To start off the new year, I decided to participate in an online course on Learning and Knowledge Analytics. I didn't know much about the course. What I did know was that I was interested in the topic, that the course was free, it required only the amount of time and effort I wanted to put into it, and was promoted to me via an email from George Siemens, a guy in Canada whose previous work on technology and education had caught my attention. What I didn't know was that the format of the course would catch my attention at least as much as the content itself.
The course began last week with simple introductory type materials posted on a web site and then reinforced via email. First, I discovered that there were over 400 people registered for the course. That was impressive. When it came time to do the obligatory introductions via discussion thread, I discovered that the registrants were from all over the world and included some very forward thinking educators, technologists, and perhaps some budding entrepreneurs. VERY impressive. Finally, as I started reviewing the introductory materials, I discovered a blog post from Dave Cormier, another Canadian education type whom I had been tracking via Twitter for over a year after hearing him on an edtechtalk podcast. The blog post took me to three videos describing a MOOC, a Massively Online Open Course. These videos and the work and ideas behind them caught my attention.
Rather than me describing a MOOC, I encourage you to view the 3 videos - What is a MOOC? (4 minutes and 27 seconds), Success in a MOOC (4 minutes and 17 seconds), and Knowledge in a MOOC (1 minute and 53 seconds). I hope you find them worthwhile. To me, this type of learning concept holds real promise. I think of the MOOC as a practical application of a lot of the educational theory that has been related to technology. For those of us at A.T. Still University, our new strategic plan talks about ATSU as a Learning-Centered institution. For me, this concept brings together the components of technology to help build and practice a learning-centered culture.
I recognize that it is only week 1 of the course and the jury is still out. I also confess that the method is a bit... well, messy. There is a lot of disconnected content scattered in a wide variety of places. But I also wonder if this isn't the real world experience that we need to help prepare future generations to deal with. I'll keep you posted as the course progresses. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thursday, January 6, 2011
RSS - How to Build, Organize and Read a Personal News Repository
Are you frustrated or overwhelmed by the ever growing amount of information necessary to stay even remotely current in your field? Do you wonder how anyone can keep up? Perhaps it is time to reconsider your strategies for professional reading and organizing your preferred web sites for news and information. I have found that using a tool like Google Reader to build my own news repository, allows me to organize my routine reading material and better manage the landslide of information. The method I use focuses on 3 concepts: Scanning -> Filtering -> and Sharing. Here are some helpful hints I found as I put together my strategy.
1) Learn the Basics of RSS
RSS is a method for organizations to publish information and for you to easily consume it. Organizations publish information (their articles or other content) into a feed. You can then consume the information by subscribing to the feed using an RSS Reader, like Google Reader. Read on to get yourself up and running in less than 3 minutes - or skip to point 2 if you already have
To access Google Reader simply go to www.google.com/reader. If you already have a Gmail or a Google Apps account (like we use at ATSU), then you can use your existing account. If not you will have to create an account. Once logged in, you will see the screen is segmented into 2 columns. The left column is the navigation area, the right area is the content area. Read through the helpful articles in the right hand column. I suggest you minimize the All Items, People you follow, and Explore options on the left hand navigation and focus only on the Subscriptions option. At this point you probably don't have any subscriptions listed, so let's get a few.
2) Organize New Feeds as you Add Them
The ease of adding subscriptions is the power behind RSS. Feeds to which you can subscribe are plentiful on the web. Anywhere you see the orange RSS box (the image on the left), you can subscribe to a feed. My suggestion is to organize feeds into folders within the subscription navigation area. Each time you add a new feed, add it to a folder with similar feeds. Think of folders as sections in a Newspaper. It will make your reading far more efficient later when you have dozens of feeds.
Another powerful feature of RSS is the ability to use subscription bundles curated by others. To see a selection of bundles, click on the Explore option to show the sub-items and then click on View all recommendations. From here click on the Browse tab and find the bundle that is most interesting to you. Another option is to look to the right of this article and subscribe to my "Education" bundle right from this blog site. Bundles are a great way to add your first group of feeds. Don't forget to organize them into your folder structure.
3) Scan Articles before Reading Them
Once you have set up a few folders and assigned subscriptions to each, it is time to really put Reader to use. I find the best way to organize my reading is to review subscriptions one folder at a time. Because similar feeds are organized into folders, I can more clearly focus on articles related to a given topic. After selecting a folder, I make sure to click on the Show: List mode in the upper right hand corner of the content area. This changes the view and allows me to see many more headlines at a glance. I then review the list to quickly get a sense of hot topics or important news items. Moreover, I can note articles about a particular event from 2 or 3 different sources giving me a more rounded account simply from the headlines.
