Why I like Twitter

Two months ago I joined Twitter. My first post was inane--Something like: I'm trying to learn

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how to use Twitter. I've learned a lot since then. What have I learned and why do I like Twitter?

1. Pass it forward:

I like Twitter because it gives me a super easy way to share resources and ideas. I subscribe to many blogs with Google Reader and come across great ideas and writing all the time. I also follow suggested links in other people's tweets and this leads me to great resources. For example, recently I came across Kathy Cassidy (@kathycassidy on Twitter), a grade one teacher from Moose Jaw. Since she gave her website address as part of her Twitter profile (I like it when people do this), I went to her website. (http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=1337,%20http://primarypreoccupation.wordpress.com/) This amazing Grade One teacher is having her students blog. Last week on Twitter, she asked for people available to talk to her class on Skype about what they learned in Grade One. She has posted one of those talks on her website. Last year her students recorded their reading using Vocarro. Then other people could comment (parents, aunts, grandpas, etc.) about the reading.

So you get the picture. I come across great resources all the time via Twitter and Google Reader. What is the simplest way to share those resources? It is via Twitter. If someone is on Twitter, I can simply put @ in front of their user name and post the link with a short description of the resource. I admit it is easiest if that person is following me because I could even send the resource via a direct message. I am hoping that most people on Twitter are like me and that they check their Twitter mentions using Search with @ and their user name. Thus if (like Margaret Atwood) you are receiving lots of messages from those people you don't follow, you can still receive those messages.)

Yesterday at church, I spoke with a friend who teaches kindergarten. I told her that I've been coming across lots of kindergarten resources. I asked her to please sign up for Twitter so I have an easy way to pass those resources forward to her. I'm hoping she will do it. (Hi, K. J.)

2. Building a network

I like the people I have found and that I follow on Twitter. They introduce a different world of ideas and link to other people.

Recently during my morning walk, it started raining. I noticed that the raindrops, falling in a puddle, sent little circles outwards from the point of impact. Sometimes the little circles m

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et and overlapped. Sometimes they did not. I think it is like this with building networks in the digital world. There are so many networks happening as each person discovers those people with similar interests to themselves. Since each of us is unique, each of our networks will be unique.

This morning I came across someone new to blogging who is also on Twitter. His name is Ken Wilson (blog site: http://kenwilsonelt.wordpress.com/ and Twitter: @kenwilsonlondon). He is big in English as a Second Language or Foreign Language circles. I had never heard of him before. When I started reading his blog posts, I was intrigued because I used to teach English as a Second Language when I lived in Hong Kong. So I decided to add Ken to my network of people I listen to on Google Reader and on Twitter.

I'm sure that if someone was interested in crocheting, Nascar racing, and geocaching, they could build a network with nodes which would represent each of these disparate interests.

I am trying to build a network of Twitter people (T-buds) from Saskatoon. With Saskatoon people, I am less demanding regarding who I will follow. Many Saskatoon people tweet about their plans for the evening and not about ideas. They don't often pass along resources. However, I believe there is power in establishing a local network (as Mack Male has done in Edmonton) and so I continue to work on finding and following people who live in Saskatoon.

I am also working on building a network of those who are into social media and using it with students (blogs, Twitter, Animoto, VoiceThread, podcasts, wikis, etc.). I also like to follow people with great ideas who inspire me (danah boyd, Seth Godin, Zen Habits).

One suggestion for you if you want to build your networks on Twitter: Find someone that you really admire and then click on the list of who they are following to find others who are influencing the person you are following. Read the tweets of those people and then you could follow them.

3. Searching on Twitter

I like Twitter for the search capacity it offers. I started to realize the power of search and the use of hashtags (when people establish a common way of referring to an idea or place in Twitter e.g. #yxe for Edmonton) during the Open Education Conference in Vancouver earlier in August (#opened09). Since all sessions in this conference were available in live-streaming video, people from around the world were virtual attendees of this conference. As I searched Twitter using the hashtag #opened09, I could see what others around the world (and even those present in the room with the speaker) were saying about the presentation. It was an amazing experience. I realized later that I was a "vicarious attendee" of the conference because I experienced so much of it through the tweets of those who were attending in a face to face manner.

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I regularly search for tweets with "Saskatoon" in them in order to find people living here. Some of the searches that I use often, I have saved so that I can easily do them repeatedly.

Conclusion

The above are just three of the reasons why I like Twitter. I like to share resources, build a network, and search for ideas and conferences.

One thing I need to figure out though is how to use Tweetdeck or some kind of tweet aggregator. So far, I have been following Twitter by simply reading back through all the tweets that were posted since I last logged on to the computer. This has been fine while I have ha

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d a little more time this summer. However, my busy fall schedule is kicking in. I don't want to miss important conversations and resources that are shared on Twitter.

I want to teach other people in my world how to use Twitter. I will be talking with those in the school board office, at my local school, at the university, and at the public library about teaching some classes on Twitter. However, I need to master the use of a tweet aggregator before I can teach others.

