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.