CEDO 540 - Decision Making using Data - Week Two

The second week of CEDO 540 - Decision Making using Data finds us exploring terminology related to data acquisition.  The class was asked to distinguish between the terms census, sampling, opinion, marketing research, quantitative research, paid survey and questionnaire.  I took a long look at sampling and questionnaires and found that both need to be carefully thought-out before their execution.  Sampling needs to acquire data that is representative of the population and questionnaires should be carefully crafted to be clear and free of ambivalence.

I completed an exercise where I took statistical data from the CDC Web-site and examined data on incidence of deaths in the Mining, Transportation, Construction and Agriculture/Fishing/Forestry industries.  The data was available in Excel format and I had to clean it up a little bit so that I could compute the mean, median and mode and plot the data for the years 1998 through 2006.  The bar chart above shows a steady increase in the deaths per 100 thousand workers in the Agriculture/Fishing/Forestry industry.   Transportation saw a big jump in 2003 and has maintained that plateau since.


I have been enjoying a new site called Capterra which is a great buyer's guide for locating software.  Back in the late 1980's my company subscribed to various publications which reviewed software and provided company profiles.  Capterra has the same idea but it provides an easy to use interface for queries on products and it is free.  Currently, I am using Capterra to search for five survey programs (3 free, 2 paid) as part of the class assignment this week. I really like Capterra and any software publisher should make sure that their products appear in its database.

CEDO 540 - Decision Making using Data - Week One

After a four week break from the Master's Education in Instructional Technology (MEIT) program I am well-rested and living in my new digs near Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin.   Thankfully the bandwidth is wide and relatively free from interruptions in service.  As I knock on wood following that last statement, I reflect on the first week of our latest course CEDO 540 Decision Making Using Data Collection & Analysis.  

In a nutshell we are starting-off by looking at fundamentals of statistics.  Over the past years I have been more of a statistics consumer than a creator.  Sure, I majored in Economics and have done a lot of work with graphs - but it has been a long time since I contemplated the nitty gritty details of statistics.  "Populations", "samples", "parameters", and now I am knuckling down with variance, standard deviation and z-scores.

I must confess to a bit of apprehension but I am taking it slow and steady as I noodle my way towards a solid re-grasp of the fundamentals.  In a future assignment I will be taking data from a site and using it for analysis.  It may seem strange but I am actually looking forward to collecting data and conducting analysis.  Today we are surrounded by statistics regarding the economy, weather and politics and I think this course will help me become an even better consumer of the numbers.

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.

CEDO35 Week Four - Podcasts, Microblogging and Crowdsourcing

Exploration of  the 'read/write' Web continued with social bookmarking applications, Twitter and podcasting.  I personally use diigo to store and organize my bookmarks with tags.  Richardson's book provided a real eye-opener when he pointed-out that one can create an RSS feed from a tag to receive updates to an aggregator.   I had never thought of doing this, but then again, I just learned about RSS feeds and aggregators this past week.   Richardson makes an insightful comment  on page 90, "So, social bookmarking sites complete the circle: RSS lets us read and connect with what others write; now we can read and connect with what others read as well". Richardson, Will. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Twitter and Facebook have something in common:  they are both microblogging sites representative of the 'read/write' Web.  Sure, Twitter limits you to a few less characters per post, but both allow people to create an online community of colleagues and friends sharing conversations.   Facebook users are familiar with posting links, photos and their feelings.   Readers can immediately respond with their comments which often leads to further conversation.

In last week's blog I mentioned the Hoofer Sailing Instructor Wiki that I am in the process of fine-tuning.   I am getting feedback from a few individuals but I need to find a better way to introduce the Wiki than in the weekly staff meetings.   Enter podcasts - or in my case - screencasts to create a brief tutorial on accessing and collaborating on the Wiki.  It is amazing how the barriers to entry to creating screencasts or podcasts have come down in the past 2-3 years.  Reduced cost of technology, Web 2.0 applications and increased Internet speed bring together a perfect storm where the epicenter shifts from expensive expert solutions outward to the DIY crowd.

Adobe CS5 Master Collection

In last week's class I lamented, after looking at Google Sites, that I had invested so much money in the Adobe Suite for Dreamweaver.  I also purchased the suite so that I could get Adobe Premiere Pro to create great movies.  However, Dreamweaver and Premiere both require a huge investment in personal time and training just to get off the ground.  I am excited about the ease of use of the Web 2.0 applications that will  allow me and others to quickly create and publish screencasts and podcasts across The Internet to a wide audience.