5) Use Your Network to Filter Content by Following People
One of the more powerful (and perhaps underused) features of Google Reader is the ability to follow people. This allows you to see articles that others highlight and share. It is a great way to filter content and find new sources of information. Within an organization, it could also be used to share updates on important projects, events or news of common interest. Following people is easy. Simply click on the sharing settings under People You follow and search by name or email address. Feel free to follow me by going here.
6) Give Back by Sharing
As you start using Google Reader to regularly scan and review hundreds, if not thousands of articles, I highly encourage you to help others by sharing the articles you find interesting. To share an article simply click on the Share or Share with Note buttons below an article snippet. Think of sharing as an electronic version of a conversation starter. Sharing may be the most useful part of the Scan -> Filter -> Share method.
Let me know in the comments what works and what doesn't work for you.
1) Learn the Basics of RSS
RSS is a method for organizations to publish information and for you to easily consume it. Organizations publish information (their articles or other content) into a feed. You can then consume the information by subscribing to the feed using an RSS Reader, like Google Reader. Read on to get yourself up and running in less than 3 minutes - or skip to point 2 if you already have
To access Google Reader simply go to www.google.com/reader. If you already have a Gmail or a Google Apps account (like we use at ATSU), then you can use your existing account. If not you will have to create an account. Once logged in, you will see the screen is segmented into 2 columns. The left column is the navigation area, the right area is the content area. Read through the helpful articles in the right hand column. I suggest you minimize the All Items, People you follow, and Explore options on the left hand navigation and focus only on the Subscriptions option. At this point you probably don't have any subscriptions listed, so let's get a few.
2) Organize New Feeds as you Add Them
The ease of adding subscriptions is the power behind RSS. Feeds to which you can subscribe are plentiful on the web. Anywhere you see the orange RSS box (the image on the left), you can subscribe to a feed. My suggestion is to organize feeds into folders within the subscription navigation area. Each time you add a new feed, add it to a folder with similar feeds. Think of folders as sections in a Newspaper. It will make your reading far more efficient later when you have dozens of feeds. Another powerful feature of RSS is the ability to use subscription bundles curated by others. To see a selection of bundles, click on the Explore option to show the sub-items and then click on View all recommendations. From here click on the Browse tab and find the bundle that is most interesting to you. Another option is to look to the right of this article and subscribe to my "Education" bundle right from this blog site. Bundles are a great way to add your first group of feeds. Don't forget to organize them into your folder structure.
3) Scan Articles before Reading Them
Once you have set up a few folders and assigned subscriptions to each, it is time to really put Reader to use. I find the best way to organize my reading is to review subscriptions one folder at a time. Because similar feeds are organized into folders, I can more clearly focus on articles related to a given topic. After selecting a folder, I make sure to click on the Show: List mode in the upper right hand corner of the content area. This changes the view and allows me to see many more headlines at a glance. I then review the list to quickly get a sense of hot topics or important news items. Moreover, I can note articles about a particular event from 2 or 3 different sources giving me a more rounded account simply from the headlines.
4) Use the Control Key and New Tabs for Deep Dive Reading
After scanning a topic folder, it is time to read selected articles for more information. I tend to maintain a pretty high volume and fairly wide variety of sources to scan from, but I end up reading a relatively small percentage of articles in detail. If an article looks interesting, I click on the headline to get the article to expand and show a few sentences or paragraphs (the amount shown varies with the feed). If I then want to read more, I click on the headline which opens the article in a new tab. At this point, I switch to the new tab where I can read the full article at the original website.
Here is where I use the power of the control key. When reading a full article in detail, I will frequently use the links embedded in an article. I will always click on these links while holding down the control key so the new link will open up in another new tab. I will occasionally go two or three levels deep into an article, but by using the control key and tabs I can easily get back on track by closing out each tab.
One of the more powerful (and perhaps underused) features of Google Reader is the ability to follow people. This allows you to see articles that others highlight and share. It is a great way to filter content and find new sources of information. Within an organization, it could also be used to share updates on important projects, events or news of common interest. Following people is easy. Simply click on the sharing settings under People You follow and search by name or email address. Feel free to follow me by going here.
