[WikiEducator] Re: Wiki Pages rating by users

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Sanjaya ---

I'm keen to hear your thoughts how/why you think a start system will
help WE achieve its aims?

Do you see a star system as a mechanism to motivate WikiEducators?  or
Is this a mechanism to express a collective view on the quality of a
resource? 

Interestingly -- we host our main list on Google Groups which has a star
rating system for posts -- but I've noticed that its not widely used by
the community. 

That said, I'm sure that there are innovative ways in which a star
system could be implemented through a smart template solution.  My
personal view is that any system that attempts to make any kind of value
judgement on popularity and/or quality must be community driven. I'm
also wondering about the impact a start system might have on newbies in
the community.

Lets say I'm a new teacher grappling with the wiki syntax, structure,
pedagogy etc -- and someone comes along and gives me a poor rating.
Would that motivate me to do better or discourage me from continuing.
That said, I do think we can learn from the community incentives in the
WMF projects. For example, Wikipedia have a featured article system
where the community nominate articles for the status of a feature
article.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_articles

There is a rigorous process regarding the criteria for featured articles
as well as community discussion on whether a nomination will qualify.
Once an article has attained the status of featured article -- as star
is inserted on the page.

Perhaps we should think about an equivalent or similar process in WE?  I
guess the place to start would be to think about the criteria we would
use.

On the quality issue -- I've been doing a little thinking about the
appropriateness of implementing the Flagged Revisions extension. See:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:FlaggedRevisions

Its a pretty sophisticated tool where assigned reviewers take
responsibility for expressing a value judgement on predefined criteria.
What I like about the system is that the page view can be set to display
the latest reviewed version -- without restricting the ability to draft
edit and add value to existing materials.

Perhaps this is something we should think about.

Cheers
Wayne


On Fri, 2008-05-02 at 04:06 -0700, Missan wrote:

> Dear All,
> Can we think of developing an interactive five point/star rating
> system for the pages on the WikiEducator. Depending on user hit and
> user feedback, the star system should dyanamically change. I am not
> sure such a system is possible in WIkiEd or not. But, I think some
> rating system is there in Wikipedia, but I am not able to understand.
> Can anybody help on this?
> 
> with regards,
> 
> Sanjaya Mishra
> IGNOU
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: free courses for educators on web 2.0 tools for instruction and learning

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Nellie -- 

You're right -- I think that the discussions should be on WE, that way
there is a node and history for the evolution of the concepts and the
community. 

My view is be bold -- start a node page and point folk to the page.

Cheers
Wayne


On Fri, 2008-05-02 at 15:49 -0700, NELLIE DEUTSCH wrote:
> Hi Randy,
> I sense we are both kinesthetic in our outlook. I like to things to
> move. My interests are very diverse. I think most of us have many
> interests, the idea is to practice we preach; the skills of sharing,
> so that others will find it easier to follow our "wiki" steps. 
>  
> I suggest we organize wiki asynchronous/synchronous meetings ASAP so
> others will have easy access to our ideas. I think many of the ideas
> expressed in these google groups are lost to the world because while
> membership may have its merits, it also has its limitations. Would it
> be possible/desirable to add these discussions to wikieducator?
>  
> Your thoughts...
>  
> Nellie 
> 
> On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 11:18 AM, Randy Fisher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> Hi Nellie,
> 
> I agree with you completely.
> 
> I think the Weekly WikiEd Webconferences (WWW) are a really
> good idea, and a step in the right direction. 
> 
> Also, we need to have a regular events / activities listing -
> that makes its way onto the main page of WikiEd, so that folks
> can see what activity is happening, where the clusters of
> people working on projects are ~ far richer detail than simply
> checking "Recent Changes" - I spoke to Pankaj Khare of IGNOU
> in India, and he suggested something of that sort. (I've cc'd
> him, so he's aware of what we're chatting about...)
> 
> True, we are a community here, but we need elevate our
> activities so that we are a Community of Support for each
> other - dialoguing, sharing, exchanging info, ideas, insights
> and approachesand creating awareness about what's
> happening...I'm not saying that this hasn't happened before,
> it's just that we have to ramp it up to the next level...
> 
> This leads naturally into Ownershipour ownership of our
> community
> 
> To your point about engaging teacher-educators, and shifting
> mindsetsin a way we as WikiEducators have to shift our own
> mindsets to talk less about technology per se, and more about
> the community development, engagement etc..., and draw others
> into projects that we're working onin line with mutual
> interests
> 
> I'm sensing more energy in the community to do this...at this
> point...
> 
> As alwaysyour thoughts? :-)
> 
> Randy
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 1, 2008 at 10:37 AM, nelliemuller
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Randy,
> After my conversation with you on SKYPE, I tried to
> understand what
> was missing.; was it the fact that wikispace is easier
> or something
> else? I came to the conclusion that teachers are not
> ready. We need to
> help teachers change their mind sets and pay less
> attention to
> technology. Once educators decide they want to
> collaborate, they will
> see the value of e-learning. For a start, we may wish
> to model good
> collaborative efforts ourselves. Why are we
> communicating via google,
> skype, google chat, msn,  and yahoo, and not
> wikieducator?
> 
> :)
> 
> Nellie
> 
> 
> On Apr 30, 6:08 am, "Randy Fisher"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > This would be a great resource for teacher-educators
> within, and external to
> > our community - it would also be useful for keeping
> folks 'engaged' and
> > fostering a sense of belonging, because they are
> afilliated / connected to a
> > Community of Support. This is an important message
> to convey, concomitant
> > with the development of these materials
> >
> > Nellie, Leigh et al:  Last night I spoke with Pankaj
> Khare (Skype Chat), and
> > he suggested that we might be able to put up a feed
> of events on the WikiEd
> > main page - so that teacher-educators could get a
> sense of the events and
> > Pr

[WikiEducator] Re: Wiki Pages rating by users

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Erik,

Thanks --- that's valuable feedback. 

See also In text below ...


On Sat, 2008-05-03 at 03:29 -0700, ericdeeson wrote:

> I agree that your idea has merit, Sanjaya, but believe that people
> should use such a system only for finished products (like published
> books and city centre hotels). For an unfinished product (as, almost
> by definition, all wiki pages are), we need an information box with
> more detail - to guide potential users, editors and other visitors.
> 
> Here's what I suspect such a box would best contain ... at least:
> * code for type of resource and domain/sub-domain
> * if for use with learners, codes for subject/topic and level of main
> learners
> * page start date (and access to author's name if that is felt
> appropriate - maybe authors could have a rating as do sellers on
> Amazon to help with Sanjaya's concern)
> * last edit date (and access to edit history and all editors' names as
> with the initial author)
> * summary of further work needed if any (like the Wiki's editorial
> notes) (and access to full details)

Brent Simpson has done his usual magic. Brent has created a
ContentInfobox which enables us to implement your suggestions
 
We've not had a chance to publicisze this properly or finish the
tutorial on how to use the feature, but you can see an example of our
work in progress here:
http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/Developing_a_teaching_resource/Inserting_an_Infobox

Its a pretty powerful template because it automatically categorises
stuff.  There are some instructions on how to use the template here:
See: www.wikieducator.org/template:ContentInfobox

The history page keeps track of all the details relating to editors'
names, dates etc. but we've included the option for the originating
author to specify their name and the starting date of the project.  

Take a look -- be keen to hear what you think.

Cheers
Wayne

> 
> Users could gain a view of the likely value to them of the page within
> a few seconds and also be encouraged to add to it.
> 
> Best wishes, all - Eric ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Wiki Pages rating by users

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Rob,

These are powerful tools and we have the benefit of hindsight to learn
from the experiences of a humble giant .

That said -- I think WE is pioneering new ground in the sense that
educational materials are different from an encyclopedia article.
Education is culturally bounded and its going to be difficult to agree
the parameters of a quality educational resource.

Please take a look at the
http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review page
and see where and how the tools you have linked might assist WE.
Automation will help us to scale -- so we need to think very seriously
about how to move QA and review processes forward in WE.

Candidly -- I think this is the biggest challenge faced by our community
to date.  I see opportunities for us establishing a global leadership
position on the challenges of quality in the development of educational
materials.

Lets prove the world that we are going to become the global leaders in
the field .

Cheers
Wayne


On Sun, 2008-05-04 at 09:47 +1200, Robert Kruhlak wrote:

> >Of course it would also mean increased
> >  work load for all concerned.  One can't expect peers to review unless
> >  one is also willing to serve as reviewer.
> 
> I recently heard/read about an automatic methods for  determining the
> quality of a wikipedia article. An example using wikipedia content is
> given at the link below
> 
> http://gaston.cse.ucsc.edu/index.php/Main_Page
> 
> More information can be found at:
> 
> http://trust.cse.ucsc.edu/
> 
> Cheers
> Rob
> 
> >
> > >
> >
> 
> 
> 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Challenges in Collaborating

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Nellie,

Hey, thanks for taking the initiative in moving the discussion on how to
build community forward. 

Given that this is a substantive challenge for WE -- Would you mind if
we promoted your efforts to a community-wide discussion, rather than a
sub-discussion under your user page? I'm concerned that readers may
misinterpret your efforts as a personal project, rather than a
contribution for the larger WE community .

I've set up a new page for WE to document and propose ideas for a
community building strategy:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Community_building_strategy

Perhaps we should move your discussion thread to this page?

There have been valuable contributions on the main WE list regarding
ideas on building community -- Lets extract the main ideas and thought
onto this page so we have a central place to build the strategy as well
as documenting the suggestions so far.

What do you think?

Cheers
Wayne

On Sat, 2008-05-03 at 16:56 -0700, nelliemuller wrote:

> Please join the discussion on WE: 
> http://wikieducator.org/User_talk:Nelliemuller#lqt_thread_2129
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Developing a QA and review policy for WE -- An invitation

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi everyone,

Over the past few days a few WikiEducators have started talking about
quality assurance and review processes.  A QA and review page has been
set up in the WIkiEducator namespace:

http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

The purpose

The purpose of this page is to initiate open and transparent dialogue
with WikiEducators to:
 
discuss and develop WE processes that will assist in promoting the
quality of our teaching materials;

  * develop a draft policy for quality assurance for consultation
and adoption by the community;


An open invitation to all WikiEducators


  * We are seeking volunteers to assist with the development and
drafting process. So if you have an interest or specific
expertise in this area -- Please add your name to the list on
the relevant page
(http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review 
)
  * WE are asking your input on key questions. Please respond on the
relevant talk page in the wiki (not this list). WE need to keep
a record of the discussions in one place. 


Questions so far:


  * Do we have the right assumptions and guiding principles for the
development of a QA and review process?
  * What is the recommended time frame for developing and
instituting a QA and review policy in WE?
  * Can the WE QA and review process be broken down into "degrees of
completion"?
  * Should our commitment to quality be stated as a core value of
the WE community


If you have any thoughts on these questions -- please post them under
the relevant discussion:

http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator_talk:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

Cheers
Wayne


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[WikiEducator] Re: question OERs ? Cute Kitten Syndrome

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leo,

OCW is an impressive project by virtue of MITs involvement. They were
certainly a landmark project in the global OER landscape. However, I'm
not a great fan of many of the OCW initiatives for the following
reasons:


  * Most OCW projects, including MIT use the NC restriction in their
license, and technically this is a "non-free" content license
which is not approved by the free cultural works definition
(see: http://freedomdefined.org/Definition ). Fortunately WE
uses licenses which are approved .
  * Most OCW projects are not community driven projects in the sense
that its more difficult to participate collaboratively in
content development. That's not to say that we have got
collaborative development right in WE -- but there are no
philosophical or technological barriers to collaboration.  WE
encourages and tries its best to connect people from different
parts of the world working on similar projects.
  * WE goes out of its way to build capacity in developing OERs,
especially in the developing world -- for example the L4C
initiative.

If we look at the global OER landscape I see two generic approaches:


  * Producer-consumer models of OER development (eg MIT OCW) --
currently the majority of OER projects
  * Collaborative-peer production models like WE, Wikiversity and
Wikibooks. 


My personal view is that the open and distributed peer production models
will achieve sustainability before the producer-consumer models --
simply because of the principles of self-organisation and the infinite
scalability of distributed production systems.

Granter -- we all have lots to learn regarding the best ways to achieve
sustainability of the OER movement -- but everyday WE're getting better
at doing this.

Thanks for the though provoking post.

Cheers
Wayne


On Tue, 2008-05-06 at 22:53 +0800, Wong Leo wrote:

> it is very late in China , but before I go to bed ,wake up forgot what
> I wanted to say to George Simens's Post :
> 
> 1 I think it is totally or partly  waste of time to translate the
> whole course of MIT especially what Taiwan is doing now , too
> radical , let me finish , they even translate the name wrong into
> Chinese ! 
> 
> 2 I am particularyly interested in how Developing countries develop
> their own OER and what kinda of OER existed in  those countries
> especially to do with Non-technology course like Chinese history or
> Chinese history 
> 
> 3 I feel strong about the culture part of Creataing and reuse OER , I
> think WE does have a culture projects going on , how is it now ? 
> 
> 4 I am interested to hear about what you have to say George Simens
> comments on OER 
> 
> Leo 
> 
> 
> 2008/5/6 Wong Leo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
> 
> was at CNIE earlier this week and participated on this panel
> discussingopen educational resources (OERs). Educators are
> periodically afflicted with a psychological condition called
> "Cute Kitten Syndrome". This syndrome manifests itself as
> evoking perceived universal favor for an idea or concept and
> with those opposing cast as lacking some key element that
> comprises humanity. I mean, really, who doesn't love cute
> furry kittens? If a person is to speak against OERs, they are
> essentially revealing their callus nature. But, I must say a
> few critical things. First, I'm in favor of OERs as a concept.
> In fact, in 2003, a group of us started a community on open
> educational resources based on a few articles I had posted
> online (Free and Open Source - Part 1 and Part 2 and Why we
> should share learning resources) and Stephen Downes' concept
> of DLORN. Summary notes from our first meeting are here: Open
> Education: Moving from concept to reality. We set up a few
> discussions, ran a few listservs for a while, tried to
> organize sub-committees, but things never really moved forward
> as Stephen and I had hoped (well, as I had hoped, anyway). The
> group slowly breathed its last and the domain name went to the
> land of unfulfilled dreams. Where are we now with OERs? The
> term is used very broadly and the landscape is shifting
> constantly. MITs OpenCourseWare initiative is often cited as
> the starting point of OERs, but David Wiley and others were
> already dealing with the notion of openness from a licensing
> perspective in the late 90's. (Slightly off topic, David's
> involved in a new project with open textbooks: Flat World
> Knowledge). Some view OERs as simply making resources freely
> available. Some - such as OCWconsortium have a required
> minimum commitment in order to participate. And it appears,
> that OERs are the new hype feature of educational
> c

[WikiEducator] Re: What are the indicators of a healthy wiki environment?

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Peter and Leo

Good discussion -- although I think we may be talking cross purposes
here? That is saying the same thing from different perspectives.

I think the extent that content is reused and recontextualised is an
excellent of the health of our community.

You're right -- the measure of the usefulness of an educational
resource, say for example, in Pakistan must ultimately be the learners
in Pakistan.

The point I'm alluding to is that the absence of content reviews from
Pakistan or elsewhere may not be an indicator of the quality of the
content -- but rather a challenge for the WE community to engage
educators from Pakistan in our initiative -- but on an equal footing.
I think that there are multitude of reasons why people participate or
don't participate.

So in this example I think we agree that the lack of collaboration or
participation from a given country is not necessarily an indicator of
the quality of the content -- but rather the identification of an
opportunity to find creative ways of engaging educators from specific
regions.

Couldn't agree more on the challenge of becoming adept zoo keepers :-)

WE is very much a learn-by-doing community!

Cheers
Wayne


On May 6, 9:19 pm, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Wayne,
>
> I believe we are trying to push into new ground. That of measuring the
> quality of wiki based OER. And I like that Leo agreed, reuse and
> recontextualization is most important.
> I also believe that the only people who can measure the health of a
> Grade 7 geography lesson for Pakistan are the people who live in that
> geographical area of Pakistan. So this IMHO goes back to community,
> not reviewing the content, unless the reviewers are local to the
> targeted learners of the content. And they created the "measures" for
> the review... this is why a maturity model is effective, cause it is
> subscriptive not prescriptive. to a certain extend the users decide
> what is mature
> I still believe the jury is out on the number of authors to make
> exemplary content. I believe it all depends on who the author(s) is/
> are...
> I agree with your healthy animal analogy... it all goes back to
> context, it all depends. That is why a review must be done within
> context...
>
> I believe if we are serious about reviewing the quality of WE content
> we need to be rigorous and have proven (and well researched)
> approaches. Otherwise we may be doing our community a dis-service. And
> providing reviews that aren't context sensitive. I think we need to be
> careful.
>
> I think we need to be proven zoo keepers for a long while before we
> can start assessing the health of the animals ;)
>
> Cheers,
> Peter
>
> On May 6, 3:08 pm, mackiwg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Hi Peter,
>
> > Thanks for starting this thread --- these are tough and challenging
> > questions.
>
> > I think we need to think about whose temperature we're measuring
> > . Is it the content or is it the community. So when we're
> > talking about the health of the WE OER community -- this is something
> > different from the health of the Grade 7 Geography lesson for
> > Pakistan.
>
> > Stated conversely -- if exemplary content only has one or two authors,
> > does this mean the community is unhealthy?
>
> > So the list of questions are measurements (or data) -- but not
> > necessarily value judgements about the health of the object -- if you
> > know what I mean. To stretch the health example -- cold blooded
> > animals would be healthy if they're at room temparature I guess, --
> > but the actual measurement would not necessarily be indicative of a
> > health mamal.
>
> > Sorry -- I'm not a Zoologist   -- but hope the analogy works.
>
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
>
> > On May 6, 8:18 am, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > > I think this is a timely question. What indicates a healthy wiki
> > > environment. I also think this question should be thought about in the
> > > context of WikiEducator and wiki based OER? How would this health be
> > > measured?
> > > Is it the number of contributors to a page or module?
> > > or is it the reputation of the pages primary author?
> > > or is it the number of edits?
> > > or is it the frequency of being referenced?
> > > or is it the number of times it has been reused and recontextualized?
> > > or is it the number of different countries that use it?
> > > or is in the number of visits?
>
> > > or is it all of the above?
>
> > > Peter
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[WikiEducator] Re: What are the indicators of a healthy wiki environment?

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leo,

These are good examples of the kinds of processes that should be
incorporated into our evolving capability maturity model for WE. These
are the key processes that  will help us in building the quality we
are striving for.

I think that the challenge we are going to face is related to the
complexity of exercising value judgments on the quality of content
versus measures that help us understand the maturity of our community
as it evolves.

That said -- we're very fortunate. WE has lots of people and eyes to
ensure that we get this right!

Cheers
Wayne


On May 6, 9:31 pm, "Wong Leo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Thank you Peter , you are amazing ! I am reading what you and Wayne wrote
> very carefully and really learning a lot from both of you .I am not sure if
> I understand the animal analogy , I would like to give my 2 cents to this on
> the quality or healthy wiki resources .
>
> 1 What is the purpose of the educational resources ?
>
> 2 what need will be addressed ?
>
> 3 what program will be developed by using this resources
>
> 4 what faculty will be involoved ?
>
> 5 what kinds of staff will be invloved ?
>
> 6 what promotion need to done or training ?
>
> 7 how will you measure the being healthy or sucess ?
>
> Leo
>
> 2008/5/7 Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Wayne,
>
> > I believe we are trying to push into new ground. That of measuring the
> > quality of wiki based OER. And I like that Leo agreed, reuse and
> > recontextualization is most important.
> > I also believe that the only people who can measure the health of a
> > Grade 7 geography lesson for Pakistan are the people who live in that
> > geographical area of Pakistan. So this IMHO goes back to community,
> > not reviewing the content, unless the reviewers are local to the
> > targeted learners of the content. And they created the "measures" for
> > the review... this is why a maturity model is effective, cause it is
> > subscriptive not prescriptive. to a certain extend the users decide
> > what is mature
> > I still believe the jury is out on the number of authors to make
> > exemplary content. I believe it all depends on who the author(s) is/
> > are...
> > I agree with your healthy animal analogy... it all goes back to
> > context, it all depends. That is why a review must be done within
> > context...
>
> > I believe if we are serious about reviewing the quality of WE content
> > we need to be rigorous and have proven (and well researched)
> > approaches. Otherwise we may be doing our community a dis-service. And
> > providing reviews that aren't context sensitive. I think we need to be
> > careful.
>
> > I think we need to be proven zoo keepers for a long while before we
> > can start assessing the health of the animals ;)
>
> > Cheers,
> > Peter
>
> > On May 6, 3:08 pm, mackiwg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > Hi Peter,
>
> > > Thanks for starting this thread --- these are tough and challenging
> > > questions.
>
> > > I think we need to think about whose temperature we're measuring
> > > . Is it the content or is it the community. So when we're
> > > talking about the health of the WE OER community -- this is something
> > > different from the health of the Grade 7 Geography lesson for
> > > Pakistan.
>
> > > Stated conversely -- if exemplary content only has one or two authors,
> > > does this mean the community is unhealthy?
>
> > > So the list of questions are measurements (or data) -- but not
> > > necessarily value judgements about the health of the object -- if you
> > > know what I mean. To stretch the health example -- cold blooded
> > > animals would be healthy if they're at room temparature I guess, --
> > > but the actual measurement would not necessarily be indicative of a
> > > health mamal.
>
> > > Sorry -- I'm not a Zoologist   -- but hope the analogy works.
>
> > > Cheers
> > > Wayne
>
> > > On May 6, 8:18 am, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > > > I think this is a timely question. What indicates a healthy wiki
> > > > environment. I also think this question should be thought about in the
> > > > context of WikiEducator and wiki based OER? How would this health be
> > > > measured?
> > > > Is it the number of contributors to a page or module?
> > > > or is it the reputation of the pages primary author?
> > > > or is it the number of edits?
> > > > or is it the frequency of being referenced?
> > > > or is it the number of times it has been reused and recontextualized?
> > > > or is it the number of different countries that use it?
> > > > or is in the number of visits?
>
> > > > or is it all of the above?
>
> > > > Peter
>
> --
> blog:http://leolaoshi.yo2.cn
> HELP项目https://groups.google.com/group/helpelephantsliveproject
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[WikiEducator] Re: Otago Polytechnic to sign Capetown Declaration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Well done Leigh!

Do take lots of photos! Let's write up a short news release which
WIkiEducator will feature as front page news.

The Commonwealth of Learning and the WE community would like to
celebrate your achievements and profile this important milestone. WE
is generating about 300 000 visits per month -- so this will help
extend the news around the world!

While finite detail of the Cape Town declaration does not get all
things right -- signing the declaration is definitely the right thing
to do.

Kudos to Otago Polytechnic!

Cheers
Wayne

On May 7, 12:03 am, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> We are go!
>
> Otago Polytechnic will be signing the Capetown
> Declarationon Open Education this
> Friday 9 May at Phil's Forum G106 12 noon NZST.
>
> While I and several others are on record expressing reservations over the
> wording of the Declaration, this signing is more about our expression of
> support for the spirit of the thing, and reaffirming our commitment to open
> education formally set in place by our Intellectual Property policy (2007).
>
> Otago Polytechnic has been at the fore of almost every recent step in the
> international effort for Open Education including significant work on the
> Wikieducator platform; use of popular and internationally recognised media
> and communication platforms; developing an Intellectual Property Policy in
> line with open educational practices; adopting a NZ Creative Commons
> Attribution copyright license; and ensuring that its spokespeople are very
> much a part of the dialogue on educational media and communications
> nationally. We have featured in international news: twice on
> CreativeCommons.org; twice with the Commonwealth of Learning, numerous times
> in educational journals and countless weblogs. Our joining in the Capetown
> Declaration will see that Otago Polytechnic remains in this spotlight to
> confirm our commitment to Open Education and leading New Zealand towards a
> progressive and appropriate future for its educational institutions in our
> local and global society.
>
> I sincerely hope as many people as possible can drop what they are doing and
> be there to show support for this act of solidarity and leadership. Otago
> Polytechnic will be the first institution in Australia or New Zealand to
> join 157 other institutions in the Declaration since it was penned September
> 2007. I look forward to seeing you on Friday. Please bring a friend with a
> camera.
>
> Regards
> Leigh
>
> -- Forwarded message --
> From: Phil Ker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Date: Wed, May 7, 2008 at 6:23 PM
> Subject: Re: ::networkedlearning:: Re: URGENT - Significant opportunity for
> Otago Polytechnic Internationally
> To: "Blackall, Leigh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>  Hi Leigh,
> My apologies for the delay in getting back to you. Yes, we can do this on
> Friday.
> cheers
> phil
>
> >>> "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 5/05/2008 8:36:58 p.m. >>>
> Hello,
>
> Remember my proposal to use this Friday's Phil's Forum for a signing
> of the Capetown
> Declaration ? (See email history below)
>
> Firstly, Phil, can we get a confirmation that we can do this on Friday?
> Given our IP Policy and efforts on Wikieducator so far, it is simply an
> International (and local) PR move and has no financial or legal
> implications.
>
> Secondly, if Phil does confirm this Friday... We'll need a commitment from
> you all to be there for the event to show staff support for OP's leadership
> in developing open education at OP.
>
> This is an opportunity for Otago Polytechnic to keep itself in the spotlight
> internationally, and will help staff in the Polytech in their efforts to
> convince HODs and Group Managers of the benefits and virtues of Open
> Educational Resources.
>
> On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 10:48 AM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>
> > Its looking like May 9's Friday Forum could be the day.. TBC.. this will
> > become a big deal internationally, so as soon as this date is confirmed can
> > we all come together (those of us working or interested in OER - to help
> > plan and promote).. Sarah, this could be the event you need to turn your
> > managers interest some..
>
> > On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 9:48 PM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > wrote:
>
> > > Prolly need to find a time that Phil and Robin can be there. Robin is in
> > > China for the rest of this week I think (next week too?).. maybe we can 
> > > ask
> > > Phil to make it a Friday forum?
>
> > > On Tue, Apr 22, 2008 at 9:12 PM, Merrolee Penman <
> > > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > > >  Definitely interested... where and when?
>
> > > > Merrolee Penman, MA(Educ), DipOT, NZROT
> > > > Principal Lecturer
> > > > Postgraduate Academic Leader
> > > > Flexible Learning Leader in New Zealand (2004/2005)
>
> > > > School of Occupational Therapy
> > > > Otago Polytechnic
> > > > Private Bag 1910
> > > > Dunedin
> 

[WikiEducator] Re: What are the indicators of a healthy wiki environment?

