http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/03/facebooking-f

Kathy Fischer discusses the way that the University of Connecticut Women’s Center has used a Facebook community. Fischer comments that as Facebook allows students to explore their identity, so it fitted well with the ethos of the centre. The ability of users to set levels of privacy was seen as useful, though Fischer realised the fact that they had set up the requirement to use a University Address to join would exclude graduates who no longer had a local email address. Fischer, however suggests “Students who had graduated three or more years ago typically did not use Facebook and rarely expressed any interest in joining.” I’m not sure that I’d agree with that - at least, not in the UK. I’m finding more and more of my contemporaries (graduating rather more than 3 years ago) have Facebook accounts. (Though my students were a bit surprised that I seem to know quite a lot about it!)

Fischer goes on to discuss the ways in which group identity can be developed - using the various tools (applications) in Facebook. From what I’ve seen, that is important. Several groups that I have seen would seem to be just a “badge gathering” exercise, they don’t seem to be very active. She comments:

Unlike many other social networking sites, Facebook began as a tool for users located in centralized physical locations, specifically college campuses. As a result, Facebook users’ online profiles tend to closely parallel their offline identities

This is something I’ve not really considered; yet, it’s the way I’m using Facebook. Most of the friends I have listed are either those I have met in real life, or they are those that I already have a working relationship with online. I’ve generally ignored the seemingly random approaches.

One of the main things that makes me think again when it comes to Facebook is the closed approach that it takes. It’s easy to get information in, much harder to get it out. While it’s not quite a “black hole”, it is heading in that direction at times.

I’ve seen that “black hole” in the applications, (as well as information in general). I’d signed up for one SecondLife to Facebook link - Jane found another. Equally, I’ve got one Bookshelf application and Ken Newman has another. Should I have both & enter books to both to allow others to see what I’m reading. Or just stick to the one that I chose?

After I’d drafted this, I thought I’d go and re-investigate the difficulty I’d had joining Durham University as a graduate. I’ve just remembered that I have a “dunelm.org.uk” email address, that was created when I joined the alumnae website - it seems that’s one of the acceptable email addresses for joining the Durham Community. (The slightly confusing thing is that the first time I found the Durham community, I had to decide if I was student, alumnae or whatever. This time it just let me join. Oh well).

Refs: Fischer, K (2007). Facebooking Feminism. On Campus with Women, Vol 36 (Issue 2). Retrieved November 3rd, 2007 from http://www.aacu.org/ocww/volume36_2/feature.cfm?section=1

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/03/facebook-envy

Yet another journalist (Nicholas Coleridge, from the Telegraph), looks at Facebook , and, in particular, aspects of friendship. He comments “We have turned into a nation of social-stamp collectors.”

At the start of his facebook ventures, Coleridge was adding all offers of friendship - though not actually asking anyone to be a friend. Which more or less my view, unless I actually know someone for real; or it has come up in conversation for some reason.

I’ve not got any current students listed as friends, though I know that many of them have accounts.

I’ve now started to get one or two non-work related friends / relatives, but I think that I’ll still maintain a “professional” view on it; so not go down the emphasising what I’m doing socially.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/03/150-years-of-

The Guardian and the Observer have just launched a DigitalArchive At present, they have the Guardian from 1821, the Observer from 1900 - both to 1975. Eventually they’ll have the Observer back to 1791, and both up to 2003. Rather than the current online editions - this is a full archive, adverts and all.

The archive was created by scanning archived copies  and using a technology developed by Olive Software in Israel called componentisation”, which uses mathematical algorithms to work out where one article stops and the next ends. Other systems typically use (bored) people.

While the current Guardian Unlimited (back to 1999) is free - they’re charging for access to the archive. Which, given that most news archives  charge for access to web sites, it’s really very good.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/03/fiction-meets

ToxicShark is a blog that’s been mentioned several times on the BBC’s Casualty; it’s a blog which is somewhat less than complementary about members of the staff of Holby’s A & E. (The rest of the hospital hasn’t as yet, come under criticism).

I leave you to decide which is “fiction” and which “real”!

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/03/how-many-soci

… can a person keep up with.

To support the work I have been doing, over the years, (and, yes it is years) I have created accounts on assorted Social Network sites. I’m now realising the error of not keeping the original confirmation emails. I can’t remember when I first signed up to Facebook, but I can remember, that it was very soon after it had been opened out to users outside North America. There was virtually no-one else on it from Portsmouth. I just wish I’d got some evidence that I was “one of the first”. My account, was, I admit, more or less dormant until the last 6 months, but I had it!

