Burks Oakley and Ray Schroeder: Top 20 Technologies

I received the list below through a MnSCU list-serve which was from SloadCWiki.
Burks Oakley and Ray Schroeder created a list of Top 20 Technologies.
This is a great compilation of sites! I've added a brief description of the functions/services each site provides.

• Blogger http://blogger.com/
  blog (digital diary) site
• PBWiki http://pbwiki.com/
  wiki (online collaborative webpage that groups can edit, similar to WikiPedia)
• Podomatic http://www.podomatic.com/
  podcasts (user-created "TV/Radio station" in which users create and delivery their own online video and audio programming)
• Flickr http://www.flickr.com/
  photo-sharing site
• Google Docs http://docs.google.com/
  collaborative word-processing and spreadsheets
• Google Calendar http://www.google.com/calendar/
  collaborative calendar allowing users to share schedule and events with others
• GooglePages http://googlepages.com/
  web page creation and hosting using built-in WYSIWYG editor
• Del.icio.us http://del.icio.us/
  public bookmarking of webpages; tagging of pages to quickly find similar content
• MySpace http://www.myspace.com/
  social-networking software allowing personal profiles and "about me" information
• Citizendium http://www.citizendium.org/
  online and "reliable" encyclopedia using expert editors to write and review content
• YouTube http://www.youtube.com/
  free video clip hosting service encouraging users to post original videos plus video-clip (webcam) feedback to other users
• Gliffy http://gliffy.com/
  create flowcharts, process diagrams, and room layout diagrams (similar to Microsoft Visio)
• Skype http://www.skype.com/
  Voice Over Internet Protocols (VOIP) - allows computer-to-computer phone calls for free, or computer to land-line and "voice-conferencing" (up to 10 lines) for modest expense ($29.99 per year for unlimited calling; additional SkypeIn number for $60 per year allows a "phone number" for land-lines to call your computer/voicemail)
• Kartoo http://www.kartoo.com/
  Visual-based web search engine, showing results in spatial diagrams with interconnecting web-lines
• Elluminate vRoom http://www.elluminate.com/vroom/
  Web conferencing/collaboration with up to 3 individuals (free)
• Second Life http://www.secondlife.com/
  Virtual world in which you create a character and interact with other characters
• Odeo http://www.odeo.com/
  Audio podcast hosting site allowing users to post music, lectures, and audio shows.
• Digg http://www.digg.com/
  Dynamic news site. Stories "rise in the ranks" depending upon how many users "digg" that story.
• Xdrive http://www.xdrive.com/
  online backup site to securely store up to 5GB of content (photos, video, music, documents)
• zoho http://zoho.com/
  online-based office suite (similar to Microsoft Office / Open Office) which also includes tools for Wiki, project planning, and web conferencing
  

Sunrise on Lake Superior

Today wraps up the D2L Fusion 2007 conference. It has been an excellent event! (Fusion07D2L)
The key inspirations I am taking away are to:

1. Make stronger pushes to have students create materials in accessible formats (especially for group and peer-review learning activities).
2. Make smarter use of common-documents inside "learning object repositories."
3. Create libraries of "sample media" that faculty can use in creating course content and learning objects.
4. Encourage better institution-to-institution sharing of resources and training materials.

D2L 2007 Fusion conference in Duluth

This image is a night shot taken of Lake Superior from Duluth.


I have found a few great tips from the D2L 2007 Fusion conference being held at Duluth.

Here are a few items to share.

Begin each online course with students writing an e-biography which includes who they are, where they came from, what they've done, what they plan to do, and what they enjoy.
This will help build community at the very start of the course, and it is a great ice-breaker that helps the instructor identify backgrounds of students.

Student e-folios are rarely accessed by businesses, and therefore, there is less of a need for a campus to "host" the content. It might be a better strategy to have students build and post content in "off-campus" tools and then use the "campus e-portfolio" as a database with sets of links to objects and assets that likely exist off-campus.

Students need to be made aware of how to create accessible documents - so that peer review activities allow all students to access and use the content created by others.
Some of the features is proper document organization and use of structures.

Virtually There!

Campus Virtual Tours seem to be a hot item.

Not only do they help prospective students get familiar with the layout of major buildings, but they can also help communicate the personality and priorities of a campus.

Here are some sample sites that each provide a different method of delivering the virtual tour experience.

• Central Michigan University - Video Segments (Quicktime) on Faculty Relationships, Student Organizations, Volunteer Center, Technology, Internships, and Student Activity Center
  http://www.cmich.edu/videotour.aspx
  
• MIT - 3D Map of campus with clickable "yellow dots" for more information about specific locations
  http://web.mit.edu/vrtour/index.html
  
• University of Nottingham - Video Introduction, plus 360-degree panorama views of sites around the campus (might be interesting to do inside of labs/classrooms)
  http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/virtual-tour/introduction-to-university.html
  http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/virtual-tour/lakeside_arts.html
  
• University of Northern Iowa - 3D Map, allows you to click on buildings to see more information about that site.
  Additional photos for interior views, and then video clips explaining a feature of the site.
  http://www.uni.edu/infosys/tour/
  http://www.uni.edu/infosys/tour/maucker.shtml
  
• Franklin & Marshall College - Has an interactive map as well as "Guided Tours" (4 series of videos, each featuring a different "student guide")
  http://admission.fandm.edu/tour/
  
• Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - Los Angeles -- Bottom of page has several different views of the design studio, using an interesting interface
  http://www.fidm.edu/about/campuses/los-angeles/design-studio/index.html