Origins of Social Software

I imagine this blog is going to get blogged a thousand times but I just read this account of where it all came from. Origins deep in the past - 1940's even! The term 'social software' first used by Clay Shirky in 2002.

eLearning - an Interview

David Day has just posted an interview with me recorded earlier this year about

* What I was doing in 2005
* My journey through elearning
* The Webheads
* Vance Stevens
* David Winet and EFI
* Jonathan Finkelstein and LearningTimes
* Communities of Practice
* Moving f2f teachers online
* mature age teachers and elearning
* liaising with IT support staff

David had an individual LearnScope project for 2005 looking at the "very complex process of moving a VET practitioner from the traditional classroom delivery environment to becoming an online facilitator" and has published the fruits of his research on this engaging and comprehensive website.

Thanks for posting this David. (41 minutes and not a fast download) And it took my mind off what's happening in Sydney. I can't help feeling Australia has changed this week......

PS You can also listen to more than 20 interviews with other Australian elearning leaders!

Thank you

It was a breeze, Michael...

(This photo of the Chinese Gardens in Sydney is courtesy of Ken Gooding who was also looking for an oasis of serenity.)

eLearning in 2005 - Repost

eLearning in 2005

Is this message decipherable? It isn't over my current 26.4 connection......

Audioblogging

Marie W at Cool Connections

Camera Blogging

Leave Me on the Beach

I'm thinking I might use this post as a spoken intro to a guide about audioblogging. Fit the bill? Oh yes - it was posted from the spot where I took the pic :)
PS. Leave Me on the Beach has been a favourite theme of mine over the years.

Another Side of Life

TEXT CAN BE ADDED AFTER THE CODE

For Jon Baggaley

ODLAA Conference

Social Software in Action

Audioblog v Podcast?

See these examples of podcasts that Graham Stanley is using with young learners in Spain:
1) http://bylpodcasts.blogspot.com/
2) http://mylcpodcasts.blogspot.com/

When Graham writes:

"At the other place I work (teaching students of Tourism), I've asked the
learners for audio reports as part of their assessment on a short course on
theme tourism. The first group are just finishing these, and I'll be
uploading them to the site from tomorrow.

Here, the idea is for the students to produce a short radio-type report (as
a podcast) for a general audience. Their reports are to be made available to
anyone on the Internet who may be interested in listening , and I'm also
going to encourage the other students to listen to them."

This is similar to what others are calling audioblogging. What is it that makes one podcasting or audioblogging? Is it
* the intention (engage, instruct, invite comment)?
* the target audience?
* the software used?

MORE:

See http://courses.worldbridges.com/dyg_usb/

Dafne Gonzalez and Lee Baber also shared what they were doing with their classes on the webheads discussion list. Let me take two examples:

1) Lee: "I am going to launch an audioblog.. one spokesperson per class.. for students to respond to the days lessons with questions, ideas, suggestions to other
students"

2) Dafne: "Students summarize texts and record their summaries"

Lee uses the term audioblogging. Daf refers to activity number 2 above as podcasts. But in type, these two activities are essentially the same. Students are summarising and reporting in audio. So is podcasting and audioblogging the same thing? A minor point I realise - I often want to run away and do something more interesting when people start talking definitions but in this case I'm curious - is there a difference between podcasting and audioblogging?

Linda Interviews Coral

Sylvia Interviews Sara

Coral Interviews Linda

Georgina Interviews Li Ting

Coral

Georgina and Li Ting

Sara

Linda

Deadly Mob Intro

Checking in from the Alice

Michael and Georgina

Day-O!

I've always wanted to do this!

Using the Phone to Blog - Example from Denmark

Chrissan shares her first post.

Damn that Rubbish Truck

This post is actually in the wrong blog! Go over to the New Practices Blog to hear the context of this message :)

Live from the Health Care Conference

Just Checking....

A Salute to the Boomers!

Message for Education in Health Care Conference

Communication Axis?

New Practices Blog
Communication Axis
AMEP Conference Presentation

How to Begin?

Thoughts on how to begin Friday's presentation:

Bee on Blogs

Barbara Dieu (Bee) from Brazil offers a few thoughts on Blogging for delegates of the AMEP Conference in Sydney.

Word Post (recheck)

And this is a post from Word. Again – just checking.

Another Email to Blog Test

Just checking to see if this still works...why wouldn't it?

- Michael.

What makes you reflect?

