The Tassie Toolbox

Week 10: Downloadable Audio and wrapping up the Tassie Toolbox

2009-07-30T12:26:00.000+10:00

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22. eBooks and Audio eBooks
23. Summarize your thoughts about this program

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#23 (WEEK 10) Summarize your thoughts about this program on your blog

2009-07-29T14:22:00.000+10:00

Congratulations!! You’ve reached the 23rd thing. Give yourself a pat on the back for completing the program.

Please give us your feedback on your experience by reflecting on your learning journey and posting a few thoughts on your blog. Here are some questions to prompt you:

What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
Were there any take-a-ways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
If you were offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you choose to participate?
How would you describe your learning experience in ONE WORD or in ONE SENTENCE to promote tassie toolbox learning activities?

I hope this is not the end of our learning journey together, but the start of something amazing …such as:

maintain your blog as your educational journal
add your blog URL to your e-mail signature line
re-purpose it as your training blog
share it with your colleagues and classes

And finally, for those that have completed each of the 23 things, I'd like to post you an mp3 player... something to listen to those audio books and podcasts on :).

If you've got the body of work (a blog post on each of the 23 things we've explored over the past few months), send an address (two actually, your blog and your postal address) to my email: peter.shanks@skills.tas.gov.au - you've got until the end of August, when I'll go shopping for a bag of tech to post off to you.

Thanks again for a wonderful time, I've really enjoyed reading all your posts and emails; and catching up with some of you in the 'real' world. Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future.

All the best,
Peter (botheredbybees) Shanks

#22 (WEEK 10) Explore eBooks & Audio eBooks

2009-07-29T14:21:00.000+10:00

For this Thing, you will explore where you can get free ebooks and get an idea of the types of titles you can find here. Take a look around and locate a few titles of interest. Many libraries have audiobook and ebook collections, so check what they have in their collections. Audiobooks are popular for ELL and Special Education students, as well as commuters who enjoy a good story during a long walk or ride. There are a number of commercial audiobook and ebook sources, and many of these companies have exhibits at library and other educational conferences.

Discovery Exercise:

Explore World EBook Fair' site for FREE downloads from the Gutenberg Project. Also just explore the site - there's much to check out.

Create a blog post about your findings.

Discovery Resources:

LibriVox, audiobook versions of copyright-free books from the Gutenberg Project. Read by volunteers. Started in August 2005 by Hugh McGuire. Check it out!
British Library Online Gallery includes digitized original classics. An audio feature allows a visitor to have the book read aloud. Don't miss the original version of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures Under Ground. Mozart's Musical Diary includes 75 audio excerpts. Take the tour and encourage your students and colleagues to do so too! This resource is AMAZING.
Check out this site, too: "Best Places to Get Free Books"
Ask your librarian for local and on-line audio book resources. Does it have eBook and audioBook collections?

Carriculum Connections

Record your presentations and/or lectures and make them available to your trainees for revision (many mp3 players and mobile phones will let you record on-the-cheap)
Have your trainees produce material of their own, either from scripts you provide or starting from a basic concept.

Week 9: Podcasts and Video

2009-07-23T10:59:00.000+10:00

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20. Discover TeacherTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos.
21. Podcasts - no iPod required!

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#21 (WEEK 9) Podcasts: iPod not required

2009-07-23T09:57:00.000+10:00

The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting over the last year and a half; it’s easy to see why. Podcasts take many forms, from short 1-10 minutes commentaries (like the ones used in this Learning 2.0 program) to much longer in person interviews or panel group discussions. There’s a podcast out there for just about every interest area and the best part about this technology is that you don’t have to have an iPod or a MP3 player to access them. Since podcasts use the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC (or portal device) with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory finding service most associated with podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise participants are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your blog reader (i.e., Bloglines or Google Reader) account as well, so that when new casts become available you’ll be automatically notified of their existence.

Podcasts have great potential for the classroom. Creating ‘radio’ requires students to write ‘visually’ so that the listener can ‘see’ the action without the use of pictures. Creating podcasts can meet many of the language arts standards that require concise language, interviewing, speaking and listening and research.

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. See if you can find some interesting educational podcasts here like book reviews or educational podcasts.
Add the RSS feed for a podcast to your blog reader account.
Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?

Discovery Resources:

To find out more about podcasts start with Yahoo: What is a podcast tutorial

There are many, many podcast directory and finding tools out there. Here are just three of the more popular ones that don’t, like iTunes, require a software download:

Podcast.net

Podcastalley.com

Yahoo Podcasts

See also Educational Podcast Directory

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Interview candidates for local office, or town officials about top issues in your community. Air their interviews alongside those of students.

Idea #2: Create a daily school news podcast, including an issue of the day such as copyright/music downloading/file sharing, Internet safety tips, or newest web 2.0 applications. School news podcasts can include jokes, stories, a daily history fact, puzzles, and other fun items of interest to students. Don't forget student surveys such as: Should we have a dress codes; Should the school sell sodas or reinforce a healthy food policy; How many hours of homework should there be each week day?
Idea #3: Language Learners [English Language Learners or Foreign Language Learners] can interview each other in their chosen language. Student can then listen to the interviews in class and translate, or discuss, or continue the conversation. You could make this a ‘round robin’ conversation with the recorder going around the whole class and everyone contributing.
Idea #4: Create oral history podcasts. Allow students to take home voice recorders to tape family members stories.
Idea #5: Create a tour of your organisation for new students and/or trainees. This is an excellent job for an activities / leadership class.

Do you want to learn how to be a podcaster ? (Here are optional Resources for those who want to learn to create podcasts)Yahoo: Publish a podcast Odeo’s Studio – online recording studio.Beginners guide to Podcasts & Creating Podcasts How to podcast tutorial

#20 (WEEK 9) Discover TeacherTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos

2009-07-23T09:39:00.000+10:00

In the last few years online video hosting sites have exploded allowing users to easily upload and share videos on the web. Among all the web 2.0 players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog serving up over 1 million video views a day and allowing users not only to upload their own video content easily, but also embed clips into their own sites easily. There are lectures from universities and colleges around the world, interviews with industry leaders and scores of conference addresses and workshops there. There is also an 'education only' variant: TeacherTube, which is an online community for sharing instructional teacher videos.

Do some searching around TeacherTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. You'll find everything from a Simple Reading Strategy Flip Book to a WWII Veteran Interview and NASA - Zero gravity cool experiments. Of course, like any free site you’ll also find a lot stuff not worth watching too. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t explore and see for yourself what the site has too offer. :)

Discovery Exercises:

Explore teacherTube & find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.
Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the site and why did you choose the video that you did? Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting if they were applied to library websites?
OPTIONAL: Try placing the video inside your blog using the copy and paste code for the "Embeddable Player.” Note: you'll need to use Blogger's Edit HTML tab when pasting this code.
Once you've begun working with YouTube for some time you might like to play with the movies that are available. On the makeuseof site is a collection of ten interesting hacks associated with YouTube movies. Here you can learn how to view and embed high quality videos, link to the video part way through the clip, hide the search box, embed only the relevant part of a movie, autoplay and loop an embedded movie, disable the related video link, Bypass regional filters and use kickyoutube to download videos.

Discovery Resources:
Other popular video hosting sites :

NOTE: Videos, like music downloads, are bandwidth hogs. It is recommended that you complete this exercise during light Internet usage times.

Week 8: More free tools

2009-07-16T14:19:00.000+10:00

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18. FOSS (gimp, audacity, kompozer), eXe, hot potatoes
19. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

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#19 (Week 8) Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

2009-07-15T10:32:00.000+10:00

Listen to this short podcast (2:30) -->

The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past two years and for good reasons! These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the internet without the need to install desktop applications. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean the death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office (I'm thinking specifically of the DET firewall folks here - who have blocked Google docs for reasons best known only to themselves). But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, web-based apps are here to stay and are growing in popularity day by day.

