Stephen's Web

OLDaily

by Stephen Downes
April 23, 2010

Top Ten Reasons You Should Attend a Barcamp (especially edcamp PHILLY!)
OK, I don't do conference announcements (so don't ask) but this really describes the barcamp phenomenon. And since these are something different, it's worth a look just to see what they're like - they're free, they're local, there's no boat show, there's food, there's interesting people (like you), they're edgy, you can connect with people you know online, you determine your own schedule, you go where you want, and it's relaxed, informal learning at its best. Kevin Jarrett, Welcome to NCS-Tech!, April 23, 2010 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment] [Tweet]

Import from Ning: Import Ning users to Wordpress and BuddyPress
People stuck with now obsolete Ning accounts can use this plugin to import daty to WordPress. It "allows users to import the users of a Ning community into a WordPress installation. When BuddyPress is installed, the plugin also gives the option of importing additional profile data into BuddyPress profiles." No guarantees; I'm just passing along the link. More / update. Boone Gorges, Teleogistic, April 23, 2010 [Link] [Tags: none] [Comment] [Tweet]

Weekly Research Index | April 23, 2010
If you're getting tired of OLDaily and want weekly research without the attitude, I recommend Xplana. Seriously, I have enjoyed Rob Reynolds's reports for a long time. He's also got a Daily. I tend to lean more toward commentary, while Reynolds tends to quote more at length from the articles. Rob Reynolds, the xplanation, April 23, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Research] [Comment] [Tweet]

Board800 - web based Interactive Whiteboard
"Board800 is an interactive white board that can be used by multiple users at the same time." How do you go wrong with that? You can't! David Andrade writes, "It is very easy to use and you can save your session. Tools include shapes, free drawing, and text. Your session can be saved as an image for later retrieval, archiving, or to embed in a document or web site. This would be great for distance meetings, distance learning, tutoring, homework help, and much more. You can also purchase a server version to host yourself for a fee." David Andrade, Educational Technology Guy, April 23, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning] [Comment] [Tweet]

Teaching Presence in a Community of Inquiry
Speaking of presence (see below): "This week is the final part in a series exploring the Community of Inquiry Framework. Jennifer Maddrell leads us in an exploration of the practical dimensions of establishing teaching presence in online courses.... We address issues in the design and administration of the course, how to facilitate critical discourse with groups and among individuals." The more I think of it the more I like the concept of presence, and would like to articulate that one day - presence as the extension of identity through a virtual connection. But I imagine Terry Anderson has said most of what needs to be said on that. Robert Squires, EdTechTalk , April 23, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Traditional and Online Courses] [Comment] [Tweet]

Building Trust in Your Online Community
Everybody wants to build 'online community' when really all we need is to build online presence. The community isn't something we create - it's something that emerges naturally out of our connections with each other. Having said that, the advice in this post, intended for people building 'community' works well for someone building (more appropriately) presence: lead by example, get personal, be honest, accept that you're human, be knowledgeable and share, maintain consistency, let it go, don't give up. Clarence Fosher, Remote Access, April 23, 2010 [Link] [Tags: Online Learning Communities] [Comment] [Tweet]

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