If any of my readers have other suggestions for ways to use Twitter or why they like Twitter, please comment below.

My Blog Posts: The Marginalia of my Life

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I wrote my first blog post on June 28, 2009. To date, I have created 56 blog posts. I realize that my blog posts are my version of the notes in the margins of what I have read or observed about the life going on around me. Because of this class, and the multitude of Web 2.0 tools I have learned to use, I have done a lot of reading online. My blog posts have been my way of distilling the essence of what I have read about each tool. Recently I have heard from two friends who have read my entire output of blog posts. In both cases, they have learned more about Web 2.0 tools and how to use them.

The fact of the matter is that this Web 2.0 class will be over in about 8 days. I plan to continue to write in this blog. However, my writing may be less about Web 2.0 tools and more about my thoughts and observations about life. How can I retain those readers I have gathered during this six week period as a blogger? How can I continue to develop my voice as a writer? Will people continue to hear the trees falling in the forest? (Early on this was my concern: that no one would read my blog except my classmates who were required to read it for class credi

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t in participation marks. I am surprised and amazed that, according to my Cluster Map, people from as far away as Australia, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom, have discovered my blog and have returned to read more. Who are you people and what did I do to entice you to read my blog posts? Was it my ranting and raving posts that attracted you or do you just want to learn about Web 2.0 tools? Could you let me know please? Click on comments and tell me how you found me.)

In the past week, I was on holidays and doing a lot of driving across Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. For one day, I created no new blog posts. However, people had checked in with my blog to see if I had anything new. I felt sad that I had provided nothing new that day. I am beginning to see that I have a responsibility to my readers. I know from my daughter's observations that she prefers my short blog posts. During this class, I have had no choice but to go on and on in my major blog post assignments for this class. I needed to fulfill certain requirements for the content of those blog posts. However, I personally prefer to write shorter blog posts. So I will be doing that in the future.

I will continue to read other people's blog posts. I subscribe to 31 blogs on my Google Reader feed. Each day Google Reader aggregates these blog posts so that I can skim and scan my way through them. I am also discovering great resources through the people I am following on Twitter. Often they provide great links to blog posts or news items of interest. Just as an example, this morning on Google Reader there was a post from Mashable about whether a person eats breakfast first or checks the internet first in the morning. (See link. This post has 360 comments already.) Then I came across another story about how the morning rush, which most families experience in trying to get out the door each day, is now further complicated by the injection of technology's demands. (See link.) What marginalia will I write alongside these two articles? I have already posted a tweet on Twitter about the tyranny of the urgent. How important is it for us to be tethered to the online world? Is my relationship with my sons, daughter, or husband better or worse because of that tether? Where does that connection come on my priority list compared to going for coffee in real time with friends who live in the same city as me? It may feel urgent to check my Twitter account or check my email. Yet how important is it in the grand scheme of things in my life.

How will I model those priorities which are best with my family and with my students? What about "continuous partial attention" which allows people such as Mack Male and danah boyd to always be doing back channel work (like searches for additional information while listening to a speaker)? If high school students are texting during class, how does this affect their concentration or focus? Does the younger generation have a different way of giving attention that works for them?

The above gives you some examples of the reading I will be doing and the writings I will do in the margins of that reading. I will also seek to bring various aspects of my life together so that there is a web of connections and new understandings as I gaze at life from various vantage points. For example, as I have learned about Web 2.0 tools, I have contemplated using many of these tools for the Caswell Homes project (see podcast blog post and wiki blog post). In this project, my grade 5 class from a four years ago, collected information about 25 older homes of the Caswell Hill's neighbourhood in Saskatoon. With the new Web 2.0 tools, this information could now be made available to a wider audience. In this way, I am attempting to take what I already now and combine it in new and inviting ways with new understandings of digital communication tools.

I prefer an organic way of creating a blog post. I just sit down and start typing. This likely leads to rambling and disjointed blog posts at times. I want to continue the organic touch while channeling the energy into productive pathways. I discovered that the Problogger website has many great ideas that will help me in this task. Darren Rowse discusses how to find your blogging mojo (30 July 2009). He

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suggests mixing it up by trying out different voices and styles in your blog posts. If you generally write in the first person, try the third person voice. If you are usually serious, try to be more humorous. If you always write in paragraph form, try a bulleted list format. He has additional suggestions at 20 Types of Blog Posts. I will be checking out these suggestions as I continue to develop and learn as a blogger.

