http://21apples.org/articles/2006/07/07/riding-the-rails

I am on the 6:50am Amtrak train out of New York Penn Station on my way to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. If you have never rode a train in the United States (or elsewhere), I highly recommend it. I love traveling by train—spacious seats, power for my laptop, and great views of the countryside without the annoying traffic or potholes (hmmm, do the laptop and the countryside views conflict?).

I am going to be giving a workshop to the faculty of the soon-to-start Science Leadership Academy there. We will be discussing Moodle (open source course management software) and how it can be used effectively with students. The faculty there have been using Moodle as an online meeting place for the adults, an excellent start, and will be taking it to students when school opens.

After the workshop, we will be broadcasting the 21st Century Learning webcast at 1:00pm EST from the Franklin Institute with a group of teachers. We’re calling it a brown bag radio show, so please join us to hear from these fabulous teachers. Of course you can weigh into the conversation live in the chat room. Should be a lively discussion with teachers from a brand new school with a 1:1 laptop program, project-based learning all over the place, and a superstar principal, Chris Lehmann.

Technorati Tags: 21st Century Learning Webcast, Amtrak, blog, change, Chris Lehmann, Franklin Institute, Moodle, Philadelphia, Practical Theory, train, webcast, workshop, Worldbridges

http://21apples.org/articles/2006/07/11/thoughts-on-2-months-of-internet-radio-broadcasting

I have been doing an Internet radio show for the last 2 months. I thought I should take some time to reflect on what it has been like and where I think it could go. Alex Ragone from Learning Blog practically double-dog dared me to join him. He was a virtual intern at The Webcast Academy (you can be an intern too and get your own radio show). After learning how to run a webcast, he invited me to join him and after a moment’s hesitation, I jumped in.

I have been blogging regularly (@21apples and other places) for nearly a year and a half now, and feel like I have a good handle on how the Internet can be used for writing and interacting—the read/write web as it is called. While words on the screen can have great power, audio has blazed a new trail through the internet with podcasts. There is something entirely different about hearing someone speak than reading what they wrote. I have also been able to engage in live conversations (being that I do the show with Alex). Blogs are much more about you yourself writing, then people responding later – asychronous. Working with Alex has been a synchronous conversation, a completely different dynamic. We have also been able to bring others into the conversations, radio guests, to spin it in a whole new direction. While some of my blog posts attract comments (create conversations), others go by with not a peep. This cannot happen with the radio show since there is always at least two people there (and usually more). We also have the live chat room for the show, where listeners can weigh in, ask questions, talk to each other, etc. This has really pushed Alex and I to be ready to think and respond on the spot. A little more pressure than blogging, but exciting pressure.

When Alex and I first starting doing this show, we said it was so that we could figure out how our students could use live web radio. The last two months have mainly focused on things we have been interested in, but maybe that is just because it’s summer. The next step really is learning how our students as broadcasters could enhance their educational experience. Will it be live shows from athletic events, discussions with professionals in the fields, debates/conversations with distant schools, or the celebrity dish of the week? I don’t know. But, after participating in this amazing technology for the last couple months, I know I have to give it to them. I have found that students long to communicate, whether with me, their classmates and friends or with strangers. They idea of publishing their own voice would be a powerful one. In fact, our newspaper is already coming out with a podcast next year, they even appointed a podcast editor position. We have to deliver the tools with some guidance, but give them the room to take it farther. I certainly haven’t thought of all the ways webcasting can be used, and I am sure my students will be lined up with possibilities.

How do you think we can use this great, “free” tool?

Technorati Tags: Alex Ragone, arvind grover, blog, EdTechTalk, education, Learning Blog, live, podcast, 21apples, radio, schools, students, Worldbridges

very excited to be a part of a social networking type system built for educators. i am a "long time" (more than a year) blogger and have recently become a podcaster and am excited to meet and collaborate with other teachers out there. connecting our students across boundaries is such a simple but powerful way to use the web. looking forward to working with many of you soon.

I am intrigued by Elgg, but have to say that I don't know much about it. Is there a way I can just browse for users, not just search for them? How can I contact someone? If I come across someone's profile, is there a way to send them a message or e-mail?

 I am sure I will think of lots more soon. For now I will just keep posting to my blog. Perhaps someone will find me and leave a comment for me.

http://21apples.org/articles/2006/07/17/social-networking-for-educators

Way back in December, I called on MySpace to create MySpace School Edition. I never did hear from them, but luckily Alex Ragone decided to start up EducationBridges.net: Teachers Collaborating with Teachers – it is a social networking site for educators. (If you know WorldBridges, we’re all connected. Alex and I put on our weekly webcast with them.)

First thing you need to do: go to the site and sign up for a free account (your information will never be sold, traded or given away in any form. You decide what is private and what is public, I promise!) Make sure to fill out your profile. Most things can be left blank, or set to only show to site members, or the public. Be as secretive or as open as you’d like. But, make sure to indicate what your “interests” are on your profile. These interests are then searchable by anyone. So if you list “blogs” as an interest, anyone looking for blogs will find you. See how it works? We can then connect teachers together who are interested in blogging. I sense a joint-school project, don’t you?

After you create your account, try posting to your blog. Just click on “your blog” at the top, and then, “Post a new entry.” Write up whatever you’d like, then put some “keywords” at the bottom. If your blog post is about pedagogy then put that, if it is about laptops, then put that. This helps people find your post. If you want to see my page, it’s here. If you are involved in education in any way, please join us, we’d love to expand the network.

Technorati Tags: Alex Ragone, arvind grover, blog, education, Education Bridges, Elgg, educators, social networking, teachers, Worldbridges

Somehow people have found my little EducationBridges blog, and started a nice discussion on Elgg. I love getting comments on my blog posts. If you have never had a comment on your blog, leave a comment here with a link to your blog, and I will come visit to return the favor.

Also, let me know how you got here. I am curious as to how others are navigating this Elgg site. You may find this link to all blog posts handy. 

We may have blogs for each department in the school next year. What I am thinking about is how best to manage this. I only want group blogs, like the Math Blog and the Science Blog, with multiple users being able to post on each one. I know I can install a seperate blog for each of them, but that seems silly.  Anyone using good software that allows multiple user bloggingand multiple blog sites? This way the math blog could sometimes invite the science bloggers to post on their site.

Right now we use Blogger pretty effectively for that, but I was thinking more along the lines of something that we host and control. I know some people out there are using the MU release of WordPress. That makes me a little nervous because it seems to have a lot of tech requirements to get up and running, unlike the super simple, famous 5 minute installation of the regular version of WordPress. Again though, that would mean a separate install for each site.

I would love to hear other ideas. Thanks in advance!

So I know that I can add users as "friends" in Elgg. Then I can look at blog posts from my friends only if I want (see link on the "Your Blog" page)

Now, is there any way to see who has listen me as their friend? (as opposed to who I have listed as my friend)  

What else can you do with the "Your Friends" section? 

I am trying to see if Elgg will import my personal blog, 21apples. That way I can continue my own site while still allowing Elgg to be the main place where I collaborate with other educators. Alex does bring up a good point though, is there really a point to having a solitary blog when you have Education Bridges?