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Peter and Leigh and WikiEducators --

PLEASE READ THE NEXT STEPS SECTION AT THE END OF THIS POST

I like the featured content resource suggestion -- something we also
alluded to in one of our earlier in our discussions on the topic:

http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator/browse_frm/thread/d8533af90a59386d#

I've added the suggestion to the QA and review page:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

I like the idea of a the featured reuse category even more :-). Remix
and reuse is the untapped potential of the OER movement. Granted, its
difficult to get right, but this is the value proposition that will
get individuals investing time and institutions investing dollars in
getting this right. I'm confident that WE can make a valuable
contribution here.

OK to recap and emphasize important thoughts in the discussion:

1. We don't want or subscribe to hidden hierarchies --- hence our open
and transparent development of the QA and review page. WE have an open
invitation for volunteers to assist with drafting the necessary
documents and supporting resources. If anyone is interested please add
your names to the list.
2. Laziness is part of the social media therefore any system
implemented must be scalable and administered by the community. --
Hence the suggestion that an optional system be implemented. WE need
to figure how to scale this and how best to ensure active engagement
by the community.
3. Beware of "who's quality" -- Hence our guiding principle that
quality is "an illusive and complex concept -- it means different
things to different people and will always be context-dependent"
4. QA and optional review tools should not alienate WikiEducators --
especially newbies. I think that our two guiding principles, namely
that (1) quality is a  process not a state and (2) WE subscribe to
promoting a healthy wiki community where members are recognized and
rewarded for their contributions.
5. If we are serious about reviewing the quality of WE content we need
to be rigorous and have proven (and well researched) approaches. This
is the toughest and most complex task facing WE since its inception --
lets do an exemplary job and take the time it needs for our processes
to mature.
6. Maturity model frameworks appear to provide us with a substantive
framework to move forward.

It seems to me that the next steps are for the volunteer team to start
working on a few concept ideas on the wiki.

NEXT STEPS

1) Final request for volunteers who want to assist in the development
of our QA and review processes -- please add your name to this page:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

2) Please take a look at the questions on the talk page in the wiki
and have your say:

http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator_talk:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

3) Then its up to the drafting team to propose and coordinate how WE
will take the process forward.

Cheers
Wayne






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[WikiEducator] Re: 16 essential quality of commuity repost

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Thanks Leo --

Its good to hear that you think OUR WikiEducator is doing reasonably
OK on this criteria.

There's always room for improvement hey?

Cheers
Wayne

On May 7, 8:14 am, "Wong Leo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Repost From here 
>
> Capacity for : Actions:
>
> 1. ATTENTION sense, probe, observe, listen, find patterns
> 2. INSTINCT perceive, intuit, let come, know subconsciously
> 3. APPRECIATION discover, play, learn ,
> laugh, understand, thank
> 4. REFLECTION  suspend, consider,
> open, let go, entertain, explore
> 5. INTENTION love, have passion. persevere, follow through
> 6. CRITICAL THINKING question, infer, deduce
> 7. ELICITATION incite, provoke, draw out
> 8. IMAGINATION conceive, ideate, let emerge
> 9. COLLABORATION facilitate, help, connect, cooperate, co-develop
> 10. RESPONSIBILITY care, nurture, cultivate, mend, sustain, groom
> 11. RESOURCEFULNESS bring to bear, supply, give, equip, prepare
> 12. CREATIVITY model, recreate, innovate, realize
> 13. COMMUNICATION relate stories, convey, converse, explain, describe
> 14. DEMONSTRATION offer, show, exhibit
> 15. IMPROVISATION respond, decide, try, experiment, perform
> 16. RESILIENCE/GRACE self-change, adapt, self-manage
>
> I feel like WE is doing very good at most of the above 16 , my favourite
> part about WE is the commuity part !
>
>
>
> --
> blog:http://leolaoshi.yo2
> HELP项目https://groups.google.com/group/helpelephantsliveproject
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[WikiEducator] Re: SCoPE [SOF2008]

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Peter,

Couldn't agree more -- WE should definitely run an inaugural
conference online.

A few of the WE community builders have started up a page and are
brainstorming ideas:

http://wikieducator.org/Webconferences


Yeah -- I think our community is big enough to put together a valuable
conference experience from all corners of the Commonwealth and further
afield.

Lets fix a tentative date sometime in the future and starting working
towards the event. I'll invite Sir John to keynote!

Cheers
Wayne
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[WikiEducator] Re: SCoPE [SOF2008]

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Nellie --

Sure -- it would be great to have a live online session. I know Leigh
down at Otago Poly has also offered help out with Web conferencing
tools. So it would be great if we could share the live hosting around
the world.

I think there's a need for two types of conferencing 

1. Smaller scheduled sessions where key folk from our community talk
about what they're doing and
2. A BIG WikiEd Moot conference. I have a Moodle server running for WE,
which we could use for structuring our first global conference. This
will need a little planning and volunteers from around the world -- but
given enough time I'm sure that we can have an exciting event.

Thanks again for the offer -- I'm sure that the community will take you
up on the gesture. 
What do you have in mind?

Cheers
Wayne



On Thu, 2008-05-08 at 13:27 -0700, NELLIE DEUTSCH wrote:

> Wayne,
> Would you like me to set up a live online session?
> 
> Nellie
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 12:51 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Peter,
> 
> Couldn't agree more -- WE should definitely run an inaugural
> conference online.
> 
> A few of the WE community builders have started up a page and
> are
> brainstorming ideas:
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/Webconferences
> 
> 
> Yeah -- I think our community is big enough to put together a
> valuable
> conference experience from all corners of the Commonwealth and
> further
> afield.
> 
> Lets fix a tentative date sometime in the future and starting
> working
> towards the event. I'll invite Sir John to keynote!
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Nellie Deutsch
> Doctoral Student of Education
> http://www.nelliemuller.com
> http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd
> http://www.building-relationship.com/education
> http://blendedlear.ning.com
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Congratulations WE -- A new record!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi everyone

A new record for our community!

WikiEducator records 15,147 visits to our website on 7 May 2008 and
we're still growing.

Congratulations to our family of educators from around the world who
are committed to widening access to education using free content and
open networks.

Another reason to celebrate.

Cheers
Wayne
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[WikiEducator] Re: Congratulations WE -- A new record!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Hollis,

Anyone can learn to use a wiki -- all that's required is little
experience in using a web browser and a willingness to lean.

There are a number of ways you can learn. Its always more fun when you
can find a few colleagues or fellow teachers to learn as a group --
however, this is not absolutely necessary.

WE presents a free online training workshop every month -- you and
your colleagues are most welcome to register here:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

If you're in a hurry and want to start learning now -- you can work
through our self-study tutorials:

http://wikieducator.org/Help:Contents

Finally, We could also plan to present a face-to-face workshop in T &
T under the Learning4Content project:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content

First we need to find a host institution that will donate a computer
lab for a three day with an internet connection and a minimum of 15
committed teachers who want to learn. COL will pay a small honorarium
to arrange for a facilitator to present the workshop.

Cheers
Wayne



On May 10, 3:01 am, hollis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dear Wayne,
> Let me add my own congrats on reading about the increased visits.
> I am a PHYSICS curriculum officer in Trinidad and Tobago-West Indies
> and am becoming increasingly interested in using WE applications in
> providing a virtual workshop.
>
> How is this possible?
>
> Can I be linked to such a model?
>
> If someone is going to learn about wikis...what   hierarshy of  skills
> that they should have.?
>
> What sequence of training web/WE links should one learn from.
>
> WIKIS are truely a blessing for  "non technical" educators.
>
> Thanks for an early response
> Hollis Sankar
>
> On May 9, 1:43 pm, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Hi everyone
>
> > A new record for our community!
>
> > WikiEducator records 15,147 visits to our website on 7 May 2008 and
> > we're still growing.
>
> > Congratulations to our family of educators from around the world who
> > are committed to widening access to education using free content and
> > open networks.
>
> > Another reason to celebrate.
>
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
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[WikiEducator] Re: SCoPE [SOF2008]

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Nellie -- Your energy is contagious!

It would be great to have a couple of training sessions on how to use
WE using Moodle -- incidentally if you need teacher access to a Moodle
site for this purpose -- WE have a Moodle installation on our server.

On a slightly different tangent -- as you know Moodle is used
extensively throughout the Commonwealth and we are very keen to
develop a series of high quality professional development materials as
free content -- especially for educators getting started with Moodle
and eLearning. We're in the very early stages of this project --
having just completed an inventory of institutions in the CW who are
the technology. The idea is to find out what free content training
materials they have and whether folk are interested in collaborating
on shared professional development resources.

See:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Bounties/Moodle_in_the_Commonwealth

The next step is to develop a very short survey to collect relevant
info and to see whether this is a feasible project.

Cheers
Wayne

On May 10, 12:49 am, "NELLIE DEUTSCH"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I highly recommend Scope. I co-moderated a 3 week course on Scope with a
> good friend from Sri Lanka on e-learning in developing countries. However,
> you may also set up sessions on my Moodle (Exploring New Domains) 
> athttp://www.integrating-technology.com/pd. In fact, we can set up regular
> professional development/training courses on how to use WE on the Moodle.
>
> Warm wishes,
> Nellie
>
> On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 9:44 AM, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > This looks to be an excellent online conference;
> >http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/course/view.php?id=56I hope others can find
> > the time to participate. I believe that this is future of how
> > conferences will be run. By being online and asynchronous it allows a
> > lot of flexibility. And it also reduces our carbon footprint by
> > reducing the amount we need to travel.
>
> > Maybe WikiEducator should think of hosting such an event with focus on
> > Wiki based OER for the developing world.
>
> > Be Well, Peter
>
> --
> Nellie Deutsch
> Doctoral Student of 
> Educationhttp://www.nelliemuller.comhttp://www.integrating-technology.com/pdhttp://www.building-relationship.com/educationhttp://blendedlear.ning.com
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[WikiEducator] Re: problem with PDF generator and tables

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Thanks Leigh --

Sorry for the delay in response here -- I was waiting for feedback
from PediaPress who are responsible for coding work on the wiki ==>
pdf initiative. COL has assisted with a small financial contribution
to this development.

I understand that there is now more robust table support now available
in the latest version of the code -- but we will need to wait a little
before we can implement and test this on our WE server.

It's not a trivial exercise to update the pdf code base and would
inevitably mean downtime on the WE service. To minimize and perhaps
avoid any downtime, we are planning to do all these updates as part of
the move to our Phase 2 hosting solution late May early June 2008. Our
technical priority now is to upgrade our hosting service incorporating
more sophisticated failover solutions.

When we do this overhaul we will also set up a testing area for the
FCK rich text editing.

You can keep up to date with our plans and technical developments for
Phase 2 Hosting here:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator/Hosting and

visit the techie discussion list (read only):

http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator-tech

If there are any techie folk at Otago Poly who would like to join our
team and assist with support -- let us know. WE  subscribes to a
community hosting model and we need all the help we can get!

Cheers
Wayne

Cheers
Wayne





On May 6, 11:02 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Not sure if this has been logged already or not, but I'm having a problem
> with this 
> page:http://www.wikieducator.org/Designing_for_flexible_learning_practice/...
>
> When I generate a PDF from it, the tables are not quite right. I suspect
> that the merged cell in the top row of the tables is throwing it.
>
> --
> --
> Leigh Blackall
> +64(0)21736539
> skype - leigh_blackall
> SL - Leroy Goalposthttp://learnonline.wordpress.com
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[WikiEducator] Time to celebrate again! An award for WE at eLearning Africa

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Time for WikiEducators to celebrate again!

The MERLOT Africa Network (MAN) will pay tribute to WikiEducator at
eLearning Africa as an inaugural recipient of the awards for Exemplary
Open Education Resource (OER) practices.

Our community are acknowledged for the "pioneering role of the
WikiEducator project as a model of content authoring and professional
development that supports the OER movement".

This is a significant achievement demonstrating the power of the wiki
model to collaborate and make a difference in the world!

Every WikiEducator should take the time to pat themselves on the
shoulder! Well done!

Cheers
Wayne

See our Front page news post:

http://wikieducator.org/Main_Page




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[WikiEducator] Re: International accredited OER based university

[Wayne Mackintosh]

David

WOW! I'd like to join Peter in echoing our congratulations.  This is a
landmark milestone for the free knowledge community. 

The WE community will help in every way we can in collaborating on the
development of free content for this initiative.  

Well done Dave --- still leading the pack hey!

Cheers
Wayne

On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 10:42 -0600, David Wiley wrote:

> Our application to create a new public, online high school based on
> OERs has been approved!
> 
> http://opencontent.org/blog/archives/499
> 
> Now the real work begins...
> 
> D
> 
> On Sun, May 4, 2008 at 4:01 PM, simonfj <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Leigh,
> >
> > Sorry this has taken so long. A lot going on at present.
> >
> > Re the blog. What would I want want with a blog when people like you
> > say everything so much better than me?
> >
> > You know i inhabit lots of forums like this one - some inside
> > institutions, some (like this) on the border, some which represent the
> > new (global) institutions like sitepoint. The nearest thing to a blog
> > = http://me.edu.au/p/Simonfj
> >
> > It's not much but you know it's constructed by education.au, and
> > they're starting to see that me.edu.au could also be an Aussie's
> > lifelong learning account = an OpenID to other .edu and .gov.au
> > domains.
> >
> > Like most institutions, the edna guys have a problem separating
> > eteaching from elearning. 
> > http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=25285#78420
> > But there getting there. Conflation is such a wonderful description
> > isn't it?
> >
> > You might want to keep tabs on Moodle's Social lounge.
> > http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=6801
> > And compare it to what Wayne''s doing and the (unreported) Tectonic
> > Shift between wiki stuff.
> >
> > We seem to be at the stage now where there's starting to be some focus
> > on the Real Time Communications stuff. The 'web 2.0' focus is tiring
> > now = so many domains producing so many "me too" courses/information.
> > But the driving factor is that the National telcos have squeezed the
> > lemon dry (with VoIP, etc) and Skype has attuned global communities to
> > just how much they are ripped off. So all those skills you've picked
> > up by working with it should prove to be useful as its Open versions
> > grow legs.
> >
> > I can't push this (my lady is sooo ill, so i can't get out) but i do
> > have a patent which should be useful as the geeks start focusing on
> > this little challenge. 
> > http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=1172
> >
> > In the meantime, thanks for all your stuff and others around this
> > space (Wayne). It keep sane to see so much creativity and common sense
> > in the one place.
> > Here's one other. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/66
> > regards,
> > http://me.edu.au/p/Simonfj
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Apr 26, 7:15 am, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >> Well said Simon. Do you keep a blog I'm not aware of? I'd like to be
> >> following this type of advice and insight.
> >>
> >> Regarding very slight change all too slowly...
> >>
> >> The thing I am seeing more and more of in the institutions and the people
> >> like me that have been in them for far too long, is the adoption of the
> >> rhetoric but not the action.
> >>
> >> I am seeing many projects get funded based on their 'participatory' models,
> >> their openness, their 'action' research. But in reality they don't have
> >> anything near participation or openness, and as a result very little action
> >> to then research.
> >>
> >> Simple things like, a fella in charge of a project organising a public
> >> seminar to launch the project, in which 3 other fellas position themselves
> >> centre stage and proceed to TELL everyone what they have planned. 
> >> Typically,
> >> they have not organised any back channel, their feedback loop (if they have
> >> one) involves sending an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] that gets no reply. 
> >> And at
> >> the end of the seminar people walk out feeling ripped off that they missed
> >> their fav TV show to attend it and NOT participate.
> >>
> >> I'm sure this is the way it has always been, but today it is even worse
> >> because we have all the lobby and research that says participation and
> >> oppenness is the way, and the government and funding bodies are positioning
> >> their criteria for this, but the measures and accountability for
> >> participation and oppeness are not in place. As a result, millions of $ are
> >> being awarded to some projects for people who are simply good at wearing
> >> rhetoric without really changing their action. Their reports end up the 
> >> same
> >> camelion output.
> >>
> >> I hope all this ranting is trikiing a chord your end, because I am seeing 
> >> it
> >> more and more, and it is concerning me a great deal.
> >>
> >> So, your suggestion to get the grant and do it 'ourselves'. Would we do it
> >> any better? Given that to get the grant we have to adopt both th

[WikiEducator] Re: Congratulations WE -- A new record!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Sandhya --

Our pleasure -- I always have fun working with folk who our joining the
WE family.   WikiEducator has been the most rewarding project of my
career meeting new friends from all corners of the world committed to
the core values of education -- namely to share knowledge freely.

Don't forget to record you session @ innovation week as an ambassadorial
contribution to the Community -- see:
http://wikieducator.org/Ambassador . If you need any slides for your
session --- give me a shout. You most welcome to use any of the
WikiEducator presentations -- all free content .

A faculty development session is a great idea for an L4C bounty --
please go ahead with arrangements.  There are a few requirements for
running the session in terms of minimum numbers etc - see:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Facilitators

Typically a face-to-face L4C workshop is a 3 day affair which may be
difficult to organise with full time academics -- but you could easily
have a one day intro followed by online support to finish the training.

Cheers
Wayne



On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 20:39 +0400, Sandhya Gunness wrote:

> Dear Wayne,
> Yes indeed i'll join in Reshad to thank you s much for giving them
> a true online experience and a real social networking opportunity. I
> hope they have learnt a lot form the experience..I know I have.
> Just to let you know, i'll be running a 2 hour session on Wikieducator
> for Innovation week at the University which is open to K-12 students
> and the public at large.
> I'll send you the website link as soon we've finalised the innovation
> week. I'll apply for the bounty when we run a faculty development
> session..Will that be applicable?
> Talk to you soon,
> 
> Thanks for everything
> Sandhya
> 
> 
> On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 10:45 PM, Reshad Codabaccus
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Thanks a lot Wayne, it was a fantastic experience - like
> someone
> opened a window to new horizons for me to leap.
> Thanks to Ms Sandhya Gunness who led us to this window.
> Thanks to colleagues for their support and collaboration.
> 
> I'll definitely keep in touch and watch for my contributions.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> 
> On May 9, 9:43 pm, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> > Hi everyone
> >
> > A new record for our community!
> 
> 
> > hanks
> 
> 
> > WikiEducator records 15,147 visits to our website on 7 May
> 2008 and
> > we're still growing.
> >
> > Congratulations to our family of educators from around the
> world who
> > are committed to widening access to education using free
> content and
> > open networks.
> >
> > Another reason to celebrate.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Displaying links at WE with print in mind

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Seth --

I think we may have a solution for the urls in the print version of
the OER Handbook.

The  ... tags do parse properly in the current version of
the wiki ==> pdf software we're running.

Thanks to Eric over @ WMF who ran a quick test for us. If you go here:

http://wikieducator.org/User:Eloquence/Sandbox

Click on the download as pdf link and you will see that the  tag
is parsing properly.  The ref tak is not rendering properly online at
the moment because WE don't have the Cite extension running at the
moment. We're looking into getting this installed as soon as we have a
gap.

This would enable you to use the full url as a "reference" which would
render at the bottom of the page in the pdf version.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Wayne









On May 6, 10:46 am, Sgurell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I am working on a project at WE and I want to create a print version
> of project. What I'm wondering is how to best display the links on the
> WE side, so the transition to print is the smoothest possible. Any
> thoughts?
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[WikiEducator] Re: Displaying links at WE with print in mind

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Seth -- Had a play and I think this is going to work.

Go to: 

http://wikieducator.org/OER_Handbook/educator/Beginner_advanced -- where
I have an example of a link to the OER article on WP with a
corresponding url. 

The click on the Download as pdf link -- and you will see that it parses
properly.  The display is a little confusing at the moment -- once we
install the Mediawiki's citation extension, we should be in business.

Cheers
Wayne


On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 12:18 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote:

> Hi Seth --
> 
> I think we may have a solution for the urls in the print version of
> the OER Handbook.
> 
> The  ... tags do parse properly in the current version of
> the wiki ==> pdf software we're running.
> 
> Thanks to Eric over @ WMF who ran a quick test for us. If you go here:
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/User:Eloquence/Sandbox
> 
> Click on the download as pdf link and you will see that the  tag
> is parsing properly.  The ref tak is not rendering properly online at
> the moment because WE don't have the Cite extension running at the
> moment. We're looking into getting this installed as soon as we have a
> gap.
> 
> This would enable you to use the full url as a "reference" which would
> render at the bottom of the page in the pdf version.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On May 6, 10:46 am, Sgurell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I am working on a project at WE and I want to create a print version
> > of project. What I'm wondering is how to best display the links on the
> > WE side, so the transition to print is the smoothest possible. Any
> > thoughts?
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Displaying links at WE with print in mind

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Seth -

With thanks to Jim and the techie team on the other side of the world
--- the Cite extension is now operational.

If you take a look at this page:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

This is now displaying properly online and you will get the url in the
printed version.

Glad that this one wasn't too hard to fix.

Cheers
Wayne


On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 12:35 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote:

> Seth -- Had a play and I think this is going to work.
> 
> Go to: 
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/OER_Handbook/educator/Beginner_advanced --
> where I have an example of a link to the OER article on WP with a
> corresponding url. 
> 
> The click on the Download as pdf link -- and you will see that it
> parses properly.  The display is a little confusing at the moment --
> once we install the Mediawiki's citation extension, we should be in
> business.
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
> On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 12:18 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote: 
> 
> > Hi Seth --
> > 
> > I think we may have a solution for the urls in the print version of
> > the OER Handbook.
> > 
> > The  ... tags do parse properly in the current version of
> > the wiki ==> pdf software we're running.
> > 
> > Thanks to Eric over @ WMF who ran a quick test for us. If you go here:
> > 
> > http://wikieducator.org/User:Eloquence/Sandbox
> > 
> > Click on the download as pdf link and you will see that the  tag
> > is parsing properly.  The ref tak is not rendering properly online at
> > the moment because WE don't have the Cite extension running at the
> > moment. We're looking into getting this installed as soon as we have a
> > gap.
> > 
> > This would enable you to use the full url as a "reference" which would
> > render at the bottom of the page in the pdf version.
> > 
> > Hope this helps.
> > 
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > On May 6, 10:46 am, Sgurell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > I am working on a project at WE and I want to create a print version
> > > of project. What I'm wondering is how to best display the links on the
> > > WE side, so the transition to print is the smoothest possible. Any
> > > thoughts?
> > 
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Displaying links at WE with print in mind

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Oops  --sorry wrong url, try:

http://wikieducator.org/OER_Handbook/educator/Beginner_advanced

Cheers
Wayne

On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 15:14 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote:

> Hi Seth -
> 
> With thanks to Jim and the techie team on the other side of the world
> --- the Cite extension is now operational.
> 
> If you take a look at this page:
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration
> 
> This is now displaying properly online and you will get the url in the
> printed version.
> 
> Glad that this one wasn't too hard to fix.
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
> On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 12:35 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote:
> 
> > Seth -- Had a play and I think this is going to work.
> > 
> > Go to: 
> > 
> > http://wikieducator.org/OER_Handbook/educator/Beginner_advanced --
> > where I have an example of a link to the OER article on WP with a
> > corresponding url. 
> > 
> > The click on the Download as pdf link -- and you will see that it
> > parses properly.  The display is a little confusing at the moment --
> > once we install the Mediawiki's citation extension, we should be in
> > business.
> > 
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> > 
> > 
> > On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 12:18 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote: 
> > 
> > > Hi Seth --
> > > 
> > > I think we may have a solution for the urls in the print version of
> > > the OER Handbook.
> > > 
> > > The  ... tags do parse properly in the current version of
> > > the wiki ==> pdf software we're running.
> > > 
> > > Thanks to Eric over @ WMF who ran a quick test for us. If you go here:
> > > 
> > > http://wikieducator.org/User:Eloquence/Sandbox
> > > 
> > > Click on the download as pdf link and you will see that the  tag
> > > is parsing properly.  The ref tak is not rendering properly online at
> > > the moment because WE don't have the Cite extension running at the
> > > moment. We're looking into getting this installed as soon as we have a
> > > gap.
> > > 
> > > This would enable you to use the full url as a "reference" which would
> > > render at the bottom of the page in the pdf version.
> > > 
> > > Hope this helps.
> > > 
> > > Cheers
> > > Wayne
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 
> > > On May 6, 10:46 am, Sgurell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > I am working on a project at WE and I want to create a print version
> > > > of project. What I'm wondering is how to best display the links on the
> > > > WE side, so the transition to print is the smoothest possible. Any
> > > > thoughts?
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Displaying links at WE with print in mind

[Wayne Mackintosh]

No worries -- glad WE could help. I had an hour or two last night, and
had a play with trying to add some value on selected pages by adding
images and minor edits.

Cheers
Wayne

On Tue, 2008-05-13 at 08:06 -0700, Sgurell wrote:

> Wayne,
> 
> Thank you. As you might have seen, I've begun applying it to the OER
> Handbook. I am also glad it wasn't too hard to fix.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Seth
> 
> On May 12, 4:15 pm, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Oops  --sorry wrong url, try:
> >
> > http://wikieducator.org/OER_Handbook/educator/Beginner_advanced
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> >
> > On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 15:14 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote:
> > > Hi Seth -
> >
> > > With thanks to Jim and the techie team on the other side of the world
> > > --- the Cite extension is now operational.
> >
> > > If you take a look at this page:
> >
> > >http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration
> >
> > > This is now displaying properly online and you will get the url in the
> > > printed version.
> >
> > > Glad that this one wasn't too hard to fix.
> >
> > > Cheers
> > > Wayne
> >
> > > On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 12:35 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote:
> >
> > > > Seth -- Had a play and I think this is going to work.
> >
> > > > Go to:
> >
> > > >http://wikieducator.org/OER_Handbook/educator/Beginner_advanced--
> > > > where I have an example of a link to the OER article on WP with a
> > > > corresponding url.
> >
> > > > The click on the Download as pdf link -- and you will see that it
> > > > parses properly.  The display is a little confusing at the moment --
> > > > once we install the Mediawiki's citation extension, we should be in
> > > > business.
> >
> > > > Cheers
> > > > Wayne
> >
> > > > On Mon, 2008-05-12 at 12:18 -0700, Wayne Mackintosh wrote:
> >
> > > > > Hi Seth --
> >
> > > > > I think we may have a solution for the urls in the print version of
> > > > > the OER Handbook.
> >
> > > > > The  ... tags do parse properly in the current version of
> > > > > the wiki ==> pdf software we're running.
> >
> > > > > Thanks to Eric over @ WMF who ran a quick test for us. If you go here:
> >
> > > > >http://wikieducator.org/User:Eloquence/Sandbox
> >
> > > > > Click on the download as pdf link and you will see that the  tag
> > > > > is parsing properly.  The ref tak is not rendering properly online at
> > > > > the moment because WE don't have the Cite extension running at the
> > > > > moment. We're looking into getting this installed as soon as we have a
> > > > > gap.
> >
> > > > > This would enable you to use the full url as a "reference" which would
> > > > > render at the bottom of the page in the pdf version.
> >
> > > > > Hope this helps.
> >
> > > > > Cheers
> > > > > Wayne
> >
> > > > > On May 6, 10:46 am, Sgurell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > > > I am working on a project at WE and I want to create a print version
> > > > > > of project. What I'm wondering is how to best display the links on 
> > > > > > the
> > > > > > WE side, so the transition to print is the smoothest possible. Any
> > > > > > thoughts?
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: HELP needed to find more information on red Cross website or Church organisation

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leo

Our heartfelt wishes go out to you and China. WE are devastated by the
news of the earthquake in China.

