The Halfway Point -

The halfway point.  Yes, it does feel like we're here!  This is slightly stream-of-consciousness, but here we go!

Since the beginning of this class, I have created accounts in Google+, Twitter, Diigo, Feedly, Soundcloud, Second Life, Classroom 2.0, and Wikipedia.  While I have found all of these platforms to be interesting in some way, I must admit that joining them all over the period of a few weeks has been slightly overwhelming.  Is there an app to keep track of all your apps? I also haven't been able to go back and spend more time really investigating these platforms in order to feel like I have any sort of mastery over them.  But maybe that's the point of this class? To at least jump off the diving board into the social media pool and start feeling comfortable in the water?

I wish there were another way to participate with this class rather than going to the forum for each specific assignment, clicking to see who's done what, and then commenting (or, as the case may more often be, not commenting) within that forum.  Is there a way to show a feed of most recent activity across all forums?  A "trending now" gadget?  I don't know enough (read: I don't know anything) about Moodle, so I don't know if that's possible.  But I would be a big supporter!

I would also love more critiques of various platforms - what are the pros and cons of using this platform? What educational uses could this platform have?  A few times along the way this has happened - for instance, I thought Neil's introduction of Tagxedo, and Curtis' post about Livebinders were specifically helpful.

I'm not really making the jump to connecting with strangers via social media.  Isn't that strange?  I wonder if it's because I started my social media experience with Facebook, where I don't friend or accept friend requests from people I don't know.  However, on Twitter, I do (but I only have 24 followers, and I know 93% of them) - so I guess I should say I would connect with a stranger on Twitter, if they met some sort of criteria - followed other people I did, lived in Asheville, etc.  I'm following people I don't know - mostly they're celebrities - on both Twitter and SoundCloud.

Here are some other things I don't understand that I would like to:

• How do channels and tagging work on YouTube?  If I ask 40 people to make a short video about a topic, would all those videos appear on my channel if they tag me?
• Is there an ad-free photo sharing site where you can create your own e-cards?
• What about that Google+ hangout?  Are we doing that?  

Module 4 OUT.

 

Understanding Wikipedia -

Well, after reading through the tutorial and a handful of the links (biting the newbie was especially enlightening!), I don't know that I'll ever reaally understand Wikipedia.

It honestly never occurred to me that I could be an editor on Wikipedia.  I understood that it was open-source  and that anyone could be a contributor, but it just didn't cross my mind that anyone also meant me.  I have actively wondered why Asheville Community Theatre didn't have a page (it's the oldest continually operating theatre in Asheville, the third oldest community theatre in North Carolina, and has had its share of notable participants - ie: Charlton Heston was the second artistic director) and yet never thought about writing it myself.  However, it's encouraged for a user to not create a page about themselves or their employer - harder to keep the NPOV.  Hmmmmm - can I throw it out for discussion?  Would it be appropriate for me to create that page?

Wikiversity: Web 2.0 Course -

First of all, here's my change: http://en.wikiversity.org/w/index.php?title=Web_2.0&diff=prev&oldid=882595

It seemed really odd to me that the name of the creator of the wiki was listed incorrectly and also that the meaning of the word "wiki" was wrong.

As for the class, the activities section was very similar to what we're doing in this class.  I think the Michael Wesch videos that we were pointed towards have been very inspirational and thought-provoking, and they might be a nice addition to any Web 2.0 class.  It has been helpful going through the different platforms with classmates - especially knowing the audience for your blog right off the bat.  Otherwise, I think the Wikiversity Web 2.0 class is a good "do-it-yourself" class that can push people to try new programs and see which ones they like to use the most.

Diigo (+Feedly, +Pinterest) -

I created an account in Diigo.  As with any of the social bookmarking sites, I think Diigo will only be helpful if I'm consistent with using it.

I like seeing photos more than just links - and maybe there's a way to do that in Diigo - so I also opened an account with Feedly (I'm not sure how to share my page).  Feedly is just a reader site that basically takes all of your RSS feeds and puts them onto one page.  Very helpful!  I would much rather use my Feedly page than my Google Reader page.

I also have an account on Pinterest, that again, I don't use as often as I should.

Second Life - from random discussion board -

Thought you all would get a kick out of this -

From the comments section on a review of "John Carter" from the AV Club -

Are we "out of touch academics"?

Weekly Video #3 (Michael Wesch Video Reflections) -

I combined my weekly video with my reflections on the Michael Wesch video.

I am continuing to experiment. This video was taken with my webcam which is embedded in my laptop. I like being able to use my hands when I talk - but I don't like the camera angle. I don't believe I'll ever shoot from below the chin ever again!

Second Life -

I have to say that I agree with pretty much everything that Neil and Jason had to say about our meeting in Second Life. I found the experience to be mostly confusing and distracting and only slightly fun.

I randomly clicked on the forum thread about the meeting (Wednesday at 8:30 pm) at about 8:27 pm on Wednesday night. Since I had already set up my account and free avatar, and walked through the initial orientation, I thought I would jump right in and do my best to find Catamount Island and join the meeting. When I opened Second Life, I was told that the program couldn't locate my last location, so I was being dropped into a new place. I don't know what this new place was (I was expecting the area in the welcome pavilion) - it was very grey and had a very unfestive air to it. I was surrounded by pretty spooky avatars - at least one was some sort of prowling grey catbeast. Very weird. I was surprised by my reaction - I felt very awkward and nervous and was relieved when I figured out how to teleport.

Catamount Island was pleasant and deserted. I wandered toward a red beam of light. I didn't know how to tell if anyone else was there, so I typed "Hello?" in the chat box. Of course nothing happened. I rounded a corner and there was Neil. As he said, neither of us could figure out the voice chat, so everything was typed. Jason joined in later and was able to provide some background information about the Island.

I explored some houses built by Western students - tried to open a refrigerator, read a note in Spanish left on a kitchen table, and wondered about the purpose of the cemetery on Catamount Island.

My main issues were:
1) Understanding movement, including walking, was difficult for me. I fell off a bridge into a lake twice (once on the way into a classroom, once I figured out how to get out of the lake, and into the class, a film had already begun playing, so I missed the intro). I also continued to somehow enter an invisible portal that took me to the top of a giant tower. So, really, mid-chat with Jason and Neil, I would suddenly be in a completely different place, have to fly back down to where they were and try to pick up again. Frustrating.

2) Second Life has completely crashed my computer twice. Once was during our meeting, so between shutting down completely and restarting, then trying to find Neil and Jason again, I missed about 10 minutes of conversation.

3) I know there are ways to change this kind of stuff, but I wasn't really happy with how the guys had normal looking avatars, but the women were all Boobs McGee. I chose a fairly conservative looking gal, with regular/casual type clothing, but when I changed my camera angle and saw her from the front, I was pretty heavy handed with the bra size. I don't care about this at all if you're using Second Life for social reasons, but if you're using Second Life for educational or professional reasons, I think it stinks that women could potentially spend a lot of time toning down the sex.

All that said, I did find chatting in Second Life to be more interesting than over email or Facebook or even Skype. For me, there was an aura of a mystery to be solved, which I found exciting. And again, I continue to be surprised at the immediacy of my emotional reactions - laughing out loud when I fall into a lake; feeling anxious in the grey, creepy world; or cursing when I ended up in the tower for the third time.

So I'm there if we meet again, but I'd also support the idea of the Google+ hangout. When's that?