Eduwiki Growth

I cannot be more pleased with the teamwork and the overall efforts people are putting into www.eduwiki.us. A few new tools will be making this program even more powerful. There is a new GUI that makes adding video, audio, spreadsheets, documents, and most importantly to me, RSS feeds to a wikispaces page. With the launch of our new podcasting server, we will be able to stream content directly to those that sign up. This will be a great way to send PDF, Video and audio files directly to people who want that specific content. The Eduwiki will also begin launching virtual meetings on September 12th to discuss the future of the site. A virtual bookclub will launch in October and we have organizations like Apple, CDW-G and NACOL who I've personally made contact with concerning the Eduwiki. The amazing Tony Vincent has joined our group and his contact information is available in the new educational consultant link. I believe we are up to 25 or 26 honored educators working on the site. I have put the Eduwiki concept into a proposal to present at the Pete&C conference and I am drafting a like proposal for NECC. Please feel free to check out the site and please offer input or join our family!!! MB

Eduwiki.us

I have used wikis for about three years now and it finally hit me that in order to build a system that people buy into, we need to make them part of the process. Instead of me constantly adding links to my blog and site, we need to let the experts point us in the right direction. We have first grade teachers who blog. Seventh grade history teachers who podcast. We have great example videos on TeacherTube.com that should be organized, but no one person can do this by themselves. We need to work together.

Since I've seen an explosive response during the first 3 days of the Eduwiki, I will probably be focusing most of my energy on the Eduwiki. Please feel free to contribute!

www.eduwiki.us

MB

OpenCourseWare

The Linux movement has been slow, but constant. OpenOffice is also a free alternative to Microsoft Office. Now, thanks to MIT and others, we are seeing online curriculum following in the OpenSource revolution. By the end of 2007, MIT will release over 1,800 courses to the public. You can read more about the project at http://ocw.mit.edu/index.html. MIT will not support instruction of these courses, but any user can use the material under the opensource license.

The next online curriculum concept is podclasses. Many people do not know that podcasts can send audio, video and pdf files. A great example of this movement can be found at this link http://www.frenchpodclass.com/. The course includes video, audio and pdf textbook files for free. The second part of this movement is iTunes. iTunes offers a very easy to use interface for finding and downloading content to your Windows or Macintosh computer. You can view the content from your computer or use an Apple TV unit or simply sync your iPod. You now have the ability to study and do your homework anywhere you can take your iPod. You can also use a $16 AV cable to connect your iPod to anything that takes the RCA (Red, Yellow and White) connections. Creating podcasts rank in difficulty with sending an email with an attachment. Unlike many learning management system, the content can be linked to anything (emails, Blackboard, Moodle, websites, CDs, DVDs, etc...) The podcast server works like a file server and the RSS feeds simple create a pathway for content to flow from the server to anyone who subscribes to a podcast.

Many high quality podcasts already exist. A quick search in iTunes will show hundreds of great educational podcasts. The epnweb.org also offers a lot of content. I believe the concept that MIT has started with OpenCourseWare will merge with the concept of podclasses that will really balloon the online learning options.

So, what do you think?

Mike