Today, I had a great time working with my direct counterparts in my district to discuss the merits and limitations of two online resources: Google (docs and sites) and Zoho suite (office suite, wiki and Zoho Business which pulls them all together in a nice dashboardrd package).

Effectively for about 3 1/2 hours we discused the applications and possibilities for time investment as classroom resources, our own personal use, the future direction of our district, and the possible Microsoft alternative with the launch of the Tech Preview on Office 2010 yesterday.

Some background: As a district we make a significant yearly investment (~$140k) in Microsoft applications. Additionally, this summer we are undergoing a Novell to Microsoft NOS transition to better position us for planned future application and platform enhancents. All of these initiatives seem to be both driving us toward a client based application platform as well as toward a desired cloud based environment. Especially if we begin to realize our planning for a 1:1 computing environment for our staff and 13,000 students. Lowering costs by moving to a cloud based office application suite will help offset the increased hardware need to satisify 1:1…

Our goal for the day was to end up with a strong enough argument to choose one platform (Google or Zoho) and commit to it’s a group for our collaborative use for the next two years. This coupled with a strong desire to have a flexible enough environment that will allow for our sharing outside of the group via a wiki type interface with other members of our community (faculty, staff, and possibly students) on an as needed basis. The last part of the challenge was/is to have a relatively secure enough environment to share some material that may be considered sensitive by some, irrelevant by others, and critical by a few…

While the discussions themselves were great, I was left disappointed that even I struggled to be able to make a full committment to an online resource. I was even more frustrated that some of counterparts were only willing to invest time in a limited subset of applications as opposed to committing fully to a suite in a completely collaborative environment. I was especially saddened because some of the arguments each of us used (myself included) were the same arguments we struggle against when working with faculty and staff in general regarding technology and change: don’t want to complicate things by adding “more,” I don’t need another email account, let’s keep this simple, I don’t have time to learn all of this… blah, blah, blah…

What I am struggling with is the fact that if we (the people looking to drive dynamic change within our curriculum’s and the ones responsible for leading the way into learning centers leveraging technology) cannot move ourselves from the “known” (Office Suite) to the somewhat “unknown” a fully collaborative environment leveraging outstanding web-based applications, how can we ever expect to help move a hesitant, reluctant, faculty and students into this arena?  Is there a compelling enough reason to leverage these technologies on a full-time basis for educational and personal use, or is there not?  Are gravity and fear of change enough to overcome compelling reason? Can you preach without practice? What will be a significant enough factor that will influence this change?

Will Richardson’s post on “Tinkering with Utopia” hit home today after my experience.  His reflections of Phillip Schlechty’s book “Leading for Learning: How to Transform Schools into Learning Organizations” make me concerned about change in the educational arena overall.

Schlechty refers to past efforts at reform as “tinkering toward utopia” and says that if we continue to introduce change at the edges, we’ll continue to spin our wheels.

I know I am just taking a snippet of Will’s thoughts and the actual direction for his post are divergent from mine, but there are definite undercurrents of change happening in education today… However, in practice I fear those currents are having the overall impact of canceling each other out. I question whether we can possibly learn as leaders to begin to really align some of those currents to become mutually beneficial to effect the real change that Will and many others are looking towards. Are we spinning our wheels?

Photo “graffiti struggle” from zen on Flickr

– Post From My iPhone

The boys have done amazingly well on each of the flights. It was tougher with the layover and later initial flight as both of the boys were way overtired. Tip to self for future flights… They should always be early early morning flights. Trish and I were talking that in a way as Noey gets older it is going to be both a blessing and a curse for travel. He will have his own seat (

So, if you troll along here and see things looking out of sorts, please be kind and return as the dust should be settling shortly…

~Scott

Update: well Microsoft is saying that of may be the 2.2 (Nov) update for the 30GB Zune that has caused this issue for some. Some folks are reporting if you can set the internal clock ahead a day of two this might help about this issue or gizmodo www.gizmodo.com has a recent post outlining a DIY fix. I’d post the link, but without cut and paste on the iPhone that’s a big… No

However, I am liking being able to mobile blog!

Alright here we go… since I used examples as opposed to a concrete presentation the six topics below begin to flesh out the information that we went through in the session.  Additionally, I will continue building out each topic as I have been lax in that area.  Links to the expanded information are below this post.

Now this by NO means is planned to be a complete list, an expansive list, or even dare I say it the “best of the best” but they are good solid resources that should help to guide folks in a direction. Remember there ARE and will always be alternatives.

However, I do recommend settling on a set of tools and growing with them until you really outgrow them. So, to avoid feeling overwhelmed, look to see where you feel you need a tool to help simplify what you do, enhance what you do, and or expand what you offer.