Our study group met and discussed a Wired Magazine article published in 2006 titled, 'The Rise of Crowdsourcing'.    Crowdsourcing is a play on the term 'outsourcing'.  Outsourcing is when companies take jobs that were traditionally internal and contract them out to the lowest bidder.  A firm that outsources services reduces its Human Resources overhead and benefits it would normally pay to employees. The article describes how companies such as Procter & Gamble extend outsourcing to 'Crowdsourcing' when they let non-employees attempt to solve their R&D problems. Instead of outsourcing the R&D department or positions, the problems are cast before folks over The Internet who in turn noodle away on the issues in their spare time.  If one of the crowd arrives at a workable solution then they are compensated for their contribution.

I think Crowdsourcing, in general, will have a negative long term impact.  Why so gloomy?  Let's think about Procter & Gamble's scenario. How did the crowd get so smart?  The problem solvers are educated in hard sciences but are underutilizing their talents.  So why aren't they employed in science jobs?  Did corporate outsourcing of jobs overseas dry up the demand for skilled domestic jobs?  So, after a day of flipping burgers at Wendy's they log-on from home and tackle a problem.  Sure, they might just win the knowledge lottery and make a few thousand - but that's today.  In the long run, where are they mentoring new apprentices to the trade?  The well of knowledge begins to run lower than an aquifer in the desert - exploited to make a crop bloom for a few years - then what?

Hey, that's my opinion and this is the 'read/write' Web.  Instead of playing it safe I am encouraging people to respond and we can take this discussion further - I think it would be great.  Before you write back, read this article from Forbes magazine that balances the Wired Magazine article and let's see where this takes us.

CEDO35 Week Three - RSS Feeds and Education

RSS Icon

Our third week of Facilitating Collaboration Using Web 2.0 has us exploring how RSS  can be useful for gleaning information that we want to see.   Prior to RSS Feeds one had to go to blog and news sites to see if anything new had come along.  RSS feeds turn the flow around and new information comes to the user via an aggregator.  Just about every Web-site has the RSS symbol and with several clicks of a mouse you can start subscribing to new content from that site.

My first RSS feed was easy to deploy right into my blog.  Just look in the upper right corner and you will see the RSS feed coming over from my Posterous Photo Blog Site.   In my work with the Hoofer's Sailing Club I added RSS feeds to the Wiki just by copying and pasting the RSS URL from popular sailing and windsurfing sites. Instructors now see the latest Volvo Racing results populate into the Wiki along with other sailing news.

Real-time news updates are great for a site, but what about other information?  This week I have been subscribing to educational blogs and e-learning sites and I can read them at my leisure.  I use Google Reader for my aggregator and I just open it up and it provides a list of anything new that has been published from my subscribed sites.  I skim through the items and delve into them if I like or dismiss them as being read.  I enjoy this functionality as it is like reading a magazine with only the content I care to see.  A big plus is that I don't have to go to each site and wade through all the ads and surveys - allowing me to focus on the information.

Although I have been using Posterous for my Photo Blog, I created a Flickr account and uploaded some of my favorite photographs.  Unlike Posterous,  I now share my photos with a community of users who are free to view and comment on my pictures.  Plus, I added tags and descriptions to make it easier for others to find pictures. If you would like to take a look at my Flickr site click here.

There are a few of my photos that took a lot of work to get just right. I want to share my work with others but also receive credit.  I created a Creative Commons License which I will apply to a few of the pictures requiring attribution.  Hey, I would be happy if someone decides to use my images - but I do want to maintain control over what people can do with them.  I have a few nice close-ups of Bumblebees but I really don't want them used in an advertisement for, say, something like 'Bee-B-Gone' toxic bug spray.  It just wouldn't feel right - so I limit my work to non-commercial use and keep my humble Bumblebee pics safe from such a fate.

CEDO35 - Week Two - Sailing Education and Wikis

What an interesting week as we explore and begin to use Wikis for education and organizations.  As I continue my journey through the 'read/write' Web I had a reality check about Wikipedia.  Often disparaged and dismissed as a source of research because 'anyone can edit' the content - Wikipedia does have a legion of followers who fact check articles to get the stories right.  I examined three subject areas where I have extensive knowledge and discovered that they were all correct.  Just performing this exercise seriously rehabilitated my esteem of Wikipedia.  Sure, it should not be used a single, definitive source - but from now on I challenge anyone to test an area of their expertise on Wikipedia.  If you find something that is incorrect or want to add to the body of knowledge - just do so.  This is the era of DIY and  fellow contributors on Wikipedia will review your work and you can even debate in the Discussion section.  