I have pretty dormant accounts on LiveJournal, MySpace, MSN Spaces, etc.  Those on Ning see some action, with rather more on Eduspaces (through choice) and Facebook (through peer pressure!)

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/03/opensocial-go

OpenSocial - Google Code has finally been launched.

There are many websites implementing OpenSocial, including Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING.

I’ve not yet had a chance to have an explore. At the moment, they have links to Orkut, (the Social network that Google have owned for some time now) - to create an application. I’ve got two accounts at Orkut. One seems to be  associated with my Gmail address, the other is one I created quite a long time ago. Both seem to be active, and both equally unused.

Orkut has become very popular with Brazilians, as the demographics show! (which is, I think, why I never really got any further with using it)

However, OpenSocial is much more than just Orkut - there are some sample apps already. I’ve also got accounts with quite a few of the supported sites (Ning, LinkedIn). Facebook is clearly notable by its absence. I wonder if Elgg will appear in the list in the future.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/04/mistaken-iden

I’ve just approved a “trackback” (a post that was posted on someone else’s site referring to one of my posts. Curiously, he (or she) thinks I’m called “Longscorner”. But, it’s not just me that has the wrong identity. All the posts (which seem to be culled from RSS feeds) seem to have the wrong original poster identified. All link back to the original post via the “Read more” link.

I wonder where he’s getting the feeds from, in order to have so many (well, all those I checked) attributed to the wrong person.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/04/googles-opens

I’ve already mentioned OpenSocial - which has clearly been attracting a lot of interest. Erik Schonfeld comments on TechCrunch, that no consumers have yet changed their social networking usage. Yet.

He goes on to quote Andreesen (from Ning) saying that this will simply make application developers’ lives easier - as they’ll essentially have to develop applications twice. Once for Facebook, and once for OpenSocial - rather than the many times that they currently have to.

Refs: Andreesen, M Open Social: a new universe of social applications all over the web Retrieved Nov 4, 2007 from http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/10/open-social-a-n.html
Schonfeld, E Facebook, your move Retrieved Nov 4, 2007 from http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/01/facebook-your-move

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/05/panoramio-pho

Panoramio - Photos of the World Nice Google maps based application (one of many!) which tags photos to locations.

I’ve also had Imagini bookmarked for a while. The idea behind that is that you can select photos that represent your personality - and find other members based on that. They call it “Visual DNA”

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/05/well-if-theyr

Andy Guess writes in Inside Higher Ed about various ideas that cropped up at the Educause conference - considering tools that students are using, and how/ if those should be incorporated into institutional offering.
One example he quoted was Northwestern’s decision to use gmail for their email system. The advantages were that the students were getting a Northwestern.edu email address - but the system was gmail - which many are familiar with; and allows the integration of other email accounts the students undoubtely have. It also gave them access to online (shareable) calendars (previously a staff only offering).
He also considered how systems such as Facebook might, or might not, be used educationally. I’ve seen this debate in several places now; and one point that gets raised is “Do Students want it” - even if it could be built. One suggestion that did seem sensible was to create an application to enable new students to find flatmates.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/05/its-the-all-n

The Edublogs are back! This year there are 19 categories - 18 of which you can nominate & then vote for.

The presentation this year is going to be in SecondLife - and they’ve got a Virtual World category.

There is also a link in the post to the Digizen Awards - about Cyberbullying.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/06/blogs-tablet-

I’ve had this bookmarked for a while now, Ma222 Statistical Analysis - it’s a blog (now a little static) in which the lecturer has used a tablet PC, captured what’s going on and uploaded it to Blip TV to demonstrate aspects of stats.

Nice and simple - and in several ways quite similar to Alan Cann’s videos for Biologists.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/06/the-web-is-ag

Paul Downey has uploaded an image “The Web is Agreement” to Flickr. It’s a very rich image, and well worth spending some time looking at. He’s created a set of images, and has also created a very clear .pdf (A2) that can be downloaded.

In the comments, others have referred to Tim Berners-Lee’s diagram, and I was reminded of the Map of the Internet that did the rounds last year.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/06/the-dynamics-

This is another post I’ve had in my “drafts” for quite a while. I had actually skim read it this afternoon, as the title that was picked up was just the website name … so “How to save the world”.

In this particular post, Dave Pollard looks at the whole range of dynamics of social networking. I’ve just had a group of students discussing the role of blogs in learning - we’ve considered several aspects - that of community development, of knowledge sharing, and of personal growth; and how they may, or may not overlap.

