Last Monday saw the return of Multimedia Monday for 2008.  With a small group in attendance, we were able to tailor things to suit the participants, such as exploring the Internet resources that Judy’s drawn together to support our Term 2 units and uploaded to our grade and staff del.icio.us pages.

I know a number of people have ideas for what they’d like to learn on Multimedia Monday, but we haven’t had any suggestion forms in the box yet, so fill one in this week!

This week, there are two options:

1. Learning the ins and outs of printing to our new colour copier
2. Making a start with using the online application, VoiceThread

VoiceThread is an exciting tool that we’re looking with at the moment with Harlane.  Eager to try her hand with some podcasting in her classroom, we’re now looking at VoiceThread as it’s multimodal, allowing our students to integrate images, voice, sound, text and more.  We’re getting prepared for using it with 5P, so maybe you’d like to try giving it a go too.

Below you’ll find a video from Chris Betcher, teacher and voice behind the podcast The Virtual Staffroom, which provides a short introduction to VoiceThread.

Cherie and Rebecca have kindly offered to help you through the sign up in my absence. It’s so easy, however (it’s all done in three steps), that you could do it yourself!

In fact, if you can’t make it tomorrow afternoon and want to do it yourself, let me direct you to a few resources that will show you what to do.

Tech-Ease, from the University of South Florida, have a series of simple videos that show you everything from registering to using subscriptions.

• You can also subscribe to the movies as podcasts through the iTunes store.

The Tech-Ease video is done using the Apple Mac browser, Safari. The installation of the buttons is a little different in Internet Explorer, but still easy to do. Here’s how it’s done on the del.icio.us site. Don’t worry too much, though; installing the buttons is part of the sign-up process.

Photo: Thumbnails in del.icio.us

At yesterday’s session, we explored why you would want to go to the trouble of setting up your bookmarks in a del.icio.us account rather than use the existing “Favourites” or “Bookmarks” on your web browser (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari).

In fact, if you’re someone who uses more than one web browser program, or more than one computer (i.e. every teacher in the school), or likes to share their new “fave” websites with others, then del.icio.us is actually less trouble (not more) than maintaining your existing bookmarks. It’s proven to be an excellent tool for collecting grade resources this year.

So, why use del.icio.us? Well, if you missed the session yesterday, then here is a short video to give you the info.

Also, here are the slides from a presentation made by Judy O’Connell at the 2007 Catholic Education Commission Learning With Web 2.0 Forum.

[slideshare id=72623&doc=social-bookmarkingdelicious-expos4375&w=425]

Don’t forget that the next session, which will help you to get signed up with del.icio.us, is being brought forward to next Monday (29 October). Bring your laptop with you to 4/5K.

Dear Colleagues,

The Learning Technology team invite you over the next two terms to participate in our exciting discovery program, Learning 2.0.

Learning 2.0 is a simple and fun way to discover more about the wide array of Web 2.0 or “read-write web” tools now available on the Internet. Don’t know what Web 2.0 tools are? No idea how to use them? Then Learning 2.0 is for you.

As a special incentive, St. Michael’s staff who complete all ten activities in Learning 2.0 will earn for their class an mp3 player with built-in
voice recorder. This also applies to non-teaching staff – teachers’ aides,
for example, could still make use of one in their work with children.

Learning 2.0 officially launches next Monday, 30 April. Take the time from Monday onwards to look at the first activity, then get started on Activity 2 when it’s up and running and get yourself registered. Remember that you have two whole terms to complete ten simple activities, so you have plenty of time to get involved and complete the activities.

Go to the Learning 2.0 website and find out more: http://stmbtech.pbwiki.com/Learning-2

This term, Multimedia Monday sessions will be open-library sessions. The library will be open, and Robert and Judy will be on hand to provide support to people who need advice with their Learning 2.0 activity, wherever they’re up to.

We invite you to participate in Learning 2.0, and use the library computers on Monday afternoons to complete your activities. That way, you also have your colleagues around to share ideas and ask questions.

The library will be open for Learning 2.0 business on the following Multimedia Mondays:

30 April (Week 2) – take this chance to learn about Learning 2.0 and complete Activity 1

7 May (Week 3)

21 May (Week 5)

28 May (Week 6)

Week 4 is not included as it is a Staff Development Day.

