Implementation - reflection

Involvement with intended users:
During the implementation phase I did not spend much time with the members of the women's group, asking them to try things out and give feedback. While I fully intended to ask for review and feedback during the evaluation phase, I feel this should have been an ongoing thing.
Feedback would have helped make decisions on how to present the information effectively.

Personal learning:
I found this project very effective for personal learning in the following ways:

• Having a purpose meant that I had to learn things better and more carefully consider shortcomings and consequences. I want people to nefit from what I've done so I made extra effort to be accurate and provide content that is easy to understand.
• Very effective. Creating something for others to learn from enabled me to learn very quickly.
• Use of different intelligences was a good way of maintaining enthusiasm. I also wanted a variety of ways to present information that was at a personal level.
  

Implementation issues - social, environmental, aesthethical

Consolidating the non-technical issues encountered and means taken to address them.

1. Accounts incl. passwords....
   
2. Computing and web 2.0 concepts for inexperienced users...
3. Copyright....
4. Personal security....
5. Data security....
   

Implementation - technical issues

Consolidating the technical issues encountered with the project implementation here:

1. The Quicktime add-on needs to be installed on browsers to play movies. This is not always easy or allowed, depending on restrictions or access. This is an advantage of embedding YouTube or TeacherTube videos but:
2. YouTube and TeacherTube are not playable in certain locations - for example my current place of work does not play YouTube. There are some YouTube videos included in the wiki
   
3. Trying to achieve a balance between quality and file size with screencast videos. They need to be watchable but if they are big they take a long time to upload to the wiki and to load when displaying the page. The quality of some of the screencasts is not as good as I would like and should be redone when time allows. For future reference, I found the YouTube HD option offered by iShowU HD to be a good balance between quality and size. Using the Stomp compression tool applying the Web 800x600 settings reduced the size to be more manageable.
4. Scanned images also can be quite large depending on the scanner software settings. I needed to be careful to reduce he image quality to around 40% - still good enough but also meaning a manageable file size.
   

Implementation issues - 'mygong' Diigo tag

An intention of the original design was to promote the use of a tag 'mygong' for tagging bookmarks in Diigo that were seen as relevant to the wider community.
I will not promote this for 2 reasons:
- It is a vague concept and users will not see the benefit of doing this so I can't expect that anyone will carry this out
- The concept is not 'portable'. I was envisaging that adding this tag to content would allow it to be accessed by people in the local community i.e. the Wollongong area. However, this only applies to one community and if people from other areas are making use of the mygong site then this is not applicable.

Implementation - issues

The quality of the screencasts is not as good as I'd like. I will keep playing around with the tool settings (iShowU HD) and the compression program (Stomp) to see if I can tweak things. However, the ones I have made already will have to stay so I can keep to schedule.

Also, I have been saving as Quicktime .mov files and uploading them to the wiki. This requires the Quicktime plug-in in the browser to play them. I tried mp4 but the quality wasn't as good.

Still working on this...

Design - feedback

I have received feedback from my project supervisor. I will respond to several of the comments below:

4. Page 6, Design Overview – could have included an explanation or definition of what Web 2.0 is, however, you have created an excellent mind map to provide an overview of your thoughts. It is very interesting that you are using technology for the project but have drawn this on paper, however, I am guessing that you used software to create the
diagram. A great mind map, nevertheless. It shows the reader exactly what you have in mind.

I used a number of techniques to produce the design diagrams and pictures and will also do the same for the implementation. I believe that just because the technology is available, you can use other methods to represent your thoughts and ideas. This picture was hand-drawn then scanned and uploaded. This blog shows more examples of this approach. I enjoy putting pencil to paper and I think it gives a more human feel to the pictures.
I know there are many people who find typing tedious, but who are artistic and can represent themselves through writing, drawing or photography. This doesn't need to be a barrier to them for documenting in digital form - e.g. blogging.
The picture in 3.1.b is a combination of cropping the individual tool icons from the scanned picture and moving them around in a drawing tool (I used Microsoft Visio for this one) and using the tool to put in the arrows.


5. Page 7, Web 2.0 Tool Selection – it would have been good to give an explanation of what the tools where and why you needed them. Some of these you have done well, others
need more information. You have explained well how you would use them, but not really well on why you would use the tool. An example is the social bookmarking section
(page 8). You have stated that it is widely used, groups can be created, that members can share links, but not what it is actually used for.

Agreed. And this is fundamental and I shouldn't have overlooked it. I will address this in the implementation in the explanations for each tool.

8. Pages 15 and 16 your diagrams refer to Web Site, Wikispaces in the centre of the drawings. A wiki is a collection of web pages, but not your website. The website of Wikispaces belongs to the people who own the site, you are “renting” out a space (pages) on their site. This needs a different name than website. Maybe you could use the heading “Wiki” and you are using “Wikispaces” to create the wiki.

Agreed. I don't think I considered the definition accurately. However, on reflection, I think the intended audience would relate to the term 'website' rather than 'wiki'. Alternatively, it may be better to define things correctly up front. I will consider this for the implementation.

9. Page 17, Bookmarking page – it would have been appropriate to include an explanation of how you would create a screencast to demonstrate the basic options.
10. Page 18, Blog page – you state that the video you have is not totally relevant to how the blog will be used in the group situation. This requires further explanation. Why not or so what. You might state that you will create the blog video.
11. Page 19, Documents page – you go straight into the contents, but don’t give any information like you have with other subsections.

Agreed


12. Page 21, Task breakdown – you will take 8 hours on the bookmarking page – this seems a lot

It is significantly more than the other sections. However, I want to take extra care to explain the Diigo tool well as it is very powerful, but has so many features it could be overwhelming for some users. Also, the wording of my explanations about bookmarking needs to be accurate and informative (something lacking from the design as you mentioned above).


13. Your wiki site is coming along. If you truly want this wiki to be used by your group, you need to have more information on the front page. Firstly, you would need a welcome message, an explanation of what the wiki is to be used for and some information for your users on how to use the wiki and all the tools that you are embedding in (on the wiki pages).

Agreed. I have moved the introductory video on to the home page which attempts to explain what the site is about.

bookmarks (weekly)

• » The Podcast: Worth Keeping Bud the Teacher

  Very interesting and useful view on the use and risks of using free online tools in schools. Main points are that how do we know that what students do and keep online will be retained? Need to have an option to get the stuff out of the tool and keep it in a safe place.
  The comments also open the way to further investigate this - particularly from Karl Fisch.

  Tags: budhunt, podcast, opensource, tools, education

Posted from Diigo. The rest of mygong group favorite links are here.

Implementation - issues - digital history and 'free' tools

2 issues have shown themselves since submitting the design.

1. A podcast by Bud Hunt: "Worth Keeping", brought up things to consider when using online tools and storing data online. How do we know what we store online will always be there? Do we need to back things up in a secure location of our own?
Some of my 'notes' about this:



2. I have found that Picasa is free - up to a point. It offers 1Gb of online storage for free. This could be used fairly quickly if using it as the main storage for photos. Note that this also includes photos in your blog because these are stored under your Picasa account too.
Cost of upgrades start from US$20. Flickr also has limits for the free accounts - which I think are more restrictive for a regular user - 100Mb upload limit/month.

These need to be highlighted in the My Gong implementation as potential concerns.

Design - pedagogical and educational appropriateness

I added a section to the design document to explicitly address outcome 2 "pedagogical and educational appropriateness".
I wasn't sure how to address this. I decided to describe the project from the teacher's point of view. To make this easier I made the assumption that it is a project for the IPT preliminary course and listed the outcomes that would be targeted. Then the activities a student (or students) would need to do were related to the outcomes.
Some suggestions for class activities that support the project development were listed.

Design - suitability for student project

I will need to add a section discussing the suitability of this project for a student project. i have been listening to a couple of interesting podcasts recently:
http://novemberlearning.com/professor-angela-mcfarlane-blc07-keynote
http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=363

Both of these discuss how the benefits of online group collaboration are realised when the group actually has a reason to collaborate - i.e. 'has a common problem or interest'. Requiring students to form and participate in an online community group will not usually be successful if the only interest is to be in the group. The online group should be a tool or platform to help the group address a problem or achieve a goal.

For this reason, this type of project should be aimed at groups of people - such as community groups - that already have a common goal or interest and will be assisted and supported by this platform.

Design issues - after picture

Here is the new 'after' picture

Design issues - after picture

I need to simplify this. some feedback suggested that it had too many words - especially as it is supposed to represent a simpler - less confusing scenario.

Update to follow....

Design issues - text vs. visual, screencast tool

Initial feedback has indicated that too much text will be difficult for some users. I intend to rely more on drawings, pictures and videos to get information across.
The screencasting tool I was intending to use - Jing (free), however it is too limited for my intentions. Only records video in swf format - so is difficult (virtually impossible) to edit or include in other videos.
I have come across iShowU. It costs (around $A50) however, it has more extensive features and records in Quicktime format so I can import and edit in iMovie.

Detailed design progress

Good progress on design format and content. A summary is:
- introduction (done)
- approach (includes software to be used, features of the web pages, issues, the process)
- explanation of the Web 2.0 tools to be included
- Specific detail of the My Gong wiki pages:
- Home page
- introduction to the My Gong platform
- Menu page - links to page for explanations on each Web 2.0 tool
- page(s) for each tool

Before and After pictures

Before and after pictures of how stuff is shared amongst a group. The aim of the My Gong platform is to show how a group can set up a space where everyone can contribute and access the stuff a group creates and shares.

Design issue - complexity

Women who are 'piloting' this framework for me have explained how exposure to the new tools can be confusing. For example, someone looking at a wikispaces page selected the Notify Me tab thinking it may send an email to the author - whereas this is meant for notifications to the current user of updates to the page.

Some initial thoughts here:
- demonstrate the basic features only of the tool that will get the job done - "all you need to know about this is..."
- explain how things work clearly to avoid confusion

Design issue - accounts and sharing

Each tool to be included involves user accounts. Also, the way each tool does its sharing varies.

wikispaces - Each user requires wikispaces account. Access to update the space is granted to each user.

diigo - Each user requires a diigo account. Group members can invite others to join the group.

blog - Each user requires a blogger account. Each user can be added as an author.

calendar - Create a Google calendar account. Add calendar users to the group calendar.

docs - Create a Google docs account. Documents have to be shared by inviting others via email. A way to share folders would be useful here.

picasa - create a picasa web account. Photo albums have to be shared by inviting others via email.

This summary indicates that the concept of groups needs to be developed more with web tools. Particularly with Google tools, a user group will be useful so thing can be shared ona group rather than individual basis. Thi has been raised in a number of online forums.

Design decision - tools

The Web 2.0 tools that will comprise the framework. Most have been selected for several reasons:
- I have experience in them
- widely used
- fairly easy to use


Wiki space - wikispaces - A free wiki engine with an easy wysiwyg interface

Social bookmarking - Diigo - A powerful social bookmarking tool. Group feature. Good easy-to-use browser add-on. Can be a lot of information on the Diigo pages so I'll need to specify clear instructions on the use of the tool. Also, explanations of selected features only.

Blog - blogger - This is an easy to use blogging tool. Also be part of the Google set of tools so it will help keep things a bit more consistent. Shared access.

Calendar - Google calendar - Able to set up group calendar. Also has email/SMS notification features for reminders.

Documents - Google docs - Easy to use, although lacking features of Microsoft Word which may make it confusing for people use to these. Shared access.

Photo management - Picasa - Another Google tool - so should be good for consistency. There is a lot of features so there is a bit of learning involved. It is installed on the computer and synchronises albums onto the web. Web albums can be shared.

bookmarks (weekly)

• Online image editor pixlr free - fix photos direct in your browser

  Tags: pixlr, editing, photos, image, editor, mygong

• Writers do the Happy Dance | Kevin's Meandering Mind

  funny - but shows what kids can do - it doesn't have to be professional

  Tags: video, writing, teaching

Posted from Diigo. The rest of mygong group favorite links are here.

