Who put the technology in my alphabet soup?

Open Source, RSS, Weblogs, Wikis-Swikis….Open Source, RSS, Weblogs, Wikis-Swikis….

Debra Gohagan, MSW, Ph.D.Associate Professor

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Department of Social Work

Mankato, MN 56001

Ph. 507-389-1699; Fax 507-389-6769

d.gohagan@mnsu.edu

Victoria Peters, MS, MLSAcquisitions Coordinator

Minnesota State University, Mankato

Memorial Library ML3097

P.O. Box 8419Mankato, MN 56002

Ph. 507-389-5050; Fax 507-389-5155 victoria.peters@mnsu.edu

Presented at MN Library Association ConferenceSept. 23, 2005

Minneapolis, Minnesota

First, Let’s Wiki? http://gohagan.jot.com/

The purpose of this presentation and the supportinghandout is: Examine current patterns in technology across several

age groups. Discuss old and new technologies. Identify ways in which these technologies can be used

in our work. Discuss the implications for offering technology-based

services for academic users.

Alphabet soup

IM -- Instant messagingSPIM versus SPAM---SPIM is to IM as SPAM is to

email LTAs or Low Threshold Applications Survey/quiz/polling software E-Folio -- Electronic Portfolio Open Source -- Shared Learning Objects RSSs -- Really simple syndication or rich site summary Weblogs Wikis and Swikis

We will not discuss all technologies during the presentation, nor in this PowerPoint.

This presentation is a summary of content from a paper with much more information.

Each section in the paper has a list of resources for you to explore on your own in the handout.

Research sources that cited as data can be found in the reference list in the handout.

Website to access the PowerPoint and the paper: http://mavdisk.mnsu.edu/gohagd go to Technology and Teaching Link.

Patterns of use

General internet access/use/statisticsAdolescentsAdults

Access to the Internet 44% of U.S. Internet users have contributed their thoughts and their

files to the online world. 64% of wired Americans have used the Internet for spiritual or

religious purposes. 55% of adult internet users have broadband at home or work.

Time on the Internet Average amount of time per week spent actively using the Internet:

14 hours per person.  Average amount of time per year: 728 hours (about one month).  Amount of time devoted to searching: 520 hours (21 days).  Users frustrated with search engines and site navigation: 44%.  Users who give up when a search is unproductive: 20% The web

slightly more than doubles in size every year. Average duration of time a page is viewed by a U.S. user: 0:00:50.

The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.

Student Use Patterns

60% of America’s children, more than 43 million children under 18, use the Internet.

About 78% of those between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet (about 18 million pre-teens and teens).

More than one in five households with children (23%) have broadband connectivity through digital subscriber line (DSL) technology or cable modems.

Email, once the cutting edge “killer app,” is losing its privileged place among many teens as they express preferences for instant messaging (IM) and text messaging as ways to connect with their friends.

38% of teens surveyed text-message with friends during school hours.

A smaller 30% of students say they play video games on their phones while at school.

Parents who look at their kid's calls will realize 26 %of kids speak with people mom and dad wouldn't approve of.

Adolescents, schoolwork, & the Internet

One of the most common activities that youth perform online is schoolwork. Nearly every online teen (94% of 12 to 17 year olds who report

using the Internet) has used the Internet for school research. 71% used the Internet as the major source for their most recent

school project. 58% have used a Web site set up by school or a class. 34% have downloaded a study aid. 17% have created a Web page for a school project.

However, wired schools are not necessarily ‘computer havens’ for students, as many only get 1 hour or less per week in the lab.

37% of teens say they believe that “too many” of their peers are using the internet to cheat.

Other Interesting Facts Political bloggers can make an impact on politics, but they often

follow the lead of politicians and journalists. 97 million adult Americans, or 77% of Internet users, took

advantage of e-gov in 2003, going to government Web sites or emailing government officials. This represented a growth of 50% from 2002.