It seems blogger is just getting better and better. I can now upload photos directly into Blogger without having to use a third party like flickr.com Now let's see if I can add an audio bit.....

Check New Practices Blog for more musings on Reflection and Blogging.

Networked Learning Session

Archive available at LearningTimes Australia

Blog Tones

In response to Brad's post in New Practices Blog.

Reflections on Virtual Classroom Sessions

Elluminate = Elluminate virtual classroom

MMS'ing from Phone

OK. In the previous post I sent an MMS (multimedia message service)
message from my mobile to the email account for my blog and it
appeared. Along with a nice message from Telstra (the carrier) saying
they are responsible for putting the message there, not me. Thanks
Telstra. Now shall we sell you?

Also tried to MMS an image through but that didn't work. If I lived
in the US it would. Go to
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1131 for more info, and
to see some examples of how folks use this MMS to blog feature.

A'blogging we will go, A'blogging we will go.......

Message brought to you by Telstra MMS

This message was sent from +61417899912 This MMS message was powered by Telstra. Sharing picture and video messages is easy with Telstra's Picture and Video Messaging (MMS) service. To find out more, visit www.telstra.com/info/mms.

Text from phone 2 blog....

Blogging from Email

There seem to be so many ways to blog! Via Blogger, phone, Word, and now I'm sending this one via email.......

The Real Deal

Phoned, recorded, and posted this message for the LEARN network during my presentation on Emerging Tedchnologies. This was the first time I've tried this during a presentation and God bless Blogger - it worked! Meanwhile the folks in New Orleans struggle to stay alive....Fats Domino was found alive. It seems the wealthy got out - they had boats, or had the money to pay for one, and as nice as Fats may be he's probably a wealthy man. And he deserves to be. "I'm walkin' to New Orleans", "I found my thrill" etc.

Sample for Learn Meeting

Michael's House

Michael's House
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

If you haven't discovered Google Earth yet and wiled away precious hours having fun with it I recommend you do so! It's a collection of aerial photographs of the entire planet. Some countries have better photos than others, and the photos of Australia are good enough to actually find your own house. This is what my house looks like from above!

Tips re Using Headings

Tip – when using this tool don’t worry about using a heading in Word because when you publish you have to enter a heading in the title field anyway. So if you do use a heading in Word, delete it before you publish or you will end up with two headings on your blog.

Wonder how fonts, colours etc appear in blogger…..

Second Post

I can now post directly from Word to my blog!!!!!

This is Word Calling Blogger, Word Calling Blogger

This is a trial post using the new blog in Word feature. I am writing this in Word and am about to hit the publish button to see if I can experience yet another layer of blogging magic! Let’s see……. (

Group Podcast? Group Audioblog?

'See' what I'm talking about HERE.

Brief Greeting from Saigon

Phone Blogging - Test Post

Greetings to those at the Rosario EFL Congress

Rosario
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

A world far away from mine.... (listen for more)

Update:Rosario founded in 1812; Adelaide, Australia founded in 1836 - not such a big difference. Perhaps the differences in architectural style are more the product of different cultures rather than the age of the two locations?

Hallett Cove Geological Park

Hallett Cove Geological Park
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

Did you ever get tortured by your teacher and taken here? :)

Blogging: a luxury? Talking on the Net in a public/private space?

Educating the Net Generation

Educating the Net Generation Webinar Series

Hallett Cove

Hallett Cove
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

Listen to the audio for my thoughts....

Free Google Vlogging (video blogging) on the Way

Read all about it.

Audioblogging - Summary of Options

A colleague asked me about all the options for audioblogging, and it's a bit fiddly to go back through the various postings and find them all so here's a summary of what I've tried.

---

A long post about different avenues to audioblogging is here.

In summary, you have these choices:

1) record audio yourself and embed it in the page with html. See http://mikecogh.blogspot.com/2005/02/how-to-embed-audio-in-blog.html

2) use the free service provided by http://www.audioblogger.com/. This requires a call to a US number and your post is automatically posted in your blog.

3) use the paid service provided by http://www.audioblog.com/. It's about $8/month. They have a free 7 day trial at the moment. They provide the code and you paste it into your blog. This is the one I would choose but I had trouble with it and so I now use

4) Instant Audio. It's quite a bit more expensive (about US$20/month), but it's a really good service, and you can send audio postcards, post via pc recording or phone (they have a number in NSW), and they have those nice little buttons! They offer a $1 trial for one month. Both Audioblog and Instant Audio also have a companion videoblog service for extra cash.


Note: to use any of these you have to have a standard blog to start with (eg Blogger.com). So audioblogging is actually done within a standard blog.

Technology and Innovation

Audio applet from Instant Audio (They have a $1/month trial at the moment!)

And here is the quote from Stephen Downes that I was trying to show in the presentation this morning. Quoting Antti Oulasvirta, Human Technology, April 27, 2005 he comments:

I'm not sure this is true: "innovation, development, and evaluation of design ideas cannot be based only on the designer's intuitions but must be grounded in users' actual needs and behaviors. We need to apply social and psychological sciences to understand how technology could qualify as a positive change for the users." The reason why I express doubt is that the 'need' for an innovation often becomes knowable only after the innovation has been introduced.

Any thoughts?

Emerging Technologies Network

Emerging Technologies Network Blog
Examples referred to in today's presentation:

information on audio blogging
combining written and spoken text
interview
feedback on classes/workshops
inserting home movies(long download)
Inserting Digital Stories

Recording of Presentation

Linking Voice and Music

Obviously there are copyright concerns doing stuff like this. The background music in this message is by Keb Mo. A very rough example of what I'm talking about but you should get my drift!

Mobile Learning Object?

(Audio recorded and posted by phone from location. Photos taken at location and uploaded via flickr.com)

O'Sullivans Beach
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

What is a 'New Practice'?

The New Practices Team:
Brad Beach
Josie Rose
Terry Taylor

New Practices Test

This was a phone blog test from the New Practices Projects induction workshop. More on the Marcus person mentioned!

Phone Post from Westone

Just another phone blog test. Just ignore this one! :)

Message to those at the APPI Conference

James
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

The photo above shows the Quest on James Apartments in Perth - I'll be beaming into the APPI Conference from here.

House Guests

joti_laura
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

The Week that Was

What's new in eLearning Workshop (April 8th)
Check out Blinxs for a fantastic web and desktop searching tool.

Mucking around with RSS

Nothing to say except:

Test From Adelaide Campus

This post is to see if we can post to a blog from Adelaide campus of TAFE.

Vlogging with Instant Videogenerator

Instant Videogenerator is a companion of Instant Audio. Let's see how it works.....

Audioblogging - the Saga Continues

Herewith an all written text summary of some of the available audioblogging tools from Webhead Elderbob Brannan!

---

Hang on cause this may get confusing. Audioblogger is free. All you have to do is set up an account. You may post a 5 minute post from a telephone, either land line or cell. If I remember correctly (I haven't used it in a while), you can ONLY post from a phone, and if, at the end of a 5 minute post you want to say more, then you make a separate 5 minute post...and these two post cannot be combined, but will show up on your blogger post on the same date in the order you submitted them. Now you can then open your blogger account, right click on the audio post, get the URL and move it around, but you cannot edit it and then repost it. Also, it can only be used (technically, OK, I wont tell if you copy that URL and put it somewhere else, but I think Audioblogger will be upset since they are owned by the same google folks that own Blogger), on a Blogger blog.

Audioblogger is owned by a company named ListenLab.com. They also own Audblog. Audblog is a similar program that offers both a one time free trial version (a three minute post...wooopeee) or a paid account ( A paid account is 12 Four minute posts per month for only
$3.00(AmDollars) per month, and if you need more Four minute posts, they are purchaseable at 12 for $3.00 per month - as long as you are willing to pay
the $3.00 per month, your 12 posts will be renewed each month, meaning only 12 per-month unless you purchase more. There is no roll=over of unused
posts), and it also allows you to post to a number of different kinds of
blogs (Type Pad, Moveable Type, Live Journal, Dead Journal and of course,
Blogger). In order to use Audblog, you must already have an account on one
of the accepted blogs, or you can have the audiopost sent back to you via
email to do with what you wish (Remember that neither Audioblogger or
Audblog will allow you to upload posts, so you are fairly limited in where
you can legally post them). I didn't think Audblog looked very reliable, so
I did not use them, so I do not know whether there is a way to edit your
audio post on line (keep in mind that that kind of editing would be a bit of
a difficult issue to negotiate for an off server network).

