Exploring Multi-media and Technology with Washington College Website

I recently received this link (http://wacblog.washcoll.edu/mpclab/) to the MPC Feed @ Washington College website. What a good site to find information on technology and multi-media. I've enjoyed exploring all the multi-media tips and tutorials it has. I really like the way it is organized. The design is clean and simple to navigate. I recommend it to students with an interest in web 2.0 applications, technology and the Internet.

While looking for the webmaster or designer of this website, I came across two more links, http://www.mangoorange.com/ and http://www.ndesign-studio.com/. At the bottom of the Washington College website it says: "Theme and Icons by N. Design Studios, columned by MangoOrange...." It turns out that the graphic designer behind these sites, Nick La has a top professional portfolio blended into his website. If you are going to be designing for the web, this graphic designer has a great professional site that should inspire you.

Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools: Book Review

I just finished reading Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum. The first chapter emphasizes the changes in technology as it interfaces with the world's populous and students today. It goes into detail to highlight the changes and uses of technology and the Internet in today's business world and in its global collaboration.

The second chapter focuses on the 21st century student, children raised on technology toys, SIMS, computer games, social networks and virtual worlds. It explains how the technology has affected the way they approach learning. It has changed the way they process and collaborate with other children to create projects or solve problems together. Gwen and Lynne explain the need for the schools to evolve to match the learning style of these Net generation students. Changes that would require more technology in the schools and perhaps the use of open source curriculum.

Many countries are creating their own open source curriculum and updating its history and government sections to include global economics and world history. China is refocusing their history textbooks, moving away from the study of "wars, dynasties and revolutions to economics, technology, social customs and globalization". Other countries are ahead of the United States in transforming their educational systems to meet the new global and technologically driven world in which we now live.

The chapters that followed featured the web 2.0 tools and open source curriculum being utilized by today's students and teachers around the globe. Emphasis is given to web 2.0 tools that are providing modules for classroom and school use. Class Blogmeister (http://classblogmeister.com/) and Gaggle Blog (http://www.gaggle.net/) are two such blogs. Animoto, a music video application provides a 6 months free classroom version. Wiki services such as Peanut Butter Wiki (http://www.pbwiki.com/) make it possible for schools to password protect their wikis. Video editing can be done easily enough with sites such as: Jumpcut (http://www.jumpcut.com/), Eyespot (http://www.eyespot.com/) and VideoEgg (http://www.videoegg.com/).

Web 2.0 management tools are used to present student work through eportfolios and open source desk top publishing tools such as: ELGG (http://www.elgg.org/), Google Documents/Notebook, ZoHo.com and Moodle.

Open Source Educational Software is already being used in different areas of the world and it is being created and sponsored by governments and non-profit organizations. The Seeing Math Project (http://seeingmath.concord.org/resources.html), and Curriki (http://www.curriki.org/) are both open source repositories for educational content that include tools, materials and curriculum. The book mentions more web 2.0 tools and covers important issues relating to the use of open source curriculum (technology literacy training, legal requirements, copyright and intellectual property, and system issues).

Life on Mars Has a Radio Station

One of the things I like about the new TV series, Life on Mars is the music. Well, I must not be the only one because the Life on Mars website has its own radio station. You can listen in by clicking on this link that takes you straight to it. It not only plays the music you hear in the episodes, it has news clips from 73' to make your musical time travel trip to 1973 more real.

The abc website also includes features such as games, podcasts, Life On Mars theories, music guide, photos and episode recaps. All this is a good thing since we have to wait until Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 for the return of the next episode. The music will just have to get me by.

Happy Holidays from me and Animoto!

Open Source Software and Open Source Learning Management System Tools

I just finished reading an article in Educause Quarterly, Volume 31, No.2 , 2008 titled, "Open Source Software in Education: Academia has adopted open source software for some online learning initiatives because it addresses persistent technical challenges" by Shaheen E. Lakhan and Kavita Jhunjhunwala. It discusses how Open Source Content Management Systems have been adopted for use by some universities. I was surprised to learn just how many countries had their own open source learning systems and that they were putting them to use as educational venues.

Actually, there are several initiatives taking place to implement Open Source Learning Management System Tools in different places around the world. In the United States universities are using Moodle http://www.moodle.org/ that according to this report has a learning community of 10 million. In the United Kingdom they are using Bodington http://www.bodington.org/, a learning system in place at the University of Leeds and the Univerity of Oxford. Claroline http://www.claroline.net/ has an international base and is available in 35 languages and has users in more than 80 countries.

MIT OpenCourseWare makes undergraduate and graduate course material available on the Interent. Many of us have been aware that open source tools and applications have been adopted for academic use. Some of the most utilized being social networking sites, video- and photo-sharing sites, blogs, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasts and discussion forums. We've even seen Drupal and Moodle adopted by universities such as the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. However, until this article I did not know other universities around the world were using open source learning ware like MIT.

Not only are they using it but countries around the world are creating learning content together. Dokeos, a web-based application http://www.dokeos.com/ "was developed with the global contributions of universities, organizations and individual programmers." If any American academic administrators doubt the global collaboration taking place now, I suggest they get busy visiting these sites.