Have you had a look whether the World Health Organization have any
resources dealing with post earthquake disasters?

I'm hoping that members on the list have experience or contacts in the
area of disaster management and will be able to help with solid
advice.

I'll also ask among my colleagues to find out where best to find
information.

Cheers
Wayne








On May 13, 6:28 pm, "Wong Leo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Dear all ,
>
> Please help us to find more infomration on the website information
> especially on Red Cross or Church-like Organisation, like Emails , I would
> like to write letters on how we can help to dig out the people buried under
> bricks , and some of medical preventions , and we are going to translate
> this into English , especially on some counties which often have earthquake
> , I guess they might be more experienced ,
>
> Thank you very much
>
> Leo from China
> **
> --
> blog:http://leolaoshi.yo2.cn
> HELP项目https://groups.google.com/group/helpelephantsliveproject
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[WikiEducator] Re: SCoPE [SOF2008]

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Nellie,

I would welcome multiple training nodes and hubs for people to learn how
to develop content on WE.   I'm pretty tied up in WikiEducator
activities around the world and don't have the capacity to set up
another training avenue :-( . Sadly there are only so many hours in a
day.

WE ran the pilot online training workshop using Moodle --- & I could
send you the back-up of the course we used. If you have the time and
energy, why don't you propose to run an L4C workshop using you Exploring
New Domains?

I'm sure that you will be able to extend our reach to new communities --
which would be great.

What do you think?

Wayne


On Tue, 2008-05-13 at 16:39 -0700, NELLIE DEUTSCH wrote:

> Wayne,
> 
> Let's start with my Exploring New Domains at
> http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd 
> I can make you a teacher so you start a course on how to use WE. 
> 
> Warm wishes,
> Nellie
> 
> 
> On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 9:54 AM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Nellie -- Your energy is contagious!
> 
> It would be great to have a couple of training sessions on how
> to use
> WE using Moodle -- incidentally if you need teacher access to
> a Moodle
> site for this purpose -- WE have a Moodle installation on our
> server.
> 
> On a slightly different tangent -- as you know Moodle is used
> extensively throughout the Commonwealth and we are very keen
> to
> develop a series of high quality professional development
> materials as
> free content -- especially for educators getting started with
> Moodle
> and eLearning. We're in the very early stages of this project
> --
> having just completed an inventory of institutions in the CW
> who are
> the technology. The idea is to find out what free content
> training
> materials they have and whether folk are interested in
> collaborating
> on shared professional development resources.
> 
> See:
> 
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Bounties/Moodle_in_the_Commonwealth
> 
> The next step is to develop a very short survey to collect
> relevant
> info and to see whether this is a feasible project.
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> On May 10, 12:49 am, "NELLIE DEUTSCH"
> 
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> > I highly recommend Scope. I co-moderated a 3 week course on
> Scope with a
> > good friend from Sri Lanka on e-learning in developing
> countries. However,
> 
> 
> > you may also set up sessions on my Moodle (Exploring New
> Domains) athttp://www.integrating-technology.com/pd. In fact,
> we can set up regular
> 
> > professional development/training courses on how to use WE
> on the Moodle.
> >
> > Warm wishes,
> > Nellie
> >
> 
> > On Thu, May 8, 2008 at 9:44 AM, Peter
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > > This looks to be an excellent online conference;
> 
> 
> > >http://scope.lidc.sfu.ca/course/view.php?id=56I hope others
> can find
> 
> > > the time to participate. I believe that this is future of
> how
> > > conferences will be run. By being online and asynchronous
> it allows a
> > > lot of flexibility. And it also reduces our carbon
> footprint by
> > > reducing the amount we need to travel.
> >
> > > Maybe WikiEducator should think of hosting such an event
> with focus on
> > > Wiki based OER for the developing world.
> >
> > > Be Well, Peter
> >
> > --
> 
> 
> > Nellie Deutsch
> 
> > Doctoral Student of
> 
> Educationhttp://www.nelliemuller.comhttp://www.integrating-technology.com/pdhttp://www.building-relationship.com/educationhttp://blendedlear.ning.com
> 
> 



-- 
Nellie Deutsch
Doctoral Student of Education
http://www.nelliemuller.com
http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd
http://www.building-relationship.com/education
http://blendedlear.ning.com


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[WikiEducator] Re: Videos spamed

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Declan --

Can you send me the url of the page? 

Lets check on the origins of the proble -- ie. whether its on the WikiEd
server or whether the file was inadvertently overwritten on the Kaltura
server.

Cheers
Wayne

On Wed, 2008-05-14 at 06:18 -0700, Declan wrote:

> Hi folks,
> 
> I'm on a slow connection, so there is little I can do from here, but I
> noticed that the Kaltura videos I have uploaded have been replaced by
> a music video thing from the Artic Monkeys.  Any thoughts on a repair?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Declan
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: suggestion: customise email footer

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Good suggestion James --- thanks.

Done!

W

On May 14, 6:02 pm, James Neill <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> suggestion: customise email footer of this GG to include a link to WE
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[WikiEducator] Re: suggestion: change the wiki edit formate

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leo,

Thanks for the reference to http://pro.yeeyan.com.

I visited the site -- and sadly I can't read the Mandarin script :-(,
so I'm finding it difficult to compare the editing features of this
site with WE.  It doesn't appear to be a rich text editing environment
-- but I could be wrong.

mmm .. the question of easy editing versus the freedom and the power
to innovate is a complex issue.  It is also a very popular topic on
our list!  I hear and understand what you are saying about the
difficulties of helping non-technie teachers to get started with
content development on the wiki. I'm a teacher myself and when I first
started using this technology -- I was also faced with the challenges
of learning new skills. However, the skills I have learned have opened
a new world of collaboration an sharing. I view the skills of wiki
editing as an essential life skill in a connected world!

While the inertia to get started requires a little effort -- the
benefits far exceed the challenges of learning a little wiki syntax
. WE has inversted considerable time and energy in training and
the development of training materials to support Newbies in joining
the community -- perhaps we should look at translating some of these
resources into Chinese?

Cheers
Wayne






On May 14, 6:08 pm, "Wong Leo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I have been using proyeeyan for some time ,http://pro.yeeyan.com, it is
> using mediawiki , and found it very user-frinendly , you can eaisly edit and
> upload pics and inserts tables charts , and it look just like any mediawiki
> ,and I am sure it is ,
>
> could WE do something like that , it will not make WE become another
> wikispaces , but will surely attact more Non-techie persons like myself
>
> Leo please check it out and register for yourself and see for yourself then
> argue with me
>
>
>
> --
> blog:http://leolaoshi.yo2.cn
> HELP项目https://groups.google.com/group/helpelephantsliveproject
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[WikiEducator] Re: Quick tip for people using structured pages in Wikied

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh -

Appreciate the post -- thanks.  I should also mention that there is
another  template which will display a customised page title as well.

so instead of using {{ShortTitle}} to display the heading "subpage2"
on this page:  Mainpage/Subpage1/subpage2

The user may want to "pipe" the page to display a different title when
compared to the last part of the url above using {{MyTitle|
Insert_your_customised_title_here}}

So for example if you insert {{MyTitle|My favourite page}} on
Mainpage/Subpage1/subpage2  -- the page heading will display "My
favourite page"

See also:

http://wikieducator.org/Template:ShortTitle
http://wikieducator.org/Template:Mytitle

WE have a short time lag between the implementation of new features
and tutorials that explain how to use these features :-(.

I'm currently working on two tutorials that provide guidance on these
new features. including the use of our new navigation templates and
content info boxes! FYI:

http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/Navigation_templates
http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/Developing_a_teaching_resource

Any help from the community in reviewing and testing the tutorials is
most welcome!

Cheers
Wayne







On May 21, 4:23 am, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> If you are structuring pages in Wikied, you may prefer the page title did
> not display the full path of the page. For example
>
> Mainpage/Subpage1/subpage2
>
> If you would prefer this page title to be:
>
> subpage2
>
> add the following template at the top of the page:
>
> {{ShortTitle}}
>
> Thanks Wayne for showing me this in a recent edit
>
> --
> --
> Leigh Blackall
> +64(0)21736539
> skype - leigh_blackall
> SL - Leroy Goalposthttp://learnonline.wordpress.com
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[WikiEducator] Re: Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Randy,


I'm very excited to see our community starting to think about ways to
increase collaborative development.

As an aside - I think that this is positive sign attesting to the
dynamic nature of communities and how they mature over time. It's
tempting to distinguish capability maturity phases for WE, for
example:

Phase 1: Basic skills development in using the wiki
Phase 2:. Focus on content development for own use
Phase 3: Collaborative content development in achieving collective
goals

So it seems that WE has reached the next phase of our evolution
.  These are exciting times and its great to be part of the
early pioneers taking collective responsibility for building the
future success of OUR project. This is well aligned with our strategy
- because WE is now in the phase of scaling up content development.

See:  http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:About


Cheers
Wayne







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[WikiEducator] Re: Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh & Randy

I don't see the 3 capability phases  (that is; skills development;
personal content development projects;  and international collaboration
on projects)  as being mutually exclusive. On the contrary they should
ideally all happen in parallel .

The challenge for our community is to figure out how best to manage and
cater for multiple levels of capability without holding the early
innovators back or alienating newbies. WE is a community which should
welcome and meet all participants where they are at -- including the
community leaders who are plotting our futures. Our focus on the
building the future is a core value of the community, and is enshrined
in our strategic thinking.

Otago Poly has pushed the envelope. I can attest that Dunedin's
interventions have compressed the WE strategic time scale by 9 to 12
months of where I reasonably expected the project to be at this juncture
in its history.  So Leigh, as a community we will rely heavily on your
foresight and guidance in helping us build capability for the next phase
in our evolution. 

While our early attempts at international collaboration on specific
projects may not have delivered the dividends we would have liked  -- we
shouldn't be too hard on ourselves recognising that some seeds take
longer to germinate than others. Let's learn from our experiences and
figure out how to do this better  So I'm reading and thinking about
your suggestions with CONSIDERABLE interest.

Notwithstanding the phenomenal successes of the WMF projects -- WE are
very much pioneers. WE is a unique community and is succeeding in
engaging real educators in  the formal education sectors from all
corners of the globe. My personal preference is that WE does not become
a community which alienates newbies, but at the same time supports and
feeds the innovators and early adopters.   

A tall order --- but based on our collective track record to date -- I
know that we'll get this right. 

Hey -- is going to be a fascinating if not historic year for us!!!

Cheers
Wayne






On Thu, 2008-05-22 at 09:51 +1200, Leigh Blackall wrote:

> Hi Randy, Wayne.
> 
> I think Wayne sets out a realistic 3 steps. And for the most part I
> think we as a whole are taking those steps. A slight trouble (and
> risk) is that different people are at different stages in this flow.
> So while the L4C is focusing on Phase 1: Basic skills development in
> using the wiki a few of the early adopters are itching for Phase 3:
> Collaborative content development in achieving collective goals. Otago
> Polytechnic is an early adopter, and we itch for evidence of phase 3
> because all too often we are having to justify our radically different
> approach to distance and online learning (using Wikieducator). I think
> we can handle this pressure, but it would be great to see some form of
> commitment (if resources permit it) to the facilitation of phase 3
> opportunities.
> 
> Randy seems to be in a position to facilitate some phase 3. A team of
> facilitators would be good. The webconferences might be a good way to
> gather steam around making phase 3 facilitation possible, but I
> suspect a more targeted and proactive facilitation effort is needed.
> 
> Otago looked like it had something going in terms of a collaboration
> with Mauritius over our Tourism developments. Similarly with 2 people
> in the L4C who contributed to "our" HIV/AIDS content. But
> disappointingly, these have not progressed. Mostly because Otago
> people have not had the time or skills to begin communicating around
> collaboration - and so an experienced facilitator is needed. Someone
> who can mediate the initial stages of a collaboration.
> 
> Randy's questions:
> 
> * Define what your understanding of Collaboration is?
> * How do we propose to measure it, and over what intervals?
> 
> Collaboration is evidenced by:
>   * Sustained communication
>   * Negotiated outcomes
>   * Shared actions
>   * Shared ownership
>   * Shared outcomes
> This might be measured by:
>   * The edit history of a page/s
>   * The communication pages
>   * The email list
>   * Student exchange programs
>   * Teacher exchange programs
>   * Team teaching
>   * Networked teaching and learning
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 6:22 AM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Randy,
> 
> 
> I'm very excited to see our community starting to think about
> ways to
> increase collaborative development.
> 
> As an aside - I think that this is positive sign attesting to
> the
> dynamic nature of communities and how they mature over time.
>  

[WikiEducator] Re: Quick tip for people using structured pages in Wikied

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Absolutely ! Thanks Brent -- says Wayne 

Jim has been doing a lot more than coding the WETitle extension
feature . Jim has put up his hand to help out with our WE community on
the technical support side. Jim spends rainy Sunday's coding  solutions
for Open Office to talk with WE's pedagogical templates. Jim is a pillar
of advice and support on helping COL plot fail over server architectures
for the WE servers. The list continues.

Rob has helped out in tweaking the WETitle extension into more user
friendly formats for newbies to implement. Country Mike (aka Brent) has
implemented some pretty cool stuff including navigation templates,
content infoboxes, and early prototypes for learning design models.  

I apologise for not citing the innovators who have made this
possible  my mistake.

Cheers
Wayne

  


On Thu, 2008-05-22 at 17:21 +1200, Brent wrote:

> I think we should also note that it was actually a Wikieducator,
> http://wikieducator.org/User:JimTittsler who created this extension
> (http://wikieducator.org/Extension:WETitle) which is now available for
> any MediaWikis out there to install. 
> 
> Nice one Jim.
> 
> brent.
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 5:45 AM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Leigh -
> 
> Appreciate the post -- thanks.  I should also mention that
> there is
> another  template which will display a customised page title
> as well.
> 
> so instead of using {{ShortTitle}} to display the heading
> "subpage2"
> on this page:  Mainpage/Subpage1/subpage2
> 
> The user may want to "pipe" the page to display a different
> title when
> compared to the last part of the url above using {{MyTitle|
> Insert_your_customised_title_here}}
> 
> So for example if you insert {{MyTitle|My favourite page}} on
> Mainpage/Subpage1/subpage2  -- the page heading will display
> "My
> favourite page"
> 
> See also:
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/Template:ShortTitle
> http://wikieducator.org/Template:Mytitle
> 
> WE have a short time lag between the implementation of new
> features
> and tutorials that explain how to use these features :-(.
> 
> I'm currently working on two tutorials that provide guidance
> on these
> new features. including the use of our new navigation
> templates and
> content info boxes! FYI:
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/Navigation_templates
> 
> http://wikieducator.org/Wikieducator_tutorial/Developing_a_teaching_resource
> 
> Any help from the community in reviewing and testing the
> tutorials is
> most welcome!
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On May 21, 4:23 am, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> > If you are structuring pages in Wikied, you may prefer the
> page title did
> > not display the full path of the page. For example
> >
> > Mainpage/Subpage1/subpage2
> >
> > If you would prefer this page title to be:
> >
> > subpage2
> >
> > add the following template at the top of the page:
> >
> > {{ShortTitle}}
> >
> > Thanks Wayne for showing me this in a recent edit
> >
> > --
> > --
> > Leigh Blackall
> > +64(0)21736539
> > skype - leigh_blackall
> 
> 
> > SL - Leroy Goalposthttp://learnonline.wordpress.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> http://digitalsynapse.co.nz
> http://greymatter.co.nz
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Wiki skills training -- invite your friends and help WE meet our targets

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Greetings WikiEducators!

Our next online Learning4Content workshop starts this Monday, 26 June
2008.  Please help WikiEducator spread the word about this free
training opportunity and encourage folk to enrol.

Prospective participants can register online for the next workshop:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

Please help WE achieve OUR targets to train 2500 educators (teachers,
lecturers and trainers) by the end of the year.

To date we have achieved 17% of our target -- which is still a long
way to go and we're a little behind on our targets :-(.

Cheers
Wayne









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[WikiEducator] Re: Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Everyone -- 

Wow powerful ideas!  I think student/learner authoring is Phase 4 on
WE's maturity model framework.

Leigh -- you're right, once "conservative" teachers get it they will be
able to move to the next level or phase of maturity.  I'm hoping that WE
will be able to cater to these needs as well :-).

Cheers
Wayne
 

On Fri, 2008-05-23 at 13:23 +1200, Leigh Blackall wrote:

> Hi Peter, the are discussions in Wikiversity that have matured more on
> your notion of wikis for constructionism. 
> 
> I think we need to acknowledge the culture of the educational
> organisations (to which Wikied and COL are targeting). Education in
> such a context IS a content driven thing, with course documents,
> syllabus and curriculum, and 'texts'. In this sense Wikis are already
> well understood as useful tools - if encyclopedia entries are any
> measure. So document creation is what it is being used for now.
> 
> But content IS NOT king, and the construction PROCESS is where the
> valuable learning is taking place - as you and others say. But that is
> precisely what wikied is doing with teachers. We are getting teachers
> to use wikis in a way that they see value in now (course document
> creation), and through that experience hopefully appreciating the
> constructionist learning process and coming to a similar conclusion
> that you have - that students and teachers, (hey! how about just
> people?) can co create learning in wikis.
> 
> And once the teachers get it, they will be ready to introduce their
> students who will no doubt edit the teacher's initial work and take
> more control. More likely, everyone will migrate out of Wikied,
> empowered with a true understanding of constructionist learning, and
> operate directly in places of co created relavence = Wikipedia,
> Wikibooks, Wikiversity not just wikis...
> 
> At this point in time - Wikied is playing a needed role in upskilling
> teachers so that they can come to that realisation
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, May 23, 2008 at 6:39 AM, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> I find this discussion interesting, particularly in light of
> the
> "Systemic and cognitive view on collaborative knowledge
> building with
> wikis". paper referenced in a previous post. I read the paper
> and upon
> reflection agreed that wikis are great places for individuals
> (and
> groups) to construct knowledge. This paper went into the
> foundational
> knowledge (proof) that wikis are great places to construct
> knowledge.
> The paper talks about how it is the individuals who
> participate in the
> knowledge creation (authoring of the wiki) that benefit.
> 
> http://groups.google.com/group/wikieducator/browse_thread/thread/1707624e31249be5?hl=en
> 
> I also AGREE with what is being written in this and related
> threads. I
> also believe what Otago is doing is awesome! Though I
> fundamentally
> believe that WE is targeting the wrong audience to be the
> collaborators. It is the students that should be creating the
> WE pages
> and the teachers provide guidance / mentorship. So far I am
> seeing
> teachers creating the content, and this is the flaw. When we
> talk
> about increasing collaboration, we should be talking about how
> do we
> get teachers "out of the way" and encourage the students to be
> collaborating within WE. These were my sentiments a year back
> during
> the Tectonic Shift;
> http://wikieducator.org/User:Prawstho/Vision and
> they haven't changed. having watched the WE over the last year
> I
> believe this more now than ever.
> 
> So I challenge everyone to think about who should be the WE
> authors
> (collaborators); the teachers or the students?
> 
> Peter
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On May 22, 4:54 am, Missan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> > Collaboration to me is a process of working together to
> achieve a
> > shared goal. For WikiEd, the shared goal is to develop free
> content
> > for supporting learning at different levels and different
> subject
> > domains. As a community we have started on this path, and
> agreed to
> > create content that shall be avialable for free on the
> WikiEd
> > platform. There are different stages of development for the
> end users,
> > but as a community we should be at one stage. May be we are
> now in the
> > training stage, and therefore not much collaboration is
> visible. So,
> > it is too early to ask for too much. But, there is nothing
> wrong in
> > asking for more, an

[WikiEducator] Re: Wiki skills training -- invite your friends and help WE meet our targets

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Dennis --

You're absolutely right -- the next L4C training session starts on
Monday 26 May 2008. With apology for posting the wrong date.

Please spread the word among colleagues and friends. Folk can register
directly on the wiki:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

Cheers
Wayne
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[WikiEducator] Re: Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Hillary --

Case in point 

We have two collaboration pages trying to promote collaboration --
seems to me like an opportunity for collaboration!

My recommendation is to incorporate the text from:

http://www.wikieducator.org/Collaboration

Into this page:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Community_building_strategy

Once this is done we can delete the "Collaboration" page.

My motivations --

1. The page you started is in the WikiEducator namespace
2. It has a better picture 

Thanks for pointing this out. WE must get better at improving its
structure so that folk can find the right pages.

Cheers
Wayne






On May 22, 10:34 pm, Hillary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hey guys - good to see you are starting to move towards building
> collaboration. I would however draw your attention to another wikipage
> already set up asking for collaboration.
>
> Maybe you could add your page to this one instead of duplicating what
> is really a similar request.
>
> http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Community_building_strategy
>
> Cheers Hillary
>
> On May 22, 1:05 am, wikirandy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > Hi Everyone,
>
> > In a recent post, Sanjaya has raised a significant challenge (and
> > opportunity) in WikiEducator - Increasing Collaboration Others I
> > have spoken to have also raised this
>
> > He says:
>
> > "Not much collaboration is visible at this stage in WikiEd.
> > Educational institutions need to be convinced about the advantages of
> > Open Access and the power of Wiki."
>
> > So...I have a few questions:
>
> > * Define what your understanding of Collaboration is?
> > * How do we propose to measure it, and over what intervals?
>
> > At this stage of WikiEd's development, the focus has been on training
> > a critical mass of educators in wiki skillsbut what are your
> > suggestions for Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator...
>
> > Some ideas:
>
> > *  Webconferences - focusing on areas for collaboration, or in
> > identifying projects, people, etc.
> > *  Projects - where folks self-select to collaborate or appointed
> > (dyads are particularly powerful);
> > *  Wishlists - an easy way to find out what's happening in the
> > community, and where the collaborative needs are (specified down to
> > the role)
> > *  Bounties - to encourage collaboration through a modest financial
> > incentive
> > *  Peer recognition - i.e., non-monetary incentives
> > * Other:
>
> > Please share your thoughts, ideas, etc.
>
> > - Randy
> > *
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[WikiEducator] Re: Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hillary --

Fantastic! We'll have the chance to chat f-t-f at the fith Pan
Commonwealth Forum. 

I must say that I'm pretty impressed with the number of delegates who
opted to work on WE for drafting their papers:

http://wikieducator.org/PCF5

BTW --- we're looking forward to a few updates on your user page in WE
so that the community can get to see and learn a little more about one
of our prolific content developers . Just teasing -- my user page
is rather outdated. Always finding more important things to do 

Cheers
Wayne

 

On Thu, 2008-05-22 at 22:52 -0700, Hillary wrote:

> Cheers Wayne - its definetly on my list to discuss at the Commonwealth
> forum - which I am really looking forward to attending and of course
> meeting with you face to face rather than through a wiki (whoops).
> 
> Bye Hillary
> 
> 
> 
> On May 23, 5:47 pm, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi Hillary --
> >
> > Case in point 
> >
> > We have two collaboration pages trying to promote collaboration --
> > seems to me like an opportunity for collaboration!
> >
> > My recommendation is to incorporate the text from:
> >
> > http://www.wikieducator.org/Collaboration
> >
> > Into this page:
> >
> > http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Community_building_strategy
> >
> > Once this is done we can delete the "Collaboration" page.
> >
> > My motivations --
> >
> > 1. The page you started is in the WikiEducator namespace
> > 2. It has a better picture 
> >
> > Thanks for pointing this out. WE must get better at improving its
> > structure so that folk can find the right pages.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> >
> > On May 22, 10:34 pm, Hillary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > Hey guys - good to see you are starting to move towards building
> > > collaboration. I would however draw your attention to another wikipage
> > > already set up asking for collaboration.
> >
> > > Maybe you could add your page to this one instead of duplicating what
> > > is really a similar request.
> >
> > >http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Community_building_strategy
> >
> > > Cheers Hillary
> >
> > > On May 22, 1:05 am, wikirandy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >
> > > > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > > > In a recent post, Sanjaya has raised a significant challenge (and
> > > > opportunity) in WikiEducator - Increasing Collaboration Others I
> > > > have spoken to have also raised this
> >
> > > > He says:
> >
> > > > "Not much collaboration is visible at this stage in WikiEd.
> > > > Educational institutions need to be convinced about the advantages of
> > > > Open Access and the power of Wiki."
> >
> > > > So...I have a few questions:
> >
> > > > * Define what your understanding of Collaboration is?
> > > > * How do we propose to measure it, and over what intervals?
> >
> > > > At this stage of WikiEd's development, the focus has been on training
> > > > a critical mass of educators in wiki skillsbut what are your
> > > > suggestions for Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator...
> >
> > > > Some ideas:
> >
> > > > *  Webconferences - focusing on areas for collaboration, or in
> > > > identifying projects, people, etc.
> > > > *  Projects - where folks self-select to collaborate or appointed
> > > > (dyads are particularly powerful);
> > > > *  Wishlists - an easy way to find out what's happening in the
> > > > community, and where the collaborative needs are (specified down to
> > > > the role)
> > > > *  Bounties - to encourage collaboration through a modest financial
> > > > incentive
> > > > *  Peer recognition - i.e., non-monetary incentives
> > > > * Other:
> >
> > > > Please share your thoughts, ideas, etc.
> >
> > > > - Randy
> > > > *- Hide quoted text -
> >
> > - Show quoted text -
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Increasing Collaboration on WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hey Randy

That's an impressive reflection.

It seems to me that there are strong consensus points and some VERY
concrete ideas to move forward.

Shall we try to capture these ideas on this page:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Community_building_strategy ?

Clearly there are a number of content development "candidates" in WE
that are could become show case examples of collaboration in our
community.

Clearly COL can help in connecting the right people together to
facilitate collaboration.  Open question to the community:

In your view -- What projects would you list as the top five
"collaboration" candidates?

Lets see if we can manufacture a little wiki magic.

