Digital Dialogues

2 dot zero versus 2 point zero??

So what do you say?
Web "2 dot zero"?
Web " 2 point zero"?
Web "2 dot o"?
Web " 2 point o"?
or what about:
"2 point naught"?

Is the "point zero" group referring to decimal points? And surely is this the more correct terminology as it's referring to release versions.. right?
And are the dot zero/o mob coming from the dot coms tribe?
In which case they're referring to like a URL "dot com dot au".
I've been hearing lots of versions lately... and can't say that this is life threatening.. but just something to ponder over...
Personally - I'm a "2 point o" person... but I've notice a few Aussies in the social media field saying "2 dot zero" lately... weird..

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Zotero: a review

Zotero for about 3 months now.. and I think it's time I shared some experiences...
First - a short historical perspective.

In 2003, I started using Endnote - a free download from the University library's site, or purchase a CD for a small token amount.
It took a little while to figure out - and then I went to a couple of classes conducted by the Library - I was impressed with the functionality - but it was clunky and quite difficult to navigate. This was a, I believed at the time, powerful bibliographic tool - the connection to the library databases was brilliant...
In those days, earlier versions, it didn't have fields for all the types of resources I needed - but I created my own fields for weblog posts, and other online articles I needed to cite. I also carefully backed up my Endnote records onto my PDA - a Sony Clie.
I started to have challenges with the Cite as Your Write function - it was supposed to connect with your Word document and records and correctly insert a reference in the style you wanted... hmmm.. it didn't! It corrupted my Word documents, it used it's own citing style (at random) and made a shambles of my bibliogrpahy. So - I stopped using Cite as your Write.
Then... my laptop had a mother board meltdown... but - as a diligent back-up person, I wasn't too stressed (just midly)... I had my 1,000+ references backed up in my PDA. Phew!
Wrong! When I reloaded the software into my new computer - I told the system to take the references from the Sony Clie... did it? Nope - it gleefully advised me that the PC had overwritten the data held on my PDA with the updated, newer version on the laptop! aaaaaaah - now we're talking tears & tantrums!
I did have a hard copy print out of my bibliography - but not all the notes accompanying each file.
Start again - from scratch...
More difficulties, more corrupted Word files, ongoing dramas....

Then in 2006/7 our Library got a license for Refworks, a web-based bibliographic database.
Initially - this was a huge leap forward from Endnote! The web-based application was particularly appealing - I could access my database from any computer - brilliant...! It had fields that now recognised weblog posts, and online journals... fab! The management facility into folders and categories was nice..
But - it is slow to load a single item... some fields required the page to refresh... on average each entry took about... 3 minutes... waaaaay too slow for me... and I'm working manually from a hard copy of my bibliography... slowly, very slowly... tedious too....
I'm not sure of the back-up security of this - where are the servers? Who is doing this regularly? So I export my files at least monthly to HTML & Word versions - but again - this doesn't bring all my notes across.... :-(
And of course, there are the times where no internet access is readily available... and... I can't access my data! grrrrr....

But then ... in late 2007 I read the Innovate article (you need to sign-in - free - to access Innovate) on Zotero! Wow.... could this be the next gen bibliographic system....? Browser-based, plug in to Firefox, free, open-source... ! So - for the last couple of months I've been playing around... and - I have to say - it's brilliant!
It took me a few minutes to acquaint myself with the features, load the plug in and start using it... It's elegant, intuitive, and it picks up all sorts of valuable information straight from the webpage... cool!! The real tipping point was the integration between journals I was viewing with the Science Direct database.. I just click the icon and whammo! All the data, the PDF file, in fact, everything I needed was in my library... then I add a few tags (it suggests tags) and I'm done.... Now that's elegant!
It's still under development - but the citation style list is growing - it now has Harvard... There are easy back-up guidelines to copy the subfolder within the Firefox folder... you could use a portable version of Firefox on a USB key and install Zotero on that...
Now the only thing I haven't done yet is export my files from RefWorks and import to Zotero. Having said that - I've read all the documentation and it doesn't look like a nightmare... In fact, the entire user guide and documentation over at Zotero is well presented, easy to follow and more supportive than either of the other products mentioned!!!
I'd love to hear from other Zotero users... any stories - good, bad or ugly...
Right now - I think the Zotero team need congratulating for streamlining bibliographic management into my online world - thank-you!   

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How the social web came to be...

I'm currently writing a chapter for a text-book (yes, I know - traditional publishing.. but...) on Adult Teaching and Learning - my chapter is focused on e-Learning (surprise, surprise).
In the process of a brief retrospective of e-Learning implementations across higher education, colleges (including community colleges) and the corporate context it's extraordinary how focused the literature is on evaluating e-Learning by comparing the functionality of the technology against traditional teaching practices (didactic, classroom-based learning) rather than evaluating the experiences of the learners, or reviewing the innovative implementations that have extended the learners far beyond the boundaries of their classrooms and institutions!
The comparisons are just fundamentally flawed! No wonder these papers and reports can produce statistics that draw conclusions that are less than positive.
The innovative implementations that have demonstrate the potential for engaging, enriching, empowering all seem to be lost in isloated case studies and blatantly ignored by large government funded reports on trends...
In the meantime - this presentation from Trebor Scholz "How the social web came to be (part 1): A Social-Cultural History of the Social Web" is an elegantly presented review that might inform some of the opponents of learning technologies !
Looking forward to Part 2 Trebor!

