I can't believe that another year is almost over, but it is! It's a time for looking back and looking forward.

Looking back, we've got some things right and others we could have done better. So that we can improve and make this a more valuable resource for students, tutors and administrators in the Northeast, we need your feedback. Either post here, or email Pat, Janet, Daryl or Tony...

Looking forward we have laid the groundwork for a number of new features and services, these are:

1. First Monday P.D. 'webinars',
2. A tutor database, and
3. A database of centres and courses available in the Northeast

Lets go into these three in slightly more detail.

1. First Monday's will commence in March and we are currently taking suggestions for topics. The format will be a webinar with some pre-reading and access to collaboration tools. A couple of us have been trialling different tools and this will be firmed up in the New Year. It is probable that there will be two sessions on the First Monday, one in the mid to late afternoon and the other in the evening. We expect to have some special guests, including interstate and international experts, and yes, we are being ambitious
2. The tutor database has also been trialled by some of the tutors on the consultancy team and generally people are happy with it. Again, we expect to launch this early in the new year and plan to have it available for tutors to register their details by the end of January.
3. The last item, the database of courses and centres, is the least developed and needs some more input. A beta version will be launched in January, so we'll need your feedback and what should stay and what should go.

So, some exciting times for 2010, the first year of the 'Tweenies'

In the Professional Development area of Study Zone, we are freeing up some of the content that was behind closed doors as a result of being attached to a funded project. So, we're going to be looking for volunteers to keep various topics up-to-date. The first off the rank is the category of eLearning Tools and involves the area of Concept Mapping and the display of Visual Data.

If that sounds like something that is right up your alley, please let us know and we'lll assign you guide status. Don't fret if you don't feel like an expert, we are all learning together and you will have lots of support, but we do need to put a name to the status of guide for this course.

So, some feedback please and any suggestions for the start of the Tweenies will be gratefully received... best..janet

Hello Pauline,

Looks like you've been focussed on Mahara Eportfolios this year (that's a really popular part of e-learning) so I reckon you'd be ahead of the game in that part. (smiles)
I am a big fan of Mahara and I really wish to start a Community of Practice around eportfolios in the Hume region in 2010. Maybe you'd like to be part of that? (uh oh, I feel another innovation project coming on!)

There's a free Moodle for Teachers online course coming up in January 2010 that you and others may be interested in. I've registered so I can polish up my Moodle skills too. Go to this address and register by using the key (learningly2):
http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd/login/index.php

See attachment for further details.

CC

Hello Janet, Carole, Daryl, Jenny and all

Somehow 2009 has gone by without providing me any real time to concentrate on elearning as I would have liked.  My new years resolution is to spend a lot more time.  I really feel like I have been left behind.  So I will have to plan ahead some programmed time for elearning.  The first place I am looking forward to starting is First Mondays.

But just a couple of comments on what has been discussed so far.  We used Studyzone for a course this year however found it very difficult to engage students and in fact we gave up after a very short time.  Probably the choice of course was a bad one so have not given up hope.  I do agree with Carole about need for mentoring and Community of Practice to help us not only with use but also ideas to allay students fear of using the technology.

I also love Google and want to spend a bit more time experimenting with it. 

Daryl, I wonder if you could expand a bit on your use of RSS feed.  That sounded very interesting.

Finally, I used Mahara eportfolios for RPL this year and found it excellent.  So easy to use and send.  Can't speak highly enough of it!!!

Merry Christmas to all an I look forward to being more involved in 2010.  Pauline

Hello Janet and everyone.  It looks good and I will probably continue to 'hover' in the background dipping in and out when I feel confident enough to. 

Jenny Lister

Thanks Janet,

Obviously Daryl's voice is very strong in this CoP and I see that you're persuaded to be cautious on GoogleWave - that's fine. Early days for GoogleWave yet.

I am trying to ensure that I get the settings right for using Wiziq in here. Running into some time zone difficulties. My settings tell me that I have my preferences set for Melbourne time, but when I execute a Wiziq classroom it tells me it is reading GMT +13 time zone. Bit of a hit and miss effort to open the room at the right time today. But I think I have it working now.

I am hoping to entice Corryong to explore the Wiziq tool as they are having difficulties in accessing Elluminate.

Carole

Hi Carole and all,

<lol> so long as its just verbose and not waffle

Thanks for the invitation to the rest of the community, I've got a busy day, but I'll stop past this evening at some ridiculous hour

I fully endorse what you say about iGoogle and the other Google tools, they are as you say, excellent for managing various aspects of our too crazy lives. My specific concern is with GoogleWaves, as Daryl says its probably in Alpha and having invested in some of their other ideas, only to have Google abandon them, makes me a bit leery when they introduce their 'next big thing'.

My intuition says that GoogleWaves will in fact demonstrate longevity, but right now, I'm going to sit back and watch for a bit longer. This is made easier because I know that Daryl is following developments very closely, and I also know that when he's feeling more comfortable with it, he'll inform us here.

Daryl mentioned Google Docs, and I have to say, I couldn't live without them, so I would put them in the highly recommended category.

Carole I completely agree with your assessment of the usage of Study Zone, so whatever recommendations you, or others, have about improving it's infiltration, I will be right there with you, helping to implement...best..janet

Hi Janet,
Thanks for feedback - I like it when someone else is as verbose as I in discussion forums. (smiles)

I have used Wiziq before and I've set up a session for today and tomorrow to put it through its paces. This is in the Hume Sandpit. If you have time, anyone reading this, pop in to that module and access the Wiziq sessions.

Janet, I make a substantial portion of my income as a consultant and mentor for moderator training in Elluminate, so of course I am wedded to it.

