Google is retiring Google Reader as of July 1, 2013.

Excerpt:

We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.

 

From DSC:
To Google (and others) —

You should know that when you do this sort of thing, it creates a great deal of nervousness and uncertainty in K-12 and in higher ed.  We ask, well if we go with (Google Docs, Google Drive, Google ___) will they pull it in the future? What would we do at that point? It also causes us to pause in moving things to the cloud…

Below, I will be adding some alternatives that I’ve seen people mentioning:

 

 

Addendum on 3/15/13 and in defense of Google…
As Google stated, usage is low and RSS didn’t hit the mainstream in the current form.  Which is too bad, because it’s a very promising technology!  Also from this page, here’s a solid graphic that shows the decline in usage:

.

 

 

Resources from Learning Objects

.

While on their website, be sure to see information concerning Campus Pack from Learning Objects:

.

http://learningobjects.com/campuspack.jsp

Keeping your toes in the streams of current that are constantly flowing by us [Christian]

 

There are numerous ways to keep current within your discipline, but  I want to highlight just two highly-effective, relevant ones here (no matter what your discipline or interest is).

 


1) Google Alerts


 

.


2)  Subscribing to RSS feeds


 

One iPad publishing platform to rule them all — from Mashable.com by Josh Koppel, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at ScrollMotion

.

Excerpt:

App developer ScrollMotion has created tablet content for some of the world’s largest publishers. At the Mashable Media Summit last Friday, its co-founder and chief creative officer Josh Koppel showed off a single platform built to run the entire gamut of enterprise media publishing.

.Also see:

Scrollmotion.com -- solutions

Getting started with RSS & Google Reader — from the All things Upside Down blog by tmiket

From DSC:

  • From my perspective and ways of tapping into streams of content, if you don’t have an easy/readily available way to subscribe to an RSS feed — or to enable one to follow your stream on Twitter, Facebook, etc — you have not created a stream of content, but rather a dam. Information and updates are not flowing — they’re stuck. And, most likely, I won’t be coming back.

 

Subscribe to Learning Ecosystems

 

Subscribe to Learning Ecosystems

Tagged with:  

Social Learning Examples – in the Workplace — from the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies by Jane Hart

100+ Examples of  the use of Social Media in Learning — from the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies by Jane Hart

Addendum:

A hugely powerful vision: A potent addition to our learning ecosystems of the future

 

Daniel Christian:
A Vision of Our Future Learning Ecosystems


In the near future, as the computer, the television, the telephone (and more) continues to converge, we will most likely enjoy even more powerful capabilities to conveniently create and share our content as well as participate in a global learning ecosystem — whether that be from within our homes and/or from within our schools, colleges, universities and businesses throughout the world.

We will be teachers and students at the same time — even within the same hour — with online-based learning exchanges taking place all over the virtual and physical world.  Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) — in the form of online-based tutors, instructors, teachers, and professors — will be available on demand. Even more powerful/accurate/helpful learning engines will be involved behind the scenes in delivering up personalized, customized learning — available 24x7x365.  Cloud-based learner profiles may enter the equation as well.

The chances for creativity,  innovation, and entrepreneurship that are coming will be mind-blowing! What employers will be looking for — and where they can look for it — may change as well.

What we know today as the “television” will most likely play a significant role in this learning ecosystem of the future. But it won’t be like the TV we’ve come to know. It will be much more interactive and will be aware of who is using it — and what that person is interested in learning about. Technologies/applications like Apple’s AirPlay will become more standard, allowing a person to move from device to device without missing a  beat. Transmedia storytellers will thrive in this environment!

Much of the professionally done content will be created by teams of specialists, including the publishers of educational content, and the in-house teams of specialists within colleges, universities, and corporations around the globe. Perhaps consortiums of colleges/universities will each contribute some of the content — more readily accepting previous coursework that was delivered via their consortium’s membership.

An additional thought regarding higher education and K-12 and their Smart Classrooms/Spaces:
For input devices…
The “chalkboards” of the future may be transparent, or they may be on top of a drawing board-sized table or they may be tablet-based. But whatever form they take and whatever is displayed upon them, the ability to annotate will be there; with the resulting graphics saved and instantly distributed. (Eventually, we may get to voice-controlled Smart Classrooms, but we have a ways to go in that area…)

Below are some of the graphics that capture a bit of what I’m seeing in my mind…and in our futures.

Alternatively available as a PowerPoint Presentation (audio forthcoming in a future version)

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

— from Daniel S. Christian | April 2011

See also:

Addendum on 4-14-11:

 

Tagged with:  

What's the best way to deal with ever-changing streams of content? When information has shrinking half-lives?

From DSC:
After looking at some items concerning Connectivism*, I’ve been reflecting upon the following questions:

  • What’s the best way for us to dip our feet into the constantly moving streams of content?
    (No matter the topic or discipline, the streams continue to flow.)
  • What’s the optimal setup for K-12 based “courses”?
  • What’s the optimal setup for “courses” within higher education?
  • How should L&D departments deal with this phenomenon?
  • How do publishers and textbook authors want to address this situation?

Thinking of Gonzalez (2004; as cited in Siemens (2005)) description of the challenges of rapidly diminishing knowledge life:

“One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete. Half of what is known today was not known 10 years ago. The amount of knowledge in the world has doubled in the past 10 years and is doubling every 18 months according to the American Society of Training and Documentation (ASTD). To combat the shrinking half-life of knowledge, organizations have been forced to develop new methods of deploying instruction.”

