EdTechTrek

Just thought I would play around a little with live blogging and live video feed all-in-one. Coveritlive now allows this feature of embedding a live video feed from uStream, Mogulus, Qik (from  your phone) video or video from YouTube (that feature already existed… didn’t know) right into your live blog. Below is a screenshot of my tinkering around… was a little slugging, but I was not connected to the best of networks when trying it out.

What it facilitates is a single window in which one can view live video and participate in the conversation with whoever is conducting the live blog. Of course, uStream itself has a live commenting feature if enabled, so I am not sure what the advantage would be here yet, but if you have any thoughts, let me know. On first pass, it does enable the live blogger to be in charge of what is blogged and who’s comments get posted. That can be a great advantage, as I find many times while trying to participate in commenting within uStream that there is a great deal of “noise” and distracting, disjunct conversation. Coveritlive has a number of great producer and panelist features to help manage discussions going on.

Here is another review of these features.

I have finally made the move from Wordpress.com to Edublogs… A few technichal issues, but then James, handling Edublogs support has been great! I think I am finally up and running.I have been dragging my feet for some time now because things have been so busy. And truthfully, I thought it would be a real hassle. But, except for one technical issue involved with a corrupt blog post in my exported blog archive, it wasn’t that bad at all. So, for those of you thinking about migrating to another blog service, here are the steps. There may be specifics for individual blog services that you may need to investigate.

1. Delete all of your spam prior to step 2 to decrease file size
2. Export your blog as an XML file (in dashboard, >Manage >Export)
3. Import that XML file into your new blog space
4. Customize
5. If you want to import your blogroll from your old blog, you can do that, too. Check on the particulars with your old blog service, but Edublogs makes this very easy under the “Blogroll” tab in your dashboard.
6. If you have problems, do check the FAQs page and the Forums page of the blog service. You are most likely not the first person to have problems and can learn from others.
7. As a last resort, email James here at Edublogs… he rescued me!

Good Luck!

I had forgotten about this little gem until I found it again in my inbox as I was doing some housekeeping. Edublogs has

created a new blog and user creator to facilitate the creation of blogs for others. All you need to do is fill out the details to easily create multiple users and blogs and even add yourself as admin to them if you woud like. This process makes it very easy to add blogs for your students or perhaps your colleagues. And, for students, it has the feature of being a co-administrator in their blog if that is something that would be desirable.

The tool allows you to create 15 new blogs/users at one time and couldn’t be easier.

Know anyone like this?

Okay, I understand the basic premise of the pencil argument (and here). But, come on now… this is far from an equal analogy! Here is what Doug Johnson had to say about the potential risks that pencils bring into the classroom in the February 2006 issue of Learning & Leading with Technology. It was referenced in Wesley Freyer’s latest post over on his Moving at the Speed of Creativity blog.:

1. A student might use a pencil to poke out the eye of another student.
2. A student might write a dirty word or, worse yet, a threatening note to another student, with a pencil.
3. One student might have a mechanical pencil, making those with wooden ones feel bad.
4. The pencil might get stolen.
5. Pencils break and need repairing all the time.
6. Kids who have pencils might doodle instead of working on their assignments or listening to the teacher.

Now, again, I understand the rationale behind this argument, but let’s compare:

1. Only psychopathic students would gouge out another’s eye… with anything. However, teachers have been known to be violent pencil wielders. Imagine what they could be capable of with an iPod in their hands!

2. A written insult or profanity is seen only by the one who holds the written note. We all fully understand the far-reaching implications of digital bullying!

3. One simply cannot compare pencil-envy with things of high value that create classes of students and do create envy (high-fashion clothing, shoes, and yes… electronics!)

4. In fact, pencils do get stolen all the time. I have rarely seen a student fall to pieces over it. However, if it were a $250 pencil, I could see why that could happen.

5. Pencils break. So you sharpen them again. The “repair” is done in seconds. Electronics break and are repaired with greater cost, time, and learning interruption/disruption.

6. I would much rather have a student doodle with his or her pencil than be consumed with the vast array of on-line distraction. And, most other classmates don’t usually get distracted by one student’s doodling. Not so with a laptop or other electronic device.

So, if we are to present a compelling rationale for issues surrounding freedom to learn and teaching/learning innovation, we at least need to bring valid and sound arguments to the table. To do otherwise only serves to make light of real and pressing concerns of many stakeholders. If a pencil is the equivalent of any other learning device, then I say, let’s stick with the pencils. They are cheaper, easily replaceable, quite reliable, disposable, efficient, highly portable, facilitate collaboration and sharing of information, they have excellent battery life – heck, they don’t even have lead in them anymore, making them environmentally friendly to boot!

But, if there is a significant difference here (and I would agree that there is), then we had better not be making such silly comparisons. Folks might just want to settle for the pencil, then.

Note:
Freyer’s blog post is otherwise right on the mark.