One point that one student made was in relation to the purpose of the blog, and whether it was inclusive or exclusive. He was, I think, very much echoing the point that Pollard makes when he cites Snowden:

Dave argues that informal, self-selected, self-organized networks tend to be more effective than formal networks, for various reasons such as greater trust and less hierarchy.

He goes on to list a number of points, in particular

some constraints on the formation and membership to prevent it becoming uselessly elitist, hopelessly conflicted, an echo chamber, or unwieldy (Dave says the ‘natural limit’ of a network is 15)

I think that I’d agree with him - once you start to get too many people, it stops really being a socially oriented community, it starts to become a knowledge sharing community. While individuals may join for what they can get from the community, the ability to support others becomes much more difficult as the community grows.

It could also be that around 15 is a good size to start to limit discussion groups in online classes etc., to ensure that students can really get to know one another.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/06/how-to-grow-a

Konrad Golgowski has developed some very nice sheets to help his students “Grow a blog”. I’ve just been pointing my students to his Personal progress chart and self assessment chart - and decided to have a look at the Teaching and Learning set - which lead me to the Grow a blog. Simple, but so effective!

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/07/freefolio-a-s

Graham Attwell has just launched a portfolio based on WordPress. That makes it easy to fill up - and it makes use of the structured blogging plugin to create some specialised posts.

I can see that some of the post types - such as “Learning Event” would be very useful, though I could see that “Learning Event” and “Training/ course” might well be confused by students. I’m guessing that “Learning Event” could include, for example, an event that wasn’t meant to be a learning opportunity, but ended up being one (e.g. getting the job of organising a departmental social event), or could have been something like, say, reading a book which was very thought provoking etc.

I suspect, though, that students may need help to see those as learning events.

I would also be nice, I think, to have the MCE input option on the structured items, but I think that’s a plugin issue, not Graham’s!

The integrated CVs could be useful.

He also seems to have built in some useful privacy features - which in some ways are better than Elgg’s as you can include several different users, without having to create new groups when required. (It might be useful, though, to have “Public” as a generic, pre-ticked option, so that people realise if they don’t pick anyone else, it’s public by default. But that might not be as easy to do as it seems!)

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/07/100-laptop-be

They’re starting to make them. I’ve read quite a few reports, such as CNET’s that goes on to comment on other low cost laptops. What really interests me, though, is the interface and the fairly radical approach to learning that the OLPC brings. It’s not really the hardware (interesting though that is), it’s the software and the collaborative approach to education.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/08/facebook-dele

I’ve just tried to delete some messages in my inbox (I’ve found in the past, that I can’t mark as read, I was having to *actually* read them)

I’ve now discovered that it’s in Firefox that I can’t delete. IE was quite happy to let me delete. Is this just my set up, or is Facebook not 100% compatible with Firefox?

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/09/intute-blog/

Intute have launched a blog. It’s very much of the “news” rather than personal opinion, however, one worth following, I suspect, as the Intute materials are generally useful.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/10/20-ways-to-ag

Stan Schroder, on Mashable, looks at aggregation of Social Networks. He quotes Kottke discussing different social networks:

since all of them require different credentials to log in, they’re just adding to the noise

20 different tools are listed, most, though not all, are websites. Not that many seem to include Facebook in their set of supported Networks (though I am only basing this on the information Schroder supplies). I’ve used Ex.plode.us (an Elgg based tool) - which is one of those that doesn’t work with Facebook. Profilefly is a Facebook application (I think you can use the Website as well)- so that will bring in information - but I’m not sure how well it works getting information from Facebook.

I’m also not sure with any of these (other than Ex.plode.us) if you have to have an account at all of the sites that they integrate, or if, in the same way that Meebo allows your AIM account to communicate with your friends MSN account, you only need to have one account, and just know your friends identities in other systems.

Ex.plode.us does seem to do that, albeit only over a limited number of networks.

Via Stephen Downes

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/10/the-ed-techie

Martin Weller raises several points to support the use of a combination of Web 2.0 type tools, rather than an Institutional VLE. While I think that the points he raises are valuable, and that the combination of tools would make a good set (call it a PLE or not as you like!). I agree  with many of the comments, however, that it’s just not going to happen in the next few years. He’s also posted a follow up post, answering several of the points that people raise.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/14/journal-of-co

Vol 13 Issue 1 is just out. It includes several articles on Social Networking. There are several that have interesting looking titles, such as one looking at IM and disruption in the workplace, email flaming, what (if any) differences there are between users and non-users of Social Networking sites, aspects of privacy - and several others.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/18/audio-bits-an

EveryZing - attempts to analyse the audio in online audio and video to enable searching (Technical details are outlined in SpeechTechMag). I’ve just tried searching “News” for “Peter Tobin” - who has cropped up a lot in the UK news in the past few days. I didn’t get any hits, though when I extended this to “All sources” I got several YouTube videos (including several from UK based news agencies). I guess that it’s predominantly the North American (US?) news channels that it searches. Blinkx gave me quite a few more hits.
I’ve been using Talkr for a while now, to create audio podcasts of my blog posting. From Scott’s blog, I discovered xFruits, which he’s using to create a pdf of his rss feed. I’ve just managed to do the same, though it took some time, as I wasn’t sure which RSS feed it wanted -and it seemed to be quite fussy (the atom one satisfied it) xFruits have a range of services, including an audio generating one. After quite a few false starts, I’ve managed to create one, and after a while I’ve discovered how I think that I can listen to it. As far as I can tell, I have to go to VocalFruits - and sign in. The voice is better than the talkr one, the drawback - probably related to the quality of the voice, is the fact that I can only have 100 free listens. I’ve used up a few already testing it. If I want to use it more, I have to pay €35 a month (for up to 1,000 listens). Guess I’ll stick with Talkr! (The .pdf creation would appear to be free).

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/18/popular-news-

I’ve been wandering around Facebook - trying to see what I can see on the two networks that I’m part of. I’m registered with Uni. Portsmouth (thanks to working here), and Durham - as an alumni. I’m not entirely sure how the Durham network works, as I’ve got one friend who is also there - he’s listed as Faculty (though he was actually a classmate when I was there - which is how he located me). I’ve just realised, though, the reason that I’ve not got him listed when I go to the Durham network, is that I’ve not made him a friend. He’d only sent me a message, I’d not actually made him a friend!

What struck me, though, looking at the list of popular news items on both sites, was the similarity in interests between Portsmouth and Durham students.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/18/blogging-pare

Clay Burrell (his name is really quite hidden on the site - luckily his commenters knew who he was), has shared a letter he uses to send home with his students for blogging. They’re 17, so, in theory “mature”, but clearly still under 18. While it clearly isn’t appropriate in its current form, the sort of things the parents have to agree to (publishing of first names vs full names, publishing of photos etc), are the sort of things that probably anyone creating a blog should want to think about.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/18/social-bookma

I’ve just noticed that all the articles on the BBC now allow you to create Social bookmarking links. They have 5 to choose from -del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Facebook and Stumbleupon.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/19/audio-and-onl

Cathy Moore has created a (partially) narrated presentation highlighting some of the points that Kulhmann has made in regard to the use of Audio enhanced presentations for online learners.

They both make valuable points; I know that I am definitely someone who reads ahead of the presenter. I think there are infact two things that we have to consider.

1. Effective use of presentational tools when there is a face to face audience.


2. Effective use of presentational tools when the audience is at a distance.

There are some overlaps - the points that both raise about the fact that most audience members read ahead, while the presenter is discussing particular points. So, Kulhmann’s example of the way cells work for mobile phones is good. That’s something that it’s quite hard to get over in text - an animation makes it much easier to understand. I know that I’m guilty of poor powerpoint usage. I often use the bullet points - and then expand on them. Finding relevant images / animations isn’t easy. There is also the thought that students want to have the notes [aka key points] of the lecture for reference/ to catch up etc. (Indeed, I have just requested a set of slides for a lecture that I missed). Should the Powerpoint slides really serve as a summary of the lecture, or should they be something else - to trigger the imagination - to get students to start to create ideas or whatever.

The point, however, that both raise about the fact that most people read faster than they can listen doesn’t apply in the same way in a face to face setting. You can’t fast forward the lecturer though you can, in most cases, press the “pause” button to request further clarification - something that isn’t as easy in an online (asynchronous) lecture.

Online students have slightly different needs. They can’t use the “pause” feature of a live lecture - but they also have (assuming it’s given to them) the option to fast forward. Both Moore and Kulhmann point out the difficulties of not allowing that option.

Equally, as several of their commenters have noted, there are accessibility requirements that mean that just audio with out the transcript isn’t appropriate (nor, for that matter, should text without audio be appropriate. Not everyone finds reading easy).

