Well here I am having spent a whole day using nothing but mobile technology and now feeding back by doing my blog on my smartphone. So, what did I do and how did it go. I obviously used it for standard phone calls and texts and also email. I was quite impressed with how well large emails such as my church newsletter came out and how clear the pictures were. This was certainly not the case on my previous Nokia. I was also able to access and complete surveys to which I had been invited. These were a tad fiddly at times but doable.
To try and ramp it up a bit I did some tasks which were not possible on my previous smartphone. Internet banking was a breeze as was ordering from amazon. However, it can soon become a bit frustrating having to make screens bigger and move through areas of the screen when accessing the Internet. My first hitch came when trying to send a book which I was sending to an amazon customer. I had to go to my PC to print the documentation. The only other problem I encountered was with Google analytics as I could not actually see my analysis. It wouldn't let me move to that part of the page. This surprised me as I thought the HTC Desire had a Google operating system. Oh well.
Documents were easily accessed and edited using QuickOffice and this worked well. You tube was fast and clear and I was very impressed with the size of the screen.. However, music was provided using my Ipod touch as my music collection is on this. I suppose this could be classed as mobile computing as well. I do use spotify on my main computer but I couldn't do this on my phone as I didn't want to pay the subscription. I could however, use you tube to access music so it was not a complete disaster in this area. One last point, I thought initially that battery power would be a problem but this was not the case. I still have plenty of battery power left. All in all I would say it was a very successful day but I wouldn't want to do it every day.
Sent from my HTC
Saturday 24 July 2010
Sunday 18 July 2010
Blogging from my HTC Desire
I am sure you are all aware that blogging is becoming more and more popular everywhere you go in the world. Most students are now expected to take part in Blogs and many will be assessed on these. Anything we can use to make this easier for students is surely to be welcomed.
In order to research this I am writing this blog using my HTC Desire smartphone.I have had my HTC Desire for a few weeks now and have been slowly testing all its capabilities. So far I am pretty impressed and would highly recommend it. But, I am most interested in how I can use it to support learning in my Students.
I have found this to be a quick and enjoyable experience and in fact easier than I could have imagined. It is flexible and allows me to blog from anywhere. The fact I am doing this from my sitting room is immaterial. I will be going to Cambodia later this year and I will be Blogging from there and including pictures in my blog all done from the same type of mobile phone that my students all have. Long live Blogging and long live mobile phones, may they continue in harmony for many years to come.
As an addendum to this blog I have realised now that Blogs seem a lot longer on a mobile device than when they appear in print. This may be something to warn students about if they are expected to produce a certain length of blog for an assessment or as part of coursework. I am thoroughly enjoying learning about this and discovering everything I can do with both blogs and mobile technology
Sent from my HTC
In order to research this I am writing this blog using my HTC Desire smartphone.I have had my HTC Desire for a few weeks now and have been slowly testing all its capabilities. So far I am pretty impressed and would highly recommend it. But, I am most interested in how I can use it to support learning in my Students.
I have found this to be a quick and enjoyable experience and in fact easier than I could have imagined. It is flexible and allows me to blog from anywhere. The fact I am doing this from my sitting room is immaterial. I will be going to Cambodia later this year and I will be Blogging from there and including pictures in my blog all done from the same type of mobile phone that my students all have. Long live Blogging and long live mobile phones, may they continue in harmony for many years to come.
As an addendum to this blog I have realised now that Blogs seem a lot longer on a mobile device than when they appear in print. This may be something to warn students about if they are expected to produce a certain length of blog for an assessment or as part of coursework. I am thoroughly enjoying learning about this and discovering everything I can do with both blogs and mobile technology
Sent from my HTC
Monday 7 June 2010
IPAD Fever
That was until I go my hands on one, which proved how wrong one girl can be. I have to confess I have only used one in the apple store, but I found myself playing with it for quite some time. My verdict, the IPAD is phenomenal. The first thing I noticed was that the images are pin sharp and knocks everything else I have seen into a cocked hat. The peed of Internet access was outstanding, and I got onto web pages very quickly. You tube works extremely well and the large screen size means that videos can be seen properly. I obviously could not download apps as the device wasn't mine, but there were a number of apps to play with. These worked very well, and I found myself moving from app to app just to see how they worked.
The screen reorientates itself very quickly when turned and I found the keyboard to be extremely easy to use especialy in landscape.
Now comes the biggest revelation, which I have to say rocked my world the most. I am an avid, and very passionate book lover, and hate ebooks with a vengeance, as I say on my other bookaholic blog. I was very sceptical when I looked at the ebook reader on the IPAD, but was blown away. This is the nearest thing to reading a real book I have found. The print was easy to read, and the fact you could turn the pages sold it for me. I also like the way that books are displayed in your bookcase. However, before you think I am completely converted to this, I am also very aware that your book reading might be interrupted at a crucial point by the lack of batter power. Also, although there are a large number of books to choose from this is still not as good as the printed version. In all fairness to apple though, Amazon are also allowing you to download from their ebook collection in an IPAD friendly version, which means that the choice is extended.
Overall, I can say, as you have probably gathered, I am an IPAD convert. I want one. Would it completely replace my Ipod Touch. No. It is a bit too big to use to listen to music regularly. What has this got to do with education? Absolutely nothing, but I was testing it out on my weekend off and in the apple store. Funnily enough the store wasn't that interested in the education side of things, but hey, I was enjoying myself. As they say, all work and no play makes Wendy a very dull girl.