Finally, the one that I have stuck with all this time and am most pleased
with is Audioblog (not audioblogger or audblog - one could get confused here pretty quick. I use the $5.00 per month paid
account. That allows me 1 GB of streaming audio bandwidth per month, and I
can record my posts in up to 60 minute increments. Now this gets real
complex. We are no longer talking about numbers of posts, but instead,
about how often each of those posts are listened to. This means that if you
a one minute post on your blog, it could be listened to over 5,000 times
without engaging in additional fees. This is really not a bad cost. First,
unless you have an extremely well read blog, then you aren't going to listen
to these post that much, and even if you need more, you can by a second, or
third, or even 4th Gig for only $1.95 more per month, and that fee is only
charged on those months when your streaming exceeds the original GB.
Bandwidth is reconfigured each month on the anniversary date of your
account. In other words, each month you start over with 1Gig of Bandwidth.
Confused yet? I know I am. I think this all means that you need to think
in advance about how you are going to use these post on your blog. If you
are going only going to use a few post over a long period of time, then this
may not be the best solution for you. For me, it means I can post long
interviews or make playlist of several interviews or even post up to one
hour of class time recording from another software (I have never tried to
post an Alado or Learning Times, but I if you can save the audio in WAV or MP3 to your hard drive, you can edit it and upload it from your own PC or laptop). Another item on Audioblog that I like is that it will broadcast in MP3. I don't believe either of the other two audio programs will do that. The reason this is good, is that now you have an audio post that can be
Podcast or streamed via Streaming Audio or even Internet Radio. I am not
sure that is important to you at this point, but I think in the immediate
future it is going to be more and more important. Essentially, it means
that after one semester of classes, you could load all of your audio posts
in MP3s and put them in a folder and download the entire thing to an IPOD.
Now, all the audios from your class are not only in the possession of the
student who will be listening, but you are now free from everything except
the original price of the bandwidth. Instead of listening to your post from
the Audioblog server, the student is now listening to your post from their
own hard drive on the IPOD. Another significant piece of the Audioblog
architecture that the other two do not yet offer is video. This is the only
device that I know of that allows both audio and video posting to blogs.
Again, the streaming bandwidth allocation is what makes it so attractive.
Those big bandwidth-eating-files of video that used to exist on your server
are now on the Audioblog server and you are paying a ridiculously low fee in
comparison to a website to host them. I am also under the impression that I
can make calls via SKYPE and save the calls as MP3 and upload those into
Audioblog. I haven't tried that yet, but as soon as the San Antonio TESOL
conference is over, I will be attempting that.

I get nothing for advertising for Audioblog, but you can tell from my post that I think it is the most advanced and useful of the devices listed. I think if offers many more options, but I am also not sure that you really want or need that many options. Keep in mind too, that Audioblog, does not yet have a professional version but it appears to be in the works. I think great things will eventually come from this group and am glad to be in on the ground floor. One last note: Audioblog has always been good about asking it's users what kind of design changes are needed. I believe that it would not have embraced audioblogging and videoblogging had it not been from such input from users. I think this makes the product much more user friendly.

Whatever service you eventually decide to use, keep in mind that all of this
is still leading edge technology. There are probably still a lot of kinks
and flaws in it all. However, I think we are all wise to look at a variety
of multi-media inputs to use in all our educational technology efforts. I
wish you well in your efforts and if I can be of further help with any of
them, especially Audioblog, please do not hesitate to ask....elderbob@elderbob.com

Vietnamese Music in Henley Square

viet_music
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

Every year over the summer months the local council hosts a music program on Sunday afternoons in Henley Square by the sea. Yesterday was the final event for the season and it featured multicultural music. One of the acts featured one of my wife's ESL students. She sang as part of a Vietnamese group performing traditional pieces from Vietnamese operas. It was a disconcerting experience. Initially I felt it was a matter of the music being so different that it was too difficult for my Western ears to adjust to and make sense of. It was charming visually, and the setting by the sea in the warm autumn weather meant that the whole experience was delightful, but when I came home and listened to some Vietnamese music I found on the web, I realized that some of the music we listened to in the square was out of tune, or just poorly performed. Here you can hear a short piece of how a zither should sound, and this is an example of an enchanting longer piece.

Every Picture Tells a Story

morocco
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

As mentioned a few posts back, my son Joti has just returned from a year of travels with a swag of magnificent photos. The country he enjoyed most was Morocco. Listen below and find out more about this curious scene.

They Did Stop the Rain

.

