Update to Training Page: IM/Chat

Here's what I did while my family was watching "The Dark Knight": I added a lot more to the training page about instant messaging. I put in directions for Google Talk Gadget and for using iChat on the Mac; will keep working on Google Talk for Windows. I wanted to put in directions for AIM Express (which is the web-based version of AOl Instant Messenger) but it wouldn't let me get in for some reason. Google Talk Gadget really doesn't let you do much customization and furthermore, the "search" isn't really a search; if you enter a name into the window, it immediately sends an email to thatname@gmail.com if such a user exists, which is how I sent an email to someone that I am not sure I know. Oops. I put a warning about that in the tutorial. This is one of the prices we pay for jumping into Web 2.0 (potentially annoying other people without meaning to).

Working from Home

Working from home is usually great, and once I had my gmail and chat programs set up it seemed to work fine. I don't know how well chat would work for me in a real-life situation. It seems easier to email or talk on the phone, but I imagine I'd get used to it over time.

Chat

cPros:
- multiple people can be typing at the same time, which actually increases the amount of participation you can have, especially from people for whom conversational wait time is a bigger problem.

Cons:
- thoughts sometimes get shared out of order. (Then again, that sometimes causes them not to be shared at all when face-to-face--I'm thinking of faculty meetings where you don't end up making your point because the conversation has already moved on past it.)

Telecommuting

We're trying out working from home today, partly to experience the kinds of interactions that many of our students have on a daily basis in the evenings, and partly to make a few life arrangements easier for us on this particular day. We'll be using Diigo for links, the blog as a notebook, and chat programs as quick communication. We're going to be looking for the strengths and weaknesses of this arrangement and these modes of communication.

More Moodle Notes

Here are the things Moodle can do that Pbwiki can't. Ideally, if we choose not to do Moodle, these are the tasks for which I'd like to find replacements through other websites or programs.

Pros:
- online gradebook
- site, course, group, user events
- easy chat sessions

Cons:
- No convenient links page? Taggable resources? (Could use wikis within moodle for this instead?)

ETA:
Things you can do:
- For a page full of links, you can: 1) create a web page and have it float at the top of the course outline; 2) create a wiki and do the same; 3) also break either down and have links specific for each topic listed under each unit (if that's the way the course is being organized).

- Can set up hierarchies of folders for storing your files--pbwiki stores everybody's in the same place, so naming conventions and such become more of an issue, and it can be hard to find your file. (NOTE: Disadvantage is max upload of 2MB--changeable, depending on the server settings?)

- Assignments: Require that students upload digital content by a certain time.