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Web 2.0 Hands-On Session

July 26, 2007 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Michael T. QaissauneeDirector / Principal Investigator MAITT, Co-PI NCTT, Brookdale Community College

Gordon F. Snyder, Jr.

Executive Director / PI NCTT, Springfield Technical Community College

Download/Subscribe to our podcasts at: http://www.nctt.org/podcast

Read Gordon’s blog at: http://ictcenter.blogspot.com/ Read Mike’s blog at: http://q-ontech.blogspot.com/

Podcasts also available on iTunes!

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Description

This is a special, end of conference, hands-on workshop providing experience needed for addressing the new paradigms required in technician education that incorporate flat world strategies such as informal learner-driven knowledge transfer and new technologies and forms of learning. One of the key observations of this less predictable, less hierarchical flattened world is that knowledge is widely distributed and rapidly changing and that traditional course- based learning is increasingly unable to meet the needs of students. Using Web 2.0 tools and delivery methods, instructors are discovering new ways to develop and deliver content to and engage their students. Web 2.0 based technologies discussed in this special workshop will include: blogging, audio and video podcasting, subscription, instant messaging, chat, and wikis.

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Coverage Outline1. Aggregators

• myYahoo!• Google• Blackboard

2. Webware• Google Docs and Spreadsheets• ThinkFree

3. Blogging• Blogger

4. Podcasting• Audio - Audacity• Video - Camtasia

5. MMORPGs• Second Life

Expect Repetition, Some Level of Confusion and…. CHAOS!

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Blogging

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Goals for Blog Session

• Define technological terms

• A little bit of background on the technology

• Blogging style tips

• Setting-up and posting your own live blog

• Using the power of RSS feeds with your blog

• Online resources for getting the most out of your blog

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What is Web 2.0?

• Web 2.0 is a term used to describe the latest generation of interactive websites and services. The web is the platform.

• The phrase "Web 2.0" hints at an improved form of the World Wide Web; and advocates suggest that technologies such as weblogs, social bookmarking, wikis, podcasts, RSS feeds (and other forms of many-to-many publishing), social software, Web APIs, Web standards and online Web services imply a significant change in web usage. (From Wikipedia)

• Coined by O’Reily Media in 2004

• NOT Internet2 - a separate, dedicated research network

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What is a Blog?

• A mash-up of the words “Web” and “Log” and can be used as a verb or a noun

• According to Wikipedia: “A blog is a user-generated website where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.”

• Started with online journaling and gained a lot of momentum in 1994. The term “blog” was coined by Peter Merholz in 1999.

• The site Xanga, launched in 1996, had only 100 diaries by 1997, but over 20 million as of December 2005.

• 2001 - Present has seen wide mainstream media adoption as well as corporate and political campaign usage

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Two Types of Blogs

• Personal blogs are written by an individual and are not endorsed by the company the individual works for. Typically not for profit.

• Corporate blogs are written by company employees and are endorsed, either directly or indirectly by the company.– Internal Corporate Blogs– External Corporate Blogs

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Reasons to Blog

• Blogs allow informal communication with your students.

• You can quickly and easily update content.

• User can subscribe to your blog with RSS feeds. (Push Technology)

• You can position yourself as a “Thought Leader” in your field.

• Improve search engine optimization (SEO) by building incoming links.

• PR opportunities can present themselves in the form of links from mass media outlets.

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Blogging Style Tips• Position yourself as an expert in your field.

• Post new content regularly. Stale blogs lead to stale traffic.

• Use an editor. It doesn’t have to be a professional editor, but another set of eyes never hurts.

• Be personable. Use an informal and conversational tone.

• Identify the niche market of people who you are trying to reach. Then, write things that they will find interesting.

• Stay focused on your target niche. Don’t abandon them to pursue others.

• Keep the business / educational goals of your blog in mind.

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What to Avoid

• Don’t violate any contractual agreements or obligations.

• Don’t divulge company trade secrets or other confidential information.

• Don’t be disrespectful.

• Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in a face to face meeting.

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Where Do We Start?

• Sign-up for a Google account for free.http://www.google.com

• Google purchased Blogger.com in 2003 and users now must log-in with their Google account to post, also for free.http://www.blogger.com

• Let’s try it out before we discuss RSS in detail.

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RSS and ATOM• RSS - RDF Site Summary, more commonly referred to as

Really Simple Syndication

• RSS feeds are XML (eXtensible Mark-up Language) documents that are automatically updated when you post a new blog entry.

• Subscribers set-up aggregator software (reader applications) which link to the RSS document and check automatically for new content.

• User can collect (aggregate) all of their chosen blog subscriptions in one easy-to-use place because of the standardization of RSS.

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Popular RSS Aggregators

• Google Reader (uses the same free Google account)http://www.google.com/reader/

• My Yahoo! (also free)http://my.yahoo.com

• BlogLineshttp://www.bloglines.com

• FeedBurnerhttp://www.feedburner.com

• Technorati is a popular blog search engine tracking the content of over 72 million blogs.http://www.technorati.com

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Marketing the Blog• Digg: Mammoth traffic; tech-focused; tech-savvy users.

http://www.digg.com

• Delicious: Pretty big traffic; somewhat tech/design-focused; a lot of bloggers browse Delicious for “things to link to”.http://del.icio.us/

• Reddit: Lower traffic; politics/random stuff; everyday users. (Wired)http://www.reddit.com

• Newsvine: Lower traffic; politics and news; everyday users.http://www.newsvine.com/

• Links from other relevant blogs and websites to yours also help to increase traffic.

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Tips for Success• Always use grammar AND spellcheck tools.

• Have other people review your posts. (Google Docs is great for this)

• Links from blogging sites in your ‘industry’.

• Be compelling and original (Don’t say: This is cool, check it out)

• Continuous updates are key.

• Know your audience, but write what’s interesting to you.

• Write to a niche market first. Things will expand on their own.

• Always give credit where credit is due.

• Develop a thick skin for criticism. You will be criticized.

• Use a consistent and friendly tone of voice

• Build relationships with other bloggers

• It’s all about the content

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Web Resources• Thinking in Web 2.0

http://web2.wsj2.com/thinking_in_web_20_sixteen_ways.htm

• Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com

• Google Readerwww.google.com/reader

• Google Blog Searchhttp://blogsearch.google.com/

• Wikis and Blogs in Educationhttp://wikiblogedu.org/

• Creative Commonshttp://www.creativecommons.org

• Technology at Harvard Law - RSS Specificationhttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss

• Ed Blog Listhttp://www.pageflakes.com/trainingblogs

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Podcasting

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What is a Podcast?

• A noun and a verb!– Podcