The capabilities of Google Gadgets I described in a previous post on creating a personal portal are available for inclusion on your own web pages. To provide a demo, I must link you to a simple page external to this blog.
I encourage you to examine the collection of gadgets that are available. You may find a resource that those who visit your site will find useful and that you could not create yourself.
If you happen to be a Mac user and use Dashboard widgets, Mesadynamics offers a free resource for converting gadgets to widgets.
Tom Hoffman, writing as an ed-tech insider – comments on the tendancy of congress to respond to a problem by proposing new legislation. Quick, the elections are coming and how could anyone oppose legislation to protect our children. Among the concerns, IM messages are not stored by ISPs so evidence is lost.
Imposing restrictions on schools would not have stopped one of our nations leaders and according to the data on how other predators contact minors, it would stop only a small proportion of inappropriate attempts. But, why bother with the data. Unfortunately, the Foley example is a typical situation – an adult made inappropriate online contact with a minor outside of the environment in which restrictions and monitoring are or will likely be applied. I am just guessing that IMing will not be banned (except perhaps in schools).
Should ISPs be required to store IM transactions? Is a record of the communication the issue? Is IMing more dangerous than cell phone communication that involves audio? Perhaps providers should be responsible for storing the audio too. But wait, what problem really needs fixing? At least in the Foley case, lack of evidence does not seem to be the problem.
The cost of textbooks seems to be a theme that catches may attention. My current audiobook (I listen while I do low attention tasks at work) is Anderson’s Long Tail. The Long Tail concerns the opportunities present when a system offers the flexibility to serve many individuals with many unique interests in contrast to providing the same product to many individuals. The sale of used books is an example from the book (both textbooks and rare books). As I understand the author’s perspective on textbooks, the present system works to allow students a way to “rent” books at a reasonable cost. An $80 book is typically rented by a student at a rate of $40 for the semester. The distribution system (the bookstore buybacks and online methods for exchanging used books) provide the means to rent an expensive product at this low rate to relatively small groups of students.
Anderson does discuss related topics – custom printing “on demand” to reduce the cost of maintaining an inventory of books within the tail, etc.
A TechTalk post entitled “Turning Google Into A Portal” caught my attention. I have a Google Personal Home Page, but like so many things I experiment with I have not paid much attention to the site in some time. Google offers modules that you can add to your personal page to satisfy personal interests. The idea is that one might create a personal portal – a collection of resources that fit how one uses the web – and then set this as the “home page” within your browser of choice. Modules are added and positioned according to personal taste. When you launch your browser, you encounter the information sources and tools that suit your needs.
My existing portal is provided by NetVibes. I now find myself facing a dilemma – each of my portals has unique capabilities. Maintaining two personal portals defeats the purpose of a portal. What is the point of having two “to-do” lists? Which one do you update? Decisions, decisions!!
If the initial news regarding the online behavior of Congressman Foley was not disturbing enough, now it appears that some, possibly even House Speaker Hastert, were aware of the allegiations and failed to pursue the matter (CNN). It is always a horrible thing when those in the public trust (educators, clergy, elected officials) take advantage of their positions and turn out to be perpetrators. Worse yet in this case, others in authority appear to have excused the inappropriate behavior of their colleagues.
I wonder if there is a message in this situations that our legislators should consider? Technological barriers are not likely to be the key to confronting the realities of online victimization. Superivsion and education are crucial. In this case, our leaders supervisory skills seem to be somewhat lax. Perhaps the recognition of a problem requires that the complaint involve someone of the other party.
We are out of town visiting relatives in Hinckley, MN. Both Cindy and her sister in law Denise work with technology in schools so we spend some time experimenting.
sUND started a technology conference, Beyond Boundaries, five years ago. The conference has grown enough that it is attracting higher ed folks interested in technology from outside the immediate area. A mix is important for generating new ideas.
The opening keynote was provided by Marc Prensky – the digital immigrant/native guy. Past posts would indicate that I find the distinction annoying, but I am on my best behavior today. I understand the value of creating a simple way to brand complex ideas. We all need to challenge ourselves with new ideas. I was reading Jenkin’s book Convergence Culture last night and an idea raised in the final chapter made me think. The opportunity to create content and to exercise control over the content we encounter (e.g., blogs) can allow those with deeply held beliefs to express a position, but also surround this personal position with information sources that are perfectly consistent. There is a danger in hanging out with like-minded individuals. One can create a personal environment that eliminates cognitive conflict because what you encounter within your environment are messages similar to your own. Who’s on your blog list.
I agree with much of what Prensky has to say. It is my sensitivity to being old that is probably my problem. I like Prensky’s idea that teachers should not feel like they have to master technology tools. Rather, what they need to do is understand the tools and the issues that might arise around tool use. Let the students learn how to use the tools.
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