Guest blogger, Ali Hale, provides encouragement for novice bloggers in the blog post, Every blogger starts from zero (Hale, 2009). She reminds us that even the great bloggers of today started with no followers and possibly without knowing their own voice very well. Ali suggests that you allow your blogging voice to develop over time. Sooner or later you need to turn the focus from "me" to "you, the reader of my blog". This is where comments from readers will be important in learning to know what your readers are looking for when they come to your blog. This post by Ali struck a cord with Problogger followers. Many people commented that it was exactly the encouragement they needed to jump in and start writing. One reader, se7en commented, "The thing that really got me loving blogging was when I realized that you can post without perfection… If you have an incomplete idea - say so - write what you think and fill in the gaps in a later post… If you haven’t finished with a topic then just write part 2, part 3,… to be continued… Obviously edit and read over before hitting “post” - but not every post has to be pure shining excellence. You just cannot sustain endless excellent posts… but as your material increases so your base of key posts, that get searched and read again and again, will grow amongst all the rest." I know that each of the students in this Web 2.0 class have experienced this search for perfection. Yet as we have jumped into the blogosphere, we are learning to discover our voice. Hopefully we will hone our craft if we continue to blog.

Seth Godin is one of the bloggers on my Google Reader list. I came across a short video in which he talks about the importance of blogging.

Seth speaks about the importance of blogging as a micro-publishing platform. He believes that it doesn't really matter if anyone reads your blog posts. What matters is the meta-cognition (or thinking about your thinking) that takes place within you. Blogging allows you to become part of the larger conversation that is taking place on the internet. Seth also says that if you continue to blog, you will become better at it and you will find an audience.

I believe that as I continue to write my blog, I will become better at blogging and I will find an audience. I would like to build a relationship with that audience. I found this guest blog post by Leo Babauta, of Zen Habits fame, titled 7 Steps to Building a Genuine Relationship with Your Readers. Here are Leo's suggestions:

"1. A genuine relationship starts with you — you have to take responsibility for it. You can’t expect your readers to automatically be encouraging, supportive, kind, positive, loyal, helpful, and generous … just because you’re the awesome person you are. So start with a positive mindset, and be willing to work on the relationship, be open to what emerges.

2. Make your posts as helpful and useful as you can. Your posts shouldn’t just be about you, and how great you are (as true as that may be), but about your readers and their problems, and how you can help them solve them. Really try to help your readers in som

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e way in every post. They will appreciate it.

3. Be helpful and positive in all interactions. In every comment you respond to, in every email with a reader, in every interaction on forums and Twitter and other social networks, you should try to be positive, try to be helpful, and try to build your relationship in some way. It’s the same when you build a friendship or working relationship with a co-worker, isn’t it? Being online doesn’t change how relationships are built — if you are always critical, defensive, offensive, attacking, sarcastic … well, that’s the kind of relationship you’ll have. If you’re just trying to sell stuff to people all the time, it won’t be a genuine relationship.

4. Encourage discussion in comments. You aren’t the only person who has good ideas or knowledge, so ask your readers to contribute their thoughts, to share their experiences, to add tips of their own. I like to do that at the end of a post, but even if I don’t, readers understand that I want this stuff by now. When readers give comments, thank them, respond to their questions and thoughts, interact. Sometimes, it’s good to get discussions going by

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asking reader questions in an “Ask the Readers” post — just pose a question and ask them to respond in the comments.

5. Accept criticism with grace. Bloggers have to have a thick skin (diagram of skin), because inevitably we will be criticized. It’s the nature of the Internet, or any discussion of ideas actually — there is always criticism, and sometimes it’s harsh. And it can hurt. You get angry, or defensive, and when you respond to criticism in this way it’s not a good thing: 1) you look immature and defensive; 2) it discourages an open and frank discussion; and 3) you harm your relationship with your readers. Instead, thank your readers for their criticism, respond positively, and sometimes, acknowledge that they may be right. Because a lot of the time, they are, but our egos are too wounded for us to admit it to ourselves. Read more: How to accept criticism with grace and appreciation.

6. Build relationships in other channels. Having discussions in blog comments is great, but there are other ways to build relationships — through email, on Twitter, on Facebook, in forums (maybe even your own forums). While I can’t possibly respond to all the email I get now, I certainly did when my blog first started out, even when I had 10K subscribers — I tried to answer every question or thank them for every kind email. I miss that level of personal interaction, but I still try to connect with readers on Twitter and in comments. It’s a great way to take the relationship to another level.

7. Give back on other blogs. Many times, readers and commenters on your site will be fellow bloggers — which is actually how blogs emerged when they went beyond a log of interesting web links: they became a way to have a larger discussion on the web, as bloggers linked to each other and commented on each other’s posts. And so as other bloggers comment on and link to your posts, do the same for them. Go to their blogs, comment on their posts, link to them now and then if it’ll be useful to your readers. Write guest posts for them and invite them to do the same. Share their posts on Twitter if you like them. Building relationships with other bloggers is a great way to become immersed in the wonderful community of bloggers, and to build a relationship with some of your most active readers." (Babauta, 2009)

Check out another great blog post on inviting reader interactions. In this post, Darren Rowse suggests that as readers comment on a blog post, it creates an energy, a buzz, and a

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sense of community investment in ideas that attracts others to that blog. For this reason, I hope that as I continue to blog, I can attract those readers who will be willing to comment. Even if they disagree with my ideas, that will start a conversation and a discussion.