Cheers
Wayne





On May 22, 3:43 am, "Randy Fisher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Wayne, Leigh and others:
>
> Comments below, beginning in CAPS:
>
> On Thu, May 22, 2008 at 5:35 AM, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>
> >  Hi Leigh & Randy
>
> > I don't see the 3 capability phases  (that is; skills development;
> > personal content development projects;  and international collaboration on
> > projects)  as being mutually exclusive. On the contrary they should ideally
> > all happen in parallel .
>
> TOTALLY AGREED.  Rapid, parallel development is the way to go. Many
> iterations and experiences, incorporating feedback and local experience,
> creating our approach that feels more aligned to what we are creating...
>
>
>
> > The challenge for our community is to figure out how best to manage and
> > cater for multiple levels of capability without holding the early innovators
> > back or alienating newbies. WE is a community which should welcome and meet
> > all participants where they are at -- including the community leaders who
> > are plotting our futures. Our focus on the building the future is a core
> > value of the community, and is enshrined in our strategic thinking.
>
> AGREED.  As Otago is  on the leading edge for themselves, newbies also
> consider themselves on the leading edge for them too! :-) However, Otago's
> leadership mitigates risk (in the future) for future action / adoption.
>
>
>
> > Otago Poly has pushed the envelope. I can attest that Dunedin's
> > interventions have compressed the WE strategic time scale by 9 to 12 months
> > of where I reasonably expected the project to be at this juncture in its
> > history.  So Leigh, as a community we will rely heavily on your foresight
> > and guidance in helping us build capability for the next phase in our
> > evolution.
>
> THIS 9-12 MONTHS ' ACCELERATION  should be come a rallying point  how to
> capture and leverage this information...
>
>
>
> > While our early attempts at international collaboration on specific
> > projects may not have delivered the dividends we would have liked  -- we
> > shouldn't be too hard on ourselves recognising that some seeds take longer
> > to germinate than others. Let's learn from our experiences and figure out
> > how to do this better  So I'm reading and thinking about your
> > suggestions with CONSIDERABLE interest.
>
> YES, AGREED TOO.   I THINK THE WEBCONFERENCES should have a couple of foci:
> (1) general topics of interest to the community;  and (2)  project -based.
> Let's identify  several projects that we wish to foster the kind of
> collaboration that  Leigh is talking about, and we / WE can facilitate
> thisMy sense is, this is largely a process / design issues( perhaps
> there's even another level in the Wiki Skills Certification process for
> WikiFacilitator/Collaboration - but first things first, let's get some
> active collaboration stuff happening... We will be able to measure this
> stuff - we've got to...thx. to our work with Jonathan Miller's (WikiEd, M&E)
>
>
>
> > Notwithstanding the phenomenal successes of the WMF projects -- WE are very
> > much pioneers. WE is a unique community and is succeeding in engaging real
> > educators in  the formal education sectors from all corners of the globe. My
> > personal preference is that WE does not become a community which alienates
> > newbies, but at the same time supports and feeds the innovators and early
> > adopters.
>
> YES, WE are on the same page.but  let's make a distinction between
> newbies exploring the development of wiki skills, and interest in
> collaboration. Positioned properly, any newbie can see the promise and
> potential of collaborationthat may be why they joined in the first
> placeCome to think of it, maybe we can adjust our Newbie survey and
> subsequent onesto gain insight

[WikiEducator] Re: 'Protecting' one's intellectual property in anopen environment [Scanned][Spam score:8%]

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Sarah,

Challenging and important questions. A couple of thoughts.

1. Technically WE authors who license their content as CC-BY (as in the
case of Otago Polytechnic and others who choose this license) and
CC-BY-SA do not give up their intellectual property rights -- a free
content license does not sacrifice IP. In the contrary it protects the
the rights of those educators who take a vocational decision to live out
the core values of education -- namely to share knowledge freely. 
2. In my experience -- people have many reasons why they choose not to
collaborate. That's fine, and we respect their choices. Our community is
about sharing and collaborating because we know that working together we
will achieve more than we can by working alone. In your example is
better to find out now that some colleagues may feel uncomfortable with
collaborating -- than a year later down the track.  Strategically you
are now in a stronger position.  In the future funders will start asking
-- why should I fund this closed project when I can fund an open project
that will achieve a greater return on investment.  Their is an emerging
wave on funders that collectively subscribe to the notions of "open
philanthropy". 
3. There is of course the ethical question relating to research grants
from government sources --- this is public money and we should be asking
whether it is ethical or not to lock down the outputs of research behind
full copyright especially when funded from tax monies.

I'd recommend that you start a project page in WE to document your
thoughts and ideas for a potential project. Make a clear statement that
this is an open project which subscribes to the values of the WE
community. This way the community can see what you are trying to
achieve. WE will help you to connect with professionals that share your
ideas and want to collaborate on free content.  In this way, you wont
shut out your colleagues from Pakistan because they will always be free
to join at a later stage. However, at the same time you don't compromise
your core values as an educator.

I will personally try to connect you with other Midwives in the
Commonwealth.  My sense is that an open project like this, is more
likely to achieve successful funding than a closed one -- particularly
in primary health care.

Cheers
Wayne



On Mon, 2008-05-26 at 23:43 -0700, Sarah Stewart wrote:

> Hello everyone
> 
> My name is Sarah Stewart (http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com). I am a
> senior lecturer in midwifery at Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin, New
> Zealand and a colleague of Leigh Blackall. I am a new member of this
> community and am enjoying learning all about wikieducator.
> 
> I have recently been in communication with a midwifery educator in
> Pakistan and we are keen to collaborate on several e-learning projects
> together. I have suggested that we develop these projects on
> wikieudcator so that we have access to the wider education community
> for support and ideas. However, she is reluctant to do that. There is
> a lot of competition in the area that she works in, especially when it
> comes to applying for research funding. She does not want to make the
> details of the projects public for fear of people using her ideas and
> beating her to the funding. Obviously, I have to respect that
> standpoint. However, I feel it is really important that we document
> the development of this project, as it is an illustration of social
> networking and international collaboration that will benefit a
> particular professional group.
> 
> My question to this group is: how can I utilize wikieducator  to
> record the the development of this project and make use of the
> expertise available via wikieducator, yet honor the wishes of the team
> in Pakistan for 'secrecy'? Or is that such a stupid question because
> the answer is obviously 'you can't!'.
> 
> I'd be really grateful for your views and any advice on where to go
> from here.
> 
> Thank you, Sarah
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: 'Protecting' one's intellectual property inan open environment

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Sarah,

mmm-- I understand the predicament. As you are not the project lead --
you don't have much choice here other than to continue your advocacy
work for the free content model.

Are there other aspects or components that are of specific interest to
YOU and your work @ Otago that would benefit from international
collaboration.  Perhaps something that is not covered by the Pakistan
project -- but would still nonetheless add value to the overall aims.

WE will do all we can to connect you with Midwives in other parts of the
Commonwealth -- after all there are 53 member countries! 

Cheers
Wayne

On Wed, 2008-05-28 at 07:59 +1200, Sarah Stewart wrote:

> Thank you for your answer, Peter. I know that my question goes against
> the nature of this community, and against my own personal beliefs, I
> have to say.
> 
> The problem is: I am not leading this project - I have come into it as
> a guest, so to speak. The project is being led in Pakistan and for
> Pakistani midwives. I have gone through all the pros and cons of open
> access but I do not feel it is my place to dictate it to my Pakistani
> colleagues. 
> 
> Maybe the answer is to work through an unrelated small project with
> them here so they can see how open access works. Then , hopefully,
> they will see the advantages of developing their funding projects
> here.
> 
> best wishes, Sarah 
> 
> 
> On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 2:46 AM, Peter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Sarah,
> 
> Welcome to WikiEducator. And it would seem you have quite the
> conundrum. In my opinion what you are asking goes completely
> against
> an OER / CC-BY-SA philosophy. A philosophy embedded in all
> that WE
> does. Asking a group of people who are committed to openness,
> WE and
> the CC-BY-SA approach to work toward protecting something for
> the
> purpose of gaining funding seems very skew. All this said, I
> can also
> appreciate the competitiveness that you find yourself in and
> the
> importance of funding to keep this obviously important project
> moving
> ahead.
> 
> My first suggestion (if you want to draw on the WE resources
> available; infrastructure and people) is to abandon working in
> a
> competitive environment where secrecy is required for success.
> Have
> faith in the importance of the project, make the resources
> open from
> the start and put the other teams to shame with the quality of
> the
> work. If you do this I believe you will find funding from a
> source
> that is aligned with openness and non-secrecy. Secondly, I
> would
> consider approaching the research funding bodies with OER as a
> part of
> your research approach; I believe this would be the
> differentiator in
> winning the funding. I believe the funding body would be most
> interested in the impact of OER in midwifery education. Third
> and this
> relates back to my first suggestion, start actively seeking
> funding
> agencies that are more aligned with OER approaches.
> 
> Then of course your stupid question could be outweighed by my
> naivety...
> 
> Peter
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On May 26, 11:43 pm, Sarah Stewart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> > Hello everyone
> >
> > My name is Sarah Stewart
> (http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com). I am a
> > senior lecturer in midwifery at Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin,
> New
> > Zealand and a colleague of Leigh Blackall. I am a new member
> of this
> > community and am enjoying learning all about wikieducator.
> >
> > I have recently been in communication with a midwifery
> educator in
> > Pakistan and we are keen to collaborate on several
> e-learning projects
> > together. I have suggested that we develop these projects on
> > wikieudcator so that we have access to the wider education
> community
> > for support and ideas. However, she is reluctant to do that.
> There is
> > a lot of competition in the area that she works in,
> especially when it
> > comes to applying for research funding. She does not want to
> make the
> > details of the projects public for fear of people using her
> ideas and
> > beating her to the funding. Obviously, I have to respect
> that
> > standpoint. However, I feel it is really important that we
> document
> > the development of this project, as it is an illustration of
> social
> > networking and international collaboration that will benefit
> a

[WikiEducator] Re: 'Protecting' one's intellectual property in an open environment

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh, Sarah and WE friends.

I'm very pleased that Sarah has raised this research related challenge
in the forum. Leigh, that is also a well founded post.

I have first hand experience of the "pressure" under the PBRF system
in New Zealand and as an academic was also ranked under this research
performance model.  I think competition among research institutions in
terms of the quality and quantity of outputs is a good thing -- it
does increase and promote quality over time. There is also healthy
competition in the open source world -- for example among the
different Linux distributions or among the different open source wiki
technologies. Its a natural process of evolution and survival. So I
think the evolutionary principle associated with "survival of the
fittest" is a productive concept.

So I think we're onto the right track here -- demonstrating
competitiveness using open production models is the way to go.

Having been through the PBRF rating system -- I must say that its a
pretty robust system based on peer review -- essentially peers
expressing a value judgment on the quality of the research output --
and not so much the avenue's of dissemination and publishing of the
findings. However, there is still a quality bias for peer reviewed
journals that are typically published under full copyright :-(.
Fortunately this is changing --

See for example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_research

In particular do take a look at Athabasca Univeristy Press's Open
Access publishing initiative:

http://www.aupress.ca/open_access.php

This incorporates all the requirements of a traditional academic
publication -- but it is published under an open license.

My suggestion is to start thinking smart here --- Why not use an open
research methodology where the research plan and early drafts of the
outputs are published openly on the wiki. Using a CC-BY license would
permit the final peer reviewed version of the "draft" to be published
under all rights reserved -- still meeting the requirements of
publishing in peer review journals.  We can argue that the open drafts
are more akin to the research methodology . as long as we justify
this  we're on strong ground :-).

I was an academic in my previous life and am very keen to help out on
this challenge and connect folk with the open research movement.

Cheers
Wayne


On May 27, 3:27 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> Dialing in from Tasmania at the moment (where I have been spreading the word
> of OER Wikis).
>
> Sarah's situation is the norm. Competition in research is unfortunately a
> global trend affecting the vast majority of disciplines. We are trying to
> turn that around one project at a time.
>
> In NZ, we have an incentive called the Performance Based Research Fund
> (PBRF). The government will award amounts of money to a researcher's
> institution based on their successfulness in getting their research work
> published in recognised ways. Many areas of research are highly competitive
> - largely because of the duplication of research. If  researcher goes open,
> they may in fact discover their work is not unique, or that a competitor is
> so similar so as to benefit from openness while themselves remaining closed.
> This sort of free riding is common of course.
>
> What Peter suggests is sound I think. The open angle in research is a
> competitive edge at the moment and is assured to be unique (or easy to gauge
> its uniqueness). Researchers should be helped to see that, but so too should
> the people in charge of managing the incentives, like our PBRF.
>
> So, CoL could play a small part in trying to influence the measurements used
> in things like PBRF.. something like extra credits for research conducted in
> a open way. I wonder if CoL could secure funding for its own PBRF
> initiative? Awarding money to institutions and individuals who conduct and
> publish research openly, along with all the other criteria around quality,
> peer esteem etc.
>
>
>
> On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 8:54 AM, Randy Fisher <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi Sarah,
>
> > With respect to this situation, I recommend that you do exactly what you've
> > statedand then some:
>
> > Let your colleague know that:
>
> >    - You recognize that you are not the leader ~ that have come into it as
> >    a guest, so to speak.
> >    - That the project is being led in Pakistan and for Pakistani midwives.
>
> >    - That you have explained all the pros and cons of open access ~  but
> >    that you do not feel that it is your place to dictate to your Pakistani
> >    colleagues, or anyone really.
> >    - That you are respecting them, and how they conduct their activities ~
> >    and while you are a wee bit disappointed, you will inform them with 
> > relevant
> >    information as it becomes available.if they decide to come onboard in
> >    the future
> >    - Be very gracious, and let them know that the door or window is always
> >    open f

[WikiEducator] Re: 'Protecting' one's intellectual property inan open environment

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hey  Leigh -- where are the good old day's when research was about the
pursuit of new knowledge  .

You're right -- it will be difficult to be "first to market" using an
open research approach. I'm afraid I don't have any good ideas on how we
can tackle this challenge --- its a tough one. I hope the list has some
thoughts on moving this forward.

Anyway ... one step at a time. At least with learning materials we don't
necessarily have to deal with the first to market syndrome. 

Let's keep thinking about this ... there is a very strong connection
between research and teaching. It's been my experience that many of the
top researchers are excellent teachers -- by virtue of their enquiring a
critical minds that can motivate and engage learners with a passion for
discovery.

Maybe the place to start is with the research icons who are nearing
retirement and want to leave a legacy?

Cheers
Wayne

On Wed, 2008-05-28 at 14:18 +1200, Leigh Blackall wrote:

> Good suggestions Wayne,  
> While it doesn't address the 'first to market' perspective of closed
> approaches to research (where the publishing of drafts would be
> typically misconstrued to negatively impact a first to market approach
> - when in fact it proves first to market..) it does suggest a halfway
> point for negotiating with journals who use restrictive licenses. Good
> one.
> 
> 
> On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 2:03 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Leigh, Sarah and WE friends.
> 
> I'm very pleased that Sarah has raised this research related
> challenge
> in the forum. Leigh, that is also a well founded post.
> 
> I have first hand experience of the "pressure" under the PBRF
> system
> in New Zealand and as an academic was also ranked under this
> research
> performance model.  I think competition among research
> institutions in
> terms of the quality and quantity of outputs is a good thing
> -- it
> does increase and promote quality over time. There is also
> healthy
> competition in the open source world -- for example among the
> different Linux distributions or among the different open
> source wiki
> technologies. Its a natural process of evolution and survival.
> So I
> think the evolutionary principle associated with "survival of
> the
> fittest" is a productive concept.
> 
> So I think we're onto the right track here -- demonstrating
> competitiveness using open production models is the way to go.
> 
> Having been through the PBRF rating system -- I must say that
> its a
> pretty robust system based on peer review -- essentially peers
> expressing a value judgment on the quality of the research
> output --
> and not so much the avenue's of dissemination and publishing
> of the
> findings. However, there is still a quality bias for peer
> reviewed
> journals that are typically published under full
> copyright :-(.
> Fortunately this is changing --
> 
> See for example:
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_research
> 
> In particular do take a look at Athabasca Univeristy Press's
> Open
> Access publishing initiative:
> 
> http://www.aupress.ca/open_access.php
> 
> This incorporates all the requirements of a traditional
> academic
> publication -- but it is published under an open license.
> 
> My suggestion is to start thinking smart here --- Why not use
> an open
> research methodology where the research plan and early drafts
> of the
> outputs are published openly on the wiki. Using a CC-BY
> license would
> permit the final peer reviewed version of the "draft" to be
> published
> under all rights reserved -- still meeting the requirements of
> publishing in peer review journals.  We can argue that the
> open drafts
> are more akin to the research methodology . as long as we
> justify
> this  we're on strong ground :-).
> 
> I was an academic in my previous life and am very keen to help
> out on
> this challenge and connect folk with the open research
> movement.
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
&

[WikiEducator] Apology for the "[Scanned][Spamscore:8%]" affix to some messages on our list

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi everyone

COL has recently been experiencing an increase in SPAM to our official
COL email addresses.

Today, an automated  scanning solution was installed on the COL email
server as a measure to try and manage the challenge. The IT team have
not yet had the chance to fine tune the settings for the diversity of
our operations and the software has inadvertently inserted the text
"[Scanned][Spamscore:8%]" in the header of some of our Google group
messages, in cases where COL staff reply to the list directly from
their email. COL IT support staff are attending to the problem and we
hope to have the problem resolved pretty soon.

Rest assured -- mail messages from this forum are NOT SPAM messages.
Please bear with us as we try to resolve the problem and a personal
apology for this inconvenience.

Cheers
Wayne
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[WikiEducator] 2nd Life -- -Getting the most out of WIkiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Everyone,

David Leeming who facilitated the first official, face-to-face
Learning4Content workshop in the Solomon Islands has visited COL on
route after an OLPC meeting in Boston.

I was showing David a bunch of stuff in our Wiki -- and taking the
advantage of a face-to-face discussion it became clear that we need to
thing about how to provide the next level of support for the early
adopters in getting the most out of WikiEducator.

For example, we were chatting today about WikiEducator,
Learning4Content etc. While sitting in my office I was showing David a
couple of our new COOL features in the wiki thanks to WikiEducators
like Jim Tittsler, Brent Simpson, Rob Kruhlak. Randy (aka WikiEducator
Community Builder) was with us highlighting community achievements and
how WE can  promote effective community development for the future.

While chatting with David, we were pointing out examples of phenomenal
development in our community, including for example (in no order of
preference):

* The prolific content development at Otago Polytechnic;
http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic
* The successes of the FLOSS4Edu intiative;
http://wikieducator.org/FLOSS4Edu
* The OER initiative at the University of Education Winneba in Ghana
http://wikieducator.org/UEW
* India's leadership in building a national WE community:
http://wikieducator.org/India
* The University of Mauritius involving Masters students in a WE
project who are developing a wiki reflection on their experiences of
an online L4C workshop:
http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikiflexion
* The work in Sri Lanka developing OERs for the farming and
agriculture community:
http://wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka/L3_Farmers and
http://wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka/L3_Farmers/University_of_Colombo
* The budding community media node:
http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Media

To list only a few initiatives -- there are many, many more!
The challenge -- How do WE continue to support these pioneers and
innovators?

Has our community reached the maturity where we need to thing about
helping the early adopters move forward into a "2nd life"  -- perhaps
an L4C equivalent for our next generation of Wikieducators to be
introduced to new tools and thoughts about getting the most out of WE.

What do you think?
Should we develop the next tier of tutorials?
Start a "2nd life" online workshop series using the L4C model?

Please let us know what your think --- our community is growing faster
than our ability to keep up ...


Cheers
Wayne.








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[WikiEducator] Re: 2nd Life -- -Getting the most out ofWIkiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Nellie 

Sound's very interesting 

What support would you recommend after the initial tutorials? 
What strategies would you recommend for implementing what they have
learned?
In your view and experience -- what are the gaps we need to address and
how do we fill them?

You have first hand experience of going through one of our L4C workshops
and engaging with the community.  I'm very keen to hear your thoughts
and ideas for the next steps.

Cheers
Wayn




On Tue, 2008-05-27 at 23:27 -0700, NELLIE DEUTSCH wrote:

> Wayne,
> I think receiving support after the initial tutorials is very
> important in order to sustain the enthusiasm of using WE. I would
> gladly offer my services to help new members apply what they learn. I
> think I have previously suggested providing new participants with a
> mentor to guide them as they learn the tutorials. 
> 
> Warm wishes,
> Nellie
> 
> 
> On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 11:08 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> David Leeming who facilitated the first official, face-to-face
> Learning4Content workshop in the Solomon Islands has visited
> COL on
> route after an OLPC meeting in Boston.
> 
> I was showing David a bunch of stuff in our Wiki -- and taking
> the
> advantage of a face-to-face discussion it became clear that we
> need to
> thing about how to provide the next level of support for the
> early
> adopters in getting the most out of WikiEducator.
> 
> For example, we were chatting today about WikiEducator,
> Learning4Content etc. While sitting in my office I was showing
> David a
> couple of our new COOL features in the wiki thanks to
> WikiEducators
> like Jim Tittsler, Brent Simpson, Rob Kruhlak. Randy (aka
> WikiEducator
> Community Builder) was with us highlighting community
> achievements and
> how WE can  promote effective community development for the
> future.
> 
> While chatting with David, we were pointing out examples of
> phenomenal
> development in our community, including for example (in no
> order of
> preference):
> 
> * The prolific content development at Otago Polytechnic;
> http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic
> * The successes of the FLOSS4Edu intiative;
> http://wikieducator.org/FLOSS4Edu
> * The OER initiative at the University of Education Winneba in
> Ghana
> http://wikieducator.org/UEW
> * India's leadership in building a national WE community:
> http://wikieducator.org/India
> * The University of Mauritius involving Masters students in a
> WE
> project who are developing a wiki reflection on their
> experiences of
> an online L4C workshop:
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikiflexion
> * The work in Sri Lanka developing OERs for the farming and
> agriculture community:
> http://wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka/L3_Farmers and
> http://wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka/L3_Farmers/University_of_Colombo
> * The budding community media node:
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Media
> 
> To list only a few initiatives -- there are many, many more!
> The challenge -- How do WE continue to support these pioneers
> and
> innovators?
> 
> Has our community reached the maturity where we need to thing
> about
> helping the early adopters move forward into a "2nd life"  --
> perhaps
> an L4C equivalent for our next generation of Wikieducators to
> be
> introduced to new tools and thoughts about getting the most
> out of WE.
> 
> What do you think?
> Should we develop the next tier of tutorials?
> Start a "2nd life" online workshop series using the L4C model?
> 
> Please let us know what your think --- our community is
> growing faster
> than our ability to keep up ...
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Nellie Deutsch
> Doctoral Student of Education
> http://www.nelliemuller.com
> http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd
> http://www.building-relationship.com/education
> http://blendedlear.ning.com
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Types of volunteers

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hey Peter --

I've done my homework now.  Hope you accept late submissions :-)

I've posted my responses on the talk page:

http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator_talk:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

Thanks for keeping us on task.

Cheers
Wayne



On Wed, 2008-05-28 at 07:49 -0700, Peter wrote:

> Do we need people to indicate the type of volunteer they want to be?
> 
> I am involved with this WE QA initiative and we had a request for
> volunteers that was quickly and completely subscribed. And now we are
> two weeks into it, I have posted a couple of questions and none of the
> volunteers have engaged in discussion or added content. So maybe when
> we make a call for volunteers we ask for volunteers of a certain type.
> I will suggest the following;
> Contibutor - someone who is active in moving the project forward
> Reviewer - someone who watches and reads the project and occassionally
> adds suggestions, makes comments, etc...
> Approver - someone who has some credability in the projects subject
> area who endorses the project deliverables
> So now when we make a call for volunteers we can be more specific and
> people can indicate the type of volunteer. As an example with this QA
> project we could make the following call for volunteers;
> 
> http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review#List_of_volunteers_to_assist_with_drafting_the_QA_and_review_policy
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: 2nd Life -- -Getting the most outofWIkiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Nellie --

That's very useful and constructive feedback.  Thank you. 

I'm going to propose that you take up a L4C bounty to prototype a
Mentoring Model for training. I think your approach is smart and you
certainly have the skills to designing something that could work. We can
use this L4C bounty as a prototype for fine tuning the Mentoring model.

Please choose dates that would work for you.  Give yourself enough lead
time for the setting the course up and for folk to enrol. We will
advertise the  Mentoring pilot on the front page of WE to encourage
enrolment. In terms of our L4C funding -- we need to have a minimum of
15 participant's per workshop.  Would you like to specify a maximum?

I'll send a backup version of a Moodle iteration we tried when piloting
the WE tutorials. I'm sure the teaching approach and layout can be
improved. As free content -- I have no problems where the course is
hosted or how you refine and improve this first attempt. 

See for example -- http://moodle.wikieducator.org/course/view.php?id=11
(Note that this course is not actively facilitated at the moment.)

I'm still thinking about a more advance training opportunity. For
example, many lecturers at Otago Polytechnic have mastered the basics of
wiki editing --- here I'm thinking about the resources we need and
training interventions for getting the most out of WikiEducator. For
example, there are many templates WE have that can improve the
likelihood for collaboration -- but WikiEducator's are not aware of
these features.  I'm thinking of modelling a collaborative training
session where contributors work collaborate on each other's materials --
while learning to use these new features in the wiki.

Cheers
Wayne







On Tue, 2008-05-27 at 23:49 -0700, NELLIE DEUTSCH wrote:

> Wayne, 
> Having a friendly mentor available to ask questions and share issues
> about setting up user pages and applying the codes would have made the
> tutorials more productive and engaging for me. Not everyone feels
> comfortable posing questions to a large group such as the discussion
> forum on google. Participants may feel uncomfortable with having to
> expose lack of understanding in such as forum. They may find it
> difficult to ask what they consider silly questions. I can contribute
> by being there to help build trust by providing members with
> individual attention and support. I believe sharing and collaborating
> does not come easily to many. A wiki requires a mindset for sharing.
> In order to succeed and make wikieducator an inviting place for
> sustained collaboration, participants need learn the value of sharing
> one step at a time. 
> 
> Warm wishes,
> Nellie
> 
> 
> On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 11:33 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> Hi Nellie 
> 
> Sound's very interesting 
> 
> What support would you recommend after the initial tutorials? 
> What strategies would you recommend for implementing what they
> have learned?
> In your view and experience -- what are the gaps we need to
> address and how do we fill them?
> 
> You have first hand experience of going through one of our L4C
> workshops and engaging with the community.  I'm very keen to
> hear your thoughts and ideas for the next steps.
> 
> Cheers
> Wayn
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, 2008-05-27 at 23:27 -0700, NELLIE DEUTSCH wrote:
> 
> > Wayne,
> > I think receiving support after the initial tutorials is
> > very important in order to sustain the enthusiasm of using
> > WE. I would gladly offer my services to help new members
> > apply what they learn. I think I have previously suggested
> > providing new participants with a mentor to guide them as
> > they learn the tutorials. 
> > 
> > Warm wishes,
> > Nellie
> > 
> > On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 11:08 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Hi Everyone,
> > 
> > David Leeming who facilitated the first official,
> > face-to-face
> > Learning4Content workshop in the Solomon Islands has
> > visited COL on
> > route after an OLPC meeting in Boston.
> > 
> > I was showing David a bunch of stuff in our Wiki --
> > and taking the
>   

[WikiEducator] Re: 2nd Life -- -Getting the most out ofWIkiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hey Randy,

NextWave is an excellent improvement on the first draft. Thanks. Gee --
you see how collaboration improves quality over time.