84%t of US Internet users have contacted an online group. 77 %t of online Americans have used the Net in connection with the

war in Iraq.

Mothers spend an average of 16 hours and 52 minutes online per week, approximately four hours and 35 minutes more than American teenagers. Mothers in Charleston SC spend the most time online (ave. time online is 21 hours and 8 minutes).

1 in 6 people use the Internet in North America and Europe. The number of women using the Internet worldwide will pass 96

million, or 45 percent of the world's Internet users in 2001.

Instant messagingWho is using IM? More than 100 million people. 41 million (nearly 40%) of home Internet users. Instant messaging is predicted to surpass e-mail as the primary

online communication tool.Teenager phenomenon 74% of online teens use instant messaging. 45% of online teens use Instant Messaging each time they are

online. 69% of online teens use IM at least a few times each week. 37% of online teens have used IM to write something that they

would not have said in person. 41% of online teens say they use email and instant messaging to

contact teachers or classmates about schoolwork. And these teens are or will become clients.Adult use In comparison, 44% of online adults have used IM. Use growing exponentially in the workplace.

Spim, Spam: Cyberspace invaders

Officials at America Online and Microsoft,estimate:

the quantity of such solicitations doubled from 2002 to 2003, reaching 500 million.

The volume of so-called "spim" was expected to triple last year.

The company projects that 1.2 billion spims will be sent, 70 per cent of which are porn-related.

This is a mere trickle compared to the 35 billion spams expected.

More Information about SPIM and SPAMhttp://www.newbie.org/reference/spam.htmlhttp://www.wordspy.com/words/spim.asp

Low Threshold Applications: Less can be better

Every LTA should be based on the underlying technology that is Almost ubiquitous, or is available commercially at low-cost to

teachers and learners. Available from open source/open course collections of

instructional and professional development resources. The latter collections require little or no payment but encourage

users to contribute to the development of the resources.

More information about LTAs Archives of TLT-SWG@LISTSERV.ND.EDU. Teaching,

Learning and Technology Center Listserve. http://listserv.nd.edu/archives/tlt-swg.html.

Gilbert, Stephen. Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center. LTA (Low-Threshold Applications/Activities) Website. http://www.tltgroup.org/LTAs/Home.htm.

Low Threshold Applications. Teaching and Learning Center. http://www.tltgroup.org/TopicsFreeResources.htm

Electronic Portfolios (Efolios): Portfolio Portability…

Electronic/digital version of paper portfolios/resumes. Useful for Assessment:

Outcome/evaluation based in most environments. Used not only by students for jobs, by agencies/institutions for

recertification/accrediting procedures. Useful for Reflection:

Persons can reflect on activities and personal/professional development.

End users’ can see growth or change over time; observe developer from multiple perspectives.

Allows for graphic integration of multiple documents, not paper based, can be seen by many end users and can be cost efficient.

More Resources about Efolios Minnesota State Colleges and University System (MnSCU). http://

www.efoliominnesota.com/ Efolio tutorial examples http://

www.ctl.mnscu.edu/programs/educ_opp/tutorials.html Open Source Portfolio http://www.rsmart.com Note: Efolio is a free resource for ALL Minnesota residents

Open Source: Access for all

Learning Objects: The term, Learning Object, was first popularized by

Wayne Hodgins in 1994 when he named the CedMA working group "Learning Architectures, APIs and Learning Objects" ("Use and Abuse of Reusable Learning Objects," Polsani, Journal of Digital Information, 2003).

Are small, independent chunks of knowledge or interactions stored in a database, which can be presented as units of instruction or information.

They are typically self-contained, interactive, and reusable.

“Any digital resource that can be reused to support learning or service delivery."

For more Information OIT/MnSCU. Learning Object Resources.

http://www.oit.mnscu.edu/pages/learningobjects.htm

Electronic Hallwayhttp://www.hallway.org

Merlot http://www.merlot.org MIT’s Open Course Warehttp://www.ocw.mit.edu Creative Commons License http://

creativecommons.org/

RSS, i.e. Live News feeds: News as you like it, delivered to your desktop Rich site summary or Really simple syndication

channel, news items and newspapers, blogs.

