Blogs vs. Discussion Boards

The Colbster linked to a nice site that among other things includes this image showing the difference between message boards and blogs. We should include this in our wiki...

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New Literacies

Marc Prensky has talked about some of the new (or newly important) literacies that have developed due to the Internet; for example, understanding and evaluating website or blog authenticity, media literacy, and email literacy. Multimedia such as powerpoint and digital video require understanding how to create and transmit a message. While this is obvious on the surface, there are subtle strategies and elements of this new literacy which may deserve attention. One of the assignments for my class this semester was to subscribe to a list-serv. Most of my students subscribed to the h-net ed-tech list which I mentioned below. Since there are usually a dozen messages each day, I showed the class how to subscribe in digest mode, and have asked them to skim the daily digest. We've discussed this in class and one student explained how it is difficult to be able to scan the whole message (many screens of text) and find the parts you want to read. Other students have also mentioned how they prefer to print electronic sources that need to be read. All this made me realize that one of these new literacies is the ability to read on-screen text with the same ease as hard copy, and I began thinking about which strategies I use. For example, when I read the daily list-serv digest I look at the table of contents to decide what I want to look at. Then I scroll the message pretty fast, only pausing at each message header. So if you can easily identify a message heading that is a good skill that enables this literacy. By looking at the subject line of the header you know where you are in the digest message. Another strategy I use with news or magazine websites that have articles on multiple screens is that when they offer a version for printing, that version is usually easier to read on screen because it has fewer ads and is usually all one long screen, as opposed to having to click to advance to the next screen of a multi-screen news story.

List-servs as community glue

Going along with the theme for this week, I'm thinking about how list-servs serve as social glue. If you read list-serv messages on a daily basis you get a sense of being part of a group of people who share a common interest. Some of my students have been posting to the ed-tech list-serv, and they continue to receive responses. Someone responded today to Steph's query about SmartBoards that she posted more than a week ago. Online learning has been discussed on this list lately and David Dillard posted a bibliography of articles about students' assessments of their online learning experience. This entry would be a useful resource for our wiki. Another list I'm on is Kathy Scrock's "site of the school days." She sends a weekly email that links to an intresting educational website. This week's site is gcast which is a site that will host mp3 files and let you make a podcast by telephone. Sounds like Odeo.

What is the "social glue" that binds a community together?

This is the topic of our class discussion for the next 2 weeks. We're thinking about both online and offline communities and what makes them good experiences. As I think about communites that I have been a part of, I appreciate the memories of when I felt like I was valued by that community. I like to feel useful and valuable. This seems like a basic life need, and I think Maslow's Need Hierarchy mentions it. I also appreciate the feeling of being "connected"...being part of an interconnected web. In other words, knowing that there are people who know me well and whom I know well. I like the feeling of being in a group of people who share similar life-interests and life-goals. It seems like humor and having fun are another important part of community, as are sharing meals, and sharing life's joys and sorrows. Some of these things can be done online, others are not yet possible online. The point for me is that online communities extend the possibilities for people with similar interests to come together. I liked how this week's article pointed out that the net is just another tool like the jet plane, phone, printing press, or writing; and as such, extends the reach and possibility for community. So what are the things that bind us together into a community (either online or in person)? What is this "social glue"? What do you think? Leave a comment!

Mojopac portable usb application device

Mojopac is a piece of software (30 day free trial) that turns a USB device into a virtual hard drive. You can install applications on it. Then when you connect your USB device to some other computer, you can run those applications (and have all your documents, settings, etc). Kind of cool idea. I'm testing it now.