One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing. Finally, they're free, which is an appealing price point for many students and small businesses.

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to take a look at a web-based word processing tool called Zoho Writer*, create a simple document and then document your discoveries in your blog. If you're up to the challenge, you might even export your document as an HTML file or publish it through Zoho to your blog.

With Zoho and web-based applications, the possibilities are endless.

Discovery Resources:

A short list of web-based productivity applications – Note: I authored this list in ZohoWriter and exported it as HTML.

6 Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Google Docs

Discovery Exercise:
Create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer.
Explore the site and create a few test documents of two.
Try out Zoho Writer’s features and create a blog post about your discoveries.

Optional: If you're up for the challenge, try using Zoho’s "publish" options to post to your blog.

* Note: You can also explore Google Docs (formerly known as Writely), Google's online word processer, as an option for this exercise.

BTW: Here’s a document (viewable as a webpage) Helene Blowers mocked up in Zoho about some of the features she found beneficial.

#18 (Week 8) FOSS (gimp, audacity, kompozer), eXe, hot potatoes

2009-07-14T14:06:00.005+10:00

Free and open source software (FOSS) is software which is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code.
This has a couple of very appealing consequences. Apart from being free (duh), companies and individuals can tinker with the code and customise the software to meet their needs, they can also see where there might be security risks and vulnerabilities in the code (and patch these faults to reduce the risk of exploitation).

Confusingly, there is also a type of software that is offered for free, but without the source code (so you can install and use it, but can't modify it). In the open source world this is often referred to as: 'free (as in beer)' - in contrast to the open source free (as in speech, also known as libre software). While not optimal, there are some great programs available under the 'free beer' model.

Discovery exercises:

For this discovery exercise you'll be installing and running some free software. Find something that you might use in your course delivery or content development, in the discovery resources below. Download and install it and then blog about your experience. What software did you choose (include a link)? How easy was it to get working? What's the interface and documentation like? Would you recommend it to a friend?

Discovery Resources:

The mother lode and home of most of the free and open source code is found at Sourceforge - have a look around and see what you can find.

Sourceforge is a huge, rambling, sometimes not-quite-up-to-date collection - perhaps a little too big for easy consumption. If you're interested in purely educational FOSS you might find Eduforge a little easier to digest.

Another interesting specialist collection of FOSS software is portableapps.com which distributes applications that can run from USB drives (these applications will also run from computer hard drives). The interesting thing about this is that no supervisor priveleges are needed to install and run these programs, so you can easily carry them around with you and/or set them up in a training room with the minimum of fuss.

In a hurry? Here's a few links to some interesting free software for learning content developers:

Or you can get a whole bunch of it on one CD by downloading the open education package

Carriculum connections

Burn an openeducation CD to distribute to new trainees
Install some content development software such as Avidmux, Audacity, or the GIMP and have your trainees use it to produce training material and evidence of competency.

Image: 'Light My Path'
www.flickr.com/photos/24420613@N08/3180236074

Week 7: Wikis

2009-07-07T10:49:00.001+10:00

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16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that educators are using them.
17. Add an entry to the tassie toolbox wiki.

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#17 (Week 7) Add an entry to "Sandbox" Wiki

2009-07-07T09:47:00.000+10:00

A sandbox is a term that wikis often use to describe the area of the website that should be used for pure play so for this discovery and exploration exercise, go to the sandbox portion of the tassie toolbox wiki -- go ahead and play! Just click on the link

Discovery Exercises:

Visit the Tassie Toolbox wiki and go to the section devoted to one or more of the topics covered in the 10 weeks of the 23 things course.

Create a post in your blog about the experience. How might you use wikis?

Discovery Resources:

Wikispaces in education - a slideshare tutorial
Wikispaces for Educators
Web Tools 4U2Use - a wikispaces wiki full of 2.0 tools in education

As a public document, trainers are often concerned about using wikis for classroom discussions or notetaking. There is also concern about students who post inappropriately. You can assign students numbers or login names [or let them choose their own] so that you can keep track of who is contributing to the discussion. As teacher, you have the power to moderate what goes on. Make sure that you receive an e-mail notice whenever there is a new addition to the wiki. This way you can maintain a useful and appropriate wiki. The following ideas can be used for any subject.

Curriculum Connection:

Idea #1: Select one of your favorite curriculum ideas from your own blog. "Copy and paste" it to the tassie toolbox wiki.
Idea #2: Create a “tafe-o-pedia.” Make a tafe ‘Wikipedia’ with competency based facts. Make sure that every fact is checked and verified and cited. This can be done with as an assignment and each page can be a different performance criteria.

*NOTE: The Tassie Toolbox wiki was created using the free version of wikispaces , a tool that lets you create webpages that anyone can edit.

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati

2009-06-26T02:06:00.000+10:00

A bit more techy this week - but if you persevere there's a whole new world of information, links and resources at your fingertips...

13. Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)
14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.
15. Copyright, Creative Commons, and What's Coming Down the Road with Web 2.0 .

#14 (WEEK 6) Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts

2009-06-25T12:42:00.000+10:00

So now that you’ve been blogging for awhile, you might be wondering just how big is the blogosphere? Well according to San Francisco based Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs, there are “over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second.” Technorati tracks 62.5 million blogs. If the blogging trend continues, it is estimated that Technorati will have tracked its 100 millionth blog in just 5 months.

Yes, these numbers are astounding, but as you’ve already seen for yourselves, blogging is so easy that these publishing tools are being taken advantage of by almost every industry, including VET. So how do you get your blog listed as part of the blogosphere and how can you tag your posts with keywords to make them more findable through a Technorati search? The answer to the first question is that your blog is probably already being captured by Technorati due to the fact that you’re already using Blogger, the most popular blogging tool (if you're using edublogs, that's indexed too). But if you want to join the party and have your blog officially listed on Technorati and also take advantage of the watchlist and other features, you’ll need to claim your blog yourself. As for tagging posts with Technorati tags? This is easy too. All you need to do is add a little bit of HTML code to the bottom of your post (see example below) and Technorati will pick up these tags when it spiders (or web crawls) your site.

There are a lot of features in Technorati including the capability to search for keywords in blog posts, search for entire blog posts that have been tagged with a certain keyword, limit a search by language, or search for blogs that have been registered and tagged as whole blogs about a certain subject (like photography or libraries).

Google also has blog search. This is another place to search blogs or blog postings - http://blogsearch.google.com/

Discovery Exercise:

Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for “TAFE”, "polytechic", "VET" or “tassietoolbox” in Blog posts, in tags, and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different?
Explore popular blog, searches and tags. Is anything interesting or surprising in your results?
Create a blog post about your discoveries on this site.
Now that we’ve worked with tags in Flickr, Del.icio.us, and Technorati, what are your thoughts about tagging? What are its advantages? What are its disadvantages?
OPTIONAL: If you're up for a challenge, learn how to tag your posts with Technorati tags so they can become part of Technorati tag searches. Create a post about something. It can be anything you want and add the HTML code to the bottom to tag it as “tassietoolbox” You may also want to consider claiming your blog and creating a watchlist.

NOTE: When adding HTML code, you'll want to make sure you're in Blogger's Edit HTML window. There's a lot to explore.

Discovery Resources:

Technorati Tour – videocast of new features & new look
Technorati Discover & Popular features

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Use these tools to locate blogs and other sites relating to your courses and subject areas.

#13 (WEEK 6) Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)

2009-06-25T11:41:00.000+10:00

Tagging is an open and informal method of categorizing that allows users to associate keywords with online content (webpages, pictures, & posts). Unlike traditional library subject cataloging, which follows a strict set of guidelines (e.g., Library of Congress subject headings), tagging is completely unstructured and freeform, allowing users to create connections between data in any way they want.