Darren also suggests that in order to invite other readers to comment on our blog posts, we also need to comment on other people's blogs. In this way we show that we are willing to take time to read carefully and respond thoughtfully to continue the conversations about learning and technology.

Scott Williams suggests that your Twitter account and your blog site can be used in tandem to help your voice be heard. (Link.) I follow both Scott's blog and his tweets. He uses micro-blogging to support and feed visitors to his blog. I could learn from his example.

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As I think about students and blogging, I realize that students could also use blogs to keep track of their learning. Students also need to learn to find their voice and their audience in blogging. One person who commented on a Problogger post was Stef who bills herself as a 12 year old gadget blogger (Check her out at http://www.laptopmemo.com/). Many of our students will know more about certain aspects of technology than we know ourselves. My daughter knows how to text on her cellphone. Maybe it would be helpful for her to write a guest blog post about how to do this for my readers. (By the way, inviting guest bloggers to write a blog post for you, seems to be a popular trend these days.) Our students could write blogs on various topics of interest to their peers. Maybe grade two students could blog about Webkinz or websites that they have found. As well, as our students develop their own Google Reader lists,

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we could encourage them to become part of the ongoing conversations by adding comments to the posts that they enjoy the most.

I will continue to work on finding my voice and carefully listening to hear others respond to my thinking. As I read other people's blogs, I will try to grow bolder in adding my comments to the threads of conversation that take place after those blog posts. My own blog posts and my comments on the posts of others will be like my notes in the margins of my reading and reflecting on life and learning. Even if no one else finds value in these jottings, I will have a record of my thinking over time. It will become my online journal.

References:

Babauta, L. (2 August 2009). 7 steps to building a genuine relationship with your readers. At Problogger. Online at http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/08/02/7-steps-to-building-a-genuine-relationship-with-your-readers/

Hale, A. (3 August 2009). Every blogger starts from zero--you could be on the A-list next year. On Problogger. Online at http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/08/03/every-blogger-starts-from-zero-%E2%80%93-you-could-be-on-the-a-list-next-year/

Rowse, D. (30 July 2009). How to find your blogging mojo - Experiment with different voices and styles of writing. In Problogger. Online at http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/07/30/how-to-find-your-blogging-mojo-experiment-with-different-voices-and-styles-of-writing/

When are they going to write something new?

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A few years ago I discovered a couple of interesting blogs that I enjoyed reading. I saved them as favourites on my computer. At least once each week, I would return to those blogs to see whether there were any new posts on the blogs. Usually I was disappointed but occasionally I was rewarded with a new post.

Recently I discovered that there is a web tool that will search my favourite blogs and will collect all of the newest posts in one location. It is called a blog aggregator or collector. The one I have chosen to use is called Google Reader. Please watch this video for an introduction to this tool.


When I signed up for Google Reader, I needed a Google account (I used my email account) and a password. I put all of my classmates' blogs into my Google Reader account. (Just copied and pasted each address into the Add subscription bar.) Our professor for this class had suggested that we find five other blogs to follow and collect them with a RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feed. I found two librarian blogs (one by Joyce Valenza and one by Amy Bowllan), Will Richardson's blog, CogDogBlog, and Tutvid's blog. In each case, I went to the main blog page and copied the address into the Add Subscription box.

As I have read these five blog posts as well as my classmates' blog posts, I have discovered other blogs to subscribe to. Currently I have 30 blogs on my Google Reader list. I read each of my classmates' blog posts twice a week and make comments on their posts as well. I try to read all of the other 23 blog posts once each week. However, now that I am trying to keep up with Twitter as well, I sometimes fall behind in reading all of the recent blog posts. However, I feel fortunate to not be in Jude's position. He has 558 subscriptions on Google Reader. He would like to trim it to 400. He says, in a comment on Weblogged, "Sometimes I think I was designed for an infor

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mation overload. If I feel overloaded, I just mark them all read and start over again another day." (Richardson, 12 Jan 2009)

I have not yet tried the idea shown in the video above--searching for a topic in the Add Subscription box. At the moment, I prefer to follow people rather than topics or ideas. Maybe later on, as I refine my pursuit of information, I may begin to search for ideas as well as for people.

Some of the additional blogs that I have added since the first 14 required for this class, came because of following comment threads on others' blog posts (especially Will Richardson's comment threads). I am also picking up on other influential thinkers by following Tim O'Reilly's recommendations on Twitter. This is how I came across danah boyd.