I’m not sure that I know what the answer is, I do know, however, that they have given some really good examples of using audio effectively, and it’s something that I need to really look at.

Via: Stephen Downes

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/20/should-i-star

I can very much agree with the first part of Marshall Kilpatrick’s review of the World’s Most Popular Twitter Clients. “I thought it sounded stupid.” He’s now changed his mind, and has reviewed a range of different twitter clients. I’ve yet to be convinced, as it’s just another thing to have to do. Perhaps part of the reason that it doesn’t appeal is that I see texting as a purely functional thing. I rarely text someone just to say “hi”. Twitter has the same limited character constraints. (And I cn’t txt spk)

I’ve now discovered that Educause have one of their 7 things you should know about Twitter; I’m  beginning to think that I should reconsider, and at least start to find out what it does, even if I don’t get converted.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/21/mind-mapping/

Web 2.0 mind mapping tools came up at a meeting today (following a discussion on Portableapps - including the fact that you can install Freemind to a USB stick - as long as it’s got JRE on).

Someone mentioned MindMeister, which I’ve used before. I knew I’d had a play with something else, though wasn’t sure what. Googling found not only what I was looking for, Mindomo, but another tool that looks very promising. Judging by the review I found by Steve Castledine - and the home page, I think that it’s worth investigating further, much as I don’t really “get” mindmapping.

Kayuda have a mindmapping tool that appears to be a front end to a wiki.  I’ve only had a small play so far, and it seems to like IE better than Firefox.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/23/usage-over-ti

A very useful diagram, that I can’t actually track down the original creator of this, as Wisdump seems to have gone off line.

It demonstrates nicely some of the features that were discussed in the recent Poke 1.0 Symposium. Facebook is at the meteroic growth rise - how much is viral spread and how much the profile it has in the press, I’m not quite sure; no doubt a bit of both.

There’s also a very similar one specifically for twitter - also at the meteoric growth stage. (”Cogdogblog” attributed the design to Kathy Sierra.)

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/23/just-one-id/

OpenID crops up quite often in the blogosphere. While I can see the point to a certain degree, there are also issues of merging upmteen accounts into one. Stephen Downes is a strong advocate, though I can see the points that Langhoff raises in the comments regarding security (particularly after the news of the loss of two crucial discs in the UK, and issues surrounding data in Facebook BBC and The Independent). Now, it seems that the idea of a Universal avatar is being worked on by IBM and Linden Labs.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/23/class-assignm

Martha Groom of the University of Washington Bothell, has had her students do major edits / create new articles on Wikipedia as part of an assignment.

For her students, the Wikipedia experiment was “transformative,” and students’ writing online proved better than the average undergrad research paper.

Knowing their work was headed for the Web, not just one harried professor’s eyes, helped students reach higher — as did the standards set by the volunteer “Wikipedians” who police entries for accuracy and neutral tone, Groom said.

The “neutral tone” did cause a few difficulties for some students, as in academia it’s expected that at some point one view point or another will be taken.

Most of the articles were well received, but Groom said some students caught heat from Wikipedia editors for doing exactly what college students are trained to do: write an argumentative, critical essay.

That does, however, give a really good learning point into different types of writing.

Via Vicki Davis’ del.icio.us feed.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/23/the-new-web-l

The New Web Literacy Notes from a presentation by Dave Millard at Southampton. I was invited to this (and to the others they’ve had this term, but I teach on Wednesdays & can’t get from Portsmouth to Southampton in 5 minutes!)

He raises some useful points about using Web based tools - both the traditional monolithic VLE and the more flexible PLE. I tend, whenever I can, to favour the more flexible (after all, as a student, no-one told me that I had to keep notes in a hardback A5 notebook or whatever. I chose to keep them in the way that suited me best).  Obviously, a totally open type of PLE can lead to difficulties for some students. Not all are comfortable with all tools; not all like to use them all.

We have a VLE at Portsmouth - and part of my role as faculty eLearning co-ordinator is to get staff to use it. However, I don’t see it as a be all and end all. There are other, supporting tools available. It doesn’t mean going to Facebook - but it may well involve looking at the skills students develop through using Facebook etc. (often without realising they are IT skills), and how those skills can be used to support learning individually / as a group. It will, however, be interesting to see how tools like Newport’s Facebook application, and the one that Cambridge are developing are taken up by students. My feeling is that it won’t be a particularly large number, but it will be some, and those few may well use it enthusiastically. Thus, as long as it’s not taking too much developer time, probably worth maintaining. But not enforcing.