Applications that collect data from RSS-compliant sites are called ‘RSS readers’ or "aggregators" Which gather, organize, update, and store information

from any compliant source in a convenient, easy to use interface.

Can save selected information in various formats for offline viewing and sharing.

Reads, sorts, stores information from hundreds of web based news and radio sources. Many let you select the news sources and topics by keywords.

RSS’s software can be downloaded to your desktop as a news feed/email

program with tabs, etc, integrated into your current email, uses popup or tickers.

Embedded in your webpage.

For More Information American Librarian Associaton page with RSS. Most at

this writing werer about Katrina. http://www.ala.org/al_onlineTemplate.cfm?Section=alonline&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=14&ContentID=12155

Minnesota State University, Mankato, MSUMyPortal Webpage https://portal.mnsu.edu/Default.aspx

Librarian website with blogs using RSS to alert to other blogs. http://freerangelibrarian.com/

US Government List of RSS feeds by topic. Amazing! http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf/Libraries/RSS_Library.shtml

Weblogs: Now everyone’s story can be told!

A blog is A webpage containing brief, chronologically arranged

items of information. A web authoring tool that does NOT require the user to

install software and does NOT require the user to develop webmaster skills.

It is a webpage that can be updated quickly via the web, email and, for some, through their cell phones (moblog).

Blog users can post, modify, or delete their own content on a Website using a browser interface.

It often reads as a web journal, or a page in which content is posted frequently and chronologically as in: Diary, news service, weblinks, book reviews, project

update, opinion pieces. Individual or collaborative effort.

Usefulness of blogs Interactivity: users post messages or other information,

write stories, readers respond to the postings. Forming of online communities: participants are

provided access to a set of tools that enable a group to get organized, share knowledge, and communicate.

Team, department, company, and family communication tools Help small groups communicate in a way that is simpler and

easier to follow than email or discussion forums. Used for private exchange of information requiring security or

for public access. Used to keep everyone in the loop, promote cohesiveness and

group culture, and provide an informal "voice" to outsiders.

Can send blog postings to news aggregator on users’ own computer.

Many websites host weblog software. Most have a basic access charge, but many offer free trial access.

For more information An education example from U of M -- Into the Blogosphere http://

blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere Redwood County Public Library http://www.rcpl.info/services/liblog.html Redwood County Public Library’s listing interesting eblogs http://

www.rcpl.info/services/liblog.html#blogs MnScu’s webpage for blogging information

http://www.oit.mnscu.edu/pages/weblogs.htm The Free Range Librarian blog. Just in Time Librarian.

http://freerangelibrarian.com/archives/021405/for_sandy_on_valenti.php

http://freerangelibrarian.com/archives/021505/geoffrey_nunberg_hea.php

The Shifted Librarian: Transforming Libraries at the Speed of byte. And introducing Moblogs. http://www.theshiftedlibrarian.com/

And on a personal note: http://dgdgdgtravel.blogspot.comhttp://msumsowkexchangeprogram.blogspot.com/

Wikis and Swikis: Not what you think..I think?

A website that allows users to add content

Controlled access possibleThreads based on WikiWordsWikipedia

Wikis Initially developed by developers to facilitate the discovery and

documentation of software patterns Has expanded to include a web-based collaborative writing tool

that provides an environment where users link together each other's experiences.

Cunningham wanted to enhance the ‘story-telling nature’ in all of us.

Current versions of wikis and swikis Allow users to post information in multiple formats and allows

others to edit the text or other information that has been posted. Thus, wikis and swikis function as a collaborative websites, often

referred to as a CoWeb, in which any page or application can be edited by anyone.

There is no formalized structure, no protocols, no standards, but enormous flexibility. Just edit and write.

Examples: http://wiki.brainnoodles.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page http://gohagan.jot.com/