Earlier this week, when Twitter was down and I realized that they had been under attack, I looked to one of the blogs I follow (TechCrunch) for information. TechCrunch is obviously written by a number of people since they post at least 6 times each day. On Thursday, I put Google Reader on List view and read the titles on the TechCrunch posts. I found one about Twitter and got all the latest news and speculation about the reason why it was down for so long that day. As well, I got a lot of chuckles from following the comments beneath the post. (I posted an account earlier of this hilarity. (See http://rielliott.blogspot.com/2009/08/hilarious-comment-thread.html)

As I follow these blogs, I am beginning to get a sense of where to go for certain kinds of information. Seth Godin's blog posts usually look at life from a commercial point of view and yet have universal applications of truth. In Will Richardson's blog entries, he pulls together things he's been reading and thinking about. Then he shares his observations. I find his blog so valuable, not just for his thoughts shared so transparently and yet professionally, but for the people who converse with him about those thoughts. The comment threads are amazing.

What do I look for in a good blog to follow? I like someone who posts at least twice a week. I like someone who has lots of comments, especially if their posts are about ideas. Obviously, the blogger can't ensure that they will have lots of comments. One would need many readers in order to have many people to comment. As we all know so well, not everyone who reads a blog post, comments on it. (I comment on my classmates' blog posts but rarely on anyone else's.)

Just a few more random thoughts about my process of using Google Reader to help

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me keep up with my blog post reading. I already explained that I read my classmates' blog posts twice each week. In this class, we are required to post on two topics each week. Once I have completed my posts on a particular topic, I read each of my classmates' blog posts on that topic. On my blog, I have a blog roll in which my classmates' blogs appear. Whichever blogger has the most recent post, appears at the top of the list on my blog roll. Besides the name of the blog, the title of the most recent post appears as well. There is a time given for how long ago the post was created (4 hours ago, 2 days ago, etc.). This morning when I met with two classmates for breakfast in Edmonton (at the High Level Diner), one of my classmates told me that she often looks at my blog roll to keep track of our classmates' blog posts.

I begin with the first blog post on my list. Often there are two or three posts on the same topic. I read them all and comment on at least one post. I make notes as I read so that my comments are specific to that post. Once I have finished all of the new posts for that blog, I click on Google Reader. Then I click on that blog and choose "Mark all as read". I go back to my blog roll and click on the next blog on the list. Sometimes this process takes a couple of days since some of the blog posts are really long. (Mine are long, too.) By the way, if I have any readers from outside the class, you may enjoy reading my classmates' blogs as well. Just click on any of the titles in my blog roll on the right hand side of this blog post. Then you can learn more about the latest tool that we are studying in this three day period.

As I think about my use of Google Reader, it is made possible by the fact that I am a good reader. I can quickly skim and scan for the information I need and discard the information that is less relevant. I am willing to read more slowly and reread text that is important and yet more difficult to understand. There are

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different rates of reading for different purposes: in order to memorize--fewer than 100 words per minute (wpm); in order to learn--100-200 wpm; in order to understand--200-400 wpm; skimming for information--400-700 wpm. Skimming is very superficial and comprehension of meaning declines with skimming. The suggestion has been made that good readers know when to speed and when to slow. When new information is being presented, this is the time to read for learning. However, when information is repetitious, it's time to skim. (Link)

As we teach our students to use RSS feeds like Google Reader, we also need to teach them to use different reading rates for different purposes. We need to teach them to skim and scan and discard the unnecessary information. We need to teach them to slow down in order to learn and understand on a deeper level.

Here's an idea for junior high or high school students in their use of Google Reader. Each student would set up an account. They would select a topic that they are passionate about. Some possibilities could be homeless people, fashion, American Idol, chess, the Jonas brothers. The

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y would set up a feed for resources and new information to come into their Google Reader account each day. Every day they would make a few jot notes on the feeds that come in. Then they could report their findings to the class in some way. This would give each student the opportunity to gather information on a personally interesting topic but using a blog aggregator.

Unfortunately, many bloggers cease to publish new posts after a while. The blogs that I had on my favourites a few years ago, have all ceased to publish new material. Therefore I can't use my amazing new tool, Google Reader, to keep current with those bloggers' thoughts. Hope

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fully the people I am now following, will continue to publish regular blog posts so that I can keep on learning from their musings about the world we live in. Thank-you to all you bloggers out there. Keep up the good work!

References:

Richardson, W. (12 Jan 2009). De-Echoing My Reading Practice. . .Help Wanted. In Weblogg-ed. Online at http://weblogg-ed.com/2009/deechoing-my-reading-practice/

Bricolage? Meshup? Mashup?

A few years ago in Canada, we were given a new two dollar coin. At that time, we had a one dollar coin that had been circulating for a few years. Our one dollar coin had been dubbed the "loonie" because of an etching of a loon (a bird that often lives on northern lakes) on the coin. When the two dollar coin came out, no one knew what to call it. "When the coin was intro

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duced [in 1996] a number of nicknames were suggested. Some of the early ones included the bearie (analogous to the Loonie and its loon), the bearly, the deuce and the doubloonie (a play on "double Loonie" and the former Spanish doubloon coin)." (link) Eventually the popular word for the Canadian public was the toonie. This became so acceptable that the Canadian Royal Mint copyrighted the word "Toonie" in 2006.