In the past few weeks, we’ve already explored one site – Flickr - that allows users to take advantage of tagging and in week 3 many of you even used a common tag to create an association between photos that we individually uploaded. This week, in addition to exploring Technorati tagging, we also want to take a look at the popular social bookmarking site Del.icio.us (typed as http://del.icio.us/.)

Why social bookmarking? Well, have you checked your list of favorites or bookmarks on your internet browser lately? If you’re like me, your favorites list may need some pruning or organization. Or, if you don’t happen to be on your regular computer, how do you even remember all the sites you’ve bookmarked?

Del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager which allows you to bookmark a web page and add tags to categorize your bookmarks.

Many users find that real power of Del.icio.us is in the social networking aspect, which allows you to see how other users have tagged similar links and also discover other websites that may be of interest to you. You can think of it as peering into another users’ filing cabinet, but with this powerful bookmarking tool each user's filing cabinet helps to build an expansive knowledge network.For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at Del.icio.us and learn about this popular bookmarking tool.

Discovery Exercises:

Visit and take a look around Del.icio.us
Explore the site options and try clicking on a bookmark that has also been bookmarked by a lot of other users. Can you see the comments they added about this bookmark or the tags they used to categorize this reference?
See if you can find any resources in del.icio.us that are tagged with tassietoolbox
Create a blog post about your experience and thoughts about this tool. Can you see the potential of this tool for research assistance? Or just as an easy way to create bookmarks that can be accessed from anywhere? How can RTOs take advantage of social bookmarking sites?
OPTIONAL: If you’re up to the challenge, create a Del.icio.us account for yourself and discover how this useful bookmarking tool can replace your traditional browser bookmark list. You might even want to explore Del.icio.us’ latest addition, a network badge. (Psst! see it on the left at the bottom of the navigation sidebar.)

Note: If you do setup a Del.icio.us account, here’s a quick word about the Del.icio.us Buttons. On PCs that have the toolbars locked down, these will install as options in your browser bookmarks. Use the “Post to my Del.icio.us” link to add the current webpage to your account (you may need to log in). Use the “My Del.icio.us” link to view your online account.

Discovery Resources:

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

IDEA #1: Search De.licio.us to find links for student assignments.
IDEA #2: Create your own De.licio.us bookmarks for various subjects/resources to use with student assignments.
IDEA #3: Tag sites with your subject numbers. See http://delicious.com/tag/ICAB4135A for an example.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

Week 5: Show and Tell

2009-06-18T09:00:00.000+10:00

This week's all about resources - your's, student generated and stuff that's just out there for general consumption - plently to look at and play with, so dig in and...

10. Tell a digital story.
11. Build a resource of your own using ARED
12. A look at open courseware

#10 (WEEK 5) Digital Storytelling

2009-06-17T17:47:00.000+10:00

According to the wikipedia "Digital Storytelling" is an emerging term, one that arises from a grassroots movement that uses new digital tools to help ordinary people tell their own 'true stories' in a compelling and emotionally engaging form. These stories usually take the form of a relatively short story (less than 8 minutes) and can involve interactivity.

Discovery Exercise:

Browse the Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling Website
Create a story of your own using the StoryBox online tool or Microsoft's free software photostory
Post the result of your discovery process in your blog. Note: If you use the online tool be sure to include a link to your story, so other participants can see/hear it too. Take some time and have fun with this exercise.

Discovery Resources:

The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling Website
Hilary McLellan's Story Link - a huge collection of links to more Digital Storytelling resources

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Write a workplace scenario for your class.

Idea #2: Have your students work individually or in groups to create a digital story of their own.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

#11 (WEEK 5) AREDv2 e-learning content development tool

2009-06-11T15:11:00.009+10:00

Would you like to use an application that makes e-learning resource development quick and easy? And what's more - one that requires little more than basic computer skills... sounds v good!

With an Australian made tool set called ARED (Applications for Rapid E-learning Development), you get 6 dynamic templates based on media-rich interactions commonly used in e-learning materials. AREDv2 saves you time and effort without having to learn multimedia skills that are usually required to build such resources.

Discovery Resources:

Here's a sample of an AREDv2 resource as a finished product - as you can see the content can be indepth and the layout is pretty sweet. Can you see resource development potential for your online course?
There are many more examples, and some links to useful tools on Evelyn Flitman's geocities page

Discovery Exercise:

Your exercise for this week is to download ARED, and have a go at creating some content using any of the templates (be warned, the decision tree might be better left for a workshop!)
Post comments to your blog - the good the bad AND the ugly side of AREDv2
For bonus marks, try incorporating some of the graphics tools and tricks we explored in week 3

Curriculum Connections:

Material in the training package you use could be a useful start for an ARED project. Have a look through the unit guide for a subject you're teaching on NTIS and see if anything jumps out at you :)
Did you know you can copy the ARED application onto a USB or hard drive an use it without having to install it as an administrator? Any classroom computer could run ARED with the minimum of preperation. So.. maybe you could get your trainees to produce simple ARED objects as part of a class based activity.
Many learning objects in the toolbox repository used ARED to make interactive activities - some of these can be taken as templates themselves, or ideas for your own development.

#15 (WEEK 6) Copyright, Creative Commons, and What’s Coming Down the Web 2.0 Road

2009-06-05T12:51:00.000+10:00

Putting the ‘social’ into social networks allows us to freely exchange information. But with the free exchange of information comes the responsibility of how we share it, and how we give credit to the author of that information. Check out this video, “A Fair(y) Use Tale” and learn some history of copyright.

In the workplace and the classroom, we are often faced with the copyright challenges. When is it acceptable to copy something and how much of an item [book, website, music etc] we can copy? Faced with declining budgets and little time, we are tempted to go ahead and make the copies. But with the advent of file sharing, downloading and RSS, we must acknowledge and teach the ethics of information gathering and sharing.

Creative Commons is a copyright license that allows us to choose to share our intellectual property. This course is designed under a Creative Commons license and is an example of how one can take a piece of information or a product and re-work it to make it fit your needs. By acknowledging the original authors, they have given permission for you to share. One place for good information about what's going on with the Creative Commons is Lawrence Lessig's blog. Lawrence Lessig is one of the Creative Commons developers and a Stanford University professor."

Discovery Exercises:

Try out the creative commons licensing tool. Which license did you end up choosing if any. Write a blog post on your preference and why you selected it. Is there a place for CC licenses in TAFE?
Browse the ccLearn pages. For bonus marks , create a blog post about your thoughts on the ccLearn initiative.
Take a look at the Flexible Learning Network's Copyright Kitchen, which breaks up copyright information into categories built around who you are, where you work and the task at hand.
Check out some of these 30 places to find creative commons media - put a link on a blog post to your favourite.

Discovery Resources:

Online copyright comic book developed by students at Duke University Law School
Creative Commons website
“Wanna Work Together?” a short video about Creative Commons
Read through the Official Guide to Copyright Issues for Australian Schools and TAFE

I hope you're enjoying all the exercises you've done so far. Keep having fun exploring and thinking about Web 2.0 in your training.

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders

2009-05-28T10:30:00.001+10:00

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8. Learn about RSS feeds and set up your own Bloglines newsreader account.
9. Locate a few useful training related blogs and/or news feeds.

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#9 (WEEK 4) Locate a few useful training related blogs

2009-05-28T10:06:00.000+10:00

Now that you have an RSS Reader (your Bloglines or Google Reader account), you can begin adding other feeds that interest you. There are several ways you can locate RSS feeds:

When visiting your favorite websites -- look for RSS feed icons that indicate the website provides it. Often a feed icon will be displayed somewhere in the navigation of the site.
Use Blogline's Search tool - Bloglines recently expanded search tool lets you search for news feeds in addition to posts, citations and the web. Use the Search for Feeds option to locate RSS feeds you might be interested in.
Check out the top "Edublog" award-winning blogs

Other Search tools that can help you find feeds:

Feedster - One of the largest collections of RSS feeds, Feedster lets you search for feeds in three categories: news, blogs & podcasts
Topix.net - This search tool allows you to locate recent newsfeed items based upon keyword or phrase searching. The tool focuses specifically on news and media outlets RSS feeds for information, not weblogs
Syndic8.com - Syndic8 is an open directory of RSS feeds that contains thousands of RSS feeds that users have submitted.
Technorati - Technorati is a popular blog finding tool that lets you search for blogs. Since RSS feeds are inherent to all blogging tools, Technorati Blog Search can help you find RSS feeds for topic specific blogs you may be interested in.