WOMAD is an extraordinary event. It is not just a weekend of music from around the planet, but a place and time of an underlying sentiment of peace and goodwill between all cultures. Palestinians and Israelis on stage playing music together. Vusi Mahlasela thanking Australians for their support of black Africa during the apartheid years. Africans and Australian Aborigines sharing the same stage for the sunset all stars jam Sunday night. (The ney - “the spirit of the Middle East’ joined with the digeridoo “the spirit of Australia” – to open this remarkable mélange of ‘sounds of the planet’.)

As I drove there on Friday I felt an intense feeling of anticipation, and I remembered why. To commemorate the 10th Womadelaide a few years ago Rip it Up editor, Robert Dunstan once wrote something like, “as I stood among the Moreton Bay fig trees with the sun going down listening to Nusrat Ali Fateh Khan I found myself thinking ‘I have never been happier’”. I have felt that more than once at WOMAD. And it is taken me into the depths of sadness at times too. Gazing upon a tall African man dressed in a full length blue robe playing the haunting melodies of the ancient Kora simply stirs the soul. And it can take you up or down. Yesterday I found myself crying tears of existence. Not because I was particularly happy or sad. I was just moved by it all. By the beauty. By the mistakes we’ve all made. By the fact that we’re all still here and enjoying our music together. When Richie Havens took the stage everyone there who could remember went back to Woodstock and their youth. To times so long ago when life was so exhilarating. And it still is. Many have gone and many remain. It's a very emotional experience to see people from all over the planet celebrating what we have in common, rather than focus on our differences.

The Music

There were great moments, with maybe the workshop with Michael McGoldrick from Capercaillie the hightlight. Yes, there were tears. And I realized at heart I’m a Celt. I sat looking up at the Australian trees, and it was as if a collective Celtic soul from far across the sea whence this wonderful music came was asking me ‘how did I get here’? It felt like a yearning to go home to the land of my ancestors. Vusi Mahlasela and Naziha Azzouz with the Adel Salameh Trio were the best voices of the weekend, and as I’m always a sucker for reggae, I loved Alpha Blondie and the Solar System. The only music that always makes me move. For local talent the Irish Phillipino Aboriginal family band, the Pigrams, was a lovely surprise. (Full program.)

If a WOMAD concert ever comes to your neighbourhood, go. Enjoy the sounds of the planet, and listen to the murmurs of your soul.

Who'll Stop the Rain?

WOMAD is here!

Mobile Blogging (Moblogging): from anywhere on the planet to the Net

Port Post Check

Did this earlier in the year, but just need to know if the firewall merchants have strengthened their defences. Can I post from the Port campus? If this works I might see if I can post a phone blog from here as well.

Audio Blogging by Phone to the US

Very cool. It works. I tried the audioblogger service that comes free with Blogger and it's great. Especially if you're in North America. I had to call a US number from here in Australia so there's a cost involved, but I got straight through, spoke my message, and it appeared here below seconds later! Astounding! I know hundreds of people do it every day, but this stuff still blows me away. If I was travelling in the US this would be especially useful. Now dear Blogger people, how about some international numbers for this same excellent service? One in each continent would be good for a start.

Voice in Blended Learning Environments - Aiden's Class

Three minutes of comment on the pleasure of being a guest speaker for Aiden Yeh's language and culture class today.


(If you listen to the recording of this session make sure you crank up the volume when the students are speaking (it is audible), then turn it way down again when I'm talking!)

Earth Lights

Earth Lights
Posted by: michaelc.

A wonderful and now famous photo! (Just experimenting with Buzznet to see how it coordinates with Blogger.)

emma_farewell

Emma's Farewell
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

Today began with me being quite late for an information session on Reframing the Future project funding. The traffic on Grange Rd on the way into town was the heaviest I've ever seen it. I've no idea why. But one of the attractions of this session was the venue - Ayres House, a famous heritage listed landmark in Adelaide.

Next stop was a farewell lunch for Emma (pictured at the end of the table). Emma has been our wonderful Janison helpdesk person for the last year, and she is taking time off to have a baby. We'll all miss her helpful manner and expertise.

I spent the rest of the working day in at Adelaide TAFE making phone calls and planning professional development workshops for later in the term.

Tomorrow it's down to Football Pk for another round of funding information sessions - this time for LearnScope. Football Pk (otherwise known as AAMI stadium) is better known as Adelaide's premier venue for AFL football games, but behind the scenes it has surprisingly good conference and function facilities.

Prodigal Son Returns

joti_home
Originally uploaded by mikecogh.

Well not quite prodigal. Joti is home again after lots of travelling and it's great to have him back. :)