Wikis are more than a big clearinghouse for information, they can help bring businesses and organizations together.  I created a Wiki site on WetPaint.Com for the UW-Hoofer's Sailing Club  Instructors and Club Administrators and it can be found here.    I selected one of many themes available from WetPaint resulting in a dashboard user interface with tabs across the top.  I added discussion categories, uploaded pictures and added an RSS feed for sailing news. I edited the home page of the site, added a welcome message and directions for accessing the discussion, photos and news tabs.  Later, I went back and added hyperlinks so that anyone could click directly into those sections of the Wiki Site. 

My goal for the site was suggested by the Chaper 4 reading from Will Richardson's 'Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts'.  I am attempting to create an online community where members can contribute and drive the discussions and collaborations.  I seeded a few categories but my hope is that this site could be a good prototype - a shakedown cruise - to see if WetPaint can be the Wiki for the Sailing Club. I do like the controls one has over who can see the site and contribute to it.  The initial review by the Head of Instruction is favorable and I lobbied for rolling it out to the target community in the coming months.  


Have you heard of 'Microblogging'?  Well, I am blogging right now but millions of people are blogging daily with Twitter.  I now have a Twitter account and anyone can tweet me at http://twitter.com/MrBrianAdams

I am trying to find value in Twitter and have created several lists that I can follow.  I have a list for my MEIT Cohorts so that I can follow their microblogging.  Honestly, I thought that this would be a waste of my time.  However, already I have seen posts from others that contain brief reflections and very interesting links.  I will give Twitter time and use it every day for a few weeks and see if any light bulbs go off in my head about how to employ it for school and professional use.


Finally, I added an RSS Feed to this blog site.  If you want to see the latest 5 Photo Blogs from my Posterous site just look for them in the upper right hand corner.  On that last note, this is the 'read/write' Web and I always look forward to comments about my posts.

CEDO 525 - Week One

Our first week of CEDO 535 has us delving into the use of Blogs (Web Logs) for use in schools, businesses and clubs. The course has us reading from Will Richardson's book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Blogs are a great way to support e-learning and collaboration. Blogs initially provide a one-to many format for sharing information. Blogs transform into many-to-many communication when responses and comments from others build upon the author's thoughts. An advantage of blogs is that authors and responders can post links and images that support or lend credence to their point of view.

Businesses can certainly benefit from internal company blogs that are open to all employees and external to a customer community. Markets are rapidly changing and companies should muster all the resources they have to adapt to their customer needs. Businesses exist because they have products, services, solutions and most importantly they have customers. How nice it would be if customers could blog about what they like, don't like and would like to see in a company's line of business . Blogs or forums for existing customers would allow them to become stakeholders in existing product improvement and generate ideas for new product(s).

But what good is a blog if no one elaborates on the insights or ideas expressed in a post? Businesses in this case would want to have various departments regularly review and comment back to the customer. In turn, they would link the posts and discussion threads to internal teams for reflection and review. It is critical to know your customers and such a direct pipeline to product teams would drive the business model. Via comments back to the customer, teams could seek clarification or brainstorm on business line enhancements.

So how can blogs become an effective tool supporting collaboration in an organization? At the UW-Hoofer's Sailing Club there are 1350 Club Members with over 100 lessons provided weekly by volunteer and paid instructors. UW students are annually elected to administrative positions and there is a paid Head of Instruction. Communication and innovation are two important factors to ensure that the Sailing Club runs smoothly. A Club blog could facilitate discussion categories setup by fleets and topics and permit Club leaders to post thoughts and challenges for the Club. Members could respond and share their expertise or insights and involve all in a collaborative effort.

In both business and non-profit organizations there is need for some control over what is published by contributing authors. A moderator role, In both cases, should be present to avoid unproductive comments that might be hurtful. In K-12 education there is a push to help young people develop a sense of digital citizenship। But, just because someone is over the age of 18 doesn't mean that they have mastered good judgment when making public posts that can reach a large audience over a long period of time। It is best to have moderators assigned to review and publish posts - or have the rights to hide certain posts - to help the collaborative environments work towards positive goals.

Oh, and if you are using moderators - you might want to make sure you select the right ones for the job.