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Webex acquired by Cisco

A PR announcement from Webex today, announced the acquisition of the company by Cisco:

"As collaboration in the workplace becomes increasingly important, companies are looking for rich communications tools to help them work more effectively and efficiently," said Charles H. Giancarlo, Chief Development Officer at Cisco. "The combination of Cisco and WebEx will deliver compelling solutions accelerating this next wave of business communications.

Cisco believes the network is a platform for all forms of communications and collaboration, and WebEx's technology and services portfolio complement Cisco's leadership in the Unified Communications and collaboration market, while providing Cisco with a new and unique business model to expand its presence in the fast-growing SMB market," Giancarlo continued.

"Cisco and WebEx share a vision of web collaboration as a key to accelerating business processes and critical to durable competitive advantage," said Subrah S. Iyar, CEO of WebEx. "Cisco's global reach and customer focus will help us extend our core web collaboration applications and continue to broaden the services we offer through the WebEx Connect platform."

This all sounds like a rather interesting combination of technologies - with the deal expected to be closed late 2007 (providing government / legislative requirements are met) I guess we'll have to wait for 2008 to see what goodies are in store and what the acquisition implies!

Blackboard patents e-Learning Technolgoy

Blackboard have been awarded patents on technologies related to...

"... internet-based education support systems and methods. The patent covers core technology relating to certain systems and methods involved in offering online education, including course management systems and enterprise e-Learning systems.

In addition, patents corresponding with the U.S. patent have been issued in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and are pending in the European Union, China, Japan, Canada, India, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Hong Kong and Brazil.

The patented technology underpins Blackboard's e-Learning software applications, including the Blackboard Learning System(TM), WebCT Vista(TM) and WebCT Campus Edition(TM), and provides the advanced functionality enjoyed by millions of Blackboard users worldwide... "

Now to capture the general feeling and issues that this raises, I suggest you visit Stephen Downes who has picked some of the comments (and definitely the concerns) being posted out there...

The press release at Blackboard mentions patents have also been issued all over the world, including Australia....
Now - I'm not an IP lawyer, but I have been invovled with patents a couple of times (and decided not to go through the hugely expensive, incredibly extensive process) - so I really did raise my eyebrows as to how Blackboard were able to be granted a patent...just based on the criteria required...
Here's what IP Australia say:

"Is my invention eligible for patent protections?
Your invention must:

• be new, ('novel') which means that the invention has not been publicly disclosed in any form, anywhere in the world;
• involve an inventive step for a standard patent. This means that the invention must not be obvious to someone with knowledge and experience in the technological field of the invention; or
• for an innovation patent it must involve an innovative step. This means that any variation between the invention and what is currently known about that technology, must make a substantial contribution to the working of the invention;
• be a 'manner of manufacture'. It includes any device, substance, method or process, but it excludes artistic creations, mathematical methods, plans, schemes or other purely mental processes; and
• be useful-your invention should do what you say it will do."

OK - now HOW exactly did a patent get awarded based on this criteria?? hmmmm???

Social Software being adopted by the Australian Government

Today's Australian IT covered this story on the adoption of social software technologies into the public services:

"THE federal government may tap the vast pool of social resources behind blogs and websites such as Flickr and Wikipedia to boost its online information services.
The Department of Finance's lead information technology body, AGIMO, has begun experimenting with wikis and blogs with a view to expanding their use throughout commonwealth departments and agencies...

The trial was part of a strategy to use online services to improve engagement between the community and government by 2010, the spokesman said.
"The government is developing services aligned with Web 2.0 with its implementation of the 2006 e-government strategy,"

And that's NOT mentioning the potential for learning...!!!
So - if you're an educator in the public sector, and you haven't explored these technologies yet...there's still time to become savvy by 2010 - but wouldn't it be great if the L & D practitioners were the ones leading by example and showing the departments how effectively these technologies can be integrated into everyday learning in the workplace.

Dis-Un-Connectedness

I love being able to get away for extended periods of time and still appear to be at work in Sydney!
However, achieving this means I'm reliant on some degree of connectivity on a regular basis... after all, I might be in Europe but I'm not on holidays and there are a couple of cohorts of learners that still require my online presence.
So - here I am in Javea, Spain (one of the most beautiful Meditteranean locations) and....no connectivity!!!
The landline in the villa is down (Telefonica are working on it - but I have to show the Police my passport, to certify my ID and then they will fix it.....in a few days time).
Can I be offline for over a week? hmmmm - no!
There's only 1 internet cafe in the village - but I can't find it....it must be virtual! My 3G Aussie mobile is on global roaming but not connecting to a 3 network so I can't use the phone as a modem. So - it's time to get ingenious!
I've now been picked-up by the Guardia (traffice police) driving around the village searching for unsecured wireless networks.... luckily they just laughed (probably thinking "crazy foreigner") AND I've found a couple of networks on the main cafe strip at the beach.... the connection is slow, but it at least it works! Now there's the added dimension of carrying around the laptop at the beach....sand, suntan lotion and security....another challenge!
Still it works - so once a day I drive down to the village to go online and download emails...
But what happens when much of your work is embedded in web-based applications (like LMSs) and research and readings are accessible only through web-based programs?
Go without for a week? But I came down here to catch-up on readings and get some research done...so the only option is to think about all the web pages you want to access and open numerous browser windows - BUT - that only works for static pages and not actioning web-based applications (still thinking LMSs). Looks like my learners will have a week free from my interventions - and perhaps this is a good thing?!!
Makes me think about some of the applications I select for my learners - am I assuming everyone has the same level of high speed connectivity....probably - and then by assuming this I'm likely to be inhibiting learning opportunities for those less-connected!