On to my choices.

[side note: while writing this post I came to the conclusion that I need to break out each of these resources into separate posts to provide more information as well as links to possible educational uses to add value to the WHY should you add these types of resources to your arsenal of learning and teaching tools.]

Additionally, I wanted to provide a category for each set of resources so if the one I mention doesn’t meet your needs you can do a quick search to find another. As an overview, I would recommend getting an online resource for: office applications, bookmarking, photo sharing, RSS newsreader, notebook / annotation, tagging, and social networking. If you look hard at this list, it becomes apparent that most (if not all) of these resources can be handled by offline Microsoft products (IE, Outlook, OneNote, Live Photo Gallery).

The main reason I recommend moving these resources online is for the flexibility it provides YOU the user. I’ll come right out and say it… I AM A HUGE FAN OF MICROSOFT, however, that said, I HATE being tethered to one machine (although you will rarely find me without my tablet). With resources floating in the ether you can access them from anywhere there is an internet connection. If you don’t think that this is important ask yourself a couple of questions: Have you ever really needed a link that you know you saved on your home or school computer and now you are somewhere else? Have you had your personal computer crash the day before a huge presentation / project was due? Have you wanted to connect with others about a topic but did not know where to begin? Well… yes you need to begin moving into the “cloud.”

Social Networking:

twitter – By far twitter has become the one tool above all else that all educators should become involved with. A brief description is that twitter is a microblog… your life in 140 characters or less in the moment that it is happening… but it is so much more. It has revolutionized and become a huge piece of my personal learning network. The amount of targeted and useful instructional information I get from my twitter network is staggering. So much so, I have created a folder in my favorites called “Twitter Links to Review” as I cannot get to everything in real-time… feel free to add me to your network my twitter handle is vanishingpoint

Online Office Suites:

Zoho.com is my choice for office productivity in “the cloud.” The folks at Zoho have created a HUGE suite of applications that well… all work! Writing, Spreadsheet, Presentations, wikis, project management, databases, an online NOTEBOOK and much more. The biggest reason that I really am taken with Zoho is both the integration of their tool set as well as their focus on collaboration. Additionally, they are continuously expanding their offerings. Did I mention that all of their apps are FREE!

RSS Aggregator (reader):

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a tremendous way to simplify your processes in searching and gathering information. In short, once a “feed” is setup, information comes to you as opposed to you hunting for it. My choice of RSS Reader is NewsGator. With NewsGator is pull in news stories from around the world as well as educational and instructional blogs. Additionally, most magazine type services (and all search engines) have RSS feeds embeded into their sites that you can tap into. This type is resource allows you to become a “grazer” of information as opposed to a hunter of information. One of my main criteria for an RSS aggregator was that it would function both online and via a mobile device. The majority of time I access NewsGator through my Motorola Q Global via NewsGator Go!. Additionally, NewsGator allows me to “Clip” a post or piece of information that I find valuable and save it permanently. This is huge as it keeps me from having to use an additional service like Furl for that purpose.

Bookmarking:

I have used Del.icio.us for about a year, and have been very happy ALWAYS having access to my bookmarks and important links. Additionally, with del.icio.us’ use of tagging, I don’t really have to remember the exact name for resources … just a “category” or idea that I have “tagged” the site link with, and poof it is there… even better, I can pull ALL the resources I have tagged with a certain word at one time… and I can share them, and receive links from others in my personal network. The idea of social bookmarking is not new (we have all shared bookmarks and links with friends in the paper world… del.icio.us brings speed and efficiency to this process. Lee Lefever has a great video that explains social bookmarking well.

Recently there has been a TON of twitter traffic about Diigo. While I have not used it at all, I am beginning to investigate it and its possible uses. Kristin Hokanson wrote an excellent blog post called Dig-ging… Diigo today about the power and value of Diigo which provides compelling reasons to switch and consolidate a number of resources to Diigo… Here is a link to my new Diigo profile.

Photo Sharing:

I absolutely LOVE Flickr! Flickr like others allows anyone to upload photo and share them with family, friends, and or the world. I use the camera in my Motorola Q Global daily, and mms my photos immediately to flickr (and a number of other folks) through my phone. This way my family around the world can see my kids and the things I am getting involved in well… daily! My flickr account is even linked to my blog… look to the left to see what pictures I took today

NoteBook:

If you have used Microsoft OneNote, or have wished that you could move ANY type of information into a digital notebook that you can annotate, enhance, or share, you really need to look at Zoho Notebook. Think of it as a digital three-ring binder that you can put ANY information, resource, tool (live or static) into. You can then collaborate with other on it, or share the entire notebook, a page, or even an object with anyone! You can even publish it for the world to see. Here are a couple of examples from notes that I took during a conference sessions at IL-TCE 2008. Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 (Example 3 shows quite a bit of the capabilities of Zoho Notebook).