Wednesday 26 May 2010
More Mobile Madness - To infinity and Back
Well maybe not infinity, but as close as I can get. When I finished thinking about Mobile Computing yesterday, I had this nagging feeling that I wasn't quite finished. I was sure there was more I needed to explore. So, does mobile computing mean we are free to roam away from our desks. The Jury is still out on that one, but there are apps out there which can make this a much easier proposition. Also, let us remember we are not all work, but do have lives away from education. I am sure you are all more than on top of what apps are available socially. Even my 8 year old niece can find and download social apps. However, here are some which I believe crosses over into both
10 Smartphone Apps to Help Get You Ahead
As you will see these are aimed at the American market so us Brits will need to be cautious as to what will be useful in a British context. Another App which I have recently downloaded to my Ipod Touch is Nibipedia.This is a mashup between wikipedia and YouTube. It is an educational tool which allows you to search through a number of carefully vetted YouTube Videos. I did a quick search using, Anatomy, Paediatrics and Teaching Methods and was impressed by the speed with which it took me to appropriate videos.
Nibipedia
This is also a testimony to the usefulness of social networking and the power of twitter. This came via a tweet from @NMHS_Principal on twitter. Through Twitter and Facebook we all have access to numerous resources which we may never have heard of previously.
It is funny how a blog can start in one direction and your thoughts take you in another. My main idea when starting this post was to talk about the online resources available through an institutions library. I used Ebrary and although I did get through to some excellent books, I found it to be a bit slow at present even via wifi. Ebrary is a brilliant resource when used on a desktop but to be truly mobile will need to be a bit speedier, for me anyway. Still, it does allow you access when away from your desk and not wanting to carry a laptop or netbook around, so still a useful resource. I will certainly be using it in the future.
Skype is another useful resource which is found on most mobile phones. This allows not only for free mobile calls, but also video calls. Skype can be used for tutorials or video conferencing when circumstances dictate that you need to be in another part of the country. Most students now have smartphones, and I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has used skype on their mobiles in this way.
So, having looked at mobile computing, am I willing to throw away my netbook. Not quite yet, but who knows what will happen in the future. Does anyone feel differently?
10 Smartphone Apps to Help Get You Ahead
As you will see these are aimed at the American market so us Brits will need to be cautious as to what will be useful in a British context. Another App which I have recently downloaded to my Ipod Touch is Nibipedia.This is a mashup between wikipedia and YouTube. It is an educational tool which allows you to search through a number of carefully vetted YouTube Videos. I did a quick search using, Anatomy, Paediatrics and Teaching Methods and was impressed by the speed with which it took me to appropriate videos.
Nibipedia
This is also a testimony to the usefulness of social networking and the power of twitter. This came via a tweet from @NMHS_Principal on twitter. Through Twitter and Facebook we all have access to numerous resources which we may never have heard of previously.
It is funny how a blog can start in one direction and your thoughts take you in another. My main idea when starting this post was to talk about the online resources available through an institutions library. I used Ebrary and although I did get through to some excellent books, I found it to be a bit slow at present even via wifi. Ebrary is a brilliant resource when used on a desktop but to be truly mobile will need to be a bit speedier, for me anyway. Still, it does allow you access when away from your desk and not wanting to carry a laptop or netbook around, so still a useful resource. I will certainly be using it in the future.
Skype is another useful resource which is found on most mobile phones. This allows not only for free mobile calls, but also video calls. Skype can be used for tutorials or video conferencing when circumstances dictate that you need to be in another part of the country. Most students now have smartphones, and I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has used skype on their mobiles in this way.
So, having looked at mobile computing, am I willing to throw away my netbook. Not quite yet, but who knows what will happen in the future. Does anyone feel differently?
Tuesday 25 May 2010
Mobile Madness
Smartphones have many obvious features to support mobile working such as calendars, push email, and always on Internet access. In fact with most mobile providers allowing unlimited data packages the Internet is permanently at our fingertips. Oh, and let us not forget that our smartphone can also be used as a phone. I think many of us forget this when deciding on which smartphone to purchase. Not that I am going to advise on that, as personal preference and your own research should make this decision for you.
I feel the most important thing which gives mobiles their versatility and usefulness are the apps which can be downloaded for the 4 main OS types. Although these are more plentiful for the IPhone, many others such as blackberry and symbian are rapidly catching up. The app which I am going to talk about today and which I ahve found most useful is Quickoffice or Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite to give it it's correct name. This useful tool allows you to view, edit and create Microsoft Office Documents such as Word (Quickword) and Excel (Quicksheet) on your smartphone, or in my case my IPod touch. It also allows you to view PowerPoint presentations. I have found Qucikoffice to be easy to use. Viewing, even large, files is a joy. To zoom in or out you use the 2 finger pich and Qucikoffice will keep your document in ratio therefore no scrolling to see whole lines. The real beauty of Quickoffice, however, is the abilty to link seamlessly with cloud storage such as MobileMe, MobileME Shared, Google and Drop Box. I was able to set up alink to my MobileMe account in seconds and it immediately became a folder in Qucikoffice. I was working on my theses in Minutes from initial set up to finding, opening and working on the document. A more detailed overview of Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite can be found by clicking below:
Overview
One of the other obvious, but extremely useful features of Smartphones is the ability to take pictures and videos and share these with others through sites such as Flikr, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. These can provide photologs of student work, be inserted into word documents or PowerPoint presentations, record stages of a project amongst many others. Smartphones can also be used to share ideas and information through sites such as facebook, twitter, my space Bebo, LinkedIn, and YouTube amongst others. I am not going to go further into these today as I have covered these in previous blogs.
