Criteria Driven Approach to Instructional Technology

Great resources - esp chart to compare instructional technologies - on this googlesite by Jane Harris from the Lilly Conference session Criteria Driven Approach to Instructional Technology

Learning Tools Directory 2010

From Janes' E-Learning Pick of the Day: Learning Tools Directory 2010

1. Instructional Tools
   Tools for creating, delivering, managing learning and/or providing a social learning environment. Includes course authoring, testing, LMS, CMS and SLEs
   Currently listing 290 tools
   
   
2. Live Tools
   Tools for delivering live meetings, screen sharing and accessing/building virtual worlds. Includes web, audio, video conferencing, live broadcasting, 3D/virtual worlds
   Currently listing 85 tools
   
   
3. Document & Presentation Tools
   Tools to create, host and/or share documents, PDFs, e-Books and/or presentations. Includes word processing, presentation tools, PDF convertors, document and presentation hosting sites
   Currently listing 177 tools
   
   
4. Blogging, Web & Wiki Tools
   Tools to create blogs, web pages/sites and wikis as well as provide interactivity on those sites. Includes blogging tools, web site tools, wikis, widgets, RSS feeds tools, forms, web poll and survey sites
   Currently listing 255 tools
   
   
5. Image, Audio & Video Tools
   Tools to create, edit and/or host images, avatars, audio files, podcasts, screencasts and videos. Includes image editors, images hosting sites, audio editors, video makers, screencasting tools, video hosting sites
   Currently listing 270 tools
   
   
6. Communication Tools
   Tools for a range of synchronous and asynchronous communication activities.Includes email, voice/video messaging, instant messaging, chat rooms, discussion forums
   Currently listing 151 tools
   
   
7. Micro-blogging Tools
   These tools are for real-time updating (140 characters at a time) both publically or privately, as well as a range of useful Twitter apps. Includes micro-blogging, back channel tools, Twitter apps
   Currently listing 141 tools
   
   
8. More collaboration tools
   These are (further) stand-alone tools suitable for individuals to work and learn more effectively with others - as well as on their own. Includes social bookmarking, calendar sharing, mind mapping, notetaking/sharing, whiteboards, research and other tools
   Currently listing 188 tools
   
   
9. Social Networking and Collaboration Spaces
   These social media platforms include public social networks as well as tools to create private collaborative, social spaces for groups or communities, as well as enterprise collaboration systems (with multiple group sites). Includes public social networks, networking and community platforms, group spaces, Enterprise 2.0 systems
   Currently listing 107 tools
10. Personal Productivity Tools
    These tools are for an individual's personal working, learning and/or productivity purposes. Includes mind mapping, information and time management tools, web search, and other productivity tools
    Currently listing 149 tools
    
    
11. Browsers, Players & Readers
    These tools are useful for browsing the web and accessing web content. Includes browsers, extensions, plugins, bookmarklets, toolbars, readers and players, online start pages
    Currently listing 68 tools
    
    
12. Mobile Tools
    These mobile tools are for working, learning and/or productivity purposes.Includes tools for iPhone/iTouch, Blackberry and Android devices
    Currently listing 47 tools
    

Twitter and Instructional Tech

Cool ideas for twitter use in Instructional Technology from Duke's CIT blog:

http://cit.duke.edu/blog/2010/01/04/collecting-sorting-and-archiving-tweets/

Screenpresso

http://www.screenpresso.com/

Free download. Grab, capture and resize; build in editor; Drag and drop into email; Share in twitter; Add effects; Batch resizing.