Noting your caution regarding Google tools - however, in my experience they have provided me with some Personal Learning Network management tools that I encourage others to pursue. I would not be without my iGoogle page, my Calendar, my Sites, my Reader and Google docs has been a boon for collaborative work this year.

GoogleWave has the potential to be a solid strategy for collaborative brainstorming in educational circles and I'm keen to follow its progress.

As for LMS - Moodle is streaks ahead in the popularity base - but I don't think that StudyZone is being used to its capacity yet by our North East Community Centres. I really think they need guidance, tutorials, mentoring and a strong community of practice. Could you tell me how many active modules and facilitators are presently in StudyZone?

Happy to volunteer for something in 2010. My specialities are all listed in my blog at:
http://coachcarole.wordpress.com

Cheers
Carole

Hello Janet & all

My first thoughts when it comes to 2010 is looking at the various "Social Networking" platforms that are out there with the aim of seeing if any could be used or integrated into an elearning solution. Sites like Facebook, Posterous, Tumblr just to name a few.

Also running training on RSS to help potential students find the best ways to search the net and find resources. Especially showing them how to use desktop RSS readers as well as web based RSS Readers like Google Reader and being able to integrate that with sites like Twitter and Friendfeed.

With Google in mind I agree that Wave is still in preview and as such is still very Flaky and likely to change a lot before it is finally released to the general public and your point is well taken about investing time in a platform that may disappear I have been burnt by google in the past like that. maybe we could look at how Google Apps could be used in elearning.

I would also love to see video and audio workshops for tutors who would like to use these to develop teaching resources with for example the Flip Video cameras and Iphone being able to produce video we could integrate this with learning how to edit and convert video from one format to another and how we can use sites like Youtube. I think helping tutors to create interesting and authentic teaching material would be great.

I have been having a one man brain storm here and writing stuff is not the best way for me to articulate me ideas as my hands can't keep up with my brain but hope this post is food for thought and further discussion

cheers
Daryl.

Hi Carole and all,

I also ***l_o_v_e*** this type of feedback, it is exactly what I was hoping for

I agree, ePortfolios are going in a very interesting direction and I expect that we will see them merging with other aspects of eLearning that are currently regarded as separate. Currently we have two ePortfolio tools installed on Study Zone and Mahara has been in an experimental phase. We've wanted to get some of the bugs out before launching it. I expect that will be in time for first term next year...

GoogleWave, as you say, is going to be interesting to watch. The one thing I would say about it is, don't invest too much right away. Google is developing a rather interesting habit of 'putting something out there', getting a lot of people to fall in love with it and then terminating the project. Consequently, I'm becoming a bit more cautious about the things that they do. None-the-less, I agree, it has enormous potential and if anyone would like to volunteer to take this on board, we would welcome that with open arms.

In the same league is 'Yahoo Pipes'. I'm seeing some very interesting uses of this technology and it is easy to embed into a website.

Regarding volunteering. We get a small amount of funds each year to pay for the hosting, maintaining the domain name and running things like the chat software. There is also a small amount for keeping things ticking over, but much of the work and the contributions are volunteer work. So, if anyone ever wants to put up their hand to take on a particular project or idea, we'd very much appreciate it;)

Regarding Elluminate, I'm aware that you really like it Carole, whereas I'm not so sold on it. It is one of many such tools and again, it's horses for courses. I'm aware that they do provide free rooms for small groups and we did have it installed as an activity.

Daryl and I took 'GoToMeeting' through its paces, and that was interesting, however, probably not entirely suitable for what we need. It was really groovy and a lot of fun, but the functionality varied from O.S. to O.S. and that can be frustrating.

Currently Wiziq is in it's place. It would be great to hear from other people about this, although perhaps Wiziq is not well known, so it maybe harder to form a judgement.

Lastly, hear hear on the Moodle sessions. We've done these in the past with funding from various sources. I'd be more than happy to do this again in the new year. My experience has been that a blended approach is best, so that those who are new to Study Zone (Moodle) are able to establish a base before launching into the synchronous online approach. What do you think?

Regarding Learning Management Systems (LMS), I recently read some commentary that said we can expect these to be less and less regarded as destinations and more and more seen as conduits to multiple places. I found some resonance with that point of view. I started working with Moodle at the end 2002 after having built my own system for teaching online during the same year. I spent the summer '02/'03 doing a comparative analysis of several LMS and it came down to three, Claroline (sp?), ATutor and Moodle.

All three are still in existence and seem to be still going strong. I settled on Moodle because it was at least as good as the other two and it started it's life in Australia. Since then, much has changed, so it's important that we keep evaluating what the software offers and increasingly find ways to make the installation both destination and conduit.

Keep the ideas coming Carole and all, its what we need to take this forward...best..janet

Hi Janet, Pat, Daryl and Tony,

1. I reckon the best thing you could do to embrace the movement towards Eportfolio concepts is to link Mahara to Moodle. We've spoken about this a few times and no-one seems to have come up with the funds or initiative to get it started. Perhaps this is worth considering as we seek funding in the new year - I just know that Eportfolios will flavour of the year.

2. GoogleWaves is another biggie to get into for 2010 and it would be good to have some instructional pages on StudyZone for these. We experimented with them for the ConVerge09 and made some headway in our understanding of their potential. Watch out for opportunities to incorporate these into our blended elearning activiites.

3. Getting folks to join Learn Central to gain their own free Elluminate V Room is worth exploring - opens up a whole new way of communicating in small groups at NO cost. http://www.learncentral.org/

4. How about running some beginner and advanced Moodle user sessions in 2010. I think some folks just get a bit scared when they don't know how easy it is to use. Do some Summer School sessions and get the experts on board to do this live in Elluminate or some other virtual classroom.

Just four ideas from me at this time - more later.

Coach Carole