Google Blog Search - See what appears when you search "TAFE" and “blog”

Blog Pulse - Tracks conversations (try putting in "elm2008" to see who is talking about us)

Discovery Resource:
Technorati Tutorial on finding and adding your blog

Discovery Exercise:

Explore some of the search tools noted above that can help you locate some news feeds.
Create a blog post about your experience. Don't know what to blog about? Here some questions to think about ...Which method of finding feeds did you find easiest to use? Which Search tool was the easiest for you? Which was more confusing? Did you find any feeds that were not useful? Did you find any unusual ones? What other tools or ways did you find to locate newsfeeds?

#8 (WEEK 4) Learn about RSS feeds

2009-05-28T09:40:00.000+10:00

Make Life “really simple” with RSS & a news reader powered by ODEO -- listen to this!

You’ve heard of RSS? You’ve seen those small funny tags on websites? You’ve heard co-workers and acquaintances swear by it, but still have no idea what RSS is? Well don’t worry, most people don't; but this is changing rapidly. In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionalizing the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web. Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit everyday. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it? Read more about RSS here or watch this video on teachertube (should be viewable from inside the firewall)

Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it’s available now through a newsreader and RSS. This week’s discovery exercises focus on learning about RSS news feeds and what free tools you can use to do this.

Discovery Exercise:

Follow these discovery exercises to set up your own, personalized RSS feed reader. Learn about the differences between RSS feed readers, Bloglines, and Google Reader.
Create a free "RSS aggregator" account from either Bloglines or Google Reader and subscribe to at least 5 newsfeeds to your reader. [BLOGLINES. Here are the steps for creating an account in BLOGLINES. See Using Bloglines Tutorial steps 1-3 for instructions. See also a short video on YouTube on how to add feeds (only viewable from home, sorry).
GOOGLE READER. You may prefer to set up an RSS aggregator in Google Reader. Tutorials include: Google Reader Tour, video tutorial #1 or #2.]
Create a post in your blog about this exercise. Don’t know what to blog about? Think about these questions: What do you like about RSS and newsreaders? How do you think you might be able to use this technology in your training or personal life? How can your organisation, trainees or students use RSS or take advantage of this new technology?
Optional: If you're up to the challenge, you can provide the URL address to your public bloglines account (find where to find this below)

RSS feeds you might want to add to your reader:

How to save the world - Dave Pollard's environmental philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays.
OUseful info - Exploring the potential of Web 2.0 techniques and applications in higher and distance education, informal and lifelong learning.

Discovery Resources:

CNET Video: RSS – Feel the Need for Feeds (3:32) – a good over view of what RSS is and the benefits to users.
Feed Me: A gentle introduction to Internet feeds - a good tutorial from Palinet, a library cooperative
What is RSS? Video by Common Craft. And other similar videos.
How to Make your RSS Feeds Pop!
Check your local newspaper and discover if they have an RSS feed you can subscribe to.
Additional Bloglines news feed subcription information
Your co-workers or fellow Classroom Learning 2.0 participants - tap into their knowledge and experience with RSS feeds and readers.
Edutopia article, “Tech Teacher: Cut Through the Web Noise: RSS Feeds help sort out the new from the mold”
Shifted Librarian article on wonders of Google Gears.

How to find your public Bloglines URL:

1. Click on the Share tab within your Bloglines account:

2. Scroll down the right screen pane and locate the public URL.

Why have a public account? To share blog rolls with others, of course. That's how I keep track of elm2008 participants. It has been a fantastic productivity tool for the elm2008 project -- each time one of you posts something new to your blog, my bloglines list shows your blog in BOLD and how many new posts have been added to your blog since the last time we looked. NOW, imagine that you have one or more classrooms full of students who each have a blog and must post an assignment to their blog -- you can see at a glance which students have posted.

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Use an RSS Reader to keep up to date on issues of interest to you.
Idea #2: Locate news items on a particular theme, copy them – or create links to them onto your training blog. Have students read them and then create your chosen activity: class discussion, critique, review, debate or perhaps writing onto a class wiki.
Idea #3: Aggregate your group's RSS feeds from multiple sources using yahoo pipes and add the stream to your blog as a widget. Rodger Stack explains how in his blog post: Collaboration in Learning and Teaching

An example of using flicrCC

2009-05-25T09:16:00.002+10:00

My laughing horse picture.

Image: 'Having a Laugh?'
www.flickr.com/photos/38735097@N00/440198755

Week 3: Photos & Images

2009-05-21T09:15:00.003+10:00

.

5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.

6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites.

7. Create a blog post about anything technology related that interests you this week.

.

#7 (WEEK 3) Write about something technology oriented

2009-05-21T09:05:00.001+10:00

Simply blog about anything technology related. Yes, it can be anything that relates to technology! You just need to share a few thoughts. For example:

"I like digital cameras because it's much easier to share photos with family and friends now that I have a Flickr account. Skype lets me talk with friends through computers. Technology advancements for music and medical equipment are amazing! Video Games, iTunes, iPods, Flatscreen televisions, etc. "

Some good spots I use for reading about technology in general and/or ed-tech in particular are:

For bonus marks, why not find a relevant picture using flickrCC and add it to your post.

Discovery Exercise:

Add at least one comment to another participant's blog.

That's what online communities are all about - connecting and communication. CHEER and otherwise encourage your tassie toolbox colleagues :)

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Never miss an opportunity to share and discuss issues related to technology such as Internet safety & ethics, censorship, plagiarism, copyright, online learning, or library collection development.
Idea #2: Post a web 2.0 curriculum-connection-of-the-week on your classroom blog or assign students to each take a week for their idea.

#5 (WEEK 3) Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site

2009-05-21T09:00:00.000+10:00

Photo sharing websites have been around since the 90s, but it took a small startup site called Flickr (now owned by Yahoo!) to catapult the idea of “sharing” into a full blown online community. Flickr uses "tags" or what we would call keywords to help identify and search for photos.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people and other classrooms and libraries are creating thanks to Flickr.

Discovery Exercise:

In this discovery exercise, you have two options…

a. Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool to add the image in your post. Another option you have for including images in your post is to use flickrCC to find copyright free images and Blogger's photo upload tool.

--OR--

b. If you are up to an easy challenge ... create a Free account in Flickr and use a digital camera to capture a few pictures of something around your campus or workplace. You can use your own camera or a mobile phone with a camera in it, or perhaps even borrow one from your workplace.

Upload your pictures to your Flickr account and tag at least one of the images “tassietoolbox” and mark it public. Then create a post in your blog about your photo and experience. Be sure to include the image in your post. Once you have a Flickr account, you have two options for adding your photo to your blog post: through Flickr's blogging tool or using Blogger's photo upload feature.

So go ahead, explore the site and have some Flickr photo fun and if you're interested in looking at some other photo hosting sites, then check out Picasa Web Albums from Google and another service called Smugmug.

PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette and cybersafety - When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) get the person's permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr. Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you (unless you have the photographer's consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog.

Discovery Resources:

Flickr Learn More tour (6 steps)
Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials
Flickr: Popular tags Interesting- Last 7 days
Flickr Services (3rd party applications & mashups) and here's another Flickr site that lets you create movie posters, CD covers, magazine covers and so on.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your post headings.]