8 thinks you need to know about collaboration

from Dale Arseneault
http://reflectionskmoi.blogspot.com/2009/12/8-things-you-need-to-know-about.html

1. Collaboration is over used and mis-used and is becoming a buzzword for business people and technologists alike
2. Collaboration isn’t the same as cooperation or coordination - each have different processes, practices and depth of engagement
3. Collaboration is a human process – throwing technology at people won’t magically/automatically create collaboration
4. Meaningful, productive collaboration won’t happen without mutuality of desired outcomes, shared values of transparency and information sharing, compassion, compromise
5. Collaboration implies that "the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few or the needs of the one" and sometimes people aren’t really interested in living by that principle
6. Collaboration isn’t always the best process
7. Collaboration is not equal to Web 2.0
8. Collaboration can be a source of real value in the face of complex environments and situations where no single person has the right answer

Tools for remote collaboration

worth checking out some of these ... from karen coombs blog:

• iChat – Yes you can chat in iChat but did you know that you can video conference and screenshare? I’ve used iChat several times with other Mac users to demonstrate something I’m working on or look at a problem someone was having with a system. Because its built on technology that actually let’s you take control of another persons screen its very helpful for troubleshooting
• GoogleDocs – I really don’t know what I’d do without GoogleDocs. I used it with my co-author to write my first book and it really helped us edit each others work. I’ve used it to draft articles and share them with my editor. I use it to collaborate on functional requirements, presentaiton proposals, spreadsheets of info, and lots of other stuff. My second book chapters are also all in GoogleDocs so my co-author can edit and make suggestions. Its my go to when I need to create docs and use them across computers or share them with other people
• Skype – I’ve been on the road a lot the last year. Several times in places where my cell phone with my current plan didn’t work. Whether in Hamilton Ontario, Bratislava, Vancouver, or visiting my folks in Maine. Skype always works. Plus you can conference call folks on regular phones and those in Skype. Its been invaluable in collaborating with folks. Plus its cheap, I put $10 in my account last fall and I still haven’t used it all.
• Ustream – An easy way to stream video to the web. Love the fact that I can use the camera in my iMac or Air to easily stream a video. Another plus is that you can record the video and pull it down to put elsewhere, like Blip.tv
• Ustream + CamTwist – CamTwist is a great Mac freeware program that allows you to make your screen be the video source. Using this and Ustream you can screencast live what you are presenting. Very cool.
• Blip.tv – My go to place to put video. I like it because it allows you to license via Creative Commons, keep the original format of the video you uploaded, and has a great API. Enough said.
• TalkShoe – Another tool for conference calling with the added benefit of built in recording. TalkShoe is very cool. Greg Schwartz used it for his podcast show, which is how I learned about it. Good way to hold a BIG group discussion because Skype has gone to pieces on me in the past with more that 4-5 people.
• Box.net - During the writing of the first book Jason and I thought we’d share screen captures in Flickr only to discover that our TIFFs were too big for Flickr. Sigh. We needed another way to share files. Thus my Box.net account came into being. Jason likes Dropbox and I know others do too. While each has its pros and cons, we seem to use them in similar ways. Sharing documents seems to be a big one. I also use it as my “what if someone steals my laptop with my presentation on this trip” space. I like Box.net because I can get to it without installing anything. DropBox seems to have the added plus of allowing you to mount it like a drive and sync stuff to it, which is nice. I’m still going back and forth about whether or not I should switch.
• Amazon S3 + Jungle Disk – I started using S3 when I decided that losing my professional files was unacceptable and I didn’t want to have to take a hard drive with me when I fled from a hurricane. While S3 certainly solves my backup problems, it also has the side effect of allowing me to pretty much get to anything: documents, presentations, screen captures, photos, MP3, ebooks; from anywhere. I’ve stopped freaking out about did I remember to put everything I needed on the laptop for a trip or will I accidentally erase my iPod if I try to charge it. If I want to show someone something I don’t have with me, I just download it. I cannot even begin to express my love for S3. Jungle Disk has changed a bit since I started using it. I bought it when it was a desktop product that was a one-time fee. Now it is a monthly fee and works with other cloud storage options.

SOPHIE 2.0

Just stumbled across this and its way cool. "Sophie is software for writing and reading rich media documents in a networked environment. Funded by grants from the Mellon and Macarthur foundations and the University of Southern California, Sophie is free and entirely open-source. "

Anyone tried it yet? Check out the video on side bar for info: http://sophieproject.cntv.usc.edu/