Lets start planning the NextWave and riding it! 

We can link this to more advanced levels on the road to becoming a
Wikimaster!

Cheers
Wayne




On Wed, 2008-05-28 at 14:37 -0700, Randy Fisher wrote:

> Hi Wayne,
> 
> Instead of 2nd Life (yes, I do recognize the play on words), my
> preference is to go with 2nd Wave (of tutorials) or even better -
> NextWave - it just gives a better image, picture, etc. and folks can
> catch the wave...well, you get it...
> 
> My 3 cents,
> 
> - Randy
> 
> 
> On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 11:08 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> David Leeming who facilitated the first official, face-to-face
> Learning4Content workshop in the Solomon Islands has visited
> COL on
> route after an OLPC meeting in Boston.
> 
> I was showing David a bunch of stuff in our Wiki -- and taking
> the
> advantage of a face-to-face discussion it became clear that we
> need to
> thing about how to provide the next level of support for the
> early
> adopters in getting the most out of WikiEducator.
> 
> For example, we were chatting today about WikiEducator,
> Learning4Content etc. While sitting in my office I was showing
> David a
> couple of our new COOL features in the wiki thanks to
> WikiEducators
> like Jim Tittsler, Brent Simpson, Rob Kruhlak. Randy (aka
> WikiEducator
> Community Builder) was with us highlighting community
> achievements and
> how WE can  promote effective community development for the
> future.
> 
> While chatting with David, we were pointing out examples of
> phenomenal
> development in our community, including for example (in no
> order of
> preference):
> 
> * The prolific content development at Otago Polytechnic;
> http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic
> * The successes of the FLOSS4Edu intiative;
> http://wikieducator.org/FLOSS4Edu
> * The OER initiative at the University of Education Winneba in
> Ghana
> http://wikieducator.org/UEW
> * India's leadership in building a national WE community:
> http://wikieducator.org/India
> * The University of Mauritius involving Masters students in a
> WE
> project who are developing a wiki reflection on their
> experiences of
> an online L4C workshop:
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Wikiflexion
> * The work in Sri Lanka developing OERs for the farming and
> agriculture community:
> http://wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka/L3_Farmers and
> http://wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka/L3_Farmers/University_of_Colombo
> * The budding community media node:
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Media
> 
> To list only a few initiatives -- there are many, many more!
> The challenge -- How do WE continue to support these pioneers
> and
> innovators?
> 
> Has our community reached the maturity where we need to thing
> about
> helping the early adopters move forward into a "2nd life"  --
> perhaps
> an L4C equivalent for our next generation of Wikieducators to
> be
> introduced to new tools and thoughts about getting the most
> out of WE.
> 
> What do you think?
> Should we develop the next tier of tutorials?
> Start a "2nd life" online workshop series using the L4C model?
> 
> Please let us know what your think --- our community is
> growing faster
> than our ability to keep up ...
> 
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Randy Fisher - Facilitating Change and Designing Sustainable
> Ecosystems to Improve Performance- for People, Teams, Communities, and
> Organizations
> http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Randyfisher
> 
> + 1 604.684.2275
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> www.hirerandy.com
> 
> Skype: wikirandy
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: 2nd Life -- -Getting the most outofWIkiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh -- 

The play on words doesn't necessarily exclude open data flows  ..
but I agree with Randy, the NextWave concept is more powerful and
appropriate? 

Getting back to my "learning to snowboard after 40 years old" experience
-- (Yes it is true that you can snowboard well into your 60's but it's
best learned before you turn 17!). I persevered. These days I can get
myself down the mountain in one piece and rather elegantly with my
turning skills -- but now I want to learn how to board "switch" or
"fakie" -- in other words the other way around. I really like this
boarding stuff and want to experience and achieve more. Similarly - I'm
sure there are WikiEducators that would like to get more out of their
investment. This may include support on using some of our new flashy
tools and helping WikiEducators connect with other Wikieducator's in a
non-zero sum experience. Its about our space to innovate and push the
envelop within the value structure of our community.  

I look at the amazing work that educators have done at Otago, University
of Winneba, India etc -- and I'm thinking about how can WE can create
and provide opportunities for the Nextwave of the experience ---
Tutorials are one part of the equation, but really just a means to
achieving an that "Eureka"  experience of real wiki collaboration. 

Facilitating Online Communities is a model course in many respects ---
How do you see this slotting into the NextWave concept?

R you back in NZ yet or still rocking the Tasmanians?

Cheers
Wayne 




On Thu, 2008-05-29 at 11:50 +1000, Leigh Blackall wrote:

> When I saw 2nd Life, I didn't recognise a play on words and thought
> Wayne was meaning Second Life or online simulators like it... ie The
> Croquet Project, which the University of British Columbia (among
> others) is involved with. When Wayne was talking about extending
> Wikied, I thought it was in the domain of open data flows like
> embedding into and from 3rd party services generally.
> 
> But, now I see it is in extending the tutorials. Otago has a course
> about to run called Facilitating Online Communities {{WIP}}. In that
> course is a focus for one of the weeks on Wiki communities, and then
> we start organising an online conference (probably using a wiki to
> document). It would be great to look at team teaching experiments in
> this open course...?
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 7:47 AM, Wayne Mackintosh
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> Hey Randy,
> 
> NextWave is an excellent improvement on the first draft.
> Thanks. Gee -- you see how collaboration improves quality over
> time.
> 
> Lets start planning the NextWave and riding it! 
> 
> We can link this to more advanced levels on the road to
> becoming a Wikimaster!
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Wed, 2008-05-28 at 14:37 -0700, Randy Fisher wrote:
> 
> > Hi Wayne,
> > 
> > Instead of 2nd Life (yes, I do recognize the play on words),
> > my preference is to go with 2nd Wave (of tutorials) or even
> > better - NextWave - it just gives a better image, picture,
> > etc. and folks can catch the wave...well, you get it...
> > 
> > My 3 cents,
> > 
> > - Randy
> > 
> > On Tue, May 27, 2008 at 11:08 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Hi Everyone,
> > 
> > David Leeming who facilitated the first official,
> > face-to-face
> > Learning4Content workshop in the Solomon Islands has
> > visited COL on
> > route after an OLPC meeting in Boston.
> > 
> > I was showing David a bunch of stuff in our Wiki --
> > and taking the
> > advantage of a face-to-face discussion it became
> > clear that we need to
> > thing about how to provide the next level of support
> > for the early
> > adopters in getting the most out of WikiEducator.
> > 
> > For example, we were chatting today about
> > WikiEducator,
> > Learning4Content etc. While sitting in my office I
> > was showing David a
> >  

[WikiEducator] Re: 2nd Life -- -Getting the mostoutofWIkiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

That's a good idea -- I'm game to talk about WE -- assuming that I'm not
travelling and I'm sure that others will help out.

I assume that you plan to run multiple iterations of the course  -- so
why don't you think about 3 or 4 key questions for each rep -- sort of
interview style that you can incorporate into the materials and also ask
the reps to record a short 1 minute audio intro. This way, in spite of
busy schedules you can still capture the thoughts of different
representatives from the wiki world and then rotate panel
representatives from each community for each offering of the course. 

We conference can be difficult if you're planning to reach the globe --
Its been a challenge for us at WE -- but a well planed recording with
key questions which folk can read, and perhaps some asynchronous
interaction -- all doable.

Cheers
Wayne

On Thu, 2008-05-29 at 13:33 +1000, Leigh Blackall wrote:
> Facilitating Online Communities is a model course in many respects ---
> How do you see this slotting into the NextWave concept?
>  
> I thought maybe we could set up a panel of people to talk about wiki
> communities... Wikieducator rep, Wikiversity rep, Wikipedia rep,
> Wikimedia Foundation rep, Wikispaces rep.. and I would facilitate a
> discussion about how communities are unique in wikis...
>  
> Can you help my get panel members together?
>  
> This would be a webconference of course. Part of the FOC course, and
> listed in the Wikied Webconferences
> 
>  
> On 5/29/08, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: 
> 
> Hi Leigh -- 
> 
> The play on words doesn't necessarily exclude open data flows
>  ..  but I agree with Randy, the NextWave concept is
> more powerful and appropriate? 
> 
> Getting back to my "learning to snowboard after 40 years old"
> experience -- (Yes it is true that you can snowboard well into
> your 60's but it's best learned before you turn 17!). I
> persevered. These days I can get myself down the mountain in
> one piece and rather elegantly with my turning skills -- but
> now I want to learn how to board "switch" or "fakie" -- in
> other words the other way around. I really like this boarding
> stuff and want to experience and achieve more. Similarly - I'm
> sure there are WikiEducators that would like to get more out
> of their investment. This may include support on using some of
> our new flashy tools and helping WikiEducators connect with
> other Wikieducator's in a non-zero sum experience. Its about
> our space to innovate and push the envelop within the value
> structure of our community.  
> 
> I look at the amazing work that educators have done at Otago,
> University of Winneba, India etc -- and I'm thinking about how
> can WE can create and provide opportunities for the Nextwave
> of the experience --- Tutorials are one part of the equation,
> but really just a means to achieving an that "Eureka"
> experience of real wiki collaboration. 
> 
> Facilitating Online Communities is a model course in many
> respects --- How do you see this slotting into the NextWave
> concept?
> 
> R you back in NZ yet or still rocking the Tasmanians?
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, 2008-05-29 at 11:50 +1000, Leigh Blackall wrote:
> 
> > When I saw 2nd Life, I didn't recognise a play on words and
> > thought Wayne was meaning Second Life or online simulators
> > like it... ie The Croquet Project, which the University of
> > British Columbia (among others) is involved with. When Wayne
> > was talking about extending Wikied, I thought it was in the
> > domain of open data flows like embedding into and from 3rd
> > party services generally.
> > 
> > But, now I see it is in extending the tutorials. Otago has a
> > course about to run called Facilitating Online Communities
> > {{WIP}}. In that course is a focus for one of the weeks on
> > Wiki communities, and then we start organising an online
> > conference (probably using a wiki to document). It would be
> > great to look at team teaching experiments in this open
> > course...?
> > 
> > On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 7:47 AM, Wayne Mackintosh
> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Valerie

On Thu, 2008-05-29 at 07:11 -0700, valerie wrote:

> 2nd Life / Second Life - I had the same problem, missing the play on
> words. Sorry to be so slow...

No worries -- clearly this play on words was not working given the
confusion I have created . I think were onto a much better
concept with the NextWave.


> Going beyond the basics as a collaborative effort sounds great. There
> should be some nice spin-offs - mentoring, authoring, student
> participation, reviewing and contributing.
> 
> Tutoring is an interesting issue. I am surprised / concerned that
> anyone feels reluctant to ask questions in a "safe learning
> environment" like WE discussions. We are all learners here. All
> questions that should be asked and answered in a public forum where
> everyone can benefit.   If we don't get that message across to every
> participant, we have lots of work to do!


Our mantra is "Just try it. - The community will support you"   I
think WE has done an good job in creating a welcoming environment, but
WE are always looking for ideas for improving and diversifying the way
we do things. Given our forward looking and innovative disposition --- I
think WE should trial and pilot many avenues to support and promote
access and active participation in our community.


> Some of the forum threads are intimidating. It might be appropriate to
> have a Questions? forum devoted to questions of new participants.


Yip -- I think you're right -- some of the discussions on the main list
are 
It would be easy enough to set up a Newbie forum -- a place where people
can ask those questions they were "scared" to ask. 

Are their any volunteers out there who would be interested in leading
the moderation of this forum?  

We could also work through all the forum responses under the
Learning4Content workshops to see if we can identify any common
challenges newbies typically face and create a dedicated Newbie FAQ
section.  Here are the L4C forums:

http://groups.google.com/group/learning4content-workshops -- there are
about 1200 posts. Perhaps we need a Newbie node in WE which covers the
essentials in a simple yet inviting way. 

Thanks all for your thoughts and ideas -- I think this these discussions
are going to improve our conversion rates.

Cheers
Wayne 




> 
> 
> 
> On May 28, 6:50 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > When I saw 2nd Life, I didn't recognise a play on words and thought Wayne
> > was meaning Second Life or online simulators ...snip
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Alex --

Based on your own experiences -- do you think new people would be more
comfortable posting "how to" questions on a dedicated support forum for
WE?

This is VERY important for us as a community because WE want to assist
all newbies in achieving their aims.  

As the community grows -- we are learning ourselves. There appear to be
different phases of capability development that have evolved. Our WE
community must find effective ways to support all levels in parallel.
In other words, if you join WE at any time there should be multiple
paths of support for all capability levels.  The "capability" phases
we've identified so far include:

* Phase 1: Mastery of basic editing skills (Individual and supported by
the Tutorials and the Learning4Content project)
* Phase 2: Individual content development where a teacher, lecturer or
trainer focuses on their own content projects without actively pursuing
collaboration with others 
* Phase 3:  Implementing collaborative content development -- i.e.
strategising and actively pursuing collaboration opportunities.
* Phase 4:  Engaging learner in OER development.
 
You raise an important point about the value of reading the posts in the
main forum --- this in itself is a powerful vehicle to learn about the
community.  I think commitment to open and transparent dialogue builds
trust.

Appreciate the contributions -- this helps us on our continuous path of
development. 

Cheers
Wayne

On Thu, 2008-05-29 at 21:22 +0200, Alex P. Real wrote:
> Hello Nellie,
> 
>  
> 
> I´m new to WE. I started with ICT  literally "learning by doing", so I
> normally  manage to make my way. If I had an editing query I probably
> wouldn´t ask here, would seem out of context.  For obvious reasons,
> most active contributors are founders or got involved much earlier and
> are at a more advanced stage than any newcomer. Threads logically
> reflect that. I don´t feel intimidated (actually enjoy them) but I can
> understand why less adventurous spirits might. 
> 
> Would you post a "how to" query  to an audience (visible=active
> contributors) discussing  elaborate stages of collaboration and
> advanced projects involving several institutions? 
> 
> This doesn´t mean these queries are not welcome, though new people may
> be under such impression or feel they´re too petty in comparison to
> HIV/AIDS or midwifery (?).  Hardly the right time for me to make any
> suggestion, really.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope this helps,
> 
>  
> 
> Alex
> 
>  
> 
> 
> De: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] En nombre de NELLIE DEUTSCH
> Enviado el: jueves, 29 de mayo de 2008 17:06
> Para: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Asunto: [WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Valerie said: Some of the forum threads are intimidating.
> 
> Valerie,
> Can you please clarify your statement with examples?
> 
> Thank you.
> Nellie 
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 7:11 AM, valerie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> 2nd Life / Second Life - I had the same problem, missing the play on
> words. Sorry to be so slow...
> 
> Going beyond the basics as a collaborative effort sounds great. There
> should be some nice spin-offs - mentoring, authoring, student
> participation, reviewing and contributing.
> 
> Tutoring is an interesting issue. I am surprised / concerned that
> anyone feels reluctant to ask questions in a "safe learning
> environment" like WE discussions. We are all learners here. All
> questions that should be asked and answered in a public forum where
> everyone can benefit.   If we don't get that message across to every
> participant, we have lots of work to do!
> 
> Some of the forum threads are intimidating. It might be appropriate to
> have a Questions? forum devoted to questions of new participants.
> 
> 
> 
> On May 28, 6:50 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > When I saw 2nd Life, I didn't recognise a play on words and thought
> Wayne
> > was meaning Second Life or online simulators ...snip
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Nellie Deutsch
> Doctoral Student of Education
> http://www.nelliemuller.com
> http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd
> http://www.building-relationship.com/education
> http://blendedlear.ning.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: MIT, Elsevier Offer Free Content From MoreThan 2,000 Journals

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Stephen, Leo and friends.

Stephen is an international icon in the world of digital learning and is
an exemplary advocate for free software in education.  Without getting
into the rhetoric of free versus libre, Stephen makes a compelling
argument but the NC restriction is not supported by the WikiEducator
community.  Apology for the long email -- but this relates to a core
value of our community project.

WikiEducator subscribes to the Free Cultural Works Definition with
regards to our interpretation of the meaning of free content.
(http://freedomdefined.org/Definition ) -- this covers the generic
freedoms derived from the free software movement, for convenience listed
here:


  * The freedom to use the work and enjoy the benefits of using it
  * The freedom to study the work and to apply knowledge acquired
from it
  * The freedom to make and redistribute copies, in whole or in
part, of the information or expression
  * The freedom to make changes and improvements, and to distribute
derivative works


However in addition to these requirements the WikiEducator community,
through the free cultural works definition specifies a number of
additional requirements (these are not optional) in our community.
Again, I quote from the free content definition:

In order to be considered free, a work must be covered by a Free Culture
License, or its legal status must provide the same essential freedoms
enumerated above. It is not, however, a sufficient condition. Indeed, a
specific work may be non-free in other ways that restrict the essential
freedoms. These are the additional conditions in order for a work to be
considered free:


  * Availability of source data: Where a final work has been
obtained through the compilation or processing of a source file
or multiple source files, all underlying source data should be
available alongside the work itself under the same conditions.
This can be the score of a musical composition, the models used
in a 3D scene, the data of a scientific publication, the source
code of a computer application, or any other such information. 
  * Use of a free format: For digital files, the format in which the
work is made available should not be protected by patents,
unless a world-wide, unlimited and irrevocable royalty-free
grant is given to make use of the patented technology. While
non-free formats may sometimes be used for practical reasons, a
free format copy must be available for the work to be considered
free.
  * No technical restrictions: The work must be available in a form
where no technical measures are used to limit the freedoms
enumerated above.
  * No other restrictions or limitations: The work itself must not
be covered by legal restrictions (patents, contracts, etc.) or
limitations (such as privacy rights) which would impede the
freedoms enumerated above. A work may make use of existing legal
exemptions to copyright (in order to cite copyrighted works),
though only the portions of it which are unambiguously free
constitute a free work.


Consequently you cannot upload proprietary formats on WIkiEducator. Try
uploading an MSWord document or Powerpoint . We believe that
legally the SA provisions are strong enough to protect against
commercial exploitation. For instance, should a publishing company want
to user and publish the OER Handbook currently under development in WE,
and they want to add an additional chapter or translate the work --
there is a legal requirement to release the derivative works under the
same conditions they received the originals -- including the requirement
of free formats etc. 

In the real world -- I guess this will be difficult to police and
monitor.  However, the same holds true for NC content that is use
inappropriately by commercial exploiters.  

The WIkiEducator supports both the CC-BY and CC-BY-SA licenses (The
Share Alike is our default unless specified by the author at the onset
of a project.) 

WE do not support the non-commercial restriction for two reasons:


  * It does not meet the requirements of the Free Cultural Works
definition as the right to sell a compilation is deemed a
restriction of essential freedoms;
  * WE has a strong focus on the development agenda, in particular
the first Millennium Development Goal associated with the
eradication of abject poverty. Simply stated WE do not wish to
deny the rights of individuals to earn a living (See:
http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:M_and_E_Overview ) and this
is communicated as a value by not entertaining the NC
restriction.


Our approach is to open up and encourage wide distribution of free
content through multiple distribution channels -- even if that means
some people earn a living by doing this.

[WikiEducator] Re: MIT, Elsevier Offer Free Content FromMoreThan 2,000 Journals

[Wayne Mackintosh]

On Fri, 2008-05-30 at 14:44 -0300, Stephen Downes wrote:

> Hiya,
> 
> I understand that WikiEducator has made the decision it has for
> whatever reasons it has. And there's no need to get into the mechanics
> of how the decision was made, or why. But...
> 
> > In order to be considered free, a work must be covered by a Free
> Culture License
> 
> WikiEducator does not own the word "free". A statement such as the one
> above must be qualified: "In order to be considered 'free' by
> WikiEducator, a work must be covered by a Free Culture License..."
> 
> Otherwise, a claim is being made that extends beyond the bounds of
> WikiEducator, where WikiEducator's decision-making process no longer
> applies, and where there is not agreement on this issue.
> 
> -- Stephen
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: MIT, Elsevier Offer Free Content FromMoreThan 2,000 Journals

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Stephen

On Fri, 2008-05-30 at 14:44 -0300, Stephen Downes wrote:

> WikiEducator does not own the word "free". A statement such as the one
> above must be qualified: "In order to be considered 'free' by
> WikiEducator, a work must be covered by a Free Culture License..."
> 
> Otherwise, a claim is being made that extends beyond the bounds of
> WikiEducator, where WikiEducator's decision-making process no longer
> applies, and where there is not agreement on this issue.
> 

Absolutely! With apology -- I didn't edit the text from the free
cultural works definition for the post. You're right -- WikiEducator has
articulated is "meaning" of free through the Free Cultural Works
definition, and as you say there are different interpretations.

Cheers
Wayne

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[WikiEducator] Re: Types of volunteers

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Minhaaj,

Absolutely no problem if your join the current workshop a little late.
Given your prior knowledge of wikis, you should have no problem in
catching up.

Just register yourself on the Learning4Content forum:

http://groups.google.com/group/learning4content-workshops

Read the instructions on the home page of the forum. You will see that
there are instructions posted for each Day. 

Look forward to meeting you in the workshop forum.

Cheers
Wayne

On Fri, 2008-05-30 at 10:38 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Dear Wayne,
> 
>I have been wikieducator for sometime. I have been editing
> other wikis for a long time but i was brought to Wikieducator by
> Nellie Muller. I just joined the Wikieducator workshop. The session
> was supposed to start on 26th. I guess i am pretty late, but can you
> guide me further at this point ?
> 
> On May 29, 2:07 am, "Wayne Mackintosh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hey Peter --
> >
> > I've done my homework now.  Hope you accept late submissions :-)
> >
> > I've posted my responses on the talk page:
> >
> > http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator_talk:Quality_Assurance_and_R...
> >
> > Thanks for keeping us on task.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> >
> > On Wed, 2008-05-28 at 07:49 -0700, Peter wrote:
> > > Do we need people to indicate the type of volunteer they want to be?
> >
> > > I am involved with this WE QA initiative and we had a request for
> > > volunteers that was quickly and completely subscribed. And now we are
> > > two weeks into it, I have posted a couple of questions and none of the
> > > volunteers have engaged in discussion or added content. So maybe when
> > > we make a call for volunteers we ask for volunteers of a certain type.
> > > I will suggest the following;
> > > Contibutor - someone who is active in moving the project forward
> > > Reviewer - someone who watches and reads the project and occassionally
> > > adds suggestions, makes comments, etc...
> > > Approver - someone who has some credability in the projects subject
> > > area who endorses the project deliverables
> > > So now when we make a call for volunteers we can be more specific and
> > > people can indicate the type of volunteer. As an example with this QA
> > > project we could make the following call for volunteers;
> >
> > >http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review...
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: MIT, Elsevier Offer Free Content From MoreThan 2,000 Journals

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Chris

On Sat, 2008-05-31 at 06:18 +1000, Chris Harvey wrote:

> and indeed, that when materials are used commercially (eg.,
> sold) they are by definition *not* free.
> 
> 
> You might want to look up the word free in the dictionary.
> 

Yip, you right  -- the commercial version would not be "free of cost"
however the original version on WE is both free of cost and free as in
"freedom of speech". 

As Stephen pointed out -- there are multiple meanings of free --
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/free

Richard Stallman of the free software foundation has written extensively
on the meaning of "free" insofar as free software is concerned -- and
WikiEducator derives its meaning of free from these principles.  For us
this is a matter of freedom, not price, so think of "free speech".

It's a well documented debated and there is divided opinion in
educational circles. 

Hope this helps.

Cheers

See for example:

http://wikieducator.org/Say_Libre or






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[WikiEducator] Re: MIT, Elsevier Offer Free Content From MoreThan 2,000 Journals

[Wayne Mackintosh]

On Fri, 2008-05-30 at 14:34 -0700, Peter wrote:

> My little brain needs some help. If I distributed soemthing as a
> CC-BY-
> SA and somebody translated that work to Chinese wouldn't they be in
> violation of the CC-BY-SA license by selling it?


Nope -- they wouldn't be in violation of selling the text. However they
would be in violation if the didn't release the derivative work under
the same conditions as for example the English version.  Assuming the
original text came from WikiEducator, given the clear intent and
conditions of the free cultural works definition they should release the
translated version in editable and free file formats so that access will
always be open. 

Its an open question whether corporates will honour these provisions,
and in this respect I understand Stephen's arguments. By the same token
it should also be a free choice for learners whether they opt to buy a
"commercial" copy of the OER content or choose to access the open
digital version and print themselves. 

For us at WIkiEducator -- long term sustainability is a strategic
objective for the project, and WE is thinking about how value-added
services around free content might contribute to the economic
sustainability of the project over the long term, while at the same time
not denying anyone the freedom to earn their own living. 

Its still early days in the OER movement to conclusively see which
models will be more sustainable than others. 

Cheers
Wayne


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[WikiEducator] Have your say on a quality assurance and review framework for WE

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Dear WikiEducators and friends --

Response required by the close of business on Friday 6 June 2008.

A small group of volunteers are working on a project to develop a
quality assurance and review framework for WikiEducator. This will
culminate in a draft policy for consideration by the community.

Now is the time to provide your inputs, thoughts and suggestions for
the team to take into consideration when working on the first draft
framework.

In order to avoid restating or duplicating what's already been said:

1. Read through the QA and review page :

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

2. Read though the discussions so far:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator_talk:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

Please post your thoughts, ideas and suggestions on the relevant talk
page:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator_talk:Quality_Assurance_and_Review

3. If you would like to help in the drafting process, please add your
names to the list.

Cheers
Wayne







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[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

he beginning (setting up tutorials,
spreading the word etc.), but we are designed to scale. WE want to
exceed our targets -- instead of 2500 teachers let's go for 3000!
People who 


> From an outsider perspective, main page can provide the impression
> that P.3 is THE goal. I realize institutional weight is VERY important
> within some cultures & there are obvious interests but, though
> difficult, keeping balance is important.  Or WE may find this is more
> relevant than teacher training (?). 

Good question -- don't have an answer here -- but I suspect we're going
to find out over the next year's activity.


