The mechanism of reading can be a pleasure in itself. I read a lot of crap for escapism. I think most of us can recognise and enjoy brilliance but the crap one indulges in is very individual. The details of my crapulous penchants are not something I want to publicise. Occasionally, however, I come across books that I'd like to remember and am not embarrassed to admit to, so that's what this post is for. I think I'll just keep editing it as an aide-memoire. So here goes.
Dan Fesperman, Lie in the Dark - novel set in Sarajevo - got me thinking.
Maira Kalman: The Principles of Uncertainty
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Web 2 in Education
This was just a test post for an article which can be seen here in issue 4 of magazine I edit.
Web 2.0 has enabled communication and interaction to be coalesced into social networking tools which provide a significant community or social aspect to the web. Social software includes a range of web-based programs allowing users to interact and share data with other users. For example, social sites like MySpace and Facebook and media sites like Flickr and YouTube. In an education environment, tools such as blogs, wikis and social bookmarking allow the user to create online communities with common interests and give everyone an interactive opportunity to have a ‘voice’. This is the first of a series of articles on Web 2.0 tools and their potential application in education. The focus will be on blogs.
It is important to consider copyright when working in an open environment. One way of obtaining material is to find work which uses a Creative Commons licence. These licences offer a variety of levels of copyright (some rights reserved). You can, for example, use an image like the one from Flickr at the left which is published under the creative commons licence by "Laughing Squid". When you click on 'some rights reserved' you go to a Creative commons page which reflects the rights Laughing Squid wants to retain. In this case you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform the work under these conditions: attribution, non-commercial use and no derivative works. You can see more of Laughing Squid's work at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/
BLOGS
Web 2.0 has enabled communication and interaction to be coalesced into social networking tools which provide a significant community or social aspect to the web. Social software includes a range of web-based programs allowing users to interact and share data with other users. For example, social sites like MySpace and Facebook and media sites like Flickr and YouTube. In an education environment, tools such as blogs, wikis and social bookmarking allow the user to create online communities with common interests and give everyone an interactive opportunity to have a ‘voice’. This is the first of a series of articles on Web 2.0 tools and their potential application in education. The focus will be on blogs.
It is important to consider copyright when working in an open environment. One way of obtaining material is to find work which uses a Creative Commons licence. These licences offer a variety of levels of copyright (some rights reserved). You can, for example, use an image like the one from Flickr at the left which is published under the creative commons licence by "Laughing Squid". When you click on 'some rights reserved' you go to a Creative commons page which reflects the rights Laughing Squid wants to retain. In this case you are free to copy, distribute, display and perform the work under these conditions: attribution, non-commercial use and no derivative works. You can see more of Laughing Squid's work at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/laughingsquid/
BLOGS
A blog is formed with a list of entries like a personal diary or journal posted on the web. There are numerous blogsites such as www.blogger.com or www.wordpress.com. Depending on the type of blog you have setup, you would write commentary or news on a particular subject, record personal events, research, work related travel, politics, links to web sites of interest, or use it as a tool to engage with students. Each blog entry can be a combination of text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to the topic. Your blog can be accessible to the public or restricted to invited readers or contributors of your choice. Readers can post comments on your page about your entries, (though you can delete any comments you don't like), link to it or email you. This form of interactivity between the reader and the author of the blog is an important part of many blogs making blogs an ideal collaborative space for interaction between students. Academics may also use the blog to communicate with their students or colleagues. Blogs are informal and easily accessed without the need for special software or training. They can build the profile of the author, showcasing them within an institution as having talent and expertise to engage and inform an audience, develop relationships and present a human face for the organization.
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