#6 (WEEK 3) Flickr fun, mashups, and 3rd party sites

2009-05-21T05:00:00.000+10:00

Like many web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on the site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third party tools and mashups* that use Flickr images. Here is just a sampling of a few …

Mappr - takes Flickr images and allows you to paste them on a map
Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public photos in Flickr that match a specific color.
Montagr – create a photo mosaics from photos found on Flickr.
Poster Maker with inspiration sayings (add in any picture and saying)
flickrCC - for discovering pictures people have released under a creative commons license

Discover more mashups, web apps, and Flickr tools.

Discovery Exercise:

Your discovery exercise for this “thing” is to: Explore some of the fun Flickr mashups and 3rd party tools that are out there. Create a blog post about one that intrigues you. You might want to check out FD Toys’ Trading Card Maker.

So have some fun discovering and exploring some neat little apps. If you are up to the challenge while you’re at it, create a trading card of your own. :) or a movie poster or magazine cover from this Flickr site.* Mashup Note: Wikipedia offers some great articles that explain mashups. Basically they are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and mash it up with another (like a map) In this example, you get Mappr (http://mappr.com)

Curriculum Connections:

Idea #1: Use Flickr toys to make a magazine cover. Many groups make their own magazine. This would be perfect! Example for covers: "Welding Weekly," "Lonnie 'Technic Times," or "Genetics Today." Your trainees could create a magazine cover and headlines for a trade, module, or skill set.
Idea #2: Create trading card sets. Liven up mission projects, annual reports, and other topics that are ripe for change. Each class member could create a card or groups could design their own trading card pack. Trading the cards can be a fun game, but they can also be useful for recommended reading, books, illustrators, authors, and historical bios/dates. How would you use them? How about using them as Flash cards for vocabulary, periodical table, tools in the workplace, botanical samples, foreign languages or ELL.

the 23 things

2009-04-30T10:35:00.012+10:00

Hello! Welcome to the Tassie Toolbox, 23 things for VET practioners and content developers. This ongoing tutorial is part of the Australian Flexible Learning Network Toolbox initiative. On this blog you'll encounter the tools of the new Internet: Web 2.0 tools that are bringing our students and trainees in touch with the entire world through social networking, video, audio, and virtual reality. As a group we'll spend the next 10 weeks exploring and enjoying 23 tools of this new Internet. There are many places for you to discover, experiment, use in creative ways to deliver your training.

Tutorial Format:

Each week begins with a brief explanation of a new web 2.0 topic, followed by discovery exercises. These exercises give you the background you need to understand the tools you're learning about. Don't skip them! After the discovery exercises, you'll find a thing -- activity -- to complete. After each thing you will write about the experience on the blog you will be creating in week 2. In other words, you will comment or "post" to your online log (Blog). This is a tool to communicate your thoughts, new found skills, ideas, questions, and favorite websites. You'll receive feedback and encouragement from other participants. In turn, you will provide feedback and encouragement to others. It's your space!

The program kicks off in May, but I've put up the first two weeks ahead of time, to give you a taste of what's to come. From May 21st on I'll be filling in the links below to take you to each new week's specific lessons - so remember to come back each Thursday for a new week's worth of things to explore.

Week 1: (May 7th)
1. Please begin by reading this blog & finding out about the program.
2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and learn how to nurture your own learning process.

Week 2: Blogging (May 14th)
3. Set up your own blog , add your first post, add an avatar.
4. Register your blog and begin your 23 things journey.

Week 3: Photos and Images (May 21st)
5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.
6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups & 3rd party sites.
7. Write about something technology oriented

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders (May 28th)
8. Learn about RSS feeds and set up your own Bloglines newsreader account.
9. Locate a few useful VET and training related blogs and/or news feeds.

Week 5: Roll your own resources (resuming after the school holidays: June 18th)
10. Tell a digital story.
11. Build a resource of your own using ARED
12. A look at open courseware (wikiversity, MIT, Rice, the Commonwealth of Learning, iTunesU)

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati (June 25th)
13. Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)
14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts.
15. Copyright, Creative Commons, and What's Coming Down the Road with Web 2.0.

Week 7: Wikis (July 2nd)
16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that educators are using them.
17. Add an entry to the Tassie Toolbox wiki.

Week 8: More free tools (July 16th)
18. FOSS (gimp, audacity, kompozer), eXe, hot potatoes
19. Take a look at some online productivity (word processing, spreadsheet) tools.

Week 9: Podcasts and Video (July 23rd)
20. Discover TeacherTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos. An introduction to camstudio and wink
21. Podcasts - no iPod required!

Week 10: Downloadable Audio and wrapping up (July 30th)
22. eBooks and Audio eBooks
23. Summarize your thoughts about this program.

Thank you for the 23 steps

2009-04-24T22:33:00.000+10:00

Hi Peter,

this is a great idea

About

2009-03-26T09:04:00.002+11:00

The Tassie Toolbox has been set up as part of the Australian Flexible Learning Network Toolbox initiative. The aim is to encourage all of us to experiment and learn about the new and emerging technologies that are reshaping the context of training and flexible learning. It is based on the Learning 2.0 program designed by Helene Blowers, the Technology Director at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County.

The Tassie Toolbox contains direct links and offers suggestions for ways to incorporate web tools into your classroom and workplace training collaborations. You'll find ideas to "jump start" your thinking and I hope you will share your ideas as you learn how to use these web 2.0 tools. These are powerful tools. In fact, the design and implementation of this whole program was built using Web 2.0 technologies that are freely available on the Internet. These include: Blogger, Flickr, Odeo, TeacherTube, Wikispaces & Bloglines.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How does this online learning program work? This is a self-discovery program which encourages participants to take control of their own learning and to utilise their lifelong learning skills through exploration and play. Participants are encouraged to work together and share with each other their discoveries, techniques, and "how tos" both in person and through their blogs. This course is web-based and not tied to any particular computer. You can work on it at work, at home, at an internet cafe or a public library (or just about anywhere if you have a mobile connection).

2. Is this program open to everyone or just some? If you work for at a training organisation in Tasmania you can register for the opportunity to win prizes for participation, but his program is open to all who want to learn and grow. Participate as a group or join in as an indivdual and form a network with other learners.

3. How long do I have to complete the program? This is a 10-week program. The idea is that you work on a few new “things” or activities each week. However, you may work ahead (if I ever get around to writing up activities ahead of time :-) or take a week off here and there. It is up to you how fast you decide to work!

4. How do I track my progress for the 23 Things? You will be asked to make a blog of your own to track your progress. You'll use your blog to write your reactions to the lessons and add any ideas you may have on how to use web 2.0 tools for yourself and your training. You'll also be receiving feedback via comments on your blog from other Tassie Toolboxeers (and leaving feedback on other blogs in turn).

5. Will there be any training classes offered to show participants how to do this? This is a self-directed learning program. I'll be providing helpful hints, encouraging words, and posting comments from time to time. If you work here in Tasmania you'll also have the opportunity to attend workshops and seminars, which will provide opportunities for further training. Finally, you're encouraged to be resourceful and to find a co-worker, peer or another staff member to work with. Be sure to share your knowledge and expertise!

6. Is there any tech support? Your normal in-house support services will have to serve for any hardware problems you encounter. If you run into other difficulties, and have done some serious problem solving, and still have a question, you can leave a comment here on the relevant blog entry. I can assist you with the course, but not your computer or Internet connection.

7. What's with the TassieToolbox tag? tassietoolbox is a tag I made up to associate with this program - it just seemed easier to type and we'll be using it throughout the program to identify the web treasures we unearth as we progress.

8. Why Do This? Web 2.0 is a phrase that was coined in 2004. It refers to the fact that the Internet is now an interactive medium rather than a ‘place’ to go to get information. Since it is the young who are flocking to these Web 2.0 sites, and they are our customers, it is important that those of us who work in VET should be up-to-date with the latest trends in education and technology and learn how they can be utilised in or with our classrooms and industry training.

But you aren't just 'keeping up' here - you may also find that the tools we explore expand your life - putting you in contact with people and concepts you would not otherwise discover; and techniques and software that will make your training easier and more entertaining that it's ever been before. So, dive in, the water's fine :)

using flickrCC

2009-03-25T15:19:00.003+11:00

Here's a 5 minute screencast shows how you can find creative commons images and add them to your blog posts using flickrCC

#16 (WEEK 7) Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that educators use them

2009-03-06T08:56:00.000+11:00

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the online open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and most well known of these knowledge sharing tools. The popularity of these tools is exploding.

Some of the benefits that make the use of wikis so attractive are:

Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit, or delete content.
Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what been changed and by whom.
Earlier versions of a page can be rolled back and viewed when needed.
Users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.

As the use of wikis has grown over the last few years, schools and libraries all over the country have begun to use them to collaborate and share knowledge. Among their applications are pathfinder or subject guide wikis, book review wikis, conference wikis and best practices wikis.

Discovery Exercises:

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some VET and teaching wikis and blog about your findings. Here are a few pointers to get you started:
- Jon Beasley-Murray writes about an amazing project that brings the full extent of the communal and collaborative power of Wikipedia into the classroom
- Web design at Wikiversity - a web design course being built on the wikiversity.
- WikiEducator - another interesting education based wiki - this one limited(?) to the tottering remains of the British Empire :-)
Create a blog post about your findings. What did you find interesting? What types of applications in VET (in general) and your training (in particular) might work well with a wiki?

Discovery Resources:
Use these resources to learn more about wikis.

Wiki, wiki, wiki - from the Core Competency blog of the Public Library of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County.
Wikis: A Beginner’s Look – an excellent short slide presentation that offers a short introduction and examples.
What is a Wiki? – Library Success wiki presentation.
Using Wikis to Create Online Communities – a good overview of what a wiki is and how it can be used in libraries.

Curriculum Connections:
Wikis can be made for any classroom!

Idea #1: Collaborative note-taking. Everyone pitches in and adds a fact or two about a topic. Trainers can encourage students to include opinions, challenges, and appropriate criticism. Students would then write essays using only these notes. Make sure that each addition includes a citation to website, book, or database, including page numbers so that it can be checked.
Idea #2: History. Students can compile a wiki of famous artists, architects, writers, and other key figures from a vocation, country or historical milieu.
Idea #3: Create a "top 10" lists and supporting material. This could include scientists and their discoveries, top writers and their books, performance criteria ... you get the idea.
Idea #4: Mission trading cards (see Week 3), once completed, could be added to a class wiki.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

#18 (Week 8) Online meetings and classrooms

2008-10-27T14:14:00.000+11:00

At times it is simply unfeasible or perhaps even impossible for all students and teachers to come together and hold a lesson face-to-face. Now with online meetings, teachers and students can hold lessons directly over the Internet enhancing the possibilities of Education by eliminating the need to travel long distances for a class.

Just like any other lesson, teachers can organize a lesson plan and prepare for the class. Next, they start their lesson by hosting a screen sharing online meeting. Students turn up to the “online classroom” by joining the screen sharing lesson, allowing them to view the teacher's screen content in real time.

And just like that, students and teachers can interact via online meeting and screen sharing technology as they proceed through the lesson plan.

What Online Meeting Do for Students

Online meetings give students the opportunity to step in the classroom from any place. Today people are taking part in online lessons, seminars and e-learning more and more. Online meetings allow students to participate in a lesson directly from their computer at home, just as if they were sitting in a real classroom.

Discovery Exercises:

For this exercise you will need to oranise a meeting time and connect with one or more of your other e-mentees using an online meeting application.

To organise your meeting time, try out one on online meeting planner (see the resources section below)

Once you've organised a time, connect with your peer(s) and explore the interface. WI uses Adobe Connect, which requires a booking in advance - if you email me (peter.shanks@tafensw.edu.au) or Sally Brownlow we can set one up for you. Or you might want to explore one of the free online alternatives, like DimDim.

Finally, write a blog entry about your experience. Was it simple to use? Could you present your regular lessons via the tool without further modification or would you need to re-write your lesson plans? (or would it be simply impossible?)

Discovery Resources:

Meeting planners:

Online meeting programs:

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and THING# in your heading posts.]

take a well earned break

2008-09-27T12:54:00.000+10:00

Hello elm folk - I haven't forgotten you, but had a slight altercation with the road the other day (I'm proud to say I came a close second).

I'm pleased as punch with the way our excursion into web2.0 training is progressing, and will be back with more after the mid-semester break - keep up the great work and we'll continue in the third week of October.

Picture: my left thumb

#12 (WEEK 5) A look at open courseware

2008-09-11T18:21:00.004+10:00

According to the website of the OCW Consortium, an OCW project:

is a free and open digital publication of high quality educational materials, organized as courses.
is available for use and adaptation under an open license.
does not typically provide certification or access to instructors

Which is an interesting new direction for education and training to be taking. With the cost of information replication being practically zero, and the price of transmission decreasing each day, training institutions are changing the way they do buisiness - giving away their knowledge but charging for the certification.

Discovery Exercises:

browse one or more open courseware collections (some are listed below). Is there material here that you could use in your training? Could you perhaps add to the knowledge that's out there? What would your training organisation think about going public and putting their syllabus material online? Write up your thoughts.
Putting the shoe on the other foot, look through 100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You a Better Teacher. Write a quick post about what you find. Which (if any) appealed. Would you feel comfortable learning this way and would it matter if there was no formal qualification or recognition of your learning?

Discovery Resources:

Some open courseware collections to browse:

wikiversity
MIT
The Commonwealth of Learning
iTunesU
our own Flexible Learning Network toolbox repository

Curriculum Connection:

IDEA #1: Send your trainees out on a hunt for resources they could use.
IDEA #2: Have your class create some resources of their own (see Jon Beasley-Murray's story about an amazing project that brings the full extent of the communal and collaborative power of Wikipedia into the classroom )

Image: 'OpenCourseWare Consortium Conference'
www.flickr.com/photos/44952587@N00/482970721

Week 2: Blogging

2008-08-21T17:49:00.003+10:00

3. Set up your own blog , add your first post, add an avatar.
4. Register your blog and begin your Tassie Toolbox journey.

#4 (WEEK 2) Register your blog

2008-08-21T17:01:00.001+10:00

If you’ve made it this far, you already have three items or “things” completed of the ’23 Things.’ I hope you're enjoying the adventure so far and having fun. Remember to share with colleagues any knowledge or experience that may help them out if they get stuck or vice versa!

But how does anyone know where your blog is? Good question! You need to put the URL of your blog into the registration page so I can read your progress on each of the ‘23 things’. Reminder: Clearly identify each WEEK and each exercise (THING) in your entries. So, here’s Thing #4 -- Register your blog - if you already filled in this form but missed out on putting in a blog address, you can email it to me: peter.shanks@skills.tas.gov.au

Remember … your blog address is in the format http://insertname.blogspot.com/It’s really that easy and just think, now there’s only 19 more things to go :)

Curriculum Connections

Idea #1: A blog is an excellent device for home-trainer communications. Daily assignments/homework/special training announcements can be posted on your blog and then your students and/or their parents can “subscribe” to your blog.
Idea #2: A blog is an excellent forum for discussion of issues. Create one to discuss the issues of the day or factors affecting your industry area.
Idea #3: If you set blog posts as an assignment, there's a great rubic you can mark on edtech 296

Take a look at some of these blogs:

Take a look at some of these class or organisation oriented blogs:

Take a look at some of these student blogs:

#3 (WEEK 2) Create your own blog & avatar, then post about it

2008-08-21T16:45:00.006+10:00

Now that you’ve done some exploring around this website and understand how this program will work, it’s time to set up your very own personal blog to begin recording your thoughts, discoveries, and exercises.

