transparent, simple, quick and straightforward. So the question here is 'Is your podcasting software fit for purpose?' bearing in mind its use may well be about creating autonomous experiences for children. Anthony Evans, primary ICT consultant in Redbridge says: “if an application is going to take a long time to work out, or if the interface looks unfamiliar [teachers] will leave it to the tech teachers to do.” He continues, “teachers need something easy, something they can switch on and work out quickly”.

In my opinion such a piece of software is Podium from Softease.

You can read more of Anthony's views on the Podium blog.

Worries about Web 2.0

Whenever I talk to teachers or advisors about using Web 2.0 applications in curriculum contexts they invariably come up with worries about security. In a growingly litiginous society this is understandable but the worries should not provide barriers.

There are ways forward and I note that my good friend Peter Woodhead from Hong Kong offered a look at how they are making steps or even leaps forward ... 'To see how we are using Web 2.0 on our learning platform - which gives all students a safe place to create their digital identities - go to the ESF home page and sign in with the guest account details as given on the page explore the web 2.0 folder for goodies - nothing new but it's what we like doing and also see how I have used a freebie java script editor to embed an RSS feed from my Furl site onto the home page - something your kids could probably do easily' ...