Finally, I started this blog before the email with this link appeared in my Inbox. Great minds think alike
Death of the Desk
As always I would welcome your comments on how this could be developed further. I am learning a lot from the your ideas. The power of our shared knowledge is, as always, greater than our individual response.
Tuesday 18 May 2010
LinkedIn - Going Deeper with Groups
I have spent the last day thinking about LinkedIn and what other uses it could have in Education. In the course of exploring it further I have discovered Groups, which I feel has untold potential for Education for both students and faculty.
Although the most obvious benefit of Groups is searching for contacts and jobs, I feel that this is not in fact the most important. The most important benefit is from using the discussion boards which are a part of every group in LinkedIn. This allows students and faculty to discuss relevant topics with like minded peers and professionals from every corner of the globe. A wide range of industry related, professional topics are covered within these discussion boards and forums. Even if students do not post to the discussion, they will be able to read about what those in the industry are saying and what the important professional topics are in their chosen area. As they become more confident students should be encouraged to join in the discussions thus building up a presence on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn imposes a limit of 50 groups of which you can be a member, after which you will need to leave one group in order to join another. Therefore it is important to be discriminating in which groups to join. This encourages students to think carefully about the importance and usefulness of the groups they join. This is an important skill which can be transferred to their chosen career.
LinkedIn Answers is also something which could be extremely useful to students. This gives them the ability to both ask and answer questions in their chosen field. This allows them to develop a professional approach and to find expert answers in areas where they feel they need extra input. It also allows them to network with colleagues and get known in their chosen field. However, there is a caveat to this. Students should be advised to use it wisely and to think about what they are posting in this area. LinkedIn is a professional social networking site and should be used appropriately.
Although the most obvious benefit of Groups is searching for contacts and jobs, I feel that this is not in fact the most important. The most important benefit is from using the discussion boards which are a part of every group in LinkedIn. This allows students and faculty to discuss relevant topics with like minded peers and professionals from every corner of the globe. A wide range of industry related, professional topics are covered within these discussion boards and forums. Even if students do not post to the discussion, they will be able to read about what those in the industry are saying and what the important professional topics are in their chosen area. As they become more confident students should be encouraged to join in the discussions thus building up a presence on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn imposes a limit of 50 groups of which you can be a member, after which you will need to leave one group in order to join another. Therefore it is important to be discriminating in which groups to join. This encourages students to think carefully about the importance and usefulness of the groups they join. This is an important skill which can be transferred to their chosen career.
LinkedIn Answers is also something which could be extremely useful to students. This gives them the ability to both ask and answer questions in their chosen field. This allows them to develop a professional approach and to find expert answers in areas where they feel they need extra input. It also allows them to network with colleagues and get known in their chosen field. However, there is a caveat to this. Students should be advised to use it wisely and to think about what they are posting in this area. LinkedIn is a professional social networking site and should be used appropriately.
Monday 17 May 2010
LinkedIn: Worth or Waste
Over the past few days I have been thinking about LinkedIn and whether it can be a useful tool in an education context. Now I am sure that it can be a useful tool for those wanting to link with other professionals, but how could it be used to support my students or support learning. I have to be honest with you and say that I have been a member of LinkedIn for many months but have not yet done much with it. Now that I am exploring it once more, I am hoping that it will be like my approach to twitter and I will have that Ahha moment and discover how useful it can be.
Firstly, the most obvious use by students is to build up a network of professionals to support their future career. The earlier they start this the better as it can lead to internships, part time jobs and future jobs. Whilst they are doing this they can also see the bigger picture about what is happening within their chosen profession. They will also be able to develop the ability to portray themselves in the best and most professional light.
However, as well as the more overt learning outlined above, I believe there is also some measure of covert learning. Students will, on the whole, be used to Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, amongst others. These are mainly informal networks, which can also be used in a formal setting. LinkedIn is designed to use a much more professional and formal approach to networking. Students will learn how to use appropriate language and style of writing, and to conduct themselves in a professional manner. Students can also use their network of contacts to ask for advice as well as for introductions to others. They will also learn how to conduct business correctly in that they should not just build up a network for the sake of it, but approach contacts for a specific reason. The fact that students will be using this site in a professional manner will allow them to develop skills in professional presentation and using a professional approach.
I have enjoyed thinking about how LinkedIn could be used in an educational context. These are my initial thoughts and I would welcome comments and further ideas from anyone reading this blog. If we share information we can all learn together.
Firstly, the most obvious use by students is to build up a network of professionals to support their future career. The earlier they start this the better as it can lead to internships, part time jobs and future jobs. Whilst they are doing this they can also see the bigger picture about what is happening within their chosen profession. They will also be able to develop the ability to portray themselves in the best and most professional light.
However, as well as the more overt learning outlined above, I believe there is also some measure of covert learning. Students will, on the whole, be used to Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, amongst others. These are mainly informal networks, which can also be used in a formal setting. LinkedIn is designed to use a much more professional and formal approach to networking. Students will learn how to use appropriate language and style of writing, and to conduct themselves in a professional manner. Students can also use their network of contacts to ask for advice as well as for introductions to others. They will also learn how to conduct business correctly in that they should not just build up a network for the sake of it, but approach contacts for a specific reason. The fact that students will be using this site in a professional manner will allow them to develop skills in professional presentation and using a professional approach.