There has also been discussion about what to call a web application hybrid. The popular term is mashup. However on the wikipedia site about mashups, within the discussion section, there is disagreement about what to call this new hybrid. One person suggests calling it a "mesh-up" because it is connections between applications rather than a blending or mashing of applications. Another individual suggests the term "bricolage" which is "a term used in several disciplines, among them the visual arts and literature, to refer to the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things which happen to be available, or a work created by such a process. The term is borrowed from the French word bricolage, from the verb bricoler – the core meaning in French being, "fiddle, tinker" and, by extension, "make creative and resourceful use of whatever materials are to hand (regardless of their original purpose)." (Bricolage) A person who uses bricolage is a bricoleur. (MacGyver would be considered a bricoleur as he always uses found objects (a stick of gum, some duct tape, some tin foil) to solve problems.) Mash-up or mashup is the name that has become most popular.

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http://www.prestonlee.com/archives/67

via CrunchBase

What is a mash-up? In March of 2007, Seth Godin, in his influential blog, said, "The mainstream media doesn't understand what a Mashup is. You should. It's not a 'lift' or a 'copy' or even a parody. A mashup is a distinct way of spreading ideas. When a DJ takes two records and melds and mixes them into something new, that's a mashup. When an Obama supporter takes a twenty year old commercial and splices it with some campaign footage, that's a mashup too. Online services can be mashups as well, like the Google search box on the bottom of this page. Expect to see tens of thousands more, on every conceivable topic."

Not everyone agrees with Seth's definition. On the Discussion part of the mashup wikipedia page, one editor suggests that "A mashup combines data from more than one source and integrates that data to create something new and unique. The merging of datasets provides unique events that we can act on, which gives the mashup its uniqueness. At its simplest form we define a mashup as being the intersection of this data combination and event generation process. However in practice the mashup will usually provide more features around the data and events. Typically we see a nice presentation of the information. We also see new processes and events being generated and run as a result of these events. I hope I have convinced you that a mashup has to have this generation of unique events that was not possible before the merging of the data or functionality." (link)

In my understanding of a mashup, it takes data from two applications and combines them to create something new. In my opinion, until recently, the mashup has been the purview of techno geeks and those who know code. With the advent of sites like VoiceThread and Animoto, an attempt is being made to give the common folk (like you and I) the option of bringing two sets of data together to create something new.

Before I discuss VoiceThread and Animoto, I would like to share with you some more information about mashups. There are many web mashups listed at http://www.webmashup.com/. These mashups are categorized. Many that I looked at were aimed at helping you find a restaurant. A lot of mashups seem to combine maps with some other application or data set. Even at the Flickr site, there is the option to locate the site for your photograph on a map. (This would actually be something that students could do after a field trip.) Twittervision provides a realtime display of Twitter posts on a map around the world. When I spent a few minutes watching, people were posting in Japanese, Spanish, English (the majority), and French. Here are some more examples of mashups with their links:

• A mash-up from China (no idea what it's about but check out the characters) - http://www.sina.com.cn/
• A mash-up about the Tides (Generates Saltwater Tide Charts, Weather Forecasts, Sunrise and Sunset times, Moonrise and Moon set times, and Moon Phase details for thousands of Tide Stations accross the US and South America. This could be useful in school for doing an ocean study.) - http://www.whattideisit.com/
• Mashlight - Build your mashup with blocks: e.g. Yellow pages block, Google map block, movie listing block for planning a night out (Not sure if this is a blog entry about NightPlan or the site for the mashup) - http://www.webofthings.com/2009/04/20/mashlight-mashup-framework/
• Wordpress geo-mashup maps - http://code.google.com/p/wordpress-geo-mashup/
• Campus Map ("The Campus Map is a mapping mashup developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to provide students, staff and visitors of the university a detailed overview of the campus and facilitate exploration and guidance. The mashup integrates data from several services and sources, e.g. a facility management system to provide information about buildings, rooms, equipment and occupancies. Furthermore, the mashup allows authenticated users to attach data (like descriptions, hints and pictures) to significant places of the campus and presents the data on a map." [link] This mashup would have an educational application for college or university campuses. It would also assist users to quickly see whether various classrooms and boardrooms are booked at a certain time. All users would have to be diligent in entering new data to keep the system up-to-date.) http://141.3.69.106/Seiten/default.aspx

Mashups are such a new entity that Will Richardson does not mention them in his textbook which was published this year. For this reason it was more difficult to do academic research with them. One example of a very recent mashup will illustrate my point about mashups being cutting edge technology. I believe that the educational implications will emerge as the technology becomes more accessible for the non-technical user.

On February 21, 2009, in Michal Migurski's blog he suggested a new mash-up. He wanted to be able to print off a map from OpenStreetMap, add his own markings to it to make it more local and specific. Then he wanted to have a way to scan or upload his pen or pencil markings to make them part of the online map system. This blog entry is fascinating because it reveals so much about this new entity of mashups and how they occur. One creative person has an idea about something which (in this case) will make life easier. That same creative person has enough technical expertise to describe in detail what this mashup would look like. Other people weigh in with their advice and technical tips (Read the comments on this blog entry.).