What this is about

This blog was created as part of a project for an ICT in education university subject. Here is the proposal.

Project Proposal

Discussion

Giving purpose and relevance to student learning is seen as important for intrinsic motivation. This can be created by working on projects that benefit others, not only in the class or school environment but in the wider community.

This proposed project will involve the development of a framework for groups in the community to set up an online environment to share their knowledge, creations and learning.

The starting point will be a wiki. This will be a place to access videos and instructions on how to set up a group wiki, social bookmarking groups, ways to upload and share photos, keep a blog for the group and share documents online. Many resources of this type exist on the web already and will be re-used if appropriate. New screencasts, videos and instructions will be created where they are required as part of this project.

The social bookmarking component of this framework will be the key component for sharing knowledge within the group and community. Each group will have their own social bookmarking group but will be able to also share to the 'wider community' group that will be created as part of this project.

Examples:

1. A women's group is working on healthy cooking recipes. Jill finds a good recipe on the internet for apple crumble and adds it to the group as a bookmark. Mavis sees that this has been added but knows of a variation that will make it healthier so adds her own note to the bookmark - 'use wholemeal rather than plain flour'.

2. A photography group goes on a historical field trip taking photos and documenting them of the local area. They create a web album in Picasa and make it publically viewable. They have added a bookmark into their social bookmarking group pointing to the web album. Also, they see that other people in the community can benefit or would be interested in what they have done so they aso add the bookmark to the 'wider community' bookmarking group.

3. A class project at a local high school involves creating a group within this framework and then finding and evaluating online tools that can be useful for others and sharing to the group. They create screencasts or slideshows with instructions on how to use the tools they evaluate. These are added to the wiki the group has created and shared via their bookmarking group. Many will be useful for others and are also shared to the community group.

4. A class project is to offer a service to the community. They decide they will provide a service that converts cassette tapes to CDs and video tapes to DVDs. They create the group wiki where they put the information on the service they are offering and how to go about contacting them etc. They also add the instructions on the conversion process as a video/screencast. They share the bookmark to their wiki in the community bookmarking group.

This platform will have the potential to be an ongoing and growing entity and can be used and re-used in schools. Students can incorporate content created from school projects and contribute to the knowledge during research. There is also opportunity to consider many aspects of the modern internet by looking at the platform and how it can be utilised, such as: social and ethical issues (copyright, privacy, collaboration), knowledge handling (bookmarks, tags), different ways of representing knowledge (i.e. not just text)

Scope

1. Create a wiki space to contain the instructions for community groups to set up an on-line collaboration environment. These instructions will be for the following tools:

• creation and use of a group wiki space
• creation and use of a social bookmarking group
• creation and use of a group blog
• creation and use of a group calendar
• creation and use of Picasa accounts for photo sharing
• creating and sharing Google Docs
  

The instructions may incorporate existing web resources, such as videos and screencasts where they are available. Otherwise they will be created as part of this project as necessary. Potential issues with use of these tools will be included (e.g. copyright, privacy).

2. Create a social bookmarking group as a wider community group. Include bookmarks to the resources created in the wiki space.
3. Create and maintain a blog. The blog will document the development of the framework as a journal and will also be intended to continue to be used to record updates to the framework and the wider community group of knowledge.

Constraints

While Web 2.0 tools are often very powerful and contain numerous features, this project will focus on base features that allow new group members to easily involve themselves without being daunted by a complex environment.

Assumptions

Internet access is required.
For student involvement the school's internet does not restrict access to the required tools and web sites.

Time Frame

This is a single semester project. The schedule is as follows:
Detailed Design phase - completed by 3/4/09.
Implementation phase - 8/5/09
Post-implementation/evaluation phase - 5/6/09.

bookmarks (weekly)

• Zoho Expands Group Collaboration | Zoli's Blog

  this explains very well one of the shortfalls of the google tools I believe

  Tags: zoho, group, collaboration, web2.0, tools

Posted from Diigo. The rest of mygong group favorite links are here.

sunrise over Wollongong

This was sunrise over Wollongong this morning.