Something like Elgg - which I like a lot I’d see as a starting point - for many students it may well also be an end point. Others, however, will want to add to it, using a range of sites - possibly ending up with no elements of Elgg.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/25/online-office

Over the last year or so, I’ve been experimenting with a number of online office tools. I tend to use Google Docs the most, not that I particularly think that it’s the best, more that others I know use it, and they want to share things. It’s also just introduced a search feature, which could be useful; as I’m getting an increasing number of docs in there.

This morning’s BBC Click mentioned BuzzWord - so I’ve checked that out. I like what I’ve seen so far. It’s Flash based, (others often seem to be ajax based). One initial drawback is that it’s US based, so @ and ” swap places, the £ gives a # … and so on. Other than that, it seems to be quite flexible; it’s got a good clear commenting feature - much more like Word’s than I’ve seen in other tools. It allows saving in .doc, .rtf and Word 2003 XML, though not Word 2007 specific formats, and will allow the import of files in those formats. Sharing seems to be fairly straight forward, though I’ve not yet tried it for real. The reviewer mentioned that it didn’t seem to be possible to cut and paste from other documents. It’s rather odd. This morning, I was able to cut and paste from a web page; this afternoon, it won’t let me cut and paste either from a word doc, or a web page. It’s a shame, because I think that it’s got a lot of power otherwise. However, it is still in beta, and one I think worth keeping abreast of. (And it looks cool!)

I’m quite a fan of Zoho; which I’ve found to have an impressive range of file types. (Word Processing, Spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, wiki, project planning etc. ) Some of my students have complained that it can be quite slow, though I’ve not found that when I’ve been using it.

Others I’ve played with in the past include ThinkFree, (though both this time, and the last time I have tried to use it, it’s let me login, but then gives me a permission denied error if I try to do see “My Office”) and AjaxWrite. I’ve vague memories of some others, but can’t remember what they were called. That, I suspect, indicates that they weren’t that good, or at least, they didn’t do anything that others I was playing with at the time, didn’t do.

Related, but not quite the same, I’ve recently been reminded of Scribd - as a way of sharing documents - much as slideshare does, but rather more formats and ways of viewing.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/26/facebook-term

Facebook have just altered some of their terms of use. I’m not sure what’s changed, and I’ve not read them all. I’ve just skim read the first couple of sections:

Membership in the Service is void where prohibited. This Site is intended solely for users who are thirteen (13) years of age or older, and users of the Site under 18 who are currently in high school or college. Any registration by, use of or access to the Site by anyone under 13, or by anyone who is under 18 and not in high school or college, is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By using the Service or the Site, you represent and warrant that you are 13 or older and in high school or college, or else that you are 18 or older, and that you agree to and to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

So, what happens if, at 13 you were in school, so eligible to join, then left school at 16. Do you have to leave Facebook for two years?

I’m also wondering how forbidding people from:

• upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;

Fits with the current level of complaints about the fact that purchases on external sites can be displayed to one’s friends. Does someone have the right (or not) to keep secret things they’ve bought? Granted, it is possible to not notify friends, but it’s not particularly easy.

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/28/asterpix-inte

Having just worked out how to get my “Freeview” player going in Second Life, I’m now wondering if I can include a video from Asterpix. Even if I can’t, I can see uses for this particular tool.

Via Vicki Davis:

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/28/evaluating-e-

Graham Attwell has posted a report he wrote covering the evaluation of eLearning. It was a project that ran from 2002 - 2005. (It’s worth keeping those dates in mind when looking at the comments on

Stephen Downes’ site).

I’ve not read it totally yet, though from what I’ve seen so far, it’s probably more aimed at evaluating an eLearning course, rather than a bit of eLearning to be used to support a face to face course (e.g. the sort of software my students are designing). I’m also quite keen to see how the ideas fit into, say SecondLife, or a highly discursive type course (rather than one that has lots of Flash/ video / etc based resources).

http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~duke-wie/blog/2007/11/28/theres-no-mon

Alex Iskold (Readwrite web) looks at people in the “Long tail”, primarily from a financial point of view. He makes several useful points; that those that join the blogosphere (much the same as Second Life, or any real life community) often have to work much harder to gain the same respect/ money/ whatever, than those who were there at the outset.

There are some useful comments - some have commented that not everyone starts to blog purely to make money. Quite possibly it’s the minority. Others have commented that minority interests (e.g Educational Bloggers) have a much smaller community base. So though they’re still in the “long tail”, it’s not nearly such a mammoth beast.