Jane's Pick of the Day

February 2010 Update

Here is this month's round up of tools and articles added to my website:

Tools added to the Learning Tools Directory in February 2010

• Tools added to the Learning Tools Directory in February 2010

My Top 3 favourite tools this month

• Google Buzz - Google's new way to share resources and conversations
• Buzzzy - a search engine for Buzz
• Twitlk.com - a background for your Twitter profile of those you follow

Articles/postings added to Reading Lists in February 2010

Here's a text cloud that shows what the key trends this month were - if you couldn't have guessed!

• Articles/postings/reports added to my Reading Lists in  February 2010

My Top 3 favourite articles this month:

1. A framework for social learning in the enterprise, Harold Jarche, 24 February 2010 (in Social Learning)
2. Where social learning thrives, Marcia Conner, Fast Company, February 2010 in Social Learning)
3. Google Buzz Has Completely Changed the Game: Here’s How, Ben Parr, Mashable, 14 February 2010 (in Google Buzz)

If you want to keep up with news as it happens, here's how

• Follow me on Twitter - @c4lpt
• Follow me on Google Buzz - c4lpt.JaneHart
• Become a fan of the C4LPT Facebook Fan page - C4LPT

[Image: Desktop wallpaper calendar, February 2010 by Eli Burford, via Smashing Magazine]

UPDATE: Wordle is currently offline, so I have removed the link to the text cloud image

Synchronising networks (Twitter, Facebook & Buzz) #fb

In my previous posting about how I was using Twitter, Facebook and Buzz, I mentioned that I initially synchonised postings across the 3 different networks -  to see how that worked for me. 

I've had a few enquiries asking me how I was doing that, so I thought I would point you to the relevant pages of my Guide to 140 Learning where I list the tools I have found to do this:

• On the Synchronising networks page I list some tools that link networks together, so that the same tweet/message appears automatically on different networks.  These tools are useful where one of these networks is your primary network and you wish to sync with another.   What you have to watch out for, though, is putting your content in a loop, where it constantly moves around the networks as it is re-synched!
• On the Managing accounts page I list some tools that let you send the same message to multiple accounts/networks at once, and additionally, tools that let you schedule messages to networks.

Does anyone have any more to add, or want to share their experiences of using them?

Twitter and Facebook and Buzz! Oh, my! #fb

I have been spending quite a lot of time recently on Twitter and Facebook and Google Buzz (oh, my!) as I work on my resource: 140 Learning: A Guide to Using Twitter, Facebook and Google Buzz for Social Learning, which is coming along quite nicely.

However, this has also allowed me to reflect on my own personal and professional use of these 3 social networks.  Originally I tried to synch postings across these 3 sites, so that they were pretty much the same, but I am now finding I am using each of them quite differently (although there is still some overlap) - more about that in another posting - and hence am reorganising my online activities because of this. 

So in this posting, I just wanted to mention that as part of my reorganisation, I have now set up a C4LPT Facebook Fan page, where my professional activities on Facebook will be focused.  (Note I will still be actively maintaining my Twitter account as well as my Google Buzz feed!).

This Facebook Fan page is still in its infancy, but I am hoping that "fans" can help me extend it into more of a learning community space, so if you are on Facebook, come and join us!

Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies on Facebook

Backchatter - a game about Twitter trendspotting

See my Social Media in Learning blog posting

New early version of #lrnchat starts Thursday, 25 February

I've written about #lrnchat in a number of postings before (most recently about the session that discussed E-Learning Myths).

lrnchat is online chat that happens every Thursday night between 8:30-10pm EST / 5:30-7pm PST on Twitter, and moderated by Marcia Conner, Clark Quinn, Koreen Olbrish, Mark Oehlert and Jane Bozarth.   The problem for me has always been the time, as this is 1.30-3.00 am in the UK.

But recently Aaron Silvers (aka @mrch0mp3rs on Twitter) invited me along with a number of others to help with an early version of lrnchat.  So from this Thursday, 25 February, Neil Lasher (@neillasher) and I (@c4lpt) from the UK and Brent Shlenker(@brentschlenker), Stephanie Daul and Aaron Silvers (@mrch0mp3rs) from the US will be be moderating a new early version of lrnchat, at 4.30 pm GMT (11.30 am EST).

The weekly chat topic will be the same for both the early and later versions, and the topic for Thursday February 25, 2010 is : The Learning Delta.

• Q1) What’s different between training in 2000 & training today?
• Q2) What do you expect to be/what do you want to be different in 2020?
• Q3) What would have to happen for training to be better in 2020?

If you would like to participate you can find out more about lrnchat and the "rules of engagement" at the lrnchat blog.

We all look forward to seeing you there!

iPlayer broadcasts with Twitter subtitles

Martin Hawksey, e-Learning Advisor (Higher Education) for JISC RSC Scotland North & East, has an interesting idea which he emailed me:

"Building on the work of Tony Hirst I’ve come up with a tool which allows users to view BBC iPlayer broadcasts with subtitles pulled from twitter. The concept being many users are engaging in online discussion during live broadcasts (for example during The Virtual Revolution series), if the viewer wants to replay the episode and follow the online discussion the two assets are disaggregated, you can’t see the real-time comments as they were originally made. The tool allows the user to use twitter search results to create a subtitle file which is used when replaying the episode in iPlayer. This video demonstrates the twitter iPlayer mash-up in action."

Record your screencast online

Whilst the tool was designed with the iPlayer in mind the file created is in in W3C Timed Text Authoring Format so it may be used in other applications.

There's more about how this was achieved on Martin's blog posting at MASHe.

Adding Twitter to PowerPoint, Keynote and now - Sliderocket

See my posting on my Social Media in Learning blog

Pixorial

Pixorial is an online video service where home movies and people interconnect. Customers can collaborate with others by adding and sharing full resolution home movies in the secure Pixorial service. Customers can edit and remix this online content to create unique, customized video products. The final products retain the full quality and resolution of the master movies regardless of origin.

Pixorial

[275 Image, audio and video tools appear in the Learning Tools Directory 2010]

MemoThis

"Capture your genius; spread the word; embed your thoughts onto any web content...and do something great! ... Organize your own ideas; collaborate with colleagues, or to reach out to any other user."

You can share your memos to your favorite social network or use email to distribute your thoughts outside the community with "Share the it" function on your "MyMemoThis" page.

MemoThis

[150+ tools for your personal productivity are to be found in the Learning Directory 2010]

Guide to 140 Learning: From interactivity to social activity #140learning

A couple of week's ago I blogged about two new projects I was working on. 

• 140 University which delivers twice-daily "classes" via Twitter and Facebook to help extend and build a general education
• 140 Learning Centre which delivers daily nuggets via Twittr and Facebook to support productvivity in the workpalce

There has been a lot of interest in these two projects which in turn has generated lots of requests for help in using Twitter in Facebook for social learning. 

I have therefore begun to create a Guide to 140 Learning: From interactivity to social activity which describes and explains the many different ways that these tools can be used for social learning - from backchannels in events and presentations, in the lecture or training room, for micro-learning as well as for collaborative and other formal and informal learning projects.

Although I have made some headway into this project, it is very much a Work In Progress as I craft and refine the pages of the Guide.  I've also decided now to extend it to include Google Buzz, which I think will be able to add a further dimension to social learning.

You can find out more about the Guide to 140 Learning here - and if you would like me to include any examples of how you are using these tools for social learning, please feel free to contact me in any of the ways listed on the main page.