I have enjoyed thinking about how LinkedIn could be used in an educational context. These are my initial thoughts and I would welcome comments and further ideas from anyone reading this blog. If we share information we can all learn together.
Tuesday 11 May 2010
Social Media - Twitter and Facebook
I am increasingly glad that I am using all forms of social media both personally and professionally but twitter has been growing in popularity and usefulness as far as I am concerned. Initially when I joined twitter about a year ago I couldn't really see the benefits or how useful it would be. I had a bit of a lacklustre approach and posted infrequently. I followed a few people and had a few people follow me, although I wasn't really sure why. I didn't really think about using it as a professional networking tool or as a way to support learning.
It wasn't until I had been using it for about 6 months that I started to use it more frequently and effectively. I started to explore ways I could use it professionally to support learning for my students. I started to link with other education professionals, particularly those interested in using technology and social media to support learning. Many of these are from a school, rather than Higher Education background, but the ideas they generate and the innovative ways in which they use these tools are both inspirational and innovative. Most of them could be transferred to a Higher Education context. It has made me think very clearly about ways in which I could develop my teaching, involving the students to a much greater extent.
What started me thinking about this subject this morning was an article which I received in a tweet from @NMHS_Principal on twitter.
Social media in Education: The Power of Facebook
This demonstrates 2 ways in which one school is using Facebook to very good effect. Now I have used facebook to support my students by the way of groups where students can support each other, which is moderated by myself. This article has inspired me to think about other ways in which I could use facebook to much greater effect. If anyone has any other ideas please comment. I would welcome all suggestions.
I hope that after reading this you will yourself be inspired to try something new. If my students are reading this, then I would welcome your comments in 2 ways:
1. How would you like to see social media used to support your learning?
2. Which particular social media tool would you prefer to use for the purposes of learning and why?
My final thoughts, I think that technology has great value and power when applied to learning. I am enjoying the journey of exploring this and hope you do too.
It wasn't until I had been using it for about 6 months that I started to use it more frequently and effectively. I started to explore ways I could use it professionally to support learning for my students. I started to link with other education professionals, particularly those interested in using technology and social media to support learning. Many of these are from a school, rather than Higher Education background, but the ideas they generate and the innovative ways in which they use these tools are both inspirational and innovative. Most of them could be transferred to a Higher Education context. It has made me think very clearly about ways in which I could develop my teaching, involving the students to a much greater extent.
What started me thinking about this subject this morning was an article which I received in a tweet from @NMHS_Principal on twitter.
Social media in Education: The Power of Facebook
This demonstrates 2 ways in which one school is using Facebook to very good effect. Now I have used facebook to support my students by the way of groups where students can support each other, which is moderated by myself. This article has inspired me to think about other ways in which I could use facebook to much greater effect. If anyone has any other ideas please comment. I would welcome all suggestions.
I hope that after reading this you will yourself be inspired to try something new. If my students are reading this, then I would welcome your comments in 2 ways:
1. How would you like to see social media used to support your learning?
2. Which particular social media tool would you prefer to use for the purposes of learning and why?
My final thoughts, I think that technology has great value and power when applied to learning. I am enjoying the journey of exploring this and hope you do too.
Thursday 6 May 2010
Harnessing the Power of Social Media
I read an intersting article this morning on how Teachers are Embracing Social Media in the Classroom. Before I go on to say what I feel about this it is interesting to note that I found out about this article through a tweet on twitter by @kamyousaf. I think this demonstrates one of the ways in which social media can empower new ideas and give them a platform on which they can be shared. Through Twitter I am part of a network of Teachers interested in using Technology, Web 2.0 and Social media to enhance education and teaching and learning. I have access to new ideas not just daily but numerous times in a day. Mmmh Information overload maybe? Well no. I don't have to sign in to Twitter, I can control the frequency.
Just think how this could be transferred into the student experience. Twitter and facebook can be used by students to link with others throughout the world to support each other and debate the topics from their courses. This shared knowledge would be more powerful and greater than the individual. My challenge is to enthuse my students to harness this and use it wisely.
So back to the article which can be found at:
Teachers embracing social media
I am excited that some schools are starting to embrace social media within teaching and learning. Although this article is talking about using these with children, I feel that this could be transferred to the adult learning experience. Many people are now familiar with and using social networking sites and social media and use it for informal learning. We as educators need to work out how we can harness this to support the more formal learning with which we engage. We have a responsibilty to engage with our students in every way we can, and whether we as educators like it or not, our students communicate in different ways to that which we used as undergraduates.
Or do they? I did my first degree by distance learning and communicated with my tutors and other students via email and telephone. I worked all over the world whilst I did my degree so could not attend the University for Tutorials. My work was sent out to me via the post in files. I would venture to suggest that online courses, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, You Tube and Blogger are just extensions of this. Yes, we are talking here about distance learning, rather than traditional attendance at university, but the students are no different. Embrace the new ways in which we can develop our teaching and bring the students on board. Make their educational experience more natural and more exciting. Engage them in learning in ways in which they are already familiar. Take the journey with them.
I personally am very excited about exploring ways in which we can engage our students more full in learning. I am passionate about teaching and learning, and will use every means possible to make sure my students love learning as well. I am also excited about linking with many like minded people throughout the world who want to use technology, web 2.0, and social media in their classrooms. I fully intend to embrace every possible avaenue which will support this. However, this does not mean I will go off and join every single social networking site just to engage with my students. I may be passionate, but life is too short to spend every waking minute in the digital world. Enjoy the journey, don't let it suck you in.
