CEDO35 Week Five - Microblogs, Wikis and Web 2.0 Applications

It has been an interesting week as I reflected on the use of microblogs in education, polished-up my Wiki and explored a new Web 2.0 application.   Twitter has great potential to help me create a personal learning network with people I have never met before.  I created a Twitter list so that I can follow   tweets from a select group of influential educators.  The Educators list includes people who are very much involved in the cutting edge use of Web 2.0 applications in education.  Individuals I follow on this list are:  Will Richardson, Steve Wheeler, George Siemens, Steve Anderson, Louis Loeffler, Clay Shirky, Betty Ray and Judy Brown.    I chose to follow these people as they provide useful links and relevant insights about technology and its practical application in contemporary education.

The potential for Twitter in a Personal Learning Network (PLN) or with staff development  is that we can ask and receive coaching from others.  Learning doesn't occur in a vacuum . It is through the interactions with others that we can get help and also provide help within our PLN. I recently joined a Linkedin  group that discusses e-learning and instructional design.  I follow this group and  through the ongoing discussions gain valuable insight as to what is happening in the business world through the experience of others.

New Club Wiki for Hoofer's

On the Wiki front, the Hoofer Sailing Club Instructor Wiki I built using Wetpaint served its purpose as a prototype and to get people thinking about having a collaborative online space.  This past week the Sailing Club Web Administrator linked the Club Web-site to a Wiki hosted by the University of Wisconsin.  In fact, the Club had been paying for this service all along!  The prototype work done with the Wetpaint site helped the Club envision how they could use existing resources.  I am very happy with this development and will consult with the Web Administrator and Board of Captains on the phased roll out of the Wiki Functionality.

Finally, the entire MEIT program has been one of total immersion in what Will Richardson calls the 'read/write' Web.  Many of the applications explored are  Web 2.0 where the computing power resides in The Internet Cloud.  Resources are provided, much like electricity, on demand. I was asked to review a Web 2.0 application that we have not used before in our classes or lectures.  There are quite a few programs out there but I settled on one called PandaForm.  It is a very easy to use program which not only builds forms but provides the ability to track contacts, share the database and collect payments via Paypal.  What I like about PandaForm is that one can sync it with Google Docs Spreadsheets.  I like Google Docs but the form designer is harder to use than what is found in PandaForm.  Pretty neat that now the Web 2.0 applications are talking to one another.  Soon, unless you need the heavy desktop computing horsepower, a portable netbook should do the trick for most everyone.