> ·Still finding out if WE is indeed the right option for me.  

Whatever you decide -- you'll always be welcome in our WE neighbourhood.


> 
>  
> 
> Sorry, hope you’re not repenting now L?!  

Not at all -- Thank you for your time and contribution in helping us get
better.

Cheers
Wayne


> 
>  
> 
> Cheers,
> 
>  
> 
> Alex
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 
> De: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] En nombre de Wayne Mackintosh
> Enviado el: jueves, 29 de mayo de 2008 21:48
> Para: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Asunto: [WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Hi Alex --
> 
> Based on your own experiences -- do you think new people would be more
> comfortable posting "how to" questions on a dedicated support forum
> for WE?
> 
> This is VERY important for us as a community because WE want to assist
> all newbies in achieving their aims.  
> 
> As the community grows -- we are learning ourselves. There appear to
> be different phases of capability development that have evolved. Our
> WE community must find effective ways to support all levels in
> parallel.  In other words, if you join WE at any time there should be
> multiple paths of support for all capability levels.  The "capability"
> phases we've identified so far include:
> 
> * Phase 1: Mastery of basic editing skills (Individual and supported
> by the Tutorials and the Learning4Content project)
> * Phase 2: Individual content development where a teacher, lecturer or
> trainer focuses on their own content projects without actively
> pursuing collaboration with others 
> * Phase 3:  Implementing collaborative content development -- i.e.
> strategising and actively pursuing collaboration opportunities.
> * Phase 4:  Engaging learner in OER development.
> 
> You raise an important point about the value of reading the posts in
> the main forum --- this in itself is a powerful vehicle to learn about
> the community.  I think commitment to open and transparent dialogue
> builds trust.
> 
> Appreciate the contributions -- this helps us on our continuous path
> of development. 
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> On Thu, 2008-05-29 at 21:22 +0200, Alex P. Real wrote: 
> 
> Hello Nellie,
> 
>  
> 
> I´m new to WE. I started with ICT  literally “learning by doing”, so I
> normally  manage to make my way. If I had an editing query I probably
> wouldn´t ask here, would seem out of context.  For obvious reasons,
> most active contributors are founders or got involved much earlier and
> are at a more advanced stage than any newcomer. Threads logically
> reflect that. I don´t feel intimidated (actually enjoy them) but I can
> understand why less adventurous spirits might. 
> 
> Would you post a “how to” query  to an audience (visible=active
> contributors) discussing  elaborate stages of collaboration and
> advanced projects involving several institutions? 
> 
> This doesn´t mean these queries are not welcome, though new people may
> be under such impression or feel they´re too petty in comparison to
> HIV/AIDS or midwifery (?).  Hardly the right time for me to make any
> suggestion, really.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope this helps,
> 
>  
> 
> Alex
> 
>  
> 
> 
> De: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] En nombre de NELLIE
> DEUTSCH
> Enviado el: jueves, 29 de mayo de 2008 17:06
> Para: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Asunto: [WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Valerie said: Some of the forum threads are intimidating.
> 
> Valerie,
> Can you please clarify your statement with examples?
> 
> Thank you.
> Nellie 
> 
> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 7:11 AM, valerie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> 
> 2nd Life / Second Life - I had the same problem, missing the
>

[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Alex --

BTW -- What are your content areas or interests?  WE can help you
connect with people around the world. 

Cheers
Wayne


On Sat, 2008-05-31 at 17:44 +0200, Alex P. Real wrote:
> Which kind of topics would you find relevant, Nellie? 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> De:wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] En nombre de NELLIE DEUTSCH
> Enviado el: viernes, 30 de mayo de 2008 0:32
> Para: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Asunto: [WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Alex,
> I am fairly new to WE myself as I took the last course. I can relate
> to your examples of topics that may be irrelevant to new and old
> members. 
> 
> Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
> 
> Nellie
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 12:22 PM, Alex P. Real
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello Nellie,
> 
>  
> 
> I´m new to WE. I started with ICT  literally "learning by doing", so I
> normally  manage to make my way. If I had an editing query I probably
> wouldn´t ask here, would seem out of context.  For obvious reasons,
> most active contributors are founders or got involved much earlier and
> are at a more advanced stage than any newcomer. Threads logically
> reflect that. I don´t feel intimidated (actually enjoy them) but I can
> understand why less adventurous spirits might. 
> 
> Would you post a "how to" query  to an audience (visible=active
> contributors) discussing  elaborate stages of collaboration and
> advanced projects involving several institutions? 
> 
> This doesn´t mean these queries are not welcome, though new people may
> be under such impression or feel they´re too petty in comparison to
> HIV/AIDS or midwifery (?).  Hardly the right time for me to make any
> suggestion, really.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope this helps,
> 
>  
> 
> Alex
> 
>  
> 
> 
> De:wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] En nombre de NELLIE DEUTSCH
> Enviado el: jueves, 29 de mayo de 2008 17:06
> Para: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Asunto: [WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Valerie said: Some of the forum threads are intimidating.
> 
> Valerie,
> Can you please clarify your statement with examples?
> 
> Thank you.
> Nellie 
> 
> 
> On Thu, May 29, 2008 at 7:11 AM, valerie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 
> 2nd Life / Second Life - I had the same problem, missing the play on
> words. Sorry to be so slow...
> 
> Going beyond the basics as a collaborative effort sounds great. There
> should be some nice spin-offs - mentoring, authoring, student
> participation, reviewing and contributing.
> 
> Tutoring is an interesting issue. I am surprised / concerned that
> anyone feels reluctant to ask questions in a "safe learning
> environment" like WE discussions. We are all learners here. All
> questions that should be asked and answered in a public forum where
> everyone can benefit.   If we don't get that message across to every
> participant, we have lots of work to do!
> 
> Some of the forum threads are intimidating. It might be appropriate to
> have a Questions? forum devoted to questions of new participants.
> 
> 
> 
> On May 28, 6:50 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > When I saw 2nd Life, I didn't recognise a play on words and thought
> Wayne
> > was meaning Second Life or online simulators ...snip
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> 
> Nellie Deutsch
> Doctoral Student of Education
> http://www.nelliemuller.com
> http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd
> http://www.building-relationship.com/education
> http://blendedlear.ning.com
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Nellie Deutsch
> Doctoral Student of Education
> http://www.nelliemuller.com
> http://www.integrating-technology.com/pd
> http://www.building-relationship.com/education
> http://blendedlear.ning.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: MIT, Elsevier Offer Free Content FromMoreThan 2,000 Journals

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Chris, Stephen and WE friends

There is an important challenge for both sides of the free cultural
works "fence"  and that is reality that free content is not free
software.  In the case of free software the open code is the free
software and can be compiled by anyone with the relevant ICT skills. 

However, in the case of "compiled" text in the form of book -- it is far
easier to "lock" down access.  Stephen has used a powerful illustration
of how the access to public domain artifacts can be restricted through
commercial models. (Sorry, Stephen I don't have the url link -- working
from memory here )  Stephen was referring to cultural works of
art by the masters which are legally in the public domain to be enjoyed
by everyone. Setting aside the issues of the impact of flash lights on
art works etc., museums typically sell copyrighted prints and or photos
of the artwork with considerable profit margins.  The point in this
example is that a commercial model is denying access to enjoy something
which is in the public domain. Stephen has a valid argument that content
is different from software.

I also think that we should place the licensing debates in context.
Licenses are merely tools and should not be mechanisms to regulate
behaviour.   WE shares the same intent as Stephen and others i.e. to
provide unrestricted access to free content materials. However we have
different opinions concerning whether the NC restriction is an effective
mechanism to achieve these aims or not.

At the end of the day -- If Stephen is the copyright holder of an
CC-BY-SA-NC resource -- I can always talk with Stephen about my
intentions and how WE manage and promote open access to digital formats
and whether he would be prepared to release the resource under CC-BY-SA
for WE. Similarly Stephen can chat with me as a copyright holder of a
resource I authored in WE under CC-BY-SA and seek my permission for him
to release the derivative work under a CC-BY-SA-NC license.  The
original versions would still be available under their original
licences. 

Time will tell which strategies will achieve the shared intents and
beliefs we hold.

Ultimately this reduces to a personal choice regarding who's rights and
freedoms we choose to uphold.  Learners, authors, future authors or the
freedoms of the content itself.  As an advocate of the freedom culture
-- I have an obligation to respect the freedoms of other to choose
accordingly.

Cheers
Wayne




 Sat, 2008-05-31 at 14:34 +1000, Chris Harvey wrote:

> If a resource must be purchased before
> it may be used, then it is not free in either sense. A person
> does not
> have the freedom to use, modify, etc., something he or she
> must buy.
> 
>  
> 
> This is not true, free software is not a campaign against commerce,
> its a campaign for freedom. Im not less free when I have to pay for a
> hard copy of wikipedia. I think your really confused about this and it
> would help if you visit the wiki, at this point I'm starting to wonder
> if your just trolling us. I own this book
> http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/freedom/ , the only way for me to get
> that book was to buy it. I have the freedom to use, modify, etc
> 
> Its fairly obvoius why most people use NC license and its really
> nothing to do with preventing your work from being locked away. I
> understand you have to make a living but so do we.
> 
> Regards
> Chris
> 
> 
> On Sat, May 31, 2008 at 6:55 AM, Stephen Downes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> 
> Chris Harvey wrote:
> >
> > I think he supports open access and perhaps open source and
> freebie
> > software. Free software is a matter of freedom not price.
> >
> 
> 
> I am well aware of the distinction between 'free as in
> freedom' and
> 'free as in beer'. I suppose 'free as in freedom'.
> 
> My objection to commercial use is that it is a business model
> supported
> by *denying* access to resources. If a resource must be
> purchased before
> it may be used, then it is not free in either sense. A person
> does not
> have the freedom to use, modify, etc., something he or she
> must buy.
> 
> I appreciate that many of the other conditions of the free
> culture
> license - such as the use of non-proprietary media - serve to
> mitigate
> the excesses of commercial sales of open content. My belief is
> that the
> full set of such stipulations, crafted so as to close all
> loopholes,
> would be tantamount to the 'con-commercial' clause.
> 
> -- Stephen
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Valerie

On Sun, 2008-06-01 at 08:05 -0700, valerie wrote:

> I would encourage participants to reply with just a snip - a brief
> portion of a quote to identify the preceding post, rather than the
> entire post if appropriate.


Good suggestion  -- already putting this into practice!  WE
shouldn't forget about our web chat facility for interacting in real
time see below for details

Migrating discussions into the WE , especially where we need to keep
things together across multiple ideas and threads, works well.  The QA
and review discussions being a good example here:  

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator_talk:Quality_Assurance_and_Review .
However, WE will need to think about smart ways of keeping the main list
informed of ongoing discussions in the wiki -- perhaps a fortnightly
digest of main activities and discussions? What do you think?

WE also have an Instant Relay Chat (IRC) facility -- which has not been
that popular with WikiEducators. Perhaps they don't know about our chat
forum. It can be accessed by clicking on the Web Chat Link under the
Community links on the left hand side of the screen on WE. 

There are also instructions on how to download your own IRC Chat
software for logging into our IRC chat channel on Free Node:

http://wikieducator.org/Help_on_IRC

Cheers
Wayne 



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[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

On Mon, 2008-06-02 at 11:42 +1200, Leigh Blackall wrote:

> Wayne, the footer on each email should include the URL to the forum
> archive.

Thanks Leigh -- Done.

Wayne


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[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Alex -- 

Good thoughts -- Ultimately I think the communities and languages will
self organise in ways that are going to work for them.  There is a view
in the wiki community that you shouldn't separate languages into
separate language installations. I think there a benefits to this
approach as well. In fact there are a growing number of non-English
pages in the English WE -- I think that's great because we benefit from
a community of support.  The disadvantage is the risk of linguistic
imperialism. 

Clearly audio is vitally important for expression of culture and
learning. WE hasn't done much with audio yet -- I guess largely because
its difficult to edit audio collaboratively as a community. However --
with the Kaltura collaborative video editing, we might see growth in
this area.

Do you have any ideas how to encourage, promote and support audio
collaborations?

Cheers
Wayne

On Wed, 2008-06-04 at 11:42 +0200, Alex P. Real wrote:
> Many thanks for the detailed response. Sorry where I’ve been “hype”.
> In terms of language divide, I´m not sure localization is initially
> the best solution for Spanish-speakers, our beautiful language can be
> more divisive than unifying. If you have a look at wikiversidad (Sp
> wikiversity) or Wikipedia itself, fairly small in comparison to
> speaker No with ICT & English ability. Wondering if  bilingual
> contents or small translations would be OK without localizing? This
> might provide access to excellent stuff already going on and help some
> cope better with “fear/allergy to English” (?), as well as enhance
> cultural awareness, maybe audio rather than text (?). Language
> musicality can convey initial sensory appreciation.  
> 
>  
> 
> 
> De:wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] En nombre de Wayne Mackintosh
> Enviado el: sábado, 31 de mayo de 2008 18:40
> Para: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Asunto: [WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> Hi Alex -- 
> 
> BIG thanks for this feedback -- very insightful and exactly the kind
> of information WE need to respond more effectively.
> 
> A few thoughts and reflections in text below.
> 
> 
> On Sat, 2008-05-31 at 17:40 +0200, Alex P. Real wrote: 
> 
> Hi Wayne, 
> 
>  
> 
> I´m probably unconventional and likely to jump across Phases below.
> Seems reasonable to first spot shared topics/areas of interest to
> avoid duplication and build on ongoing developments rather than start
> from scratch (?).  I can´t speak for others so, though the support
> forum seems a very good idea, I lack enough WE awareness to size
> newcomer likeliness to contribute, backgrounds or average ICT
> expertise. Question to make when new members register?May others
> have a say J?  
> 
> Fair comment -- but in the same breadth you are a newcomer in the
> community and your experience and thoughts are equally valid.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> I understand the WE development rationale, the Commonwealth scope &
> enjoy WE structure, allows analyzing how it has “grown”, but surfing
> categories/projects can be somewhat puzzling at the beginning. You
> asked, so here´s some reckless thoughts:
> 
> Agreed -- our growth creates new opportunities to improve -- WE are
> working on creating new access points and ways of navigating our
> content, for example by sector and subject area.  (Coming soon!)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ·What if I don´t have a country-based mentality? Didn´t choose
> my passport & I´m OK with it but… Many country nodes are not developed
> & I guess other members (esp. non-native English speakers) may share
> my views here.
> 
> Yip. I think people network in different ways and this is what I find
> most exciting about the WIki -- namely its ability to model and
> support multiple process related activity. So for example, it is
> possible to set up any "clustering" configuration by setting up a new
> page -- the user is the innovator!  
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ·What if a “pet” interest  is heavily associated to a specific
> country node? WE is highly diverse, not every member or node may be
> able/willing to cope with cultural distance. Everybody is free to
> edit/ create a new page/project, but there´s etiquette to cater for.
> Just wondering J !
> 
> Absolutely.  In fact,  WE is  talking about the cultural distance in
> relation to educational materials in our thinking about quality.  WE
> is not an encyclopedia where we are trying to develop an objective
> universal article on some concept. Education is culturally bounded and
> in this sense every teaching situation is unique.  My personal guess
> is that the WE community will adopt the open source model. People will

[WikiEducator] Re: Questions and collaboration

[Wayne Mackintosh]

On Wed, 2008-06-04 at 12:50 +0200, Alex P. Real wrote:

> I envisage language learning as cultural embodiment & interactive
> performance rather than just linguistic.  Which & whose English
> anyway?


Hi Alex -- that has got to be the line of the week! Thanks for the
contributions -- this will enrich our community over time.

BTW -- wasn't aware that MS Outlook "download" the messages from the
list -- perhaps this is a preference setting in your Google account. You
can specify how you want to receive email. Worth a try? 

Sorry I don't use Microsoft and not sure where to look further on the
client side.

Cheers
WAyne



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[WikiEducator] Re: help required

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Hizbullah,

I take it that you are looking for materials on the use of ICTs for
education?

Are you specifically looking for free content materials or are you
planning to start a project to develop these materials?

WE will do our best to help you out.

Cheers
WAyne

On Jun 4, 6:56 am, Hizbullah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> hi,
>  hope u all fine thewre,
>    i have reqiured some material regarding "the usage of ICT in
> education sector", if someone help me i would b thakful.
> regard
> Hizbullah
> MS (STP)
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[WikiEducator] Re: Doubt in wiki educator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Muthumar

Some wikieducator's have been experimenting with a quiz tool.  The
syntax is not for beginners though.

See for example the Multichoice question on this page:

http://wikieducator.org/Equation_Grapher/Function_Hunt/Simulation

Technically I don't see any reason why this wouldn't work on the Tamil
localisation of WE. (http://ta.wikieducator.org/ )

However,  I suspect that you would need to copy over the relevant
templates that are used in the English Wikieducator and recreate these
for the Tamil version. 

I don't know if anyone has tried this yet the other languages -- so
perhaps you're the first to experiment.

Cheers
Wayne
 

On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 06:22 -0700, muthumar B.Sc(Ag)., M.Sc(ICT-ARD)
wrote:

> Hi.,
> Can we include quizes in wiki educator in regional language like in
> tamil. Thank you. looking for your reply.
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Wikieducator (and mediawiki): Low bandwidthaccess

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Dear Bjoern and Savithri,

This is a challenge close to the hearts of all WikiEducators and We've
been thinking hard about how to move this forward.

At least at a technical level -- this is solvable, but its quite
complicated and will certainly need a fair bit of funding to get this
right.

Optimising the CSS for use on low bandwidth would be relatively easy to
solve -- and in fact this may already be the case.  When logged in - any
user can change their preference settings to use different skins. I've
not researched this, but it shouldn't be too hard to optimise one of the
existing skins for low bandwidth browsing. Lets hope that there are some
CSS gurus in our community that might want to give this a try. Perhaps
you know of someone who has this technical knowledge -- see if you can
encourage them to help out .

Wiki's are unique in the sense that they are dynamic. Literally every
second someone around the world could be editing something. So this
makes replication a little more difficult. For example, if we have a
local installation of WikiEducator in Uganda -- how will the Uganda
WikiEducator synchronise with edits around the world.

Benjamin Mako Hill of the Free Software Foundation has developed a
promising proof-of-concept for history sensitive branching and
synchronisation of wikis:

http://wikimania2007.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proceedings:BMH1
 
So at least from a proof of concept perspective -- this would be doable.
However, is not a trival exercise and would need considerable funding to
get this operation. That said, it would be a huge advance for the free
knowledge community in widening access to knowledge. Perhaps we should
collaborate on a funding proposal to secure the funding to get this work
done. I'm pretty sure that the Wikimedia Foundation would also be very
interested in solving this challenge.

Cheers
Wayne

On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 06:28 -0700, Bjoern wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> first post to the list - hello to you all.
> 
> This is a post partially in reply to Wayne Mactintosh's presentation
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Wayne_Mackintosh’s_Presentation#.283:25.29_The_Big_Issue_for_Africa_.E2.80.93_How_do_you_get_Access.3F
> regarding access for Africa, and your comments on "Are all Open
> Educational Resources Equally Free?".
> 
> The issues raised are very important, and I would like to make some
> practical suggestions. In my view, issues like web disability access
> are quite well understood, with relevant standards etc. However, low
> bandwidth access really hasn't come into the mainstream yet, and
> remains poorly understood.
> 
> A good example for guidelines and recommendations are Aptivate's low
> bandwidth web-design guidelines, which are available here:
> http://www.aptivate.org/webguidelines/Home.html
> 
> If you look at the top ten tips, you'll see that a maximum page size
> of 25kB is recommended. Wikieducator is currently about 150KB, and
> would take about one minute to load for typical user in a developing
> world university.
> 
> Quite a bit of this is due to the css and javascript of the MonoBook
> skin (which is used by most mediawikis). So there's a real opportunity
> here to have an impact by optimising the MonoBook skin. Perhaps even
> modifying the mediawiki code, so that the javascript is only loaded
> when needed.
> 
> Unfortunately I don't have resources available to just get on with
> this, but perhaps this could somehow be addressed in a community way?
> 
> A second (more involved) area of interest is 'wiki replication',  i.e.
> to create a fully functional replicas (say of Wikieducator) within
> local area networks. This would be a full copy of Wikieducator, that
> can be read and edited on the local area network (of a university in
> the south), i.e. without international bandwidth constraints. The
> various 'replica' then synchronise themselves as and when permitted by
> the international connection. Of course the goal would be a fully
> functional copy, that allows both read/write and resolution of
> conflicts etc.
> 
> This is of course not a new idea, and it's also a complicated problem.
> However, it is very relevant for low-bandwidth access, and perhaps one
> could come up with some initial pragmatic solutions, that have less
> than the full functionality. For instance, one could replicate the
> content 'read-only', while 'edits' still take place on the main wiki,
> but in a bandwidth optimised way (perhaps also with traffic shaping,
> so that bandwidth is available for this). This could give many
> institutions instant access to Wikieducator and Wikipedia. (In fact,
> Wikipedia of course has a distributed system of servers.)
> 
> Of course one would start with a pilot project, to see whether those
> ideas really address some of the issues at hand. But if it works, it
> won't just make Northern content more accessible, but it could really
> make Southern content more visible, and also enable South-South
> content sharing much more viable.
> 
> I wonder w

[WikiEducator] WikiEducator's featured institution

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi everyone.

Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand has acquired the status of "Featured
Institution" on WikiEducator.

Otago Polytechnic is an OER role model. I invite all WikiEducator's to
read how they developed an intellectual property policy for the times,
and how this has contributed to a quantum leap in the rate of OER
development through WIkiEducator (see links below).  Through our
global networks the WE community can now assist in establishing
meaningful collaborations for establishing a sustainable OER project.

Our congratulations to the vision and foresight of the executive
management and the team of WikiEducators at the the institution who
have been able to implement this vision by establishing concrete
outputs in a very short time frame.

This is a model worth emulating.

Our challenge -- Let's take these successes to the next level!

Cheers
Wayne

Links:

http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic:_An_IP_policy_for_the_times

http://wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic:WikiEducator_helps_advance_open_learning_at_the_Polytechnic







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[WikiEducator] Re: Wikieducator (and mediawiki): Lowbandwidthaccess

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh -- 

Good thinking -- I think the first step is to develop the requirements
for the project starting from a use case as a funding proposal on WE -
see for example:

http://wikieducator.org/Metawikieducator

Then we can ask developers from our community to help scope and refine
the technical elements and cost the project. This way we will know what
the funding target is -- but potential donors will also know what they
are funding and have the confidence that we know what we're doing.
Already we have different suggestions on the table to approach the
bandwidth challenges. We need to get good solid advise from our
technical team as well as inputs from the community.  

WikiEducator's strength is that we have built trust in the community and
our external funders for doing things well and delivering on our
commitments.  A stitch in time saves nine .

I'm very supportive of these ideas -- lets do them well. Trust takes
time to build --- but is easily lost. 

Cheers
Wayne


On Fri, 2008-06-06 at 13:41 +1200, Leigh Blackall wrote:

> How much funding do you think Wayne? Could we get a developer group to
> quote to the brief, and then put a target fundraising bar on Wikied
> for the rest of us to lobby for money for?
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 7:52 AM, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> Dear Bjoern and Savithri,
> 
> This is a challenge close to the hearts of all WikiEducators
> and We've been thinking hard about how to move this forward.
> 
> At least at a technical level -- this is solvable, but its
> quite complicated and will certainly need a fair bit of
> funding to get this right.
> 
> Optimising the CSS for use on low bandwidth would be
> relatively easy to solve -- and in fact this may already be
> the case.  When logged in - any user can change their
> preference settings to use different skins. I've not
> researched this, but it shouldn't be too hard to optimise one
> of the existing skins for low bandwidth browsing. Lets hope
> that there are some CSS gurus in our community that might want
> to give this a try. Perhaps you know of someone who has this
> technical knowledge -- see if you can encourage them to help
> out .
> 
> Wiki's are unique in the sense that they are dynamic.
> Literally every second someone around the world could be
> editing something. So this makes replication a little more
> difficult. For example, if we have a local installation of
> WikiEducator in Uganda -- how will the Uganda WikiEducator
> synchronise with edits around the world.
> 
> Benjamin Mako Hill of the Free Software Foundation has
> developed a promising proof-of-concept for history sensitive
> branching and synchronisation of wikis:
> 
> http://wikimania2007.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proceedings:BMH1
> 
> So at least from a proof of concept perspective -- this would
> be doable. However, is not a trival exercise and would need
> considerable funding to get this operation. That said, it
> would be a huge advance for the free knowledge community in
> widening access to knowledge. Perhaps we should collaborate on
> a funding proposal to secure the funding to get this work
> done. I'm pretty sure that the Wikimedia Foundation would also
> be very interested in solving this challenge.
> 
> Cheers
> Wayne
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 06:28 -0700, Bjoern wrote: 
> 
> > Dear all,
> > 
> > first post to the list - hello to you all.
> > 
> > This is a post partially in reply to Wayne Mactintosh's presentation
> > 
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Wayne_Mackintosh's_Presentation#.283:25.29_The_Big_Issue_for_Africa_.E2.80.93_How_do_you_get_Access.3F
> > regarding access for Africa, and your comments on "Are all Open
> > Educational Resources Equally Free?".
> > 
> > The issues raised are very important, and I would like to make some
> > practical suggestions. In my view, issues like web disability access
> > are quite well understood, with relevant standards etc. However, low
> > bandwidth access really hasn't come into the mainstream yet, and
> > remains poorly understood.
> > 
> > A good example for guidelines and recommendations are Aptivat

[WikiEducator] Re: Incorporating Open Source Software withUniversal Education at WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Minhaaj

That's an excellent suggestion and "music to our ears" -- 

We've started with a humble, but ambitious project to develop study
manuals for the Open ICDL which teach basic ICT skills using free
software. This is called the Computer Navigator's Certificate.

See for example:

http://wikieducator.org/CCNC

and also the promotional brochure:

http://www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/4601

First drafts of the materials have been posted -- but we now need help
in finalising the content.  Progress has been slow -- but I'm confident
that we will pick up momentum due to a number of recent developments.

I appreciate that this is not training in Linux per se, but this is at
least a start in helping users get started with open source software.

Any help the local Linux user groups can provide in getting these
materials completed is well received.

Also we are looking for people to help us out with the development of
Multimedia resources to support the teaching in the Computer Navigator's
Certificate course materials.