First though, here's a quick introduction to what blogs are all about. A video titled: "Blogs in Plain English"

For the Tassie Toolbox program, you may use any one of several free online blog hosting services including Blogger, Wordpress, Edublog, or Typepad.

Which to choose? Blogger is the easiest to set up, but least flexible, while Wordpress (and edublogs, which is run on wordpress software) is the most flexible, but has a steeper learning curve. I mostly use Blogger (because I'm lazy), but have a couple of wordpress blogs too (because I'm curious) .

Grab yourself a blog in 3 steps:

1. Create an account. Google asks you for an email address - this becomes your username.

Notes:

You do not need a Gmail account, you can use your regular email address.
Remember to write down your Username and Password.

2. Name your blog. Remember that the whole web world can see your blog title and blog address so you may not want to use your real name. The URL for your blog will look like these examples

The format is: name.blogspot.com when you use blogger.com software.

Note: There is no www in the address when using Blogger.com software. Please remember your URL address, bookmark it, or keep a notebook with your URLs, passwords, and special notes.

3. Select your template. Blogger (and other blog services) have several templates - have fun choosing one for you! If you run into problems, check out Blogger's Help pages and Tutorial. Remember that this is “discovery learning” and that you will have a series of mini problem solving exercises along the way – depending on your level of web 2.0 experience to date. Each time you find a solution, you will rejoice and be that much more tech savvy! Enjoy.

Discovery Exercises:

1. Set up a blog for yourself through Blogger. (or Wordpress, Edublog, or Typepad.)

2. Play around and add a test post or two.

3. Write a post about your best and worst habits from the 71/2 habits slideshow you watched for thing #2. You will create a discovery post for each of the ’23 Things.’

Please clearly label each entry in your blog in the following way: WEEK 1, Exercise or Thing #1, subject. For example, your first post could have the title: WEEK1, Exercise #1 - first post.

Each of your posts should provide insights into what you’ve discovered and learned. Feel free to share what worked for you … and what didn’t … what surprised you … what frustrated you … what amazed you. For example: Your ‘Thing 2’ post will talk about which habit among the 7 and 1/2 lifelong learning habits is easiest and which is hardest for you & why. TIP: This is a good time to "bookmark" your blog for easy access throughout the course.

4. Create an avatar -- a representation of yourself. You can upload a digital photo or go to http://avatars.yahoo.com/ , design an avatar representing you or a younger version of yourself. You will have to set up an account if you don't use Yahoo. Save your avatar and export to your blog. Personally, I'd love to see a digital photo - my poor collandar like memory is having real difficulty putting faces to names, so a little picture on each of your blogs would make my life sooo much easier.

HINT: Here's how to export your avatar to a Blogger blog:

When you are on your Avatars.Yahoo.com page, go to "home" tab and look to the right column.
One of the options is: "EXPORT: Use your avatar in web pages and blogs and more." Click there.
In the Center of the page, 0ne option is your avatar's HTML code. Copy the code.
Go to your blog and sign in.
When you first sign in, there is an option to add a post OR manage posts, settings, or layout; Go to "LAYOUT. where you will see various page elements.
Paste (Control V) the HTML code in the PAGE ELEMENT marked "HTML/Java Script."
Move that PAGE ELEMENT to wherever you want your avatar to appear on your blog.

Each blog application: blogger, wordpress, edublog, typepad, and so on has a unique method of exporting avatars and other images onto your pages. Be sure to use the ‘help’ menu within your application to work your way through any problems you run into. You can also call on your 2.o friends to help – just ask!

Another way of adding an avatar is explained on The Technically Challenged's Guide to Blogger.

These exercises are all about discovery! Have fun … and happy blogging!!

IMPORTANT NOTE: How you choose to identity yourself on your blog is up to you. You can blog under a screen name, anonymously, or with your real name.

Technorati tags: blogging, Blogger

Training ideas:

Idea #1: Lead your students or trainees into areas of ‘big idea’ inquiry with a blog. You can get thoughts rolling, provide research links, and finish up with group discussions. For example you could create a blog for highlighting industry or political issues which impact on their work. Hint: If you're using their comments and/or blog posts for assessment this rubric for Assessing Reflective Writing could be handy.
Idea #2: Start a book discussion blog -- this is a library and language arts favorite. Start one today and then branch out into other topics such as pro/con topics of interest.
Idea #3: Promote training activities, conduct student/trainee surveys, and gather opinions about your training organisation.
Idea #4: Use the blog to distribute notes and assignments.

[Note: Please remember to include WEEK# and Thing# in your heading posts.]

Weekly tips

2008-08-10T13:47:00.001+10:00

Read this & "bookmark" the URL. Got blog? Have you been flickrd? Are you Del.icio.us? It's time to start the Tassie Toolbox online training program!The URL is http://tassietoolbox.blogspot.com/ From time to time, you will receive a "comment" giving you tips and other suggestions for that week's lesson. I'll be cheering you along (and hope you'll return the favour :-)

Week 1 Tips:

Read the About page. It has answers to frequently asked questions. You may want to refer back to this page from time to time as you work through the weekly lessons.
All of the lessons or "exercises" are on one page. Each lesson is also its own entry so you can click on a lesson title to be directed to its own page.
You may find it helpful or more fun to get yourself a buddy or "bunch of buddies" to explore the lessons with you.
Throughout the course, I encourage comments and feedback. Your participation is key to the success of this and future programs.
Each lesson is relatively short, particularly the first week's lesson. You will NOT be graded!This program was designed by public and academic librarians and modified by school teachers, teacher-librarians, and several university instructors in order to emphasize and include curriculum connections.
Explore, have fun, and enjoy the lessons. You must complete the entire course if you want to receive special recognition. So, fasten your seatbelt, grab your mouse, and blast off !

Week 2 Tips:

Get yourself a small notebook or secret place to keep track of you passwords and logins.
You may encounter frustration as you set up your blog. Blogger software interface is not particularly intuitive. Ask a colleague or comment on the blog entry here asking for help you if you get stuck. Try to get as far as you can by yourself. Remember this is about self-discovery and self-learning.
Privacy -- You may be concerned about privacy issues. When you create your blog, you may use any name you wish and reveal nothing about yourself. Look at some of the blogs already created. Try to guess who some of them are! When the program is over, you have the option to delete your blog.
Signing On - If you create your blog in Blogger, you will always sign on as NEW BLOGGER. Follow the BIG ORANGE ARROW in the middle of your computer screen that says "Create your blog now" Then you will create a Google account which is simply any email address you choose that already exists such as, your work email address, a Yahoo email address, etc.
Once you create your blog, you may choose to change font, font size, add photos to your blog posts, photo of your avatar or other character on your main page, etc. Avoid black as a background -- hard on readers' eyes and printer ink! Many of these changes are done in the LAYOUT section.
Please remember your email, password and the blog URL you create. That is your responsibility. See tip #1 about a password notebook or secret place.
Be creative or funny or whatever with your blog title. Don't you just love "Cerebral Shangrila" or "Selective Amnesia"?
Entries -- Please clearly identify which WEEK and which THING you are doing in a blog entry. This will make life easier for you to track your progress. It will also make your blog a much more useful reference tool for you.

Week 3 Tips:

Please remember to do the exercises and clearly label blog entries that are related to the exercises (WEEK 2, #3 First Post, for example.)
If you haven't already, add a photo to a blog entry. When you are in the COMPOSE mode of a POST, there are icons/symbols for Bold (B), T (Text color), etc. There is also one for inserting/uploading a picture or photo. Check it out. Photos can also be added to your template by using the Page Elements in the Layout section. Several of you have already figured out how to add photos, particularly for your profile photo. Keep the creativity and fun coming. This is a fun fun fun week!
This is a good time to add "Word verification for comments." Here's how:
-- Go to your blog. Sign in.
-- Click on "CUSTOMIZE." Go to "SETTINGS." Go to "COMMENTS"
-- One of the choices under "COMMENTS" (near bottom of page) is SHOW or HIDE "WORD VERIFICATION." Select "yes, show word verification for comments."

