World Wide Weblogs

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Over the last few weeks I have been doing my research into the world of blogging in education and a couple of things strike me.

  • There are not many classroom blogs like Sandaig Otters in the UK. Or is it I just haven’t found them! Sandaig is the only blog I see linked to in other blogs.
  • There are many, many blogs by teachers and professionals talking about what they do.

Considering the last point, it seems to me that there is a massive collective wisdom regarding the use of blogging in education and perhaps there is no better time to for teachers to embrace this technology and make the most of it. I really enjoy the simplicity of blogging and to that end, I think that as a tool it should be making a big impact on writing in schools. There is not really anything too complex about typing and clicking to publish. But as with any wondorus new tool that should make an “impact” it is only as good as what teachers use it for. But the profession is expert at doing just that, utilising a simple tool in the most creative and imaginatve ways.
Something is missing from this collective expertise. A really simple list of all of the wonderful things that can be done using a blog. This may sound prescribed and all of the blog purists out there will take a sharp intake of breath, but teachers with early blogs, or sprogs, may need a guiding hand. They should learn from what others do, what mistakes and successes there have been in the past.

Geotagging: extended…

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RoboGeo is now part of my software list, I purchased the simple program to help me tag my photographs I take. During our trip to the Norfolk coast I took many photos and recorded the locations using my GPS as before. I then loaded the photos into RoboGeo and edited the Lat/Lon manually; this is pretty time consuming and I think I will be getting a upgrade on my GPS soon so that I can connect to my PC and take advantage of down/uploading files.

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Once the information about the photographs location is completed you can export to Flickr / Google Maps / Google Earth. The latter creates KML or KMZ (if including the photos with the file) files and automatically opens in GE. There is even an option to plot a photo path or route; this adds a pathway in GE connecting your photo locations.

(The photo above shows the stamped data at the bottom)

Geotagging and Panoramio

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Today I have explored the use of geotagging photographs, I used some that I had taken on a bike ride I did with Edward to West Bridgford. During the ride I used my Magellan Explorist 100 GPS to make placemarks of where I took the photographs. I thought I would explore the Yuan CC Firefox extension tool to map my photos after loading into Flickr. Basically this extension adds a GMap button to the photo button header in Flickr. Clicking on this opens up a mapping window. But I struggled to accurately map the photos using the Lat Lon data I had. It didn’t seem to want to save my work or placemark information and clicking and dragging the map was inaccurate.

So I moved onto Panoramio, on this site you upload a photograph and then map it. There are no options to add Lat Lon data, all you do is use Google maps window to locate where you took the photo. You mark it by dragging a placemark icon. This was really easy and quick and simple to do. Once complete the photos appear via Google Earth using the Panoramio network link kml. I would like to develop this into an activity for History and Geography – the former could be work on our local history unit and the latter something as simple as matching the photographs of a river system to the map.

Epperstone Geocache

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I thought that I would get out on my bike and do the Epperstone Enquiry Geocache today whilst everyone was at Newstead Abbey. I fixed my GPS on my handlebars which made life a lot easier. I managed to clock up 45 kmph as a top speed. It really poured with rain as soon as I left the house and the weather didn’t make it’s mind up at all. Sunny then wet.

TiddlyWiki

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Heard about this non-linear WIKI space via the NAACE mailing list. It is called TiddlyWiki and it seems on the outset much like a blog using fairly smart dynamic keyword links. I need to explore it more.

I have just spent a bit of time exploring the TiddlyWiki site and tutorial trying to understand a little more about the uses of that type of communication. It is very dynamic and seems to be based on the premise that everything is contained within one HTML file. But it has to be located on a server for it to be seen on the web. The actual build of the blog (I personally think that it is a blog) is far more flexible though. You can literally build whatever you like in terms of page using the keyword links. You just click on a link and the Tiddler pops up on the screen under your last blog. I suppose this just breaks down the linear barriers of a normal blog or web site. You basically build what you see by taking it in any direction you want just from clicking on words. This could be an interesting project if stored on a school server and viewed as a local file.