This post has grown exceeding long and I an exceedingly tired… If you have thoughts or comments, I am welcome to all views!

Scott

Photos from Flickr: Dazed81, just Mike is fine and Lady Ying

Related Posts:

• In the Cloud Expanded – Part 1 Professional Social Networking
• In the Cloud Expanded – Part II RSS Aggragators
• Digital Notebooks for Research, Clarity, and Organization

DHL WORLDWIDE EXPRESS
SHIPMENT ADVISORY

Subject:Your Nokia N95 8GB is on its way. Please let us know when it arrives. Thanks.

The following piece has been sent by Carly Milton from
WOM World via DHL WorldWide Express on 18.07.2008 (AWB# ***********).
If you wish to track this shipment please contact your local
DHL Customer Service office or visit the DHL website at
http://www.dhl.co.uk/

If you have a web-enabled mail reader, click the link below to view
shipment tracking details:
http://www.dhl.com/cgi-bin/tracking.pl?AWB=************

or just forward this E-mail to sendung@dhl.com and you will receive feedback
within minutes.

SEND TO: Scott Weidig
FAO    : Scott Weidig

Hope to have it in the next few days!  If anyone has ideas on thing you would like me to check out, let me know.

~Scott

Share your clippings with ReadBurner (link to NewsGator Blog)

Jun-23-2008 2:51:19 PM [NewsGator Daily] [Greg Reinacker]

If you haven’t already seen it, the good folks at ReadBurner have built an application to show the most frequently shared content across the web. That content could come from Google Reader or Netvibes…

…or starting today, from NewsGator clippings! If you’re using clippings from NewsGator Online, FeedDemon, NetNewsWire, NewsGator Inbox, NewsGator Go!, or any of our other applications, you’re all set. Nick Bradbury has details of how to make all of this work on his blog.

Give it a try, share with the world, and let us know what you think!

Mark post as Read
Add to clippings
Tag This post
Email post

My Tags:
none
System Tags:
web syndication formats, rss, individual products

 Google reader has had the ability for a user to “share” their reader with others for a while, and has been a big draw to using Google reader in the educational space.  However, Google falls far short in my book due to how I use my reader.  I go into detail here in my previous post on RSS Aggregators, but in short, I need to be able to access the full capabilities of my reader via my smartphone (Motorola Q Global – Windows Mobile 6 – from AT&T) with clipping capability, as well as through my browser on my tablet pc (MPC/Gateway E155C) without this capability, I could only utilize my reader when I had some down time at my desk (where ever I want that to be that is… using my Motorola Q Global to access my reader allows me to catch up on information from around the world any moment that I may have down time… shopping with my wife, Mc Donald’s Playland, waiting to meet with administration, waiting to pick anything up…

The best part of this partnership, is that I can RSS different folders in my main clippings folder and then tie them to pages in my blog, website, or wiki and whenever I move a clipping into that folder, it will automatically be available to anyone I want via RSS!  Sweet!

Here is a link to my NewsGator Clippings Folder

~Scott

We had a few goals for the sessions:

• Concept Exposure: We wanted to introduce a number of concepts (and tools) to them, and we really wanted to stress that when leveraging technology in curriculum DO NOT focus on the tool… focus completely on the concept and skill you are introducing and let that drive your “tool choice.”
• Investigation: We needed to provide both time and the incentive for participants to learn the concepts and then encourage (sometimes force) them to explore and experiment with various tools that might fulfill the concepts…
• Direction and Commitment: We did NOT want this to be a typical  “sit and get” with little or no follow through to actually put what you learn into practice. i.e. really make at least one of these concepts truly integral to their personal professional learning or to their classroom.
• Repository: We wanted to have a repository for the participants not only to reference, but to provide practice and to help build out as a future resource… enter: Web20School

I can’t speak for the participants, but I can speak for Mike Bachrodt and myself and I am happy to say that the last four days have been a joy and we have one more left!  I can also say that all of the wonderful teachers we have attending the sessions have gone from amazingly overwhelmed to focused, passionate learners each with a different concept and tool set that they are excited to find all of the nuances of bring into their lives and classrooms.

Here is some of what they have discovered and created:

ToonDoo was a hit!  Here is the first comic of Karl Craddock (scroll left and right)

Samantha Serrano and Jim Nowak blogging

This really has been an amazing week!  I am looking forward to tomorrow and a bit sad at the prospect of the week ending.