Week 4 Tips:

It is not too late to participate in this course. Exercises are short and fun.
To register your blog please send me your blog title and URL. This is how I know you are participating, how I'm able to track you and give you special recognition upon completion of all the exercises.
Did you know that you have some word processing capabilities when composing a blog post? Notice the tool bar with icons for bold, linking, adding images, font size and color, etc. Ask your colleagues or comment on the blog post if you have questions. Remember this is about self-discovery and self-learning, so first give it your best problem solving effort.
If you encounter log-in problems with Blogger, it may be Blogger and not you. The application has been known to be problematic. Try again or let me know.
As a reminder, Blogger is not the only blogging software but it is free. Wordpress is an option.
You will learn about RSS readers, in particular, Bloglines. By the way, Google Reader is another option and preferred by some people.
Remember to send positive comments your fellow Classroom Learning 2.0 bloggers

Week 5 Tips:

We're loving your blog titles! Check out your fellow participants' blogs and cheer them on by posting a "comment" to one of their posts.
You are doing a fabulous job with prose and photos!

Week 6 Tips:

By now, some of you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed with your regular job duties or entertaining summertime house guests, and feel that you don't have time for the Tassie Toolbox weekly lessons.
You have time. You'll find that some of the lessons go faster than you expected. And some go slower. Most are pretty fun though!
You do not have to create a Flickr account to download an image from Flickr for the image exercises.
Doing the tutorials or reading the resources suggested for each lesson really helps to prepare you to do the exercises.
You don't have to like or embrace or adopt any of the tools you are learning about. Remember this program is about exploring and being exposed to emerging technologies and to get you thinking about the tools for professional and personal use. I enjoy reading your observations in your blog posts about the tools and learn a lot from each and every participant. Thanks for sharing your discoveries and curriculum connections.

Week 7 Tips:

You probably already know a bit about wikis especially if you know about Wikipedia, the community built encyclopedia. Most Australian cities, airports, mountains, parks, etc. have an entry in Wikipedia. Actually, come to think of it -- what doesn't... Search to see what is entered for "exploding whales".
One of the driving forces for why wikis are so popular is the idea that communities of people with a vested interested or expertise in a topic work together to create content. You are an author who may write and edit material just as you do with your personal blog.
Ah, the downside to wikis .... is the information accurate? Is it reliable? Is it current? Is it a good example for teaching students the concept of "verify."
Look at your co-workers' blogs and leave them comments. We bet you'll learn from what they have written besides being entertained with super prose and photos.

Week 8-9 Tips:

Some of you are having problems making your Bloglines reader public. First, this is completely optional. If you choose to make it available: How to find your public Bloglines URL: 1. Click on the Share tab within your Bloglines account:2. Scroll down the right screen pane and locate the public URL or To share your blogroll, log into your Bloglines account. Then, click on "Account" in the upper right corner. Click on "Blog Settings," in the middle near the top. Type in a user name if you haven't yet. For "Show my Blogroll" click next to "Yes, publish my blogroll." Click "Save changes."
Rollyo - adding a search roll to your blog is completely optional. However, if you choose to do so: In Rollyo you can add the search roll you create to your blog by going to the "tools" link at the top of the page. Click on "Put a Rollyo Searchbox on your site." Scroll down to where you see three grayish boxes in columns. In the "Searchrolls" box click on the searchroll that you want to add to your blog. Click on the right facing arrow to add it to the "Searchbox Rolls"column. Select the style of searchbox you want. There is a preview on the right when you choose the various types. In the far right column, titled "Copy and Paste Code," highlight all the text in the white box. You can just click in the box and then press CTRL+A. Copy this code (CTRL+C). Log into Blogger and go to the layout page for your blog. Click on "Add a page element" wherever you want the search box to appear. In the box that pops up, find where it says "HTML/JavaScript" and click on "add to blog." Enter a title, then paste (CTRL+V) the code into the content box. Click "save changes." Preview the layout and be sure to save the changes before you leave the layout screen.
If you aren't able to finish in time or for those who weren't able to participate, the blog will remain online indefinitely for further self-discovery opportunities. This course is for you to learn and grow on. Best wishes.

Print Me

2008-04-30T09:58:00.000+10:00

I'd love it if *every* VET practitioner in the state has a look at the tassie toolbox, and need your help to spread the word.

If you'd like to assist, download the Tassie Toolbox flyer (a 41KB Word doc) and foward it in an email to your colleagues; or print it for your tea room/staff notice board.

Catch you in cyberspace,

Peter

Week 1

2008-04-01T07:00:00.001+11:00

1. Please begin by reading this blog post about the program.
2. Discover a few pointers from lifelong learners and nurture your own learning process.

#2 (WEEK 1) Lifelong Learning Habits

2008-04-01T05:00:00.000+11:00

It makes sense that before we embark on this online learning and discovery journey that we review a few habits that can assist in creating lifelong learners. These habits, called the Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, will provide you with a refresher on what it means to be a lifelong learner. The Seven and ½ Habits tutorial is a great introduction to Helene Blowers, the person who put together the very first “23 Things.” [Please note that at the end, where she invited her staff to submit their comments and questions to the We Value Your Opinion! link, DO NOT use that link. Instead, post your comments here on the Tassie Toolbox blog post.

Discovery Exercise:
1. Make sure you have headphones or speakers attached to your computer.
2. Open up the 7 & 1/2 Habits online tutorial and view it. The tutorial was developed by the training specialists at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County.
3. As you watch and listen, think about which habit among the 7 & 1/2 that is easiest for you and which is hardest. You will use your personal blog (which you will set up next) to post your thoughts about lifelong learning. Have fun! If you haven't jumped on board yet, it's never too late to become a lifelong learner. This is a great time to create a “learning contract” for yourself.

Next week: Creating your blog so you can begin tracking your journey.

The Tassie Toolbox

Week 10: Downloadable Audio and wrapping up the Tassie Toolbox

#23 (WEEK 10) Summarize your thoughts about this program on your blog

#22 (WEEK 10) Explore eBooks & Audio eBooks

Week 9: Podcasts and Video

#21 (WEEK 9) Podcasts: iPod not required

#20 (WEEK 9) Discover TeacherTube and a few sites that allow users to upload and share videos

Week 8: More free tools

#19 (Week 8) Web-based Apps: They're not just for desktops

6 Tips to Help You Get the Most Out of Google Docs

#18 (Week 8) FOSS (gimp, audacity, kompozer), eXe, hot potatoes

Week 7: Wikis

#17 (Week 7) Add an entry to "Sandbox" Wiki

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati

#14 (WEEK 6) Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts

#13 (WEEK 6) Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us (a social bookmarking site)

Become a del.icio.us jedi in 10 minutes

Week 5: Show and Tell

#10 (WEEK 5) Digital Storytelling

#11 (WEEK 5) AREDv2 e-learning content development tool

#15 (WEEK 6) Copyright, Creative Commons, and What’s Coming Down the Web 2.0 Road

Week 4: RSS & Newsreaders

#9 (WEEK 4) Locate a few useful training related blogs

#8 (WEEK 4) Learn about RSS feeds

An example of using flicrCC

Week 3: Photos & Images

#7 (WEEK 3) Write about something technology oriented

#5 (WEEK 3) Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site

#6 (WEEK 3) Flickr fun, mashups, and 3rd party sites

the 23 things

Thank you for the 23 steps

About

using flickrCC

#16 (WEEK 7) Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that educators use them

#18 (Week 8) Online meetings and classrooms

take a well earned break

#12 (WEEK 5) A look at open courseware

Week 2: Blogging

#4 (WEEK 2) Register your blog

#3 (WEEK 2) Create your own blog & avatar, then post about it

Weekly tips

Print Me

Week 1

#2 (WEEK 1) Lifelong Learning Habits