2008: My Ten Year Anniversary of Personal Computing

What I enjoy is accessibility. The cruise ships have installed Internet Cafes in their lobbies and even have "Happy Hour" discounts. I now have an ASUS/Linux traveling computer that is purse-size and has no moving parts--Skype-capable with camera built-in; voice commands, Wi-Fi...and no moving parts (flash memory). I carry it everywhere.
I have wikis and blogs (like this one) and also participate in a blog that offers podcasts of meetings...a technology of inclusion, asynchronicity, learning, collaboration, and community.
At home--even in the kitchen--if technology (any appliance) is involved--cooking is more enjoyable to me. Maybe it's because I come from a legacy of women who worshiped technology as the salvation to womankind. My grandmother waxed and polished all appliances from her washer-dryer to her ice crusher, coffee pot, and blender. All had protective dust covers, as well. My mother's washer-dryer set (in pink) and fascinated me and helped set the tone for my pursuit of all kinds of interesting gadgets--before computers.
I studied electronics. Computers were first introduced to me from the inside out. Industrial computers that ran NC and CNC machinery came into my career-life in 1978. My world consisted of power supplies, amplifiers, integrated circuits, motors, feedback systems and manually-installed operating systems and programs (before floppy disks, we used punched mylar tapes and tape readers). Building, fixing, but not using computers until much later, when the desire to finish college fueled the opportunity to acquire a comouter of my own in 1998. This year I celebrate my tenth anniversary as a personal computer user. I feel like a beginner, but don't mind a bit.

Integrating Technology Exercise Ideas

For the NS07, I thought we might pre-schedule a webex meeting time and demonstrate in real-time how it looks to use this technology and also skype at the same time?...we could use a digital projector for the screen shots, i.e., who is sharing what--desktop, web content, etc.
Also maybe make some time available (post-workshop?) to assist learners in setting up their own blogs and wikis.

Wiki Integration Ideas for Workshop NS07

For the wiki, a great place to see collaborative models begins with viewing the wiki listing in wikipedia.This entry not only traces wiki history, but links to many wiki projects, references, and practical applications that show the versatility and creative approaches to the wiki experience. Some examples include wikipedia, wikiversity, collaborative writing projects and workplace solutions.

Changing Patterns

This post is for the practice of posting...to make a habit of it, so to say. The stream of consciousness will take Saturday off here, but much is happening behind the scenes to prepare for an upcoming workshop on technologies, including: mind-mapping (software, as well as hand-drawn), blogs, wikis, skype, webex, and bringing them all together in ways that prove useful for graduate work, learning and teaching. My part of this workshop will be wiki technology.

Journals for Consideration

My goal is to submit a scholarly article for publication about the experience of creating an online workshop. Based on this topic, I selected three online journals from the Directory of Open Access Journals:

Innovate Journal of Online Education offers online publishing, webcasts, conferences, and real-time discussions with journal authors (participation in these discussions is part of their publishing criteria). This is a bi-monthly, peer-reviewed journal; Chicago style.

Electronic Journal for the Integration of Technology in Education
This journal is calling for articles on "Context-Aware and Ubiquitous Learning" for the April 2008 issue, with a submission deadline of August 1, 2007 (this may be too soon, depending on the writing progress).

Journal of Educational Technology and Society
Submissions accepted throughout the year.

Today is Yolanda Day

Please join with me in celebrating Yolanda Day. This is a day dedicated to academic writing about technology, online learning, and distance education praxis.

Online Learning Environments

Paper vs Electronic Writing and Learning
Paper is good for: kinestetic experience of knowledge creation, such as mind-mapping/outlining and drawing. Variations in coloration and writing instruments help the creative process. Portability is limited to size and how much you can/want to carry. Immediacy is a valuable asset of paper, books, articles & no batteries required! Non-mediated, high technology.
Computers are great tools that save time and can be used on or off line. Software avails the writer/creator to mix media, edit, and save large amounts of data for multiple projects. The learning environment depends on user, software, and technical knowledge of how to use the products and selection of the best media for the activity.
Online environments bring resources to the user via internet. The conduits through which media arrive can be e-mail, websites, libraries, universities, people, business...and repositories of information that is available for free or purchase. Associations of common interests often facilitate access to information which optimizes users' experiences and time.
Creation of online learning communities, such as wikipedia, wikiversity, blogs, YouTube, MySpace, Skype, Wikispaces, SecondLife, and Open Source proponents example just a few areas where online learning experiences imitate life, through knowledge creation--communal or otherwise-- of its users.