Why Do We Need to Have It?

When I find a blog that interests me I inevitably check the “About Page” of the author before I decide to subscribe. It’s the same for Twitter. I will not follow someone who doesn’t have a Bio of some sort, and preferably a link to their blog. Why is it important? I think it is about trust. I’m letting people into my Personal Learning Network and connecting to their network. I want to be associated with credible, interesting and talented people or at least people with similar interests and careers. The “About Page” is the social chit chat before you get down to business.

What Should Be On It?

Once you have shared a little bit of information about yourself - a balance of professional highlights mixed with smidge of personal interests - so that you start to create a connection with your readers, then it is time to move on to the  purpose of your blog and the sort of things you will be writing about.

Michele Martin from the Bamboo Project Blog has an excellent example of an about me post and a separate post on what to find on her blog.

Another interesting post written by Skellie  How to Write the Perfect ‘About’ Page (by Numbers) is quite helpful if you are at all in doubt about what to write.

And finally the QuickSprout blog lists 4 essential items for an “About Me” including a picture of yourself “no matter how ugly” you are!

It looks like I should take my own advice and update my “About Me”, which up until now has been a short paragraph in a text widget in my side bar. The text widget is a nice way to keep and extract of your bio but it probably should link to the “About Me” page which has all the extra important details mentioned above.

Photo: Flickr - Tony Hall

Blogging like anything else has protocols and “political correctness” that you become aware of once you are part of the environment. Linking is one the big must dos, not just because it is the right thing to give credit if you have used others ideas and writings, but for self interest because it helps people find your blog as well.

Others have written about this in a far more eloquent way than I have so the following links are ones that I have found practical and very informative.

This post from the Problogger clearly explains why you should link in your blog and how it can help you develop an audience.

The Edublogger tells you how to link to other blogs and gives the following reasons for linking

1. A person’s blog if you mention a blogger.
   
2. The post if you are talking about a particular post on a blog”

Linking is an important part of blogging but do it for the right reasons. Don’t overlink or it’s a bit like crying wolf. Readers will only follow your blog if you have genuine content with relevant links.

Photo thanks to Flickr

Tux Paint, Tux Typing and Tux Math are three of the ongoing projects belonging to Tux4Kids. Tux Paint, Tux Typing and Tux Math are free software applications that you can download and run on your home or school computers. If you would like to know more, you can read the reviews I have written in my other blog

The aim of Tux4Kids is two fold;

1. to produce free software of educational value so that all schools, children and parents  will have the opportunity to use it
2. to produce an alternative to proprietary software for schools thereby removing the cost and legal barriers to accessing quality educational software resources.

You can find the sites to download the software by clicking on the images below

TUX PAINT                           TUX TYPING                          TUX MATH

Invite To Everyone in FLE.

Please help make a WORDLE.

I’d like to create a Flexible Learning Environment image/logo for the Skype podcasts. Could everyone respond in the comments with 10 words that they think describe a Flexible Learning Environment. It doesn’t matter if we repeat words - that’s what makes a Wordle interesting.

I’ll put them together in Wordle and publish them. It might be interesting to make one now and then repeat the exercise again at the end of the semester to see if we have changed our ideas.

Thanks for your help.

THE FINISHED WORDLE

I liked the way this Wordle is shaped a bit like an arrow - as though we are moving forward. Thanks everyone for your contributions, if you look carefully you should see your name.

I have a subscription to Odiogo which creates podcasts from my blogs. I thought it might be interesting to hear someone else read my blog posts to me. I wanted to see if I could distance myself enough from the original process of writing, to think critically about the content. I’m not a confident writer and have for years avoided writing anything. And I dread rereading my published material for fear of finding mistakes. I subscribed to Odiogo for fun and for the feedback it might provide.

I’ve subscribed to the Odiogo feed in iTunes and now just to see if I could I’ve embedded a player with the feed directly on my blog.The player looks great and is customisable - the screen is blank but I think that is because I don’t have any art work on Odiogo for my podcast. I will be testing this player again on the students podcasts.

The player is free from Podcast Pickle and was extremely easy to set up. I am a fan of this site!

I have spent most of my weekend trying to figure out how to embed sound and video files into the school’s Globalstudent blogs. Globalstudent and Globalteacher blogs are powered by Wordpress just like Edublogs but they are supported by Victorian Education Channel and SLAV (Schools Library Association of Victoria) and so there is no cost to teachers and they are free of advertisements.

However the tools for posting blogs do not include a media player in Globalstudent/teacher and so sound files and video files are not embedded but open in a separate window. Considering Edublogs and Globalstudent blogs are so similar I knew that it had to be possible. Finally after trying many workarounds I discovered the solution with a Google search. Jake Ludington’s MediaBlab had the code that I needed and clearly explains what it all means.

