16 Things Recap

I really enjoyed the entire process of 16 Things. I feel like I need to review a couple of the earlier ones, but have gained a large appreciation for several of these Web 2.0 tools and have started using them on a daily basis. This has been the most interesting, most useful, and most enjoyable activity I've done while at Ai that has counted for Faculty Development hours. Thanks to Steve Liska for setting this up - the links and resources were thorough and easy to navigate through and I appreciated the sense of humor. I would gladly take part in another such activity.

Thing 16: Geotagging

This is pretty interesting. I don't use flickr much for my own photographs, but the geotagging seems like a good way to search for images of distinct places. For example, I am planning a trip to Tijuana in a few weeks and went to the map section of flickr, typed "Tijuana" in to the search engine and the map automatically shifted so Tijuana was centered. From there I could zoom in closer and closer to look at photographs from distinct neighborhoods. Geotagging works well for visual research about a place. However, the search also led to tons of photographs of people's cats. I can't believe how many cat pictures are floating around the internet. When I was doing some pre-trip research about Tijuana a few months ago, I came across this photograph on a website I can't even remember now. It was strange to see it on flickr again - the photographer's name is Nathan Gibbs. This geotagging also reminded me of this really interesting Ted Talk about a program called Sea Dragon and Photosynth. Super cool!

15: Podcasts

I was already familiar with podcasts and have several NPR shows set up in my iTunes at home. But what I didn't know was how you can link up the podcasts to Google Reader and access them from every computer you use. I added The Current: Song of the Day podcast to my Google Reader. I hardly ever listen to music on the radio - I'm still stuck with the antiquated format of CDs and much prefer driving, working, and relaxing to music from stereos and car CD players. I hear of new music from friends and family, have a lifetime subscription to Rolling Stone (only $99 til death do us part), and occasionally hear about new music from other new sources. So, this podcast seemed perfect to me - it's another easy way to keep current with new music and it requires a very small time commitment.

I perused some of the directories, but quickly got overloaded with the sheer number of available podcasts. But the Education Podcast Network is something I will spend some more time with. As for creating my own podcast - I really don't like the sound of my own voice so that is highly problematic.

Thing 14: Research Project Calculators

Both of these two sites are really amazing resources. I liked how the Research Project Calculator (RPC) outlined each section both from a student perspective and an instructor perspective. The RPC resource is quite large, so I didn't look through every bit of information on each of the 5 steps, but I was impressed with how complete it was. If used, it could really help an instructor design stronger assignments - more interesting to the students and more fair because of the clearer guidelines, both of which would most likely generate better overall assignments.

Just glancing through each of the 5 steps, I came across several instructor prompts that I did not think of when generating my research assignments. It made me think of the large disconnect between instructor and student concerning the expectations and guidelines of a successful research project. Most of the instructors who teach at the college level have had to create large thesis projects and are familiar with the process. But students coming out of highschool do not have that experience and many need help with basic grammar.

With these project calculators, it is possible for instructors to provide more input during the process. Instead of passing out an assignment sheet with guidelines, expectations, due dates, etc. (a good start), the 5 steps in the RPC force more interaction during the research process. It seems this not only ensures a better finished product, but also creates a more learning centered approach.

I like how the University of MN Assignment Calculator breaks down the process into 12 very manageable steps. When students are presented with what they envision as a daunting task, it would be helpful if they could break down the research process into small increments. That way, even completing one of the simple prelimimary steps would provide a feeling of accomplishment. Sometimes procrastination is a direct result of feeling like a given task is impossible. Research projects are not impossible, but tying your shoes with boxing gloves probably is.

Thing 13: Online Productivity Tools

I chose iGoogle as my main productivity tool for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, I already have Google Reader set up and have started using Google Docs for files that I want to work on at school and at home without worrying about carrying a jump drive. It seemed to make sense to have my productivity tool linked to my Google account also so everything is in one place. Once I read the article "Top Ten Productivity Web Sites" I was pleased to find that the author recommended iGoogle as the best such site - which served to solidify my initial reason for choosing that site over the others.

I explored a few of the list services and calendar sites, but again, it made the most sense to use the calendar and other functions on my new iGoogle page. I've never really kept a calendar - either in physical form as a planner or on the computer. But it is a nice function when needed. The one thing I didn't like about iGoogle was the sheer amount of applications you can have on your page. It might sound strange to complain about having options, but there are so many applications and tools that it's hard to find which ones work the best. I'm the sort of obsessive compulsive person that wants to know all the possibilities so I can make an informed decision about what I want to use - that's impossible because of the potential time involved on iGoogle and that bothers me. It took me 15 minutes just to decide on a theme for the banner across my iGoogle home page and I'm not even convinced that it is the best one! But there is a great trivia game on there that keeps a running score - huge time waster but fun.

Thing 12: Tagging and Del.icio.us

When I think of "delicious" I think of something like this (only much larger and with chocolate chip cookie dough pieces and a couple of extra cherries), not social bookmarking websites. But after some research and time spent with del.icio.us I'm pretty impressed by this Web 2.0 tool. I don't use a lot of bookmarks, mainly because I only frequent about 5-10 different websites on a regular and semi-regular basis - I know I'm boring. However, the Common Craft example made a lot of sense. I think my classes could benefit from more web material - either as direct in-class lessons/examples or for outside preparation/planning and a bookmarking site would really help. Again, these Web 2.0 tools overlap to some extent and I am starting to see obvious trends. For many of the tools, the biggest advantage is being able to access your information, documents, websites, etc. from several different computers - not just your home PC. That makes a lot of sense and seems to be the way things are moving. What I don't understand is where all of this stuff is being kept - as we continue to add more and more information to sites like flickr, Google Docs, Dropbox, etc. won't the Interwebs just explode? I understand how back-up drives work because they are physical objects that I can plug into my computer and it always tells me how much space I have left. But what about the web, is there a certain amount of information it can handle?

Wikipedia info:
In 1993, total internet traffic amounted to approx. 100 TB for the year. As of June 2008^[update], Cisco systems estimated Internet traffic at 160 TB/s (which assuming to be statistically constant comes to 5 Zettabytes for the year). (1 zettabyte = one sextillion bytes - I don't know what that means but it sounds like a lot). It's amazing to think how fast the internet is growing!

Thing 11: Online Creations

I looked through all of the links (some were no longer working like Thumbstacks and Zoho Show) and found several that were interesting. The Picture Trail and Big Huge Lab options to add graphics to your photos don't have practical applications to my artistic production or teaching, but are useful and enjoyable for snapshot style photo albums. I was really excited to set up my eFolio Minnesota portfolio but when I went to sign up from this page I kept getting an error message. I was impressed with some of the sample portfolios on this site and it seemed like a beneficial networking tool and a good repository for all of the job application materials one usually has to scramble to find from a variety of sources when a job opportunity presents itself.

I also liked the Slideshare site - it seemed like a cross between Google Docs and a Wiki. I could foresee using such a site as a storage place for presentations given in class so students could access the day's lesson from home. However, eCompanion has a document sharing capability that already serves that purpose for me. The site reminded of a wiki because of all the open information presented in presentation format. A search for "photography lecture" provided 38 pages of photography presentations - technical lectures, art historical presentations, opinion pieces, etc. Looks like no more prepping for me . . . which means I can do way more of this in the office before class . . .