WE have posted bounties for this multimedia development -- so spread the
word:

 http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Bounties/CCNC_MM_Developers

Cheers
Wayne




On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 18:52 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> I have been editing WE for some time and i have noted that there is no
> significant step take in the domain of free open source education on
> WE. To promote universal and affordable education around the globe the
> usage and training for open source softwares like linux is very
> important. Being a member of Ubuntu Pakistan chapter and a lifelong
> fan of Open Source Software i would suggest a project for creating
> tutorials and introduction to linux. I would need some volunteers to
> collect, analyze and incorporate tutorials and introduction to Linux
> on WikiEducator.
> 
> I would also like to invite people with extensive expertise in Linux
> to arrange a Wiziq session where participants should be WE ambassadors
> and users. We should display this Open Source Initiative page on main
> page of WE . Let me know your thoughts
> about it everyone.
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Incorporating Open Source SoftwarewithUniversal Education at WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Minhaaj -


Sounds good to me! WE definitely need build a starter's guide to linux
that is comprehensive and establishes a solid foundation. I sent Brent
has already responded -- looks like a cluster is forming .

BTW -- stumbled across a the Webpresent project today -- a FLOSS
webservice technology for hosting slide shows, but also provides
web-conferencing capabilties. Requires java on the client side -- but so
far I'm pretty impressed with the technology. 

http://chameleon.uwc.ac.za/app/index.php?module=_default


Certainly the best I've seen so far.  DimDim  looks promising -- but is
still buggy on my Ubuntu box. My test this afternoon using Webpresent
was painless and had no problems. Its still beta -- but is looking good.

Take a look -- I'd be keen to know what you think. Should we run a test
trial on WE?  I would really like to have a FLOSS web conferencing
solution for our community. Moreover, this would overcome my
reservations about linking to third party media that doesn't run on
FLOSS technologies.

Be keen to hear what folk think.

Cheers
Wayne




On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 19:33 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Dear Wayne,
> 
>   thats great, but i think there should be solid
> documentation with video tutorials or atleast external links to video
> tutorials on WE. There are thousands out there, all we have to do is
> to create a central data mart for the conglomeration of these
> resources. There are linux forums and other documentation for
> technology related issues, but here we intend to give a starter's
> guide to linux that is comprehensive and also paves the way for future
> learning through solid base.
> 
> On Jun 6, 7:02 am, "Wayne Mackintosh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi Minhaaj
> >
> > That's an excellent suggestion and "music to our ears" --
> >
> > We've started with a humble, but ambitious project to develop study
> > manuals for the Open ICDL which teach basic ICT skills using free
> > software. This is called the Computer Navigator's Certificate.
> >
> > See for example:
> >
> > http://wikieducator.org/CCNC
> >
> > and also the promotional brochure:
> >
> > http://www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/4601
> >
> > First drafts of the materials have been posted -- but we now need help
> > in finalising the content.  Progress has been slow -- but I'm confident
> > that we will pick up momentum due to a number of recent developments.
> >
> > I appreciate that this is not training in Linux per se, but this is at
> > least a start in helping users get started with open source software.
> >
> > Any help the local Linux user groups can provide in getting these
> > materials completed is well received.
> >
> > Also we are looking for people to help us out with the development of
> > Multimedia resources to support the teaching in the Computer Navigator's
> > Certificate course materials.
> >
> > WE have posted bounties for this multimedia development -- so spread the
> > word:
> >
> >  http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Bounties/CCNC_MM_Developers
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> >
> > On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 18:52 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > > I have been editing WE for some time and i have noted that there is no
> > > significant step take in the domain of free open source education on
> > > WE. To promote universal and affordable education around the globe the
> > > usage and training for open source softwares like linux is very
> > > important. Being a member of Ubuntu Pakistan chapter and a lifelong
> > > fan of Open Source Software i would suggest a project for creating
> > > tutorials and introduction to linux. I would need some volunteers to
> > > collect, analyze and incorporate tutorials and introduction to Linux
> > > on WikiEducator.
> >
> > > I would also like to invite people with extensive expertise in Linux
> > > to arrange a Wiziq session where participants should be WE ambassadors
> > > and users. We should display this Open Source Initiative page on main
> > > page of WE . Let me know your thoughts
> > > about it everyone.
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Incorporating Open SourceSoftwarewithUniversal Education at WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Minhaaj,

Wiziq is a cool service - and very good and I've heard excellent
feedback from folk using it. 

My problem is that WikiEducator subscribes to the free cultural works
definition and Wiziq is not open source.  

WE has no problems with folk using the service of their choice in
connecting with each other eg Wiziq, Elluminate, Skype or mobile phone
  etc. However for a centrally promoted service we are committed
to open source technologies.  Also something like Webpresent would
enable us to embedd third party media services, like Kaltura. The reason
we agreed to work with Kaltura is because they have released all their
code as open source. 

Webpresent provides an attractive open source alternative to something
like slideshare -- it will convert proprietary formats into free file
formats on the server side which means WikiEducator keeps to its
commitment in adhering to providing access to the source files in free
formats -- thus adhering to the requirements of the free cultural works
definition.

Cheers
Wayne 

On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 19:58 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> Nice link Wayne. It is really good work but i know of services similar
> to this one and equally good. Web conferencing is cool but there are
> better alternatives out there with tested quick support. I would love
> to know of better suggestions but my experience with online web
> conferencing and webinars recommends Wiziq for online tutelage. It
> works on flash (will have flex soon) and integrates online
> presentations, white boards, voice, webcam and control transfers.
> Pretty much like Elluminate without hassle though. Support is awesome,
> service is cool and low bandwidth users can attend pretty good. I have
> low bandwidth and i dont drop more than 5 seconds if at all. I am open
> to suggestions though and would love to try out new things.
> 
> And yea, that website worked seamlessly on kubuntu. No problems at
> all. No bugs
> 
> On Jun 6, 7:48 am, "Wayne Mackintosh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi Minhaaj -
> >
> > Sounds good to me! WE definitely need build a starter's guide to linux
> > that is comprehensive and establishes a solid foundation. I sent Brent
> > has already responded -- looks like a cluster is forming .
> >
> > BTW -- stumbled across a the Webpresent project today -- a FLOSS
> > webservice technology for hosting slide shows, but also provides
> > web-conferencing capabilties. Requires java on the client side -- but so
> > far I'm pretty impressed with the technology.
> >
> > http://chameleon.uwc.ac.za/app/index.php?module=_default
> >
> > Certainly the best I've seen so far.  DimDim  looks promising -- but is
> > still buggy on my Ubuntu box. My test this afternoon using Webpresent
> > was painless and had no problems. Its still beta -- but is looking good.
> >
> > Take a look -- I'd be keen to know what you think. Should we run a test
> > trial on WE?  I would really like to have a FLOSS web conferencing
> > solution for our community. Moreover, this would overcome my
> > reservations about linking to third party media that doesn't run on
> > FLOSS technologies.
> >
> > Be keen to hear what folk think.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> >
> > On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 19:33 -0700, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > > Dear Wayne,
> >
> > >   thats great, but i think there should be solid
> > > documentation with video tutorials or atleast external links to video
> > > tutorials on WE. There are thousands out there, all we have to do is
> > > to create a central data mart for the conglomeration of these
> > > resources. There are linux forums and other documentation for
> > > technology related issues, but here we intend to give a starter's
> > > guide to linux that is comprehensive and also paves the way for future
> > > learning through solid base.
> >
> > > On Jun 6, 7:02 am, "Wayne Mackintosh" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > Hi Minhaaj
> >
> > > > That's an excellent suggestion and "music to our ears" --
> >
> > > > We've started with a humble, but ambitious project to develop study
> > > > manuals for the Open ICDL which teach basic ICT skills using free
> > > > software. This is called the Computer Navigator's Certificate.
> >
> > > > See for example:
> >
> > > >http://wikieducator.org/CCNC
> >
> > > > and also the promotional brochure:
> >
> > > >http://www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/4601
> >
> > > > First drafts of t

[WikiEducator] Re: Incorporating OpenSourceSoftwarewithUniversal Education at WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

On Fri, 2008-06-06 at 15:23 +1200, Leigh Blackall wrote:

> First resource needed.. how to get a screen recorder up and running on
> Ubuntu!!


You don't set easily challenges . 

Way back I started doing a little research on this:

http://wikieducator.org/Metawikieducator/Screen_movies

I suspect technologies have matured since I conducted this desktop
research. 

W

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[WikiEducator] Re: Incorporating OpenSourceSoftwarewithUniversal Education at WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Chris

On Fri, 2008-06-06 at 19:25 +1000, Chris Harvey wrote:

> m not sure how WE uses video. Ive been tinkering with plumi and
> Itheora.


We are currently testing and implementing the Kaltura extension for
video.

See:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Invites_Users_to_Take_Part_in_Open%2C_Collaborative_Video_Experiment

and 

http://wikieducator.org/Help:Collaborative_video

What I like about Kalutra is the collaborative editing features -- This
is in line with the spirit of the wiki model.  The Learning4Content
promotional video was edited collaboratively:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content

Cheers
Wayne



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[WikiEducator] Re: Incorporating OpenSourceSoftwarewithUniversal Education at WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Chris, Leigh

On Fri, 2008-06-06 at 20:23 +1000, Chris Harvey wrote:

> Im not sure we urgently need more ubuntu videos.

(I suspect Leigh's questions are not so much directed at videos about
Ubuntu but rather how to record screen movies on his Ubuntu GNU/Linux
distro.)

Slightly off topic -- I thought I'd take a look at some of the stats and
the extent that screen movies are used by WikiEducator learners.

Personally as a learner I rarely use screen movies. I prefer reading the
text and getting on with trying to implement. However, when looking at
the stats -- these screen movies are very popular with our audience. 

Consider for example that:


  * 58 % of new account holders on WikiEducator have never created a
wiki account before; and
  * 61% classify themselves as beginners when it comes to wiki
editing.

Looking at the pages views of two of the first relevant Newbie Tutorials
(i.e. Creating an account and Editing basics):


  * 43% of the pages views expressed as a proportion of the home
page views for the Creating an account tutorial have visited the
screen movie page;
  * 33% of the pages views expressed as a proportion of the home
page views for the tutorial on Editing Basics have visited the
screen movie page.


Clearly the screen movies are being used by a large proportion of
WikiEducators. Further support that we all learn in different ways. That
said, we all learn in spite of teaching . 

Cheers
Wayne



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[WikiEducator] Re: Wikieducator (and mediawiki):Lowbandwidthaccess

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Great suggestion! 

There are a number of WE related sessions @ PCF5 and we must definitely
connect for talking about these issues.

Cheers
Wayne

On Fri, 2008-06-06 at 08:57 -0700, Bjoern wrote:

> Dear all,
> 
> As a practical way forward: Perhaps some of you will be at pcf5 in
> July in London, and if so, would you be interested in a meeting to
> discuss some of these ideas?
> 
> Some more technical comments:
> 
> > > Optimising the CSS for use on low bandwidth would be
> > > relatively easy to solve -- and in fact this may already be
> > > the case.  When logged in - any user can change their
> > > preference settings to use different skins. I've not
> 
> I had a quick look at the mediawiki skins a while back, and didn't see
> anything that was really low bandwidth. I'll check this more
> carefully, and I'll get back.
> 
> There's also a lot to be said for making the '''default''' skin lower
> bandwidth. The css/javascript could probably be optimised while
> keeping the functionality the same. I'd be very happy to contribute to
> solving this, but right now can't commit to looking at this on my own.
> 
> > > Benjamin Mako Hill of the Free Software Foundation has
> > > developed a promising proof-of-concept for history sensitive
> > > branching and synchronisation of wikis:
> >
> > >http://wikimania2007.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proceedings:BMH1
> 
> I'll get in touch win Benjamin, and see where this got to.
> 
> It would of course be desirable to have a feature-rich solution.
> However, I wonder whether one could do something more lightweight. For
> instance, suppose pages synchronise one way only, i.e. 'wikieducator
> uganda' gets updates from 'wikieducator'.
> 
> When you hit 'edit' in Uganda, the users apparently doesn't leave the
> 'wikieducator uganda', but behind the scenes 'wikieduator uganda'
> talks to 'wikieducator' to make sure that the page on 'wikieducator
> uganda' is up to date. This just means swapping a bit of text (the
> content of the wiki page): No css, no javascript, just compressed
> text. When you submit your edit, the edit is sent straight to the main
> 'wikieducator'. If there's a conflict, you get a conflict notice, like
> you normally would.
> 
> Of course this means that you cannot edit 'wikieducator uganda' when
> there is no connection. But it might be enough to edit 'wikieducator
> uganda' when there is a very poor connectivity..
> 
> It might be that in terms of use-cases and usability this would be a
> significant advance. Of course, it might turn out that it's not
> enough, and a full online/offline 'branch merging' wiki
> synchronisation system is needed.
> 
> In any case, I think this is very valuable, and look forward to
> further comments!
> 
> All the best,
> Bjoern
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Incorporating OpenSourceSoftwarewithUniversal Education at WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Brent and friends --

Wikiversity's campus radio is an inspiring project.  I would love to see
a FLOSS VOIP solution in place for WikiEdcuator and it would really be
cool if we could see who was online to connect for a chat. In terms of
prioritisation -- I think WE need to focus on the phase 2 hosting and
fail over solution before finding a VOIP solution :-(. 

Given that we have a small but very dedicated team of techie volunteers
-- I think that it's prudent for us to minimize maintenance and upstream
dependencies for the time being. Pretty soon -- I'm sure that our number
of community techie volunteers will grow  -- especially given the
flavour and interest in FLOSS discussions on the list these past days
.

In many respects -- WE is a community of association that adheres to our
values around the free cultural works definition. Consequently -- on the
server side we cannot host or implement any non-free software. At times
its tough -- for example Google analytics has some cool features to help
us analyse data -- but I don't think that it would be appropriate for
our community to install these technologies on our server.  WE has
benefited tremendously from free software in being able to build a
global project with minimal technical infrastructure costs. I think we
owe it to ourselves to say "thank you" by continuing our commitment to
the values of the free software movement. 

At the same time, I do think it's important to encourage and respect
individual choices around the tools WikiEducators use on their desktops
-- as long as all the server stuff uses OSS and free formats. I also
understand that there are legitimate reasons why many WE's may not be
able to use free software, for example where corporate or institutional
policy does not permit users to download software on their machines.  

At a personal level -- I try my best to accommodate the diversity of our
community. If someone wants to "skype" or "gizmo" with me , or invites
me to participate in an Elluminate session -- I'll do my best even if it
means I must go next door an use a Window's box :-(. My sense is that
all of us go out of our way to accommodate other WikiEducators  -- I
think our tolerance and respect for others is a virtue of our community.

Getting back to Webpresent -- I still rather attracted to the work being
done with Webpresent -- I've been trying for 2 years  to figure out a
way to support and integrate slide show presentations in our project.  I
think Webpresent shows considerable promise, and to the best of my
knowledge is the first of its kind in the Open Source arena. What I like
about Webpresent is the fact that the source files are available in free
file formats (and they are planning to run server side conversions into
free formats). In addition, if you like,  you can host a web conference
-- not as a substitute for VOIP but a technology to conference using
slideshows, whiteboards etc,  I see this collaboration as a hosted
service with our free software friends at the University of the Western
Cape. It shouldn't be too hard to incorporate an extension to embed the
third party slide show in a WikiEducator page.

Its still early days and the technology is still under development -- so
we have lots of time to think about this.

Appreciate all the thoughts and considerations around software
alternatives - -as well as the advice on recording screen movies on
GNU/Linux.

Cheers
Wayne  


  


On Fri, 2008-06-06 at 22:57 +1200, Brent wrote:

> i really liked the test we did on Wikiversity with Asterisk +
> Moziax ... but unfortunately no spare boxes laying around, and
> incredibly expensive bandwidth costs in NZ. From some earlier research
> i seem to remember that there was actually a full Asterisk + debian
> (perhaps) distro that could be downloaded and installed ... so how
> hard could it be really. We could get in touch with the Wikiversity
> guys who did the original experiments; see:
> http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wiki_Campus_Radio they had for a long
> time wanted to do some tests with Wikieducator as one of the
> "programs". 
> 
> Gizmo itself is not open source, but it at least uses an open protocol
> in SIP ... so there's half the battle. 
> 
> brent. 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 9:11 PM, Chris Harvey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> Using Gizmo is another alternative, and someone else
> maintains the
> infrastructure for us.  :-)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No its not
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gizmo_Project
> 
> We used Asterisk and moziax on wikiversity, I think it is a
> good idea.
> Its easy to setup, maybe Brent has a spare box lying around we
> could use.
> 
> http://moziax.mozdev.org/
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2008 at 5:35 PM, Jim Tittsler
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> 

[WikiEducator] FREE WIKI SKILLS TRAINING --- 23 June to 4 July, 2008

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Everyone,

WikiEducator's next online workshop starts on 23 June 2008. Invite
your colleagues and friends to join the next Learning4Content
workshop.

We're accepting registrations online:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

Spread the word and join in the largest Mediawiki training project in
the world!

Cheers
Wayne





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[WikiEducator] DEANZ Online Seminar on WikiEducator

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi everyone,

The Distance Education Association of New Zealand (DEANZ) have invited
me to talk about the the WikiEducator project.

Rather than me rambling on about WikiEducator on my own -- it would be
great if members from our community could contribute by sharing their
experiences. I'm planning highlight our most recent statistics and
will leave ample time for discussion and interaction.

You'll find login details here:

http://deanz.wordpress.com/2008/05/13/deanz-online-seminar-june-17th/

Hope you can join us:

Monday 16 June, 15:00 - 16.30 (PST, Vancouver/ San Fransisco)
Monday 16 June, 23:00 - 24:30 (London)
Monday 16 June, 22:00 - 23:30 (Africa, Accra)
Monday 16 June, 11:00 - 12.30 (Pacific, Samoa)
Monday 15 June, 17:00 - 18:30 (EST)
Tuesday 17 June: 10:00 to 11.30 (New Zealand Time)
Tuesday 17 June:  12.30 - 14:00 (India, New Delhi).

To calculate the time in your country use Tuesday 17 June, 10:00am
Pacific, Auckland time in New Zealand:

http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc

See you online!

Cheers
Wayne


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[WikiEducator] Re: FREE WIKI SKILLS TRAINING --- 23 June to 4July, 2008

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Greetings Dr.Ramakrishnan

The progress you have made with the ID generation initiative is
phenomenal and I see growing numbers of educators from India enrolling
for the next L4C workshop -- no doubt encouraged by your Ambassadorship!

I think coordination with the Ministries of education is an important
step in the long term strategy of WE --- however, I think that we will
be more successful in the long run if we can show substantive examples
of our progress in terms of materials developed, course taught etc when
putting the proposal forward to governments. 

Tangible examples will increase the likelihood of substantive backing
from education departments. I think we have made excellent progress to
date -- and we should continue on our existing path showing how open
communities can produce materials which are relevant and in use by an
increasing number of institutions.

I like the suggestion of assigning WikiNeighbours to assist and support
colleagues through the early learning processes and encourage all
WikiEducators to keep an eye on the participant lists for each L4C
workshop and to help our with encouraging comments and support during
and after the workshops.

Cheers
Wayne


On Tue, 2008-06-17 at 06:01 -0700, GCresearcher wrote:

> Hi Wayne,
> 
> The e-mail ID generation initiative is slowly gathering momentum
> and a few Professors/Lecturers have registered and opened User Pages
> for L4C workshop scheduled on 23rd June, 2008.
> 
> I happened to note a suggestion to entrust a Wikibuddy to organize
> post-workshop activities etc. That would  really keep the team going
> and growing.
> 
> Is it possible to initiate country WE team action from your platform,
> that is,
> by e-mailing a COL/WikiEducator Intimation to the Ministry of HRD,
> UGC (University Grants Commission, India) and through them, a country
> wide e-mail ID campaign to be organized by Universities across the
> country?
> 
> Further, instead of me approaching the Ministry, Vice-Chancellors etc,
> stating that
> I am a WikiEducator Ambassador, if the list of successful and active
> L4C participants
> may be forwarded by COL/WE office to the apex office of higher
> education in the
> given country for prime priority action, it would hit the target in a
> big way.
> 
> I am yet to meet many of the faculty members of our college and other
> colleges
> because the regular classes commence on 23rd June.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Dr.Ramakrishnan
> 
> On Jun 10, 8:43 am, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi Everyone,
> >
> > WikiEducator's next online workshop starts on 23 June 2008. Invite
> > your colleagues and friends to join the next Learning4Content
> > workshop.
> >
> > We're accepting registrations online:
> >
> > http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration
> >
> > Spread the word and join in the largest Mediawiki training project in
> > the world!
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Wiki training starting tomorrow

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi everyone,

We're starting our next Learning4Content workshop tomorrow where you
can learn more about this amazing world of wiki collaboration.
Everyone is welcome, so invite your colleagues and friends.

We have a good turnout for the June 1 workshop -- but you know what
they say - The more the merrier.

Registers here:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

See you all online.

Cheers
Wayne
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[WikiEducator] ANNOUNCEMENT: CHIEF ELECTORAL OFFICER

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Everyone

We have achieved community consensus on the Draft Open Community
Governance Policy. The relevant wiki pages are now protected from
editing in preparation for the elections. See:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Policy_for_Community_Governance

On behalf of WikiEducator's Interim International Advisory Group, we
are pleased to announce that Nellie Deutsch (http://wikieducator.org/
User:Nelliemuller) has been appointed Chief Electoral Officer for our
first WikiEducator Council elections.

Nellie is a dedicated WikiEducator and is a tremendous asset to our
community. On behalf of the WikiEducator family, we would like to
extend our thanks for your offer to assist the community in this
important role. Nellie meets all the requirements for this position
and will not be contesting the election.

We would also like to announce the names of two independent electoral
assistants who have offered to assist Nellie with her task:

Ms. Carol Walker, Programme Assistant, COL (http://www.col.org/colweb/
site/pid/2860) and
Ms. Ms. Ruvani Ameresekere, Programme Assistant, COL (http://
www.col.org/colweb/site/pid/4033)

We confirm that these are the only people who will have password
access to the online voting technology in executing their
responsibilities.

Duties of the Chief Electoral Officer

*  Announce the election on the WikiEducator list and other relevant
communication channels;
* Nominate two independent electoral assistants;
* Confirm that every vote cast is from a registered WikiEducator;
* Prepare a short report confirming a free and fair election process
* Announce the final outcome.

We look forward to Nellie's official announcement of the upcoming
elections.

This is an important milestone in the history of our project.

Signed: Interim International Advisory Board

ELECTION SCHEDULE

1.  The draft Policy for Community Governance and voting procedures
posted to community for comment on 23 June 2008
2. Community consensus on the Governance Policy and voting procedures
to be achieved by 7 July 2008.
3. Final resolution and announcement of the first WikiEducator
elections by 10 July 2008.
4. Nominations for candidature to contest the election close at 17:00
PST on 24 July 2008;
5. Candidates to complete their campaign pages by 31 July 2008.
6. Campaigning begins 1 August 9:00 PST till 31 August, 17:00 PST,
2008
7. Voting commences 1 September 9:00 till 15 September, 17:00 PST,
2008.
8. Results of the election to be announced on or before 30 September
2008.

ELECTION PROCEDURES

http://wikieducator.org/Election_procedures_for_the_first_WE_Council




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[WikiEducator] Another milestone! We need your help to achieve more!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Another reason to celebrate!

The Learning4Content (L4C) project has trained 1057 educators since we
started in January this year! Learning4Content is likely the world's
largest attempt to develop wiki skills for education.

We've completed 28 workshops (14 face-to-face workshops and 14
Online). We've presented  L4C workshops in India, Kenya, Nauru, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Sri Lanka, The Solomon Islands,
Tonga and Zambia.  Our online workshops have attracted participants
from 80 different countries!  My personal thanks goes to all our
facilitators and the community members who are helping WIkiEducator
achieve its objectives.

We aim to train 2500 educators by 31 December 2008 and have achieved
42% of our target with 3.5 months to go.  Our average of 88 educators
per month for the first the first six months has increased to 212
educators per month for the period 1 July to 12 September 2008.

We need your help to improve this average and achieve our target of
2500 educators by the end of the year. You can help by:

1) Sending an email to your colleagues and friends inviting them to
register for one of the remaining international online workshops:

http://wikieducator.org/Learning4Content/Registration

2) Using your social software networks to tell the world about L4C --
eg blog about the L4C project.

2) Scheduling and facilitating your own online L4C workshop by
recruiting a minimum of 15 participants from your own networks.

3) Asking your employer/institution to host a face-to-face workshop
and recruiting 15 colleagues to join the WikiEducator family.

Remember to register your expression of interest on the L4C bounty
page:

http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Bounties/WikiEducator_facilitators

L4C is generously supported with funding from the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation. Let's show our funder that WikiEducator will
achieve its objectives.

Cheers
Wayne

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[WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh,

>From your perspective -- what are the moral tones which are problematic? I 
>would like to get a better understanding of the issues you face on the ground. 

The Free cultural works definition was developed in an attempt to define a free 
cultural work. 

Lessig's book on Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to 
Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity was a seminal publication in the free 
knowledge movement. Yet the book fell short of defining the a free cultural 
work. 

The free cultural works definition was an attempt to define this -- very 
similar to the Open Source Software definition. Software is different from 
content. There are are other definitional projects like the Open Knowledge 
Definition, see:http://www.opendefinition.org/1.0/ -- which in all material 
respects also protect the the essential freedoms, as in the case of the free 
cultural works definition.

Kim Tucker's essay "Say Libre" 

http://www.wikieducator.org/Say_Libre

and corresponding work on the "Libre knowledge" definition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libre_knowledge

is also based on the essential freedom -- so we're in good company.

There are subtle differences, for example concerning the requirement of 
attribution. This is also a complex debate ;-).

The free cultural works definition has been adopted by major OER iniatives. It 
has been adopted by the Wikimedia Foundation -- by far the worlds largest OER 
project. 

See: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Resolution:Licensing_policy

Creative Commons distinguishes between free cultural works approved licenses 
and those which don't meet the requirements of the free cultural works 
definition, 

See for example the "Free cultural works approved" logo on this CC-BY license:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/

The WikiEducator policy on community governance clearly articulates its 
commitment to the free cultural works definition  and carries the free cultural 
works definition logo on the site.

I'm not sure whether its possible to achieve a "value-neutral" interpretation 
of freedom because freedom is a value, hence the need to define clearly what 
different projects mean by freedom at a practical level. 

Look forward to reading your concerns regarding "moral tones"
 
Cheers
Wayne




 


-Original Message-
From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Leigh Blackall
Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 5:13 PM
To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
 
Globally this is OK. On a local scale this isn't so easy.
 To my mind - the free cultural works definition needs work. It needs to be
more morally neutral. It *could* be an important defining document, but as
it is, I feel I can't subscribe due to some of the moral tones in it. It may
have changed some since our big copyright debates from 2007.. so perhaps I
should check..