Back to London on Saturday - back to high speed wireless connectivity, leaving behind perfect sunny days, balmy nights, tapas, vinos.....hmmm...maybe this un-connectedness wasn't so bad once I'd come to terms with the feelings of dis-connectedness!

Google Jockeying

By now you've probably heard of Google Whacking....
No?
The goal is to enter a query into Google and come up with a single result - oh - and it's just 2 words and no quotation marks!
I use this as part of an activity in classes to sharpen searching techniques...but now...there's Google Jockeying!

So what is it?
"...a participant in a presentation or class session who surfs the internet for terms, or web sites mentioned by the presenter..."

Now - some of my students regularly do this in class already - but here's an added dimension that could really add some value:
"A screen displays the jockey's searches for all participants..."

The challenge here is getting multiple screens or being able to assign the jockey to the data projector....
I like Stephen's suggestion of split screens....but I think the jockey belongs on the back channel (or chat area) or perhaps they post their finds to their Delicious accounts....use agreed tags, then with RSS we can pull it wherever they want it!

This is really worth exploring as part of information and digital literacy activities!
Thanks to Stephen Downes for pointing out this Educause Learning Initiative

What's in your shed??

The great Australian shed - there's been numerous studies on Aussie sheds and outhouses  - and now...well, there's the Intel approach to sheds! - SMH 6 April 2006 "Homing in on the human element"
Genevieve Bell is employed at Intel as an anthropologist to investigate how to add the vital human element to technology!!! She says:

"It's not good enough to just keep producing technology with no notion of whether it's going to be useful. You have to create stuff that people really want, rather than create stuff just because you can..." 
ABB: And that comes before they even think about usability testing, right?

The article outlines some of the projects already developed - but her latest one has the Aussie focus:

"In Australia we spend a lot of our living time outside the home," Ms Bell says. "It's in the backyard, the front yard, even the shed, so we need to look at what people do in those spaces."
"So we're looking at what a digital lifestyle means outside the living room, outside the home. What if the place where you do a lot of your living is the beach, the local pub or even the shed?"
And to prove her point at Intel, Ms Bell has just finished yet another research paper. It's on sheds."

So - what do you do in your shed? And....how could that be digitised?
Well - my shed is packed with old paint tins (probably should through those out), gardening stuff, washing machine & dryer, hot water service, dog beds, outdoor furniture, and a lot of dust and spiders...
Wonder what I could add (there's not much room left) to make this space computerised....hmmm...I'll get back to you on that one! :-)

Daylight savings dilemas....

Are you aware that if you live in the eastern States of Australia that you are NOT getting that extra hour of sleep back this weekend?
Were you also aware that your computer doesn't know this?

What am I babbling on about?
Daylight savings !!!!!
Daylight savings is NOT finishing this weekend (as usual - as scheduled - as your computer thinks it is) - because of the Commonwealth Games (always a sporting reason), Daylight Savings has been extended for 1 week! We now turn our clocks back 1 hour when you go to bed Saturday 1 April....

So - next week - you have an excuse for missing meetings, appointments of any kind, in fact, just about anything you'd like to be late for by 1 hour! Unless of course you change your computer settings...then remember to change them again the following week.....

According to a SMH article - Daylight Savings may muddle computers - there are patches:

"According to Microsoft, the date change will affect Microsoft Windows, Exchange Server and Office which contain pre-set daylight savings information.
Although a patch to fix the date setting was been automatically issued to customers using Microsoft Update, it warns this may not update appointment times that were already scheduled in calendar applications such as Outlook for between 3.00am March 26th and 3.00am on April 2nd.
Those that do not receive automatic updates of Microsoft patches can download it from the company's website, along with instructions on how to uninstall it after the date change.
Apple has also released an update for Mac OS X customers to account for the daylight saving update. For users that don't receive automatic software updates, the company advises them to click on Software Update on the top menu bar under the Apple logo to ensure their computer is set at the correct time."

Doesn't sound very convincing to me...and as an Outlook user...well, I'll just have to dust off the Sun dial!!! But hang on - that will be wrong too - won't it??

If you're in Europe - you're fine - you're not effected by the Aussie sport schedules - you go onto Summer Time - as always - this weekend. Please excuse us southern hemisphere dwellers if we seem a little unsure about things next week!