The need to keep learning.

Pondering method of best upload and display/presentation..over a kopi Lombok!

Collecting and collating information.

Which ever method of learning - individually, thru' on-line demos, or having a tutor or training in workshops,  I am constantly trying to research and find more effective and easily manageable ways to apply technology and learning onto my network or into the classroom. For my students, all half my age, and newly arrived to Australia from third world countries, are on their own journey of social media immersion, I am trying to be there too, but have less time to play with it.

I am constantly  surprised at my ignorance of basic things, like yesterday, I had a student  trying to bluetooth to me a picture she liked, to add it to her word doc, to be included in the new book we are making. Because she had no phone credit, we had to try to think of other ways to do the transfer to my computer. the options are getting wider, and more accessible-if only my expertise could grasp it. Free apps for info sharing...sometimes I wish I grew up with it, or, on reflections of my youth - maybe not...things would certainly be different and I would have a lot more (real) old friends on FB! I'd like to mind map (bubbl.us) the possibility of that!
This reminds me of a link I saw this week on The Living Facebook Experiment.

While I may be ahead in some aspects of computer literacy, I am sometimes behind in knowing automatically the settings and controls of the more popular hand held devices that we so often feel lost without. And it seems the knowledge of the use of these is a prerequisite for living effectively and engaged within our social world, especially for youth.
Without lessons and training it is harder for some of us to pick it up, especially if there is isolation in having an effective mentor to offer tips. I seem to have the gadget, now it is a matter of GO.
Discoveries: thanks to online forums, Nings, blogs (edublogs challenges), Yammer, teachers and tech advisers we can make a lot of discoveries on line. So it is goodbye to my day off again.
Time to walk the dog! Will I get points for that in Urban Farmville, John Spencer?

The Hearbeat of the Blog.

larryferlazzo - the-best-resources-for-chinese-new-year
Larry's blog is interesting because it provides us with a lot of information in an organised way. He has numerous lists and 'best ofs' with links in this post. So you know more or less what you are going to get if you click on a link.

On the other hand, these numerous links in a paragraph of text can often be off-putting, especially if you open many of them, you may often lose track of the initial reason you are there. Wikipedia is an example of this. Multi-tasking and losing your train of thought.

6 steps to an effective blog post

1. In an educational blog the trick is to be precise & to the point.
2. Have images to break the continuity or use a 'cool tool'.
3. Think about colour wisely, many young people like white on black, but not great on eyes over time.
4. Link wisely with specific information to your readers - why do they want to 'click here?'
5. Familiarity -be consistant with presentation and don't change themes/colours/fonts midstream. (Like I have just done to this blog)
6. Continuity - of style of writing and professionalism to your audience, a bit of humour is always a welcome tone.