It even explained why the controls on the Quicktime player weren’t always visible. Now when the students post their sound and video files they will play in the same window which is a much more attractive option. The only thing I have to master now is making the videos the right size for the blog page. You can see how it works at Berwick Lodge Home Page. There is a Video example on Grade 6Z’s site as well. In this example you will understand what I mean about getting the size of the video right. If I made the player any smaller parts of the movie were cut off so it is just a matter of choosing the right dimensions when making the file.

I started my blog about a year ago - in fact it was the first birthday of  “My ICT Journey” on March 10th!  I remember at the beginning that the concept of blogging was completely strange to me. Now, it would be completely strange not to have a blog (or two). You know that feeling you get if don’t have your mobile phone or you forget to put on your wrist watch - that’s what it would be like if I couldn’t have my blog.

With this in mind I thought I would compile the resources that helped me get my head around my purpose and understanding of blogging. I am in no way an expert especially compared to the “pro bloggers” who I read and admire, but this short list might help the beginning bloggers of the world.

I started by listening to podcasts about blogging. Blogging Vox Pops was one of the first podcasts that helped me understand why or why not I might blog: It goes for about 20 mins and is easy to listen to while you are driving or doing the housework. E-Learning Insights has a number of podcasts about blogging that are helpful.

The next thing I did was to read blogs. The more I read the more I was inspired to write. Writing was not one of my preferred past times, a hang over from being a terrible speller as a child, but blogging is short and sweet and usually illustrated - so it fits all my criteria for writing. One of my favourite blogs to read at the time was not an educational one but Michele Martin’s Bamboo Project. Michele’s blog is

“… dedicated to helping individuals and organizations use best practices and social media tools to construct life-long learning and career development systems…”

The last thing on my list would be to take part in one of the blogging challenges. Challenges such as the  “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” help to improve your blog with tips and behaviours that only other experienced bloggers know.

You can really only understand blogging by blogging. Take baby steps and write for yourself but try to post regularly. Be professional and only write/publish what you be happy to have your future employer to read. A blog can be an excellent digital portfolio.

Flickr 1st Birthday Photo:

This is the workflow to create the following Voicethread.

It is a work under progress but now we know the process from start to collaborate.

Step 1

Students each hand-drew a picture of themselves. (They could have just as easily drawn it using drawing software on the computer, saved it as a jpeg and then we could have uploaded it directly)

Step 2

I used the digital camera to take a photo of each picture and uploaded the pictures to the computer which was quicker than scanning.

Step 3

Open Voicethread and chose a picture to upload which represented the topic (Friendship). We used clipart for convenience but you could use photos or student art just as easily.

Step 4

Add the new identities of the students by uploading their pictures that they drew of themselves.

Step 5

Have the students practice what they are going to say for their comments

Step 6

Connect a microphone and have the students take turns to record their comments on one computer. Don’t forget to switch identities for each student

Step 7

Add titles etc.

Step 8

Use the Share button to send the voicethread to collaborators or copy the link and email it to them. Use the code provided to embed your Voicethread on your blog.

This is a step by step guide for teachers to sign up for a free educator account on Voicethread.

1. Go to Voicethread and click on Register.

2. Continue to Register for a new account

3. Continue to fill in the details but click on the Educators link not the register button.

Fill in the details about your school to prove you are an educator and use your edumail or school email address in the School email address section.

Click on “apply” and then all you have to do is click on the link that will be sent to your school email address.

You now have a free educators account. You can upgrade to the Pro Educators account for a one off payment of $10 which will give you more storage. Compare the two accounts and decide what is best for your needs.

We had our first Skype video conference with students in New Zealand. Four Australian students interviewed four students in New Zealand about being leaders in their schools. The Aussie students are using the interviews as part of our school’s weekly radio show. We recorded the audio of the conference and captured the video. Seeing the students face to face makes such a difference to the interpersonal connections you form.

I learnt a lot in this first “official” Skype Conference so here is a list of things I would change for next time:

1. I was relying on the wireless network but according to my techie if I had of used a Ethernet cable the bandwidth would have been better and the sound more reliable
2. We had four students interview four students - for such a formal interview as the one the students had scripted for the radio show this was awkward. Next time I would only have two at a time so that the students can all fit on the screen and generate more of a personal conversation.
3. We wrote the script and shared it with the New Zealand students on Google Docs. This worked beautifully. All parties had access to the script and last minute changes but we didn’t have time for our NZ students to script in any answers to our questions. Next time we would collaborate more on the writing.

blps-1_09-school-captains

This is only the beginning of our relationship with New Zealand and just the first of many Skype conferences. It is a fantastic way to flatten the classroom walls and connect students to their peers all over the world. If you would like to connect with us please let me know.