Just think how this could be transferred into the student experience. Twitter and facebook can be used by students to link with others throughout the world to support each other and debate the topics from their courses. This shared knowledge would be more powerful and greater than the individual. My challenge is to enthuse my students to harness this and use it wisely.
So back to the article which can be found at:
Teachers embracing social media
I am excited that some schools are starting to embrace social media within teaching and learning. Although this article is talking about using these with children, I feel that this could be transferred to the adult learning experience. Many people are now familiar with and using social networking sites and social media and use it for informal learning. We as educators need to work out how we can harness this to support the more formal learning with which we engage. We have a responsibilty to engage with our students in every way we can, and whether we as educators like it or not, our students communicate in different ways to that which we used as undergraduates.
Or do they? I did my first degree by distance learning and communicated with my tutors and other students via email and telephone. I worked all over the world whilst I did my degree so could not attend the University for Tutorials. My work was sent out to me via the post in files. I would venture to suggest that online courses, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, You Tube and Blogger are just extensions of this. Yes, we are talking here about distance learning, rather than traditional attendance at university, but the students are no different. Embrace the new ways in which we can develop our teaching and bring the students on board. Make their educational experience more natural and more exciting. Engage them in learning in ways in which they are already familiar. Take the journey with them.
I personally am very excited about exploring ways in which we can engage our students more full in learning. I am passionate about teaching and learning, and will use every means possible to make sure my students love learning as well. I am also excited about linking with many like minded people throughout the world who want to use technology, web 2.0, and social media in their classrooms. I fully intend to embrace every possible avaenue which will support this. However, this does not mean I will go off and join every single social networking site just to engage with my students. I may be passionate, but life is too short to spend every waking minute in the digital world. Enjoy the journey, don't let it suck you in.
Wednesday 5 May 2010
Technology, Education and Learning
As I have been on this journey of exploring all the different ways in which technology can support learning I have been reflecting on why this subject is so important to me. Is it just my passion for technology which is driving me or do I genuinely believe that Technology can enhance the learning experience. Well if I am truthful, it is a bit of both. Yes I am passionate about Technology, the Internet and Web 2.0, but I am also passionate about teaching and learning. Over the years I have seen how my learning and the learning experience have been improved by the use of these tools. Education and Learning is too important and exciting to minimize the experience. We should use all the tools available to help us on this journey.
Over the last few days I have been following Steve Wheeler's Blog and his tweets from the OER conference in Namibia. You can read his summary of the conference at
http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2010/05/open-all-oers.html
This has been both extremely interesting and has demonstrated to me another way in which Web 2.0 can be used in Education. Although I have to admit I have spent a lot of time on twitter during this time. This has led to me thinking of innovative ways of using twitter in my lessons. One way could be allowing students to ask questions via twitter, and posting answers as well as developing them in the classroom. Students love mobile phones so why not put them to good use letting them access Twitter. It is much quicker and easier than spending inordinate amounts of time arguing about phones being switched off. Using technology appropriately,and blending it in to the learning experience is my goal. I am going to leave the blog here and think of other innovative ways of using technology in education and learning.
Over the last few days I have been following Steve Wheeler's Blog and his tweets from the OER conference in Namibia. You can read his summary of the conference at
http://steve-wheeler.blogspot.com/2010/05/open-all-oers.html
This has been both extremely interesting and has demonstrated to me another way in which Web 2.0 can be used in Education. Although I have to admit I have spent a lot of time on twitter during this time. This has led to me thinking of innovative ways of using twitter in my lessons. One way could be allowing students to ask questions via twitter, and posting answers as well as developing them in the classroom. Students love mobile phones so why not put them to good use letting them access Twitter. It is much quicker and easier than spending inordinate amounts of time arguing about phones being switched off. Using technology appropriately,and blending it in to the learning experience is my goal. I am going to leave the blog here and think of other innovative ways of using technology in education and learning.
Monday 3 May 2010
Blogging, Tweeting, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr et al
Have spent a very pleasant day today working my way through a book called 500 Internet Hints, Tips and Techniques by Dan Oliver. This deceptively simple book has enhanced my experience of using several social networking sites such as Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube. Despite the fact that I would consider myself to be fairly competent at using many of the above sites this book has helped me in 2 ways. Firstly, it has given me a lot of new ideas and expanded my horizons in using the sites with which I am already familiar. Secondly it has made me look at sites such as Flickr and YouTube in more depth and has encouraged me to create acounts at both of these sites in order to upload my own photos and videos. I am becoming more daring in my approach.
So in what ways has it changed the way in which I use these sites. Some, as I say are deceptively simple, for example, despite updating my facebook via text message, I did not realise you could do this with Twitter, so have now set this up. This means I can now update without going on to the web. So what, I hear you saying, Well, this stops me using up endless amounts of data through my network provider, and also stops me getting distracted with all the twitter feeds if I just need to update quickly.
This is just one very simple example of the ways in which I have changed my use of these sites. The book gave me very clear steps to follow in all cases and I have managed to do most things so far. A couple of ideas could not be carried through as the links in the site no longer existed. In all fairness to the author this is not his fault, as things change fast in the world of technology. After today I would now consider myself a more advanced user of most of these sites. I will keep you posted as to how Flickr and YouTube go, as I am excited about using these more fully.
So in what ways has it changed the way in which I use these sites. Some, as I say are deceptively simple, for example, despite updating my facebook via text message, I did not realise you could do this with Twitter, so have now set this up. This means I can now update without going on to the web. So what, I hear you saying, Well, this stops me using up endless amounts of data through my network provider, and also stops me getting distracted with all the twitter feeds if I just need to update quickly.
This is just one very simple example of the ways in which I have changed my use of these sites. The book gave me very clear steps to follow in all cases and I have managed to do most things so far. A couple of ideas could not be carried through as the links in the site no longer existed. In all fairness to the author this is not his fault, as things change fast in the world of technology. After today I would now consider myself a more advanced user of most of these sites. I will keep you posted as to how Flickr and YouTube go, as I am excited about using these more fully.
Friday 30 April 2010
And Now for Something Completely Different
Today I am moving on to something completely different from technology. As well as being passionate about technology my other passion is books. I don't always recommend books as they are a very individual thing, however, I believe these books deserve a mention.
The Ultimate Study Skills Handbook by Sarah Moore, Colin Neville, Maura Murphy and Cornelia Connelly
The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell
The Buzan Study Skills Handbook by Tony Buzan
I have recommended three different books as , as I say, books and the style you prefer are individual. These are all excellent in their own way. The first book has only been published this year so is completely up to date. You can browse through them and buy them at amazon.co.uk if you click on the link to the right of this post.
However, all is not lost on the technology front either. I have also been exploring my IPod touch and the apps which can support learning. A quick search for Aatomy, Health, Philosophy and Business found many apps some of which are free and others cost a small amount. Of the ones I looked at the most expensive was £2.99. I am reliably informed via the Smartphone Essentials magazine that there are also many educational apps available for the Blackberry. In fact they say that there are more apps aimed at the adult market and less at children, so for those of you with a Blackberry it is worth a look. I will be blogging about the use of Blackberry to support learning in a future blog when I upgrade to a Blackberry Storm 2 in June. Watch this space.
The Ultimate Study Skills Handbook by Sarah Moore, Colin Neville, Maura Murphy and Cornelia Connelly
The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell
The Buzan Study Skills Handbook by Tony Buzan
I have recommended three different books as , as I say, books and the style you prefer are individual. These are all excellent in their own way. The first book has only been published this year so is completely up to date. You can browse through them and buy them at amazon.co.uk if you click on the link to the right of this post.
However, all is not lost on the technology front either. I have also been exploring my IPod touch and the apps which can support learning. A quick search for Aatomy, Health, Philosophy and Business found many apps some of which are free and others cost a small amount. Of the ones I looked at the most expensive was £2.99. I am reliably informed via the Smartphone Essentials magazine that there are also many educational apps available for the Blackberry. In fact they say that there are more apps aimed at the adult market and less at children, so for those of you with a Blackberry it is worth a look. I will be blogging about the use of Blackberry to support learning in a future blog when I upgrade to a Blackberry Storm 2 in June. Watch this space.
Thursday 29 April 2010
Cloud Computing
My last post leads me neatly on to this one which is all about computing in the clouds. The reason my mind and brain are focusing in this direction is that I have recently signed up to use mobile me. Mobile me is Apple's cloud computing application which allows me to back up and store information off my computer. This has the advantage of allowing me to access it from anywhere that I have Internet access. I have to admit I have had a somewhat rocky start with this and have spent many a "pleasant" hour chatting to technical help online. However, they have always managed to help me with my problem and I am now aware of how to overcome any minor issues which occur. One such issue was that of my calendar entries on my IPod touch not appearing on my online calendar. The easiest way is to delete this and re-enter they usually appear within seconds. This happens rarely and is not such a problem that it would put me off using mobile me. Also it took a little while to work out how to open documents from mobile me, but this is now a simple and quick process. One word of warning to all those PC users, of which I am one. If you talk to the technical people at Apple they keep asking you to install outlook. This is a bit difficult if you have Windows Vista as it does not support outlook. So this may be one reason why anyone with windows vista may want to consider using another application rather than mobile me.
However, Cloud computing has uses other than personal. It allows multiple users to access documents online and therefore work on them together. This is very useful if people from different companies, or educational establishments are collaborating on a document. Taking it in to the educational realm, it would also allow students to collaborate on projects. I can also give others access to my photograph gallery, again useful whether you want to share photos with friends or collaborate on projects. It could be argued that Flickr does a similar thing, but this keeps everything in one place and easily accessible.
So what other alternatives are there. You can use google in a similar way, and this is free. I went for mobile me as I am using my Ipod as my diary and this was the best way of backing up the data for my calendar. overall, I am impressed with mobile me. I like the way I can store all my photos and look at them on my IPod, I like the space on Idisk, and overall the calendar is good. Mobile me might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I am certainly finding it useful. My advice is to find one that works for you and use that one. This is as individual as all other computer applications, and should exist to make your own life easier
However, Cloud computing has uses other than personal. It allows multiple users to access documents online and therefore work on them together. This is very useful if people from different companies, or educational establishments are collaborating on a document. Taking it in to the educational realm, it would also allow students to collaborate on projects. I can also give others access to my photograph gallery, again useful whether you want to share photos with friends or collaborate on projects. It could be argued that Flickr does a similar thing, but this keeps everything in one place and easily accessible.
So what other alternatives are there. You can use google in a similar way, and this is free. I went for mobile me as I am using my Ipod as my diary and this was the best way of backing up the data for my calendar. overall, I am impressed with mobile me. I like the way I can store all my photos and look at them on my IPod, I like the space on Idisk, and overall the calendar is good. Mobile me might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I am certainly finding it useful. My advice is to find one that works for you and use that one. This is as individual as all other computer applications, and should exist to make your own life easier
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Mobile Blogging
In the spirit of learning all things new to me about blogging I am trying out mobile blogging. This has been a somewhat frustrating experience so far as my attempts to use sms or mms have failed. So not being one to give up I am now trying via email on my mobile. I have to say if this works I am quite excited about being able to blog on the move. Mind you could this lead to blog overload and some measure of boredom for my readers. I guess it depends on the circumstances or situation as I said in a previous post. Anyway onwards ever onwards into the deep space exploration of all things technological and their impact on learning.
As an update to this post I sent the above paragraph from my mobile and it appeared immediately as a post in my blog. Pretty impressive and very useful for all those times I am away from my desk. I think this would have been very useful during the SITE conference to update on the sessions as they happen. This would give a real time feel to the blog and let others know what was happening in the world of technology and learning. I will certainly be using this in the future, but as I say will be careful that I am not just blogging for bloggings sake.
As an update to this post I sent the above paragraph from my mobile and it appeared immediately as a post in my blog. Pretty impressive and very useful for all those times I am away from my desk. I think this would have been very useful during the SITE conference to update on the sessions as they happen. This would give a real time feel to the blog and let others know what was happening in the world of technology and learning. I will certainly be using this in the future, but as I say will be careful that I am not just blogging for bloggings sake.
Monday 26 April 2010
Cart Before the Horse or Opportunity to Grow
I have been reading Blogging for Dummies which has made me decide that my blogging history is a bit "cart before the horse". I started blogging and then read the book. It should really have been the other way round. Or should it? To be honest I think I have done it the right way round. If I had never written a blog before or used the blogger.com site I don't think I would have got so much out of the book. Knowing the basics has provided the foundations on which I can build and develop my blog. Also I think that looking at the screen captures of outstanding blogs provided in the book may have put me off starting. My initial feeling would have been, I can never do this. However, as I have already started my blog, reading the book has made me excited about finding out how I can develop my blog. To any of my students reading this, starting a blog is simple, don't be put off by the seemingly perfect blogs out there, you can develop things later as you grow more confident.
Advice is, to update my blog frequently, which got me thinking about what frequently means. To some people, using twitter for example, this means every few minutes. To others it can mean daily, and to others once a week or two or three times a week. I think it is important to make sure that I have something to say. Posting several times a day could become repetitive and boring, however it could be relevant and timely when undertaking a specific project or attending a conference. The frequency could change depending on the situation.
I have found out about simple things like adding links using the add link button on the toolbar. This is the small picture of a globe with a chain link above it which allows me to add a link such as this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging As I say simple things but it is small steps such as this which will allow me to develop my Blog and make it more powerful and meaningful.
So I will continue to grow and develop my blog with this particular book helping me. It is no use reading the book without putting what I learn into practice so I intend to do this over the next few posts. I am enjoying the journey and enjoying my exploration through technology and learning.
Advice is, to update my blog frequently, which got me thinking about what frequently means. To some people, using twitter for example, this means every few minutes. To others it can mean daily, and to others once a week or two or three times a week. I think it is important to make sure that I have something to say. Posting several times a day could become repetitive and boring, however it could be relevant and timely when undertaking a specific project or attending a conference. The frequency could change depending on the situation.
I have found out about simple things like adding links using the add link button on the toolbar. This is the small picture of a globe with a chain link above it which allows me to add a link such as this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging As I say simple things but it is small steps such as this which will allow me to develop my Blog and make it more powerful and meaningful.
So I will continue to grow and develop my blog with this particular book helping me. It is no use reading the book without putting what I learn into practice so I intend to do this over the next few posts. I am enjoying the journey and enjoying my exploration through technology and learning.
Monday 19 April 2010
Perils of Technology
Short post today, but one which is particularly pertinant, as I will be discussing with my students how technology can help them learn. However, today technology let me down. Firstly my work computer was opened up after 2 weeks break, and somehow or other had a virus. My machine had to be reimaged, thus little work done this morning. I went to the tried and tested IPod touch to acccess email etc. and it would not conect to the University WiFi. Again 2 weeks ago it was working beautifully. When I logged on after the reimaging, no printer drivers, and it took the tech guys hours to fix it. All credit to the tech guys though who were brilliant and didn't stop until everything had been solved. Fourth problem, the computer would not recognise my memory sticks. What a day. Still the tech guys came up trumps and everything is ready for a fresh start tomorrow.
Moral of the story, technology is brilliant, but it can sometimes let you down. I knew that, but it happened in a particularly spectacular fashion today. I've learnt to be patient, to work around problems and to make sure you have the tech helpline number to hand at all times. So I suppose it could be argued that technology has helped me learn today. Sometimes all is not lost, and there is hidden learning in everything we do. On reflection, not such a bad day after all, just different to that which I expected.
Moral of the story, technology is brilliant, but it can sometimes let you down. I knew that, but it happened in a particularly spectacular fashion today. I've learnt to be patient, to work around problems and to make sure you have the tech helpline number to hand at all times. So I suppose it could be argued that technology has helped me learn today. Sometimes all is not lost, and there is hidden learning in everything we do. On reflection, not such a bad day after all, just different to that which I expected.
