The new Twitter of 2010?

According to a recent article by CNN, the "Twitter" of 2010 may be a new social media service called Foursquare. Foursquare is an odd site to pin down. It's part Twitter (with a similar tweeting function), part personal location tagger, and part geo-cache-esque game. Apparently, people earn rewards for checking in at various locations. If one checks in enough, they are dubbed "mayor" of that town. Beyond all the fun games and dazzle, the site seems pretty simple. It's Twitter, but with a location tag so that your friends know where to find you.

Will this be the Twitter of 2010? I'm not so sure. Some may find that giving away their location for others to see is a bit creepy. Some may not be too thrilled about being the mayor of a town or spot...particularly if they want to move. However, I imagine that a cult following will grow, with people who get addicted to game side of it. Will it be as big as Twitter, or involved in some cutural revolution in a Middle Eastern Country? I doubt it, but I do imagine that this is not the last time that I will hear about, or you will read about, Foursquare.

Check it out: foursquare.com

Ride the Wave

I just got my invitation to Google Wave, and already I've grabbed my board and gone surfing! Right now, I'd say the conditions are partly cloudy, with only three foot swells.

From first glances, Google Wave (the new addition to my PLN), seems a lot like an ordinary email, except that the email messages back and forth are in small twitter-esque size boxes. It also feels a little less formal than email. I have begun a few "waves" with some friends, however, I have not yet tried out the live chat. I'm especially excited about eventually trying out the chat language translator.

Overall, as of now, I am a bit confused by the set up, but I guess there's always a learning curve.

Update: As I was writting this,I was "Waving". The live chat the same thing as the email "wave". I say my friend's message as he typed and edited it.

Second Life Professional Development

Sitting down next to a lion, a biker dude, and a princess, I knew this would be one of my more interesting professional development sessions. My experience with Second Life up until this point had been very limited. I've floated around on ISTE Island before, picked up some free gear and food, and even joined a dance party. However, I had yet to seen the educational opportunities. In joining a professional development session through ISTE, I witnessed the potential that Second Life has. About 30 people, scattered across the globe were able to watch a lecture (with powerpoint), and converse. It was quite remarkable. However, in all honesty, I did not have a great personal experience. The topic of discussion concerned programming in Second Life, and was well beyond my understanding. While I didn't learn anything from the presenter (like I said, well above my head), I was able to learn about the educational opportunities of Second Life. Not many other programs enable such sessions and meeting opportunities. The presenter also showed us how second life could be used for virtual field trips (although since I teach minors, I can't use this in my class). However, in regards to free professional development opportunities, Second Life may be useful for me. Plus, there were lions and princesses, which is always fun.

The "Cloud"

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/04/cloud.computing.hunt/index.html

This was an interesting article and video about that nebulous cloud where all of our data is stored. I did not know it, but one of the reasons why so few of us know specifics about this "cloud", is because the companies like Google and Microsoft, that store our data online, keeps it a secret. The reporter who wrote this CNN article was decline access to most of these data storage facilities (which apparently can be warehouses of computers larger than football fields). Talk about a cloud, I can only imagine how much exhaust is pumped into the atmosphere in cooling these thousands of data storage computers!

As I write this blog post, I wonder, where is this entry being saved? These words are not being saved on my flash drive, my computer, or my own network. There up in the cloud...or rather, in a few dozen warehouses spread secretly around the nation or globe. And also, who owns these words? Are they still mine, or the property of blogger? The answer is as clear as the thick clouds above us.

LM NET - A blessing or a curse?

In addition to being enrolled in MD 499 this fall, I am also taking MD 403: The School Library. This course adds whole new elements to my PLN. As part of my MD 403 requirements, I have joined LM_NET ( http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ ). LM_NET is a giant converstation held between Media Specialists worldwide. It's almost like Twitter, instead it uses emails instead of character limited tweets. If I have a question, I email it out to all the subscribers in the hopes that dedicated followers check their emails and reply. It's quite extraordinary how many questions are asked and answered by this online community.

The only draw back, is that it's the epitome of the "fire hydrogen in the face" PLN. I set up an extra email account just for LM_NET because I receive hundreds of emails a day! In a way, it's more chaotic than twitter, as there are no character limits. However, since it uses email, it opens up for more dialog, and collaboration. Check it out, maybe you'll want to join the conversation. If you've got a question related to Ed Tech or Media Centers, someone might be answer to answer it.

Google Documents

I was first introduced to google documents as just another means of saving your work/word files. From time to time, I would write essays on google, in case I wanted to access them without a flash drive. However, over the last year I have really begun to see them as an educational tool.

In MD 499, as well as MD 403 (a school media center course I'm taking), we have been using google docs as a powerful collaboration tool. Although the google word doc cannot be edited simultaneously, it still enables users to edit and share their work. A google excel spreadsheet however, enables users to edit simultaneously as long as they add to separate cells.

This year, one goal that I have as an educator is to increase my use of web 2.0 in the classroom. I am looking to google docs to help me do so. Already, I have used the excel spreadsheet to let students collaborate on generating a list of topics to study for a project on US history. Currently, I am using google word documents so that groups can share, add to, and edit the same essay. I never imagined that 25 students could collaborate on the same writing piece throughout the course of a day.

I have my annual goals meeting with my principal tomorrow, and I'm going to share with her my goal to incorporate web 2.0. With this as my official goal, I hope to find ways of employing collaborative online tools throughout the year.

Concept Map