On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 11:40 AM, Wayne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>  Hi Leigh,
>
> That's a real challenge -- but surmountable through good education and
> advice to help folk take an informed decision.
>
> By setting a leading example and remaining true to our values -- we'll win
> many over to our side :-).
>
> Cheers
> Wayne
>
> On Thu, 2008-09-18 at 11:34 +1200, Leigh Blackall wrote:
>
> Hmm, its a big problem my end, because if and when some of my colleagues
> see the use of this and other restrictive licenses, all they see is that its
> Creative Commons and think that equates to OER... I am sensing a rise in the
> use of restrictions as the 2nd wave of OER comes on board without fully
> considering it
>
>  On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 11:30 AM, Stephen Downes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
>
>  Wayne wrote:
>
> Yeah Leigh, I don't get either :-(
>
> I would love to hear the rationales from these leading OER advocates who
> publish works on the topic of OER under a ND license.
>
>   I would guess they have a commercial distribution deal with Scribd. That
> would explain the ND - they don't want a (more usable) HTML version out
> there diluting the marketing impact.
>
> I'm just guessing, though.
>
> -- Stephen
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Leigh Blackall
> +64(0)21736539
> skype - leigh_blackall
> SL - Leroy Goalpost
> http://learnonline.wordpress.com
>
>
>
>
> >
>


-- 
--
Leigh Blackall
+64(0)21736539
skype - leigh_blackall
SL - Leroy Goalpost
http://learnonline.wordpress.com




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[WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh,

That's a good point -- I do agree that paragraph is somewhat radical, 
particularly to the "uninformed" and the document needs to be refined. As Erik 
suggests let's get involved on the discussions to refine this paragraph over at 
freedomdefined.org. Fortunately its an open community :-).

Speaking personally --- I suspect that I've overlooked the impact this would 
have on "newbies" exploring the OER territory given my passion for open 
education.  I agree that statements like "suppressed" and "god-like" creators 
does not serve the freedom culture and certainly do not add value. 

OK, lets focus on helping the free cultural works definition in refining this 
paragraph -- particularly for more conservative education audiences. That said, 
I full support the substance and essential freedoms and permissible 
restrictions. As an aside CC-BY qualifies under the free cultural works 
definition, notwithstanding my personal preferences for the sharealike clause 
:-).

Great posts.

Cheers
Wayne








-Original Message-
From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Leigh Blackall
Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 7:09 PM
To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
 
o oh.. I can feel us going back into that largely unresolved battle we had
last year.
http://wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall/Open_educational_resources_and_practices#Copyright

I think my words from last year address some of my issues that still
stand... but specifically to moral tone, in the
preamble<http://freedomdefined.org/index.php?title=Definition&oldid=2868>is
this:

*In most countries however, these freedoms are not enforced but suppressed
> by the laws commonly named copyright laws. They consider authors as god-like
> creators and give them an exclusive monopoly as to how "their content" can
> be re-used. This monopoly impedes the flourishing of culture, and it does
> not even help the economic situation of authors so much as it protects the
> business model of the most powerful publishing companies. *
>

Basically, I don't even think the definition needs that whole ranting
paragraph and would be much better without it. We need to do more to
generously acknowledge the beliefs of everyday people who rely on perhaps a
misunderstanding of the protections in All Rights Reserved. We want to come
across as a rational option right? If this document is to be a defining
document, sloppy words like "suppressed by the laws", "god like status",
"monopoly", "impedes the flourishing of culture", "does not even help the
economic situation", and "most powerful publishing companies" are not
referenced and morally and politically loaded. This paragraph should be
deleted and if there is a need to cover the things it attempts to cover, it
should do more to exhibit a generous and sympathetic understanding for
people who believe in All Rights Reserved so as to not put them off side
with what can easily be seen as lefty ranting. Removing the moral tones and
ranty unreferenced statements would help.

Shall I delete the paragraph?


On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 1:48 PM, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Hi Leigh,
>
> From your perspective -- what are the moral tones which are problematic? I
> would like to get a better understanding of the issues you face on the
> ground.
>
> The Free cultural works definition was developed in an attempt to define a
> free cultural work.
>
> Lessig's book on Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to
> Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity was a seminal publication in the
> free knowledge movement. Yet the book fell short of defining the a free
> cultural work.
>
> The free cultural works definition was an attempt to define this -- very
> similar to the Open Source Software definition. Software is different from
> content. There are are other definitional projects like the Open Knowledge
> Definition, see:http://www.opendefinition.org/1.0/ -- which in all
> material respects also protect the the essential freedoms, as in the case of
> the free cultural works definition.
>
> Kim Tucker's essay "Say Libre"
>
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Say_Libre
>
> and corresponding work on the "Libre knowledge" definition
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libre_knowledge
>
> is also based on the essential freedom -- so we're in good company.
>
> There are subtle differences, for example concerning the requirement of
> attribution. This is also a complex debate ;-).
>
> The free cultural works definition has been adopted by major OER iniatives.
> It has been adopted by the Wikimedia Foundation -- by far the worlds largest
> OER project.
>

[WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Thanks Erik,

I've posted some feedback on the preamble here:

http://freedomdefined.org/Talk:Definition#Preamble_for_1.1

Appreciate your speedy response in opening up the discussion again. A testament 
to the open approach. Lets hope that the WikiEducator community will be active 
in helping with contributions to refine the definition.

Here's your opportunity :-)

Cheers
Wayne




-Original Message-
From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Erik Moeller
Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 8:03 PM
To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
 

I've rebooted the discussion and invited some of the contributors to
the definition to participate:

http://freedomdefined.org/Talk:Definition#Preamble_for_1.1
-- 
Erik Möller
Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate




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[WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh,

My own experience with the open movement is that nothing is cut and dry. The 
success and survival of the top open projects depend on community support, 
listening and feeling the pulse of the community. 

Openness and the willingness to adapt, refine and get better without 
compromising core vales is what feeds and sustains successful open projects. 
With every open project there is always the opportunity to fork. The risk with 
forking is the challenge of achieving critical mass for sustainability. It's a 
self-organising system.

WikiEducator is an important and significant community in the global OER space 
-- the fact that Erik has opened the discussion is a testament to our 
contribution to the freedom culture but also a validation of the openness of 
the free cultural works definition.

I don't see this as a "cut and dry" scenario rather an opportunity to make a 
positive contribution to what we collectively are trying to achieve. The real 
test will be whether the WikiEducator community and others take up the 
opportunity in changing the world for the better :-).

Cheers
Wayne






-Original Message-
From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Leigh Blackall
Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 9:35 PM
To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
 
Have also added my bit to the discussion page... seems pretty cut and dry
though. Not sure what needs to be discussed, but let's see and I guess its
only polite.

Randy said: How ironic! Someone should write an opinion piece in a highly
> regarded publication to draw attention to the irony, and some might say,
> hypocrisy.


Well, mine may not be highly regarded but it is read by 3000 people a month.
(scarey I know!) When is an OER not an
OER?<http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/whens-an-oer-not-an-oer/>

On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Thanks Erik,
>
> I've posted some feedback on the preamble here:
>
> http://freedomdefined.org/Talk:Definition#Preamble_for_1.1
>
> Appreciate your speedy response in opening up the discussion again. A
> testament to the open approach. Lets hope that the WikiEducator community
> will be active in helping with contributions to refine the definition.
>
> Here's your opportunity :-)
>
> Cheers
> Wayne
>
>
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Erik Moeller
> Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 8:03 PM
> To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
>
>
> I've rebooted the discussion and invited some of the contributors to
> the definition to participate:
>
> http://freedomdefined.org/Talk:Definition#Preamble_for_1.1
> --
> Erik Möller
> Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
>
> Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
>
>
>
>
> >
>


-- 
--
Leigh Blackall
+64(0)21736539
skype - leigh_blackall
SL - Leroy Goalpost
http://learnonline.wordpress.com




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<>

[WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Good question,

I'd suggest posting that on the freedomdefined site and lets see how they 
respond.

Cheers
Wayne


-Original Message-
From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Leigh Blackall
Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 10:36 PM
To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
 
Yes, you are right.. I am, as always impatient :)

I wonder though - given that the discussion page shows a fair number of
unresolved or threads without closure, how we will determine consensus and
take action on that paragraph...?

On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 5:06 PM, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Hi Leigh,
>
> My own experience with the open movement is that nothing is cut and dry.
> The success and survival of the top open projects depend on community
> support, listening and feeling the pulse of the community.
>
> Openness and the willingness to adapt, refine and get better without
> compromising core vales is what feeds and sustains successful open projects.
> With every open project there is always the opportunity to fork. The risk
> with forking is the challenge of achieving critical mass for sustainability.
> It's a self-organising system.
>
> WikiEducator is an important and significant community in the global OER
> space -- the fact that Erik has opened the discussion is a testament to our
> contribution to the freedom culture but also a validation of the openness of
> the free cultural works definition.
>
> I don't see this as a "cut and dry" scenario rather an opportunity to make
> a positive contribution to what we collectively are trying to achieve. The
> real test will be whether the WikiEducator community and others take up the
> opportunity in changing the world for the better :-).
>
> Cheers
> Wayne
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Leigh Blackall
> Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 9:35 PM
> To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
>
> Have also added my bit to the discussion page... seems pretty cut and dry
> though. Not sure what needs to be discussed, but let's see and I guess its
> only polite.
>
> Randy said: How ironic! Someone should write an opinion piece in a highly
> > regarded publication to draw attention to the irony, and some might say,
> > hypocrisy.
>
>
> Well, mine may not be highly regarded but it is read by 3000 people a
> month.
> (scarey I know!) When is an OER not an
> OER?<http://learnonline.wordpress.com/2008/09/18/whens-an-oer-not-an-oer/>
>
> On Thu, Sep 18, 2008 at 4:05 PM, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >wrote:
>
> > Thanks Erik,
> >
> > I've posted some feedback on the preamble here:
> >
> > http://freedomdefined.org/Talk:Definition#Preamble_for_1.1
> >
> > Appreciate your speedy response in opening up the discussion again. A
> > testament to the open approach. Lets hope that the WikiEducator community
> > will be active in helping with contributions to refine the definition.
> >
> > Here's your opportunity :-)
> >
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -Original Message-
> > From: wikieducator@googlegroups.com on behalf of Erik Moeller
> > Sent: Wed 9/17/2008 8:03 PM
> > To: wikieducator@googlegroups.com
> > Subject: [WikiEducator] Re: another text on OER, but not an OER!!
> >
> >
> > I've rebooted the discussion and invited some of the contributors to
> > the definition to participate:
> >
> > http://freedomdefined.org/Talk:Definition#Preamble_for_1.1
> > --
> > Erik Möller
> > Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
> >
> > Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> >
>
>
> --
> --
> Leigh Blackall
> +64(0)21736539
> skype - leigh_blackall
> SL - Leroy Goalpost
> http://learnonline.wordpress.com
>
>
>
>
> >
>


-- 
--
Leigh Blackall
+64(0)21736539
skype - leigh_blackall
SL - Leroy Goalpost
http://learnonline.wordpress.com




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<>

[WikiEducator] Re: Community Communique

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Leigh --

The conference recorded the presentation -- and I'm sure they will
post the video.

Cheers
Wayne

On Sep 24, 1:45 am, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Will you audio record the talk Wayne?
>
> On Wed, Sep 24, 2008 at 7:21 PM, Jibril TOUZI <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>
>
> > "As a result, WikiEducator will be able to expand its focus beyond the
> > Commonwealth countries to support multiple language wiki installations."
>
> > Very good work !
>
> > UNESCO is currently preparing for December a conference / workshop on Open
> > Educational Resources in Francophone Africa (participants will come from
> > Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo,
> > Guinea, Senegal and Cape Verde). WikiEducator will be present by the
> > FLOSS4Edu project, a workshop on creating content on WikiEducator will be
> > made and francophone content production also onhttp://fr.wikieducator.org
> > .
>
> > Jibril
> >http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Jtouzi
>
> --
> --
> Leigh Blackall
> +64(0)21736539
> skype - leigh_blackall
> SL - Leroy 
> Goalposthttp://learnonline.wordpress.comhttp://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
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[WikiEducator] Re: WikiEducator Discussion Group

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hey Brent --

That's very funny --- had a good chuckle.

You know what they say -- Rome wasn't built in a day --- we'll get
there.

Cheers
Wayne

On Thu, 2008-10-02 at 13:02 +1300, Brent wrote:
> How about something like ...
> 
> "Because Liquid Threads has killed off discussion and interaction on
> the wiki, please join one of our growing number of mailing lists
> instead."
> 
> :-)
> 
> sorry, couldn't resist. 
> 
> brent.
> 
> 
> On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 11:05 AM, minh mcCloy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> Join the Conversation
> 
> 
> :)
> minh
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Oct 2, 2008 at 7:03 AM, Randy Fisher
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 
> Hi Everyone,
> 
> On the top of every page on WikiEducator, there is a
> line that says: "Join our WikiEducator Mailing List".
> 
> Given that we want to encourage new (and older) voices
> to express their thoughts, ideas and suggestions, I'm
> wondering if the words "Mailing List" may not reflect
> what we want.Would WikiEducator Discussion Group,
> or Community Group Discussion be more appropriate?
> 
> My sense is that Mailing List is about more passively
> receiving communication, whereas Discussion Group
> evokes greater interactivity and connection.
> 
> What are your thoughts?
> 
> - Randy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> 
> Randy Fisher - Change Management & Collaboration,
> Human Performance & Engagement, Organizational
> Transformation 
> 
> * Engaging People in Teams, Communities and
> Organizationsand WikiEducator!
> 
> + 1 604.684.2275
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> http://www.wikieducator.org
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Media
> http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Randyfisher
> http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Wikirandy/Todo
> 
> * Cool WikiEducator Video on YouTube:
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc9-CNlIqsY
> 
> * Can You Do the Wiki-Wiki?
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Wiki_Wiki 
> 
> Skype: wikirandy
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> --
> http://digitalsynapse.co.nz
> --
> 
> 
> 
> > 

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[WikiEducator] Re: Internal error?

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Thanks Leigh --

Erik was able to source the problem pretty quickly and get it
working.

Cheers
Wayne

On Oct 6, 4:45 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> the RSS extension appears to be working again. Thanks who ever fixed that.
>
> On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 3:19 PM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>
>
> > many thannks Brent.. I will go though each page with this
>
> > On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 3:18 PM, Brent <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >> Yes, I think  you're right. You can still edit the pages that have the
> >> error. I've commented out the RSS feed on my user page like this:
>
> >> 
>
> >> and its at least displaying again. Once this is fixed then its easy to
> >> revert the change back.
>
> >> brent.
>
> >> On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 2:34 PM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
> >>> Yes, I think its RSS:http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
> >>>http://wikieducator.org/Designing_for_flexible_learning_practice
>
> >>> On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 2:33 PM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>  Category is ok:http://www.wikieducator.org/Category:Otago_Polytechnic
>
>  Might be just pages with a certian extension..maybe RSS?
>
>  On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 2:31 PM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>  > wrote:
>
> > another error:
> >http://www.wikieducator.org/Facilitating_online_communities
>
> > On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 2:30 PM, Leigh Blackall <
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >> Just Otago pages it seems.. Council Agenda and many other pages are
> >> ok:
> >>http://www.wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Community_Council/Meetings/F...
>
> >> On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 2:29 PM, Leigh Blackall <
> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >>>http://www.wikieducator.org/Otago_Polytechnic
>
> >>> On Mon, Oct 6, 2008 at 2:26 PM, Leigh Blackall <
> >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> http://www.wikieducator.org/Permaculture_design
>
>  --
>  --
>  Leigh Blackall
>  +64(0)21736539
>  skype - leigh_blackall
>  SL - Leroy Goalpost
> http://learnonline.wordpress.com
> http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
>
> >>> --
> >>> --
> >>> Leigh Blackall
> >>> +64(0)21736539
> >>> skype - leigh_blackall
> >>> SL - Leroy Goalpost
> >>>http://learnonline.wordpress.com
> >>>http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
>
> >> --
> >> --
> >> Leigh Blackall
> >> +64(0)21736539
> >> skype - leigh_blackall
> >> SL - Leroy Goalpost
> >>http://learnonline.wordpress.com
> >>http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
>
> > --
> > --
> > Leigh Blackall
> > +64(0)21736539
> > skype - leigh_blackall
> > SL - Leroy Goalpost
> >http://learnonline.wordpress.com
> >http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
>
>  --
>  --
>  Leigh Blackall
>  +64(0)21736539
>  skype - leigh_blackall
>  SL - Leroy Goalpost
> http://learnonline.wordpress.com
> http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
>
> >>> --
> >>> --
> >>> Leigh Blackall
> >>> +64(0)21736539
> >>> skype - leigh_blackall
> >>> SL - Leroy Goalpost
> >>>http://learnonline.wordpress.com
> >>>http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
>
> >> --
> >> --
> >>http://digitalsynapse.co.nz
> >> --
>
> > --
> > --
> > Leigh Blackall
> > +64(0)21736539
> > skype - leigh_blackall
> > SL - Leroy Goalpost
> >http://learnonline.wordpress.com
> >http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
>
> --
> --
> Leigh Blackall
> +64(0)21736539
> skype - leigh_blackall
> SL - Leroy 
> Goalposthttp://learnonline.wordpress.comhttp://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall
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[WikiEducator] Re: Building a sustainable WE OER Textbook initiative

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh,

Good question --- Why not use Wikibooks as an established platform?

First off -- WikiEducator is not in competition with any of the
freedom culture projects, including all the projects hosted by the
Wikimedia Foundation. Rather, we are working collaboratively with all
the OER content developers in the world. Hopefully in the near future
-- assuming the discussions and pending decisions regarding WMF's
migration to a CC-BY-SA license -- we'll see more remixing and mash-
ups among our respective projects.

WE already has an established history of both meaningful and
successful collaborations with WMF. A good example is the Mediawiki
Collections extension which produces pdf collections. The Commonwealth
of Learning co-invested in the development of this open source
technology as a collaboration between WE and WMF. In fact, Wikibooks
launched the beta test of the wiki to odt export before WikiEducator!
Any work which WikiEducator will be doing in the future to refine the
Mediawiki software and or develop new extensions that better serve the
needs of educators will be released under the GPL --- so our work does
not have an exclusive WE focus.

As active members of the open source and OER community we encourage
and support the essential freedoms -- and that includes the freedom
for educators to host their content developments with those projects
which best meet their needs.

That said, there are reasons why educators may choose to host with
WikiEducator -- for example:

1) WikiEducator is a community of educators rather than a general
public wiki -- 73% of our registered users are teachers. lecturers and
trainers working in the formal education sector. As educators are
needs are more focused on educational priorities within the day-to-day
operation of educational institutions which are not necessarily the
same as those of a general public project
2) WikiEducator is better positioned to respond to the unique
institutional requirements associated with traditional peer review,
which would be more difficult to implement in a project like Wikibooks
3) We are better positioned to prioritise the development of Mediawiki
extensions for the needs of educators. For example, WE makes extensive
use of structured pages and WE has implemented an extension which
enables us to easily change the display title on a wiki page -- see
for example:
http://www.wikieducator.org/Template:MyTitle. Flagged Revisions is a
Mediawiki extension that shows considerable promise in assisting with
peer review of content -- (See: 
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:FlaggedRevs
). However, in both examples we cannot expect or request the WMF to
refine these technology features for the specific requirements of
educators.
4) In building a sustainable eco-system for published OERs -- we will
need to engage and negotiate with the academic publishing industry --
it is unlikely and unreasonable to expect that the WMF will prioritise
these kinds of arrangements in their operations.
5) WE does not make an arbitrary distinction among the form of
educational "content". We include a range of forms, including
"textbooks", research papers, learning activities, handouts etc. In
the case of WMF projects, if you're developing an encyclopaedia
article -- that goes to Wikipedia, If you're developing a book -- that
goes to Wikibooks etc. There are benefits to having a focused
educational project which host multiple forms of educational
resources.

Given my experience in the academy -- I do see numerous benefits for
WikiEducator having a clear focus on building a sustainable eco-system
for educational "texts".

Cheers
Wayne



On Dec 3, 1:26 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Why would we use Wikieducator to develop "text books"?
>
> Seems to me that Wikibooks is already established as the platform for this.
>
> Perhaps your proposal isn't to specifically use Wikieducator but to use
> multiple platforms. But it does sound as though it will be a Wikieducator
> focus...
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 7:38 AM, Maria Droujkova <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > I'd like to ask a naive question: why use the "genre" of textbook at all?
> > Isn't the very genre a bit... outdated?
>
> > A definition from Wikipedia: "A *textbook* is a manual of instruction or a
> > standard book in any branch of study. They are produced according to the
> > demand of educational institutions."
>
> > A standard implies something long-term (permanent?), constant, closed. The
> > demands are also centralized.
>
> > Do textbooks allow per-student customization, semi-automated in smart
> > social ways (at least as well as Amazon does for book recommendations)?
> > Daily or hourly, dynamic changes of content based on who creates what in the
> > world? User-generated content in general? Interactivity? Sound and video? No
> > and no and no. And the question is, if we get "all that" from other places,
> > what is the place of a textbook, then - if any?
>
> > I see two somew

[WikiEducator] Re: Building a sustainable WE OER Textbook initiative

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Leigh,

I think one of the biggest challenges facing OERs -- particularly with
regards to the peer collaboration model are the technical silos which
exist between and among projects. As OER projects, there should have a
technical environment that enables all the OER projects, WMF,
WikiEducator, Connexions and appropriately licensed OCW projects to
mix and match content. We still have a ways to go before the technical
issues are resolved.

We need to spend a lot more time figuring out how we can promote
seamless integration and interoperability among free content
projects.  RSS is a great way to remix small bits of stuff together --
but it's not ideal for large content chunks and users who have very
limited bandwidth.  For example -- try loading our RSS eLearning blog
feed on a slow dialup connection :-( -- 
http://www.wikieducator.org/ELearning_Blogfeed

Answering the question of the best fit for content from a pedagogical
perspective is not a simple distinction. (See for example the
discussions over time between Wikibooks and Wikiversity regarding the
distinction between content allocations between these projects.)  In
asynchronous learning environments their is a blending between content
(i.e. what to teach) and form (how to teach it) thus making it more
difficult to decide, for instance, whether this is a Wikibooks of
Wikiversity related project.

Moreover -- I think that education has a far more interesting and
exciting challenge regarding OERs, and that's what I call the
reusability paradox. Education is contextually bounded -- and the more
pedagogy you build into a resource, the less reusable it becomes in
different contexts.

I'm very keen for WikiEducator to start pushing the envelope in
finding workable solutions to these challenges. It would be great to
see WikiEducators around the world putting our forward looking
disposition into action -- by implementing  technical and educational
innovations for the future. I see the OER "texbook" initiative as an
exiting opportunity.

Frankly -- I don't care where the content resides -- but I go care
about the priorities of educators and how we collectively can add
value into making the world a better place.

Cheers
Wayne






On Dec 3, 9:17 pm, "Leigh Blackall" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Well, it may not be competition, but it is duplication.
>
> If we were to focus this energy into Wikibooks, then the success stories
> would go to Wikibooks and help it to strengthen and grow - such as Otago's
> Anatomy and Physiology of Animals and soon 2 more texts. I've always
> considered Wikieducator to be something quite different to text books, and
> that Wikibooks had that well covered. I still hope to see Wikieducator and
> Wikiversity join some way...
>
> Anyway, its your project and you'll take it were you need to with this
> feedback. I appreciate the effort you've gone to in explaining why Wikied
> again.. I seem to bring this question up at least twice a year, and your
> answer seems to get more detailed while remaining essentially the same :)
>
> But you're right, the licenses will solve the first problem between the two,
> the next problem is the use of templates...
>
> Regards
> Leigh
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 1:42 PM, Wayne Mackintosh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi Leigh,
>
> > Good question --- Why not use Wikibooks as an established platform?
>
> > First off -- WikiEducator is not in competition with any of the
> > freedom culture projects, including all the projects hosted by the
> > Wikimedia Foundation. Rather, we are working collaboratively with all
> > the OER content developers in the world. Hopefully in the near future
> > -- assuming the discussions and pending decisions regarding WMF's
> > migration to a CC-BY-SA license -- we'll see more remixing and mash-
> > ups among our respective projects.
>
> > WE already has an established history of both meaningful and
> > successful collaborations with WMF. A good example is the Mediawiki
> > Collections extension which produces pdf collections. The Commonwealth
> > of Learning co-invested in the development of this open source
> > technology as a collaboration between WE and WMF. In fact, Wikibooks
> > launched the beta test of the wiki to odt export before WikiEducator!
> > Any work which WikiEducator will be doing in the future to refine the
> > Mediawiki software and or develop new extensions that better serve the
> > needs of educators will be released under the GPL --- so our work does
> > not have an exclusive WE focus.
>
> > As active members of the open source and OER community we encourage
> > and support the essential freedoms -- and that includes the freedom
> > 

[WikiEducator] Re: user restrictions

[Wayne Mackintosh]

No worries -- glad I could help. Feel free to ask any time :-)

Cheers
Wayne


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[WikiEducator] Re: What's next for us as wikieducators?

[Wayne Mackintosh]

Hi Malisa,,

These are great ideas ...

We definitely -- need a good tutorial on tables. They can be
confusing.

What do you have in mind regarding the last three points on your
suggestions list -- a little more detail will help us in developing
the "curriculum" for an intermediate course.

Cheers
Wayne


On Dec 3, 8:59 pm, "Malisa Richards" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> Hi Wayne,
> Yes I do have some recommendations :
>
>    1. creating advanced tables
>    2. integrating wikieducator with other wikis
>    3. creating user interface
>    4. editing restrictions
>
> I'll think about it some more and give the rest a bit later.
>
> Malisa Richards
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 12:05 AM, Wayne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Hi Malisa --
>
> > Good question! For some time we've been thinking about developing an
> > intermediate /  advanced course.
>
> > Clearly there is a demand for an advanced course. We need to spend a little
> > time on thinking about the competencies we would need to cover. We already
> > have a few tutorials that are suitable for an intermediate course -- but
> > there are also a few gaps where we need to develop a few extra tutorials.
>
> > Do you have any recommendations for the skills you would like us to cover
> > for an intermediate / advanced course?
>
> > This is definitely something we should consider for the new year.
>
> > Cheers
> > Wayne
>
> > On Wed, 2008-12-03 at 20:29 -0800, Malisa Richards wrote:
>
> > Hi everyone,
> > Our wikieducator course is soon coming to an end. I am enjoying every
> > bit of the activities given to the participants on a daily basis. My
> > question is at the end of this course, is there an advanced course
> > that we can move onto?
> > What's next for the participants after the course concludes?
>
> --
>
> Malisa Richards
> +15926990458
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]://www.wikieducator.org/User:Malisar
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