Moodling about Tim
Some interesting tinkering going on with teachers using Moodle. One user discussed embedding Flickr slide shows like this one. Another user describes how to use the remote RSS feeds feature to display del.icio.us within a Moodle course.
I notice that many of these changes are mentioned by Tim O'Rilley in his Web 2.0 meme map with users exploring a very different way of learning using networked enabled collaboration tools. I must get around to listening to the two good podcasts by Tim this term break that Bill Kerr posted to a list. I wonder how I can best 'sell' and share these ideas with my teaching colleagues.
The following brief summary of these podcasts is by Bill Kerr (Woodville High) South Australia
1. The Software Paradigm Shift
http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail50.html
When audiences are asked, “How many of you use Linux?” then for some audiences only a small percentage put their hand up. But when asked, “How many of you use Google?” then 100% put their hands up. If you are using Google then you are using Linux, since Google runs on Linux. What you use may not be mainly in your PC on your desktop. Increasingly we use Internet applications such as Google, Amazon and EBay. The paradigm shift is towards the predominant use of applications which reside somewhere on network servers. The network, not the PC, has moved to the centre of the computing universe.
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2. Rethinking the Boundaries
http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail142.html
The traditional wisdom that Open Source is mainly about a new licensing model is wrong. The most important thing to watch for these days is network enable collaboration, which results in an adhocracy (term attributed to Alvin Toffler and Corey Doctorow) “Architecture of participation” “Small pieces loosely joined” Some software is built to encourage participation, eg. Linux has a small kernel, whereas other software is not, eg. Windows. Other examples of the architecture of participation: amazon software enables user reviews (over 10,000,000 on amazon) and list mania (the writers of lists on particular topics receive a kickback) and the google page rank algorithm
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