Stephen Downes addresses this and points to a possible solution to this phenomenon in his presentation from 3/15/11 entitled “Educational Projection: Supporting Distributed Learning Online.”

Excerpt/slides:

.

I need to put more thought into this, but wanted to throw this question out there…more later…

 

 


* From DSC: Some of the items I looked at regarding Connectivism — some directly related, others indirectly-related — were:


Siemens, G.  (2005).  Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age.  Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm.

Downes, S.  (2005).  An introduction to connective knowledge.  Retrieved from http://www.  downes.  ca/post/33034.  Downes noted that this was published in Hug, Theo (ed.  ) (2007): Media, knowledge & education – exploring new spaces, relations and dynamics in digital media ecologies.  Proceedings of the International Conference held on June 25-26, 2007.  November 27, 2007.

Kop, R.  & Hill, A.  (2008).  Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, v9 n3 p1-13 Oct 2008.

Tracey, R.  (2009). Instructivism, constructivism or connectivism? Training & Development in Australia, December, 2009. p08-09, 2p.  Retrieved from EBSCOhost. ISSN 0310-4664.

Kerr, B.  (2007).  A challenge to connectivism.  Retrieved at http://learningevolves.  wikispaces.  com/kerr.

Sims, R.  (2008).  Rethinking (e)learning: A manifesto for connected generations.  Distance Education Vol.  29, No.  2, August 2008, 153–164.  ISSN 0158-7919 print/ISSN 1475-0198 online.  DOI: 10.  1080/01587910802154954

Lisa Dawley.   (2009).  Social network knowledge construction: emerging virtual world pedagogy.  On the Horizon, 17(2), 109-121.   Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals.  (Document ID: 1880656431).

Hargadon, S.  (2011).  Ugh.  Classic politics now extends to social networking in education.  Retrieved from http://www.  stevehargadon.  com/2011/03/ugh-classic-politics-now-extends-to.  html.

Cross, J.  (2001).  Crowd-inspired innovation.  Retrieved from http://www.internettime.com/2011/03/crowd-inspired-innovation.

Rogers-Estable, M..  (2009).  Web 2.0 and distance education: Tools and techniques.  Distance Learning, 6(4), 55-60.  Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals.  (Document ID: 2017059921).

Marrotte-Newman, S..  (2009).  Why virtual schools exist and understanding their culture.  Distance Learning, 6(4), 31-35.  Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals.  (Document ID: 2017059881).

Hilton, J., Graham, C., Rich, P., & Wiley, D. (2010). Using online technologies to extend a classroom to learners at a distance.  Distance Education, 31(1), 77-92.  Retrieved from ProQuest Education Journals.  (Document ID: 2074810921).

Attwell, G. (2010). Personal learning environments and Vygotsky. Retrieved from http://www.pontydysgu.org/2010/04/personal-learning-environments-and-vygotsky.

Content Curation Tools: How to pick the right venue? — from Content Curation Marketing by Pawan Deshpande

Content Curation Venues

.

By definition, content curation is the act of continually identifying, organizing, and sharing the best and most relevant content on a specific topic or issue online.  When evaluating which content curation tool to use, there are three primary areas of consideration:

1. The Inputs – Where does the content curation tool get information from? What type of content will this allow me to curate?  Will it help identify and recommend relevant content?

2. The Organization  – What does this tool offer in terms of organizing content once it has been identified?  What type of data models does this represent content as? In a simple chronological list, or an inter-linked structure? Does it let me annotate and editorialize the curated content?

3. The Venue – How and where can I share the content once I have decided to curate it?

In this blog post, I am primarily going to focus on the decided on a content curation tool based on the venue – the channels to which your content is curated.  And just like most things, there’s no one right answer.  It really depends on your goals and objectives.

Connections, Clouds, Things & Analytics – from George Siemens

From DSC:
In looking through George’s presentation, the following graphic reminded me of a learning ecosystem. The idea of activity and content streams speaks of constant flow, change, new information. Look are the sources of where learning can come from:

George Siemens 12-9-10 presentation: Connections, Clouds, Things & Analytics

.

As an instructional designer, how do we incorporate all of this?

Finally, one other thought, if we are not connected to a network of bloggers (and have a series of RSS feeds keeping us constantly up-to-date) or have some other means of tapping into these streams of activities and sources of content, we will look like this:



Top 100 Tools for Learning 2010: Final list, presentation and more — from Jane Knight

Yesterday I finalised the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2010 list.  Many thanks to the 545 people who shared their Top 10 Tools for Learning and contributed to the building of the list.   Although this list is available online, I also created this presentation which provides the information as a slideset – embedded below.

My Photo

Jane Hart, a Social Business Consultant, and founder
of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies.

WordPress introduced a brand-new subscription feature [on 9/10]— from WordPress.com

WordPress Subscriptions appear as a tab in the top menu bar when logged in and browsing around WordPressWordPress.com blogs and as a tab on a user’s WordPress.com homepage. The top menu tab can be used to instantly subscribe to any WordPress.com blog, and when managing your subscriptions, you can also add RSS-enabled blogs from around the web simply by typing the blog or site’s URL in a field. New post notifications are available via e-mail and IM, but they aren’t sent to new subscribers by default.

Tagged with:  

Go through your blogs on your iPhone

Tagged with:  
© 2024 | Daniel Christian