Our very own Networked Learning Wiki

Here's a free Wiki service I found, called, affectionately, Peanut Butter Wiki. I've not really had a chance to fill it out yet. Why not have a go yourself, and take the Wiki tour - teach yourself basic HTML scripting. Wiki-ing is where the web 2.0 rubber hits the web 2.0 road, so no pressure there then! If you're prompted for a Wiki name, then it's networkedlearning and the password is wiki. Enjoy.

TouchGraph GoogleBrowser

Check out this "picture" of networked learning, using an interesting tool called TouchGraph. This technology may well have been superceded, but it's still interesting seeing the network of networked learning.

The TouchGraph GoogleBrowser shows you what the web "looks like" to the search engine, visually displaying the linkages between your favorite web sites. Computer scientists describe the web as a scale-free network that can be drawn as a graph, with pages represented as nodes (dots), and the links between them represented as edges (lines). Google takes advantage of the web's graph-like structure to help it calculate search results, partly based on the number and importance of links pointing to a particular page. The graph structure can also reveal other interesting relationships -- for example, sites that are related to one another.

The TouchGraph GoogleBrowser uses Google's database to determine and display the linkages between a URL that you enter and other pages on the web. Results are displayed as a graph, showing both inbound and outbound relationships between URLs. Each "node" is labeled, and if you mouse over the node a small "info" box appears -- clicking on this opens up a pop-up window with information about the page. Double clicking on the node sends a request to Google to return ten more URLs that have strong linkages to that particular node.

It's a fascinating way to see not only who links to whom, but also to uncover "hidden" linkages between sites that on the surface appear to have no connection. It's sort of like playing "six degrees of separation" with a search engine. To do this, enter a starting URL, then enter an additional URL to uncover other web pages that contain links to the first set of related URLs. Continue doing this and you'll often be quite surprised to see how closely connected many pages on the web can be. The GoogleBrowser offers several sophisticated controls for refining your views. Unless you're fairly strongly grounded in graph theory, it's best to simply play with the defaults. Full instructions for understanding the graph and using the advanced browsing capabilities are available via the link below. Several other sites use the TouchGraph technology for different types of information. The Amazon Browser is particularly interesting, visualizing the "also-bought" relationships of Amazon shoppers. The PubMed Browser gives you visual relationships for medical literature in the Medline database. And the Google Set Vista is really cool, showing relationships between terms that Google uses to create conceptually related "sets" of words.

ESRC EPSRC - technology enhanced learning

"The ESRC is collaborating with the EPSRC to support research projects in the field of Technology-Enhanced Learning (also known as e-Learning).
The initiative will be managed within the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme. In order to maximise the time potential applicants have to consider proposals, the ESRC is 'pre-announcing' the call now.
The ESRC expects to announce the competition on Monday 13th March, when full details and guidance will be provided on the ESRC website. In the interim, a document providing an outline of the likely extent and aims of the call (http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/forthcoming_tel
_call_tcm6-14127.pdf)
has been produced and a discussion forum has been set up as a resource for potential applicants.

Survey Monkey

Deadskunks might be... well dead. But connect 2.0 is alive and kicking

At our alignment meeting in Texas one of the UT SMEs talked about Survey Monkey.

SurveyMonkey has a single purpose: to enable anyone to create professional online surveys quickly and easily. I can see plenty of uses for this...

It looks good - details [here]

Leading Innovation in Global Education & Training

The 2006 Lisbon Conference brings together Business Educators, Academics, and Professionals in the fields of Education, HR, Training and Development to exchange ideas and knowledge about innovative learning practices in business education and training for global business change.

Details [here]

ECAR study of students and information technology, 2005.

ECAR study of students and information technology, 2005. Convenience, connection, control and learning.

Suggests that asking the next generation of students about IT in learning is like asking a fish to describe water! i.e. it is such an integral part of the environment that it seems so obvious... they will be here soon!

134 page PDF [here]

We can have our own Wiki

It would seem possible that we can create our own wiki. Clicking this post's title takes you out to the MediaWiki site for info on how to get a wiki. Worth checking is the sourceforge link at the bottom of the page, where you're able to download the software.

Here's how it might be used:

• for graduate students to learn about web 2.0, open source and the implication of these on formal learning - and consequently, on their practice as knowledge managers/co-creators/workers/teachers & trainers
• with wikipedia entries, as a peer-assessment tool, measured in some sort of 'use-value' unit (?)
• for educational programmes (informal, of course:) on the philosophy of education - notably, when addressing the thorny epistemological topic of truth claims and the need to establish criteria by which knowledge(s) is validated
• for deliberately de-centering the diadic teacher-student relationship on those educational endeavours grounded in 'the job as cirricula' ethos
• as experimental re-search into issues of intellectual property rights of academic knowledge

Networked Learning and Blackboard?

I found this interesting paper written by the CEO of BlackBoard.
The white paper suggests:

"A Networked Learning Environment in the Internet age applies new technology to a very old concept— that learning is much more than classes and grades. It is about the learning that takes place in a vibrant community of people and resources. The Internet has removed the limits of time and proximity that once restricted this community. In a true Networked Learning Environment, any student, instructor or researcher can access any learning resource at anytime from anyplace"

There is a a bit of a sales pitch for Blackboard but makes the point that networked learning is more that just online courses... and involves people being able to access and contribute ideas and learning materials anywhere, anytime.

Access it [here]

Was Web 1.0 the right boat to catch?

I just emailed (so last year!) a colleague in our exec development unit to request some information on Blooms taxonomy of educational outcomes. I received a polite reply saying that she was 'out of the office until Monday'. Luckily I found what I needed via Wikipedia... As users become more familiar with online resources, Web2.0 tools, etc. resources like Wikis will become increasingly utilized.