 
We look forward to you joining us on the Learning 2.0 journey.

Learning 2.0 will be a self-discovery program open to all staff to explore the world of Web 2.0 and the many tools that form a part of it.  Over the course of this term and the next, you will be invited to complete a collection of simple tasks that introduce you to the world of Web 2.0, or what is also dubbed “the read-write web”.

Multimedia Monday sessions will essentially provide staff with an “open library” with the computers, the time and the support from colleagues to complete your activities.  There will also be incentive to complete the project, so make sure you stay tuned.

When Learning 2.0 gets up and running, you will find all the information you’ll need to get through it on Technowiki – that’s right, we now have a Learning Technology wiki as well as a blog. 

We’ve decided to set up Technowiki using the pbwiki service.  Like some other providers they provide free wikis, but are also now providing ad-free wikis for educators.  I have looked at, and even used other wikis, but am now giving pbwiki a go because their site look and feel is a little more appealing, without sacrificing any ease of use.  This is something you could definitely get your class into using.  Perhaps after learning a little bit more about wikis in Learning 2.0 you’ll have the confidence to give it a go.  You can find out more about pbwiki at their site – just click on the logo below.

Multimedia Monday is on at 3:00 p.m. in the library.

If you have your own laptop, please bring it with you.

Well, without going into the blatently obvious (hello… this is a blog!), the term blog comes from the term Web Log. Knowing that, it is easy to see how blogs may have begun, giving opportunity to provide a sort of online diary.

Over time, however, blogs have become much, much more. They are different things to different people. Our blog, Technoblog, for example, is more of an online news service than a diary entry.

So why blog? A number of teachers would remember (back in those halcyon days when we had nothing but PowerMacs in our classrooms) trying to put together class web pages. Quite simply, the time involved in learning how to build web pages, then teaching it to the students, then actually doing the building, made it impossible to make any real continued progress. Even then, it only was visible over the Intranet, so the audience was limited to school staff and students. To post to a blog (that is to add a new entry) is really as simple as logging in, typing up your post and clicking on the “Publish” button. The audience is also bigger. Now students can have a potentially worldwide audience – yes, now our busy parents can get on the net and see what their children are doing at school.

Having a class blog on the Internet does have its safety issues, but good common sense will see most potential problems avoided. Choosing the right blog service will also mean that comments and posts that students make can be moderated by an administrator (e.g. class teacher) before being put out into cyberspace.

Over the rest of our Multimedia Monday sessions this term, we will look at getting started with blogs. Next week begins with signing up and the very beginnings of getting your blog set up. So come along and join us.

In the meantime, here are a few links to help you get started on just what exactly a blog is, or can be:

Wikipedia entry on Blog
Blogger’s Introduction (informative, but also sales-pitchy)
Bibliosphere News Posts on Blogging
Bibliosphere News is a library-focused blog by Judy O’Connell (Libraries Education Officer, CEO Parramatta) and contributed to by librarians across the Diocese. They have several posts on blogging.

Have a look around, be inspired, enjoy!

Our agenda for our first session is twofold:

1. Discovering what’s new with technology at St. Michael’s this year
2. Suggestions for future Multimedia Monday workshops.

Remember that Multimedia Monday workshops commence at 3:00 p.m. (yes, straight after dismissal) in the Library for 15 minutes (if you want to stay longer and play/practice, you’re welcome to do so).

We look forward to seeing you there.

The Technology Tuesday and Coffee Club dates for Term 1 have now been pencilled in.

Firstly, Technology Tuesday this year has a move and thus a new name. Multimedia Monday (because there’s now an exec meeting on Tuesdays) will run this term on:

• Week 5 (26 Feb)
• Week 6 (5 Mar)
• Week 7 (12 Mar)

After that, Coffee Club will make its return for 2007. Staying true to its focus on learning rather than technical skills, Coffee Club will give us time to engage as a group in the iNet Online Conference -

Experiences for the deep learner: School is boring and disengaging. How do we meet the challenge of inspiring learners?

Coffee Club will coincide with the running of the conference and will therefore run on Monday afternoons in:

• Week 8 (19 Mar)
• Week 9 (26 Mar)

We hope to see you there once again in the library straight after school. If you have a suggestion of something you’d like covered at a Multimedia Monday session, post it to us in a comment right now!