Here's what it says at the Open Street Map website. "OpenStreetMap is a free editable map of the whole world. It is made by people like you. OpenStreetMap allows you to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way from anywhere on Earth." (link) It was interesting to look at the User Diaries on this site. People were writing in using German, French, Spanish, and Japanese (I think) just in the past two days. This concept of a map which is a wiki is obviously striking a chord with people around the world.

On July 6, 2009, Steve C. wrote on the site blog about 3D Routing Through OpenStreetMap-3D. "Users now can plan a route online at OSM-3D.org and then interactively fly along the route presented in 3D. Currently the routing is available for cars (fastest/shortest) as well as for pedestrians or bicycles for all of Germany. It is also possible to create an animation that follows the 3D route automatically. The application is powered by an extended version of OpenRouteService.org and uses the free data from OpenStreetMap.org and the Open Location Services (OpenLS) specifications of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC)." Now that is one useful mashup!

This is what has happened in response to Michal Migurski's suggestion in February 2009. "Walking Papers is a website and a service designed to close [the] final loop by providing OpenStreetMap print maps that can be marked up with a pen, scanned back into the computer, and traced using OSM’s regular web-based editor, Potlatch. It’s designed for the casual mapper who doesn’t want to fill their pockets with gadgets to record what’s around them, the social mapper who might be out and about taking notes and comparing them with friends, and the opportunistic mapper who might make notes during a commute or a walk if they had a notebook-sized slip of paper to write on. Finally, it’s designed for the luddite mapper who would like to help the OpenStreetMap project but needs help from a distributed community to convert their handwritten annotations into OpenStreetMap’s tagged data and local conventions." (link)

Using Walking Paper, people can add the location of streetlights, washrooms, automatic tellers, stairs, and various stores and restaurants. I'm impressed with how quickly this mashup moved from the idea stage into reality. Take a look at this scanned map which was uploaded into Walking Paper. Note the red writing on the map.

Could this very recent mashup have educational implications? I think it could. When students go on a field trip, they could take along a printed map from OpenStreetMap. As they go, they could look for various things--stores, addresses, streetlights, mailboxes, etc. and mark them on their map (clipboards and pencils would come in handy). Later they could upload their information to add it to the map for their location.

(Just of interest, at this site, I came across something called a Whitelines notebook It has a light grey background with white lines on a grid. When scanned or photocopied, the lines disappear. http://www.whitelines.se/en/)

Besides the above examples of mashups, I have noticed that Mack Male uses mashups to put data together on his blog. He will take Edmonton Twitter use statistics for a month and combine that data with something like the weather to see the peaks and valleys of the use. Recently he wanted to use data from the Neighbourhood Crime Mapping Web site to mashup to create other ways of visualizing the data.

On my blog, I have a cluster map which combines a map with statistics about my visitors (which country they are from, how many in the past 24 hours). I think that this is an example of a mashup.

Now on to VoiceThread and Animoto. Both of these are mashups with easy user interfaces so that teachers and students can use them. In earlier blogs I have used the technology to produce a VoiceThread and an Animoto video. I see them both as embryonic (an early stage, undeveloped, rudimentary) uses of mashups. Much of the creative control is taken away from the user (especially in the case of Animoto) but both are a good way to start using mashups.

Weir (2008) says that "VoiceThreads might best be described as interactive media albums. They are essentially online slide shows of images, documents, or videos that enable viewers to comment on any slide (or at any point in the video) by typing, recording an audio or video comment, or drawing on the image itself."

One teacher asked students to voluntarily comment on VoiceThread photos that he posted online. He was amazed at the numbers who commented. One difficulty I had with VoiceThread was that when I tried to record another comment, it put that comment on the end of my first comment. People need to log in with different user names and pictures in order to have more boxes around the outside of the VoiceThread picture. Comments may be added via a microphone, the telephone (which costs money after the first three minutes), or by typing.

VoiceThreads would be excellent for talking about historical photographs. For many more ideas about the use of VoiceThreads in educational settings see Using VoiceThreads with Students and Ed VoiceThread. There is a VoiceThreads wiki for teachers. If you wish to introduce VoiceThread to your colleagues, there is a printable PDF tutorial on VoiceThread.

One educator is concerned that teachers may substitute online discussions of photographs for real life learning. Gary Stager (2009) says, "Don’t you dare tell me about your online field-trip to Belarus when your students no longer visit the firehouse. If your idea of project-based learning is students burping into Voicethread because that’s all they can accomplish in a 42-minute period, then you are not ready for the virtual world." Will Richardson used this term "burping in VoiceThread" in one of his blogs and referred back to this comment by Stager. I think it is like any one of these new technologies. We need to use them to keep our students connected and interactive with each other and with the real world outside our doors. I think Mack Male is a great example of someone who is so connected online but also eats at local restaurants, visits the fairs, is active in local politics, and seeks to make a difference in the world around him--just outside his front door.

