AUSTAFE Conference

MobilizeThis 2008

A short excerpt from an email I fired off this morning;

Hi,

I consider as both a part time TAFE NSW employee and consultant in the field that Diigo is an invaluable tool for communicating with teams and individual teachers.

I output my Diigo tagging into Twitter so effectively I’m NOT dating only sharing my discoveries of good educational resources or events.

I also emulate my Diigo tags in del.icio.us effectively NOT dating but sharing again and connecting core business potential with my networks there also.

My Diigo and del.icious outputs alert me via email when others have added resources to my groups.

very handy and timely seeing as I’m chained to this p-2-p time waster call email.

I am MARRIED.

The sooner we have a a database of ethically enhanced employee profiling then the sooner we can actually do business as it is being done in the millenium we live in.

ps.  I urge you to consider sending me an email that self-nominates you for a Presenter role at MobilizeThis2008 - http://mobilizethis.wikispaces.com

Your theme - send me it via email.
Your timing - somewhere between 22 - 24 th October
Online - straight from your desktop
Networked - check out the other presenters
Free - as in freedom

Perhaps your theme could be ‘Using Social NETWORKING Tools for Educational Purpose’

Making Links 2008

Abstract

Socio-global participatory online platforms have positively put pressure on Australia’s educational reform agenda to embrace new ways of working in the 21st century. The tension between policy and this networked learning pedagogy is also causing large organisations to look more seriously at the potential these networked learning technologies have for educators and more importantly students.

This presentation / paper will examine the behaviours and socio-political constructs that have contributed to “banning and ignoring” the use of social networking technologies in the education and broader community context, juxtaposed with success stories from those who have forged a way forward with careful and balanced approachs to very real dangers such protectionist agendas seek to highlight. The nexus between where social media intersects with education organisation pedagogy and the resultant collusion to exclusion cycle that occurs as a result of trying to “control” such seemingly non-linear human communication is part of the digital education (evolution) revolution debates nationally and internationally.

This presentation also invites participants to consider ongoing interaction with academic & social research findings by Danah Boyd( America),Tanya Notley (Australia), Janet Hawtin (Australia) and Leigh Blackall (New Zealand), using the New Media Consortium’s 2008 (NMC) ‘New Horizon’ report as a spring board for discussion.

Making Links site

Just In Time ( Education )

On Friday of this week I was meant to be involved with a group of people presenting at the 2008 Innovation Showcase “transforming Learning Through Innovation” being held at the Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre by Macro-Dimensions.

That means……I attempted to be. The image above elludes to what occured.

I arrived at “work” at 7.10am ( TAFE NSW ICVET ) in the morning to be totally prepared for both this presentation and another online as part of the SIT “Facilitating Online” workshops with teachers and other staff. True to form the slide share in Adobe Connect went wonky and I was forced yet again to run an impromtu range of activities which now in hindsight will markedly shift the way I’ll conduct the next three sessions.

Here is the presentation that I was hoping I could use;

With a shocking cold and feeling like something from an alien planet I soldiered on.

At 12.00 AM with 30 minutes to go till the next presentation I logged into the Elluminate room which usually gives you about 20 mins of run-in time. I encountered the dreaded logged out, blocked, not accessible message which frustrates the beep out of me. It’s just ridiculous that sitting in the middle of the AFLF National manangement arena that this application is blocked or not accessible particularly considering that it is the core platform used for web conferencing communication for the Framework.

Saves on lots of plane flights. However…..thats not the focus of this post.

I dont want to dwell on what didnt happen rather what did. It occured to me that even though I knew I was going to miss the session and also that there was no time to duck back to the house I was staying at to get connected and to get in so, time to be inventive.

I logged back into Adobe Connect. Set a new room with the title of the event and proceeded to record myself during the exact time when I ws meant to be live elsewhere. I may not have been able to attend but perhaps my recording can be forwarded to those involved and in effect become a usable resource for those teachers attending…..over and over again.

You can access the recording here - http://webconf.det.nsw.edu.au/p72771278/

Just goes to show that despite not having access to the session I was still able to contribute. I really appreciate being included Carole and I hope that next time I’ll be accessing this from my superfast connection here in Orange NSW Australia.

Teachers must be so disenchanted with innovators who show things happening with apparent ease then encounter things like this which can be a real turnoff. It’s a real challenge in this day and age to access things which have a marked effect on what we were once doing that consumed so much more energy to accomplish. On the other hand, this “just-in-time” education mode is bringing new dimensions to the learning landscape….so much richer and relevant in this digital age that some would say is amidst a revolution.

Incidently, it’s just started snowing outside. Brrrrrrrrrrr.

FLNW2 : My Conversation Begins.

FLNW Timetable

Barbara Dieu spent a great deal of time with me last night figuring out a way to ensure that anyone with the right intent could enter the FLNW2 wiki, get an idea what’s happening, add themself as a “conversationalist” rather than a presenter and figure out a way to meet the needs of those who missed the boat …or the international time switching.

I’ll be honest…the timeworldclock  confuses me at the best of times so please bear with me while I go through this steep learning curve.

In my mind I’m resting easier that those that wish to participate can simply be filling out the  registration form which I then transfer the main details through to the FLNW2 Google calendar. …..in fact that gives me an idea. If I change the email address around in the JotForm to the FLNW Google group address then everyone will have full view of the entry although this may pose an issue as it also gives away the IP.

I’ll request some feedback on that idea and see where we go to from there.

With Bee’s feedback I’ve changed the form around to NOT require an email address ( removes complicit values ) and to ensure we catch the best possible data to inform the process of connecting at times before , during and after the FLNW2 event.

The best part of the plan is the idea to encourage those registering to also consider beginning a VoiceThread ( brilliant web application ) before the FLNW2 “begins”….in fact by doing so I consider it already begun. The other idea is to encourage conversations to be spread asynchronously using Slideshare and for those up to it via a Slidecast.

This means that the asynchronous and synchronous elements of the FLNW2 conversation are coming together and those lucky enough will be able to connect others back into the grid from Thailand.

FLNW2 Online Conference

Another full day working on the FLNW2 un-conference wikisite and getting web forms, registration and other goodies underway.

Speaking with Janet Hawtin about the wrapup session on the 28th January in Melbourne, 2008.

The registration form enables people to join the discussions.