6) Give Back by Sharing
As you start using Google Reader to regularly scan and review hundreds, if not thousands of articles, I highly encourage you to help others by sharing the articles you find interesting. To share an article simply click on the Share or Share with Note buttons below an article snippet. Think of sharing as an electronic version of a conversation starter. Sharing may be the most useful part of the Scan -> Filter -> Share method.
Let me know in the comments what works and what doesn't work for you.
Monday, January 3, 2011
New Year Resolution
For the past couple of years, I have been considering writing a blog. I've even started it a couple of times. But as daily commitments mounted, I could muster neither the discipline nor the courage to keep it going for more than a handful of posts. As we start the new year, I am again hopeful that this will be the year where the idea of regularly contributions to a blog takes deeper root and begins to grow and flower.
My reasons for blogging have matured a bit since my previous attempts. At first, I wanted to write a blog because I viewed it as a forward-thinking use of technology. While there is certainly still some part of me that wants to "test" the geek factor for blogging, I now look upon the idea as a more mainstream methodology for organizing my thoughts, fleshing out processes, and sharing ideas with anyone who may be interested. For me, the concept of blogging has become less of a personal sandbox and more of a social responsibility to participate on the town square. To relate my thoughts on blogging to the ideas of Mahatma Ghandi, I feel I need to become the change I want to see in the world. If I want faculty and students to impact learning through using tools like a blog (and I do), then it is only proper that I also do it myself.
Blogging has matured and its power become better understood over recent years. During its early days, blogging had a somewhat rebellious cache. Those who wrote blogs were frequently (although somewhat silently) chided as self-centered mavericks, but the form is now recognized as a legitimate, even enlightened way of engaging in social discourse. Leaders within many industries now regularly share their thoughts, sometime even half-baked thoughts, as a way of testing markets, gathering feedback, or sharing insight. Use of blogs has grown from individual, consumer space roots into social, enterprise space branches. When an institutional mission drives an organization more than profit, then motivation and inspiration result from shared values of the organization's stakeholders. And shared values come from widespread, open communication... the kind of communication that blogs can facilitate.
In early 2011, Google will be adding blog services to the ATSU Google Apps suite providing all faculty, staff and students with the ability to create their own "ATSU sponsored" blog. My hope is that a handful of ATSU blogs will help generate community discussions around two of the major themes identified as part of ATSU's new strategic plan: Innovation and Learning Centered education. With this blog I will try to do my part at generating interesting topics and ideas related to technology, health and education. I encourage you to leave your comments and thoughts so that we can all begin to use technology for "Byte Size Learning".
My reasons for blogging have matured a bit since my previous attempts. At first, I wanted to write a blog because I viewed it as a forward-thinking use of technology. While there is certainly still some part of me that wants to "test" the geek factor for blogging, I now look upon the idea as a more mainstream methodology for organizing my thoughts, fleshing out processes, and sharing ideas with anyone who may be interested. For me, the concept of blogging has become less of a personal sandbox and more of a social responsibility to participate on the town square. To relate my thoughts on blogging to the ideas of Mahatma Ghandi, I feel I need to become the change I want to see in the world. If I want faculty and students to impact learning through using tools like a blog (and I do), then it is only proper that I also do it myself.
Blogging has matured and its power become better understood over recent years. During its early days, blogging had a somewhat rebellious cache. Those who wrote blogs were frequently (although somewhat silently) chided as self-centered mavericks, but the form is now recognized as a legitimate, even enlightened way of engaging in social discourse. Leaders within many industries now regularly share their thoughts, sometime even half-baked thoughts, as a way of testing markets, gathering feedback, or sharing insight. Use of blogs has grown from individual, consumer space roots into social, enterprise space branches. When an institutional mission drives an organization more than profit, then motivation and inspiration result from shared values of the organization's stakeholders. And shared values come from widespread, open communication... the kind of communication that blogs can facilitate.
In early 2011, Google will be adding blog services to the ATSU Google Apps suite providing all faculty, staff and students with the ability to create their own "ATSU sponsored" blog. My hope is that a handful of ATSU blogs will help generate community discussions around two of the major themes identified as part of ATSU's new strategic plan: Innovation and Learning Centered education. With this blog I will try to do my part at generating interesting topics and ideas related to technology, health and education. I encourage you to leave your comments and thoughts so that we can all begin to use technology for "Byte Size Learning".
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