There is a site with information about giving students some criteria for their VoiceThread comments. (When I read these ideas, it reminded of what I do when I am reading one of my classmate's blogs or discussions posts. I generally jot down ideas as they come to me so that I can make meaningful comments that connect me with that post or that person.) Here are the ideas:

1. Gather Facts: Jot down things that are interesting and new to you

2. Make Connections: Relate and compare things you are viewing and hearing to things that you already know.

3. Ask Questions: What about the comments and presentation is confusing to you? What don’t you understand? How will you find the answer? Remember that there will ALWAYS be questions in an active thinker’s mind!

4. Give Opinions: Make judgments about what you are viewing and hearing. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Like? Dislike? Do you support or oppose anything that you have heard or seen? Why? (Link) The site also suggests some sentence starters for students to use.

When I think about my Caswell Homes Project wiki, I could see (if it is possible to embed VoiceThread photos into this wiki) that it would be excellent to have visitors and contributors view some historic photographs and be able to comment immediately and interactively with that photograph. Others can hear and read their comments.

Lastly, I would like to briefly discuss Animoto. When I first visited the site, I watched their introductory video and viewed a sample Animoto video. Then I jumped right in. It was easy to create my video although uploading it took awhile. They gave me the option of going away and returning later. The written directions on the site had a very nice conversational tone. I added too many photos at first (they did warn me) so

Image via CrunchBase

had to keep returning to delete more photos. I was surprised that some of the music at the site was not free. I wanted to choose a classical piece but they all cost money. So I selected something with words.

I think students would love Animoto. There is an Animoto for Education site. It has sample videos created by teachers and classes. Some were powerpoint slides.

Since Animoto videos are very brief, I could see them being used more as a montage of images. Perhaps each week at the school assembly, a different class could show an Animoto which gives 15 images of the learning they did that week. I liked the samples of the Anti-bully Animoto. These Animotos look very professionally done and would work well for public relations. Perhaps each school could have an Animoto on the front page of the school website.

The downside of Animoto is that besides providing photos and a music selection, it removes students or teachers from the creative process. The Animoto site does suggest that one should have a theme or storyline when selecting the photographs. Perhaps that is where students could be more creative. I would like to explore the use of PowerPoint slides more with Animoto. Students could be as creative as they liked with the PowerPoint creation and then insert the pictures into Animoto.

This has been my whirlwind journey through the world of mashups. Many of the documents along the way were written in a foreign language (computer technological talk). I'm sure that in the next few years there will be many more applications of bricolage, meshups, and mashups as technological applications are combined to produce new and wondrous creations. We will be so thankful to the MacGyvers of this world for taking items and combining them in unique and unexpected ways to make technology delight us in new ways.

References:

Bricolage on wikipedia. Retreived on July 28, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bricolage

Godin, S. (2007). Definition: mashup. On Seth Godin's Blog. Online at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/03/definition_mash.html

Richardson, W. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcast, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

Stager, Gary (2009). Learning Adventures: Transforming real and virtual learning environments. At Stager-to-go. Online at http://stager.tv/blog/?cat=446

Weir, L. (April 16, 2008) VoiceThread extends the classroom with interactive multimedia albums At Edutopia. Online at http://www.edutopia.org/voicethread-interactive-multimedia-albums

What's a Voice thread anyway? Video at http://voicethread.com/share/409/

Stand on those pedals

Image by Velaia (ParisPeking) via Flickr

I just had to repost this blog post from Seth Godin's blog. It is so applicable to my Web 2.0 learning journey. I plan to appreciate the view a little more on those steep uphill climbs.

"Winning on the uphills

Interesting business lesson learned on a bicycle: it's very difficult to improve your performance on the downhills.

I used to dread the uphill parts of my ride. On a recumbent bike, they're particularly difficult. So I'd slog through, barely surviving, looking forward to the superspeedy downhill parts.

Unfortunately, I had a serious accident a few years ago (saving the life of a clueless pedestrian by throwing myself onto the pavement). Downhill might be fast, but it's crazy.

Lesson learned. Now, I look forward to the uphill parts, because that's where the work is, the fun is, the improvement is. On the uphills, I have a reasonable shot at a gain over last time. The downhills are already maxed out by the laws of physics and safety.

The best time to do great customer service is when a customer is upset. The moment you earn your keep as a public speaker is when the room isn't just right or the plane is late or the projector doesn't work or the audience is tired or distracted. The best time to engage with an employee is when everything falls apart, not when you're hitting every milestone. And everyone now knows that the best time to start a project is when the economy is lousy.

Most of your competition spend their days looking forward to those rare moments when everything goes right. Imagine how much leverage you have if you spend your time maximizing those common moments when it doesn't." (Godin, 2009)

Reference:

Godin, S. (2009). Seth Godin's Blog. Retrieved on July 21, 2009 from http://sethgodin.typepad.com