Tag: wikis

Wikispaces Resources

~ joanvinallcox ~ 2 Comments

Some morning I get up and when I check my email, I groan. I keep signing up for newsletters from sites that interest me. I can ignore my Bloglines and Google Reader with their collections of "stuff I should keep up with", but newsletters are more "in my face". So I sign up and groan when they show up in my inbox. Sometimes I am very cursory, and leave some unopened or even (gasp!) delete some on the basis of that initial phrase that gmail reveals in the inbox.

Almost did that this morning, but …

Wikispaces is one of my two favorite wiki platforms and I have some sites I manage there, so I opened it.

And went to their blog –

And, knowing the generous compulsion teachers have to share goodies, I checked out the two links. They are AMAZING!

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for Schools – http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com/ – is beautifully organized and lists hundreds of webapps – most, if not all, free – with brief descriptions. They have all the ones I know and respect, plus many others. It's a wonderful resource!

Then there's Getting Tricky with Wikis – http://gettingtrickywithwikis.wikispaces.com/

I'm always finding my reach exceeding my grasp on the web – I have enough imagination to know what I'd like to do, and not enough technical know-how to do it. That's why I got into wikis in the first place. Well, if you want to expand your wiki abilities – this is the place to find explicit, detailed, copy&paste-able instructions. Lots to play with!

So, despite my morning grumpiness, I'm glad I opened my Wikispaces newsletter this morning, and glad I signed up for it originally.

JNthWEB Consulting – http://jnthweb.ca/
Social Media & Learning
https://joanvinallcox.wordpress.com/my-e-portfolio/

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From Knowledgable to Knowledge-able by Wesch

~ joanvinallcox ~ 3 Comments
Academic Commons
Academic Commons

Michael Wesch is a pedagogical hero of mine. I’ve watched videos his classes made; I’ve watched a video of him explaining his teaching, and I asked a question on Twitter, and even though he doesn’t follow me, got an anwser from him within a few hours! He understands the impact of the new communication ecosphere we swim in, applies his understanding to his teaching, and can explain clearly why this is urgently central to education.

Here is a link to my highlighted copy of his recent Academic Commons article – From Knowledgable to Knowledge-able which I discovered via Stephen Downes. Indeed, as Wesch says, you set up your network and information comes to you.

We May be on the Cutting Edge/Signs of Hope

~ joanvinallcox ~ 4 Comments

Rainbow

http://www.freefoto.com/preview/15-27-2?ffid=15-27-2

  • I have a friend who is updating a well-known business writing textbook. She wants to add an assignment where students have to using podcasting or videocasting, and wants my help in figuring out how to set it up. I see an inroad into college and university communications courses – provided, of course, that the teachers use the assignment.
  • The board of a volunteer organization I work with has set up a wiki and begun using it to plan, record and communicate.
  • A provincial math education organization is using a wiki to plan. (Ontario is a very, very, very big province and CommonCraft has described the problems with planning by email – http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english).

I see these as signs that people are becoming more conscious of web 2.0 possibilities. It may not have gone viral – yet – but it may be starting to. Work Literacy has been developing frustratingly slowly but maybe, just maybe, the tipping point is approaching.

Talking to Editors

~ joanvinallcox ~ Leave a comment
A tag cloud with terms related to Web 2.

Image via Wikipedia

Last night felt like summer in downtown Toronto. I was one of two speakers to the Editors Association of Canada in the beautiful Women’s Art Institute, and enjoyed giving my rather rushed presentation. (There’s a rigid deadline when the building must be cleared.)

I always enjoy presenting, especially about how useful and easy it is to use web 2.0 (aka social web) applications. I put the PowerPoint (visuals only) up on SlideShare for those who want to review the info.