Saturday 17 April 2010
Where so far
As I said in a previous post I have been busy with family, but now they have gone it's back to the quest to explore technology. This has been an exciting time for me as it has made me explore and use many of my exisiting resources such as facebook and twitter more fully. I am now using twitpic to upload pictures to my twitter feeds which I have never done before and uisng hash tags. Also following many other teachers and teacher trainers, whose ideas have expanded my horizons even further. Interesting use of twitter was all the tweets from the PELC conference which I was unfortunately unable to attend. This gave me an idea of what was going on and links to many of the presentations. I followed all the tweets avidly and it gave me a sense of being there in the virtual world. For anyone who is not using twitter. I could certainly recommend it. If you are in education I would highly recommend you follow steve Wheeler @timbuckteeth as he has many innovative ideas and ways of using web 2.0 technology. In his blog he raised an interesting discussion about networking on twitter. This made me think about my own use of twitter, and how long it takes people to see the value. I would say it takes about 6 months for people to start using it regularly, and it has taken me a year to start to use it for other than social reasons. It is certainly a valuable tool, and one which I fully intend to use in my sessions.
Have also been looking at slideshare as a tool, but it is early stages for this as yet. My intial impression is that it is a useful tool, giving a sense of shared knowledge. I certainly intend to explore this more fully over the next week or so, and will report back on my impressions at a later date.
In a quest for greater mobility (my netbook is obviously not enough) I ahve downloaded quick office to my ipod touch. This allows me to look at and work on office documents whilst on the move. Again it is early days for this, but it looks to be a very useful tool. I like the idea of being able to use nothing but my ipod rather than carting my rather heavy laptop, or not quite so heavy netbook, around. Talking of IPOD's I would be interested on other people's views on the new IPad. It looks to me that they are having some intial difficulties in America, with many people reporting an unstable wifi. I guess we in the UK will have to wait as the European launch has been delayed as they have run out of IPads.
I am now off to download skype, nothing to do with work, I just think it is time for me to use this as many of my friends use it, particularly the ones in America. Also I will need to use it for projects I will be involved in for the future. Time to crack open the netbook, and back to technology.
Have also been looking at slideshare as a tool, but it is early stages for this as yet. My intial impression is that it is a useful tool, giving a sense of shared knowledge. I certainly intend to explore this more fully over the next week or so, and will report back on my impressions at a later date.
In a quest for greater mobility (my netbook is obviously not enough) I ahve downloaded quick office to my ipod touch. This allows me to look at and work on office documents whilst on the move. Again it is early days for this, but it looks to be a very useful tool. I like the idea of being able to use nothing but my ipod rather than carting my rather heavy laptop, or not quite so heavy netbook, around. Talking of IPOD's I would be interested on other people's views on the new IPad. It looks to me that they are having some intial difficulties in America, with many people reporting an unstable wifi. I guess we in the UK will have to wait as the European launch has been delayed as they have run out of IPads.
I am now off to download skype, nothing to do with work, I just think it is time for me to use this as many of my friends use it, particularly the ones in America. Also I will need to use it for projects I will be involved in for the future. Time to crack open the netbook, and back to technology.
Monday 5 April 2010
Exploring the IPod Touch
Have had family here for the last few days so not huge amounts of time available for exploring the wonders of technology. I have invested in an IPod touch 3G 64gb and my 8 year old niece, Hope, who is staying with me now has my old 2G 32gb version. The technophile in me just had to have the new one, of course. I am currently trying to learn Khmer and have discovered that I can download UTalk (Formerly Eurotalk) Khmer on the touch. This is great fun and certainly beats sitting at the computer with the CD version. also saved myself a lot of money in the process. Hope, decided she also wanted to learn Khmer and has now downloaded the programme, compliments of Daddy's credit card. Well worth the £5.99 investment as we are both having a great time and learning a new language into the bargain. Hope doesn't think she is learning but having fun with Auntie Wendy, she'll be speaking Khmer like a native before we know where we are. I think this is a perfect example of how the IPod touch can support learning. Hope now has many apps on her touch including, dictionary, speak French and times tables. She will quite happily "play" with all of these, not realising that she is in fact learning.
But what of the learning for my students. I fully intend exploring ways in which I can use the touch to support learning for adult students, particularly those in Teacher Training and Health Care. Watch this space as I will share the best in future blogs. It is exciting times in the world of technology and in education, bringing them together is the most exciting journey of all.
Thursday 1 April 2010
Musings of a Blogging Newbie
As a fan of all things technological (ok fan might be a bit weak to describe my passion for technology), the only thing which seemed to be missing from my repertoire was blogging. I always felt that maybe this was taking things a bit too far, but inspired by a workshop I attended with Steve Wheeler yesterday, and my quest for using technology in all ways possible to support learning, here I am. This is something which fascinates me, and as a lecturer in both health care and teacher training, I want to use it to support the best learning possible for my students. What better way than to use it myself, whilst I am learning. But lets take this a step further. It is not just technology which can make us better learners or helps our students to learn, but every aspect of life itself. Every experience should fill us with a curiosity which makes us want to know more, to find out more, to explore further and to see the wonder of the experience in every way. This blog will explore my experiences and how each one of them can help me to support my students learning. Yes technology will be in there, how can it not when I'm a technophile, but so will many other things. Follow me and see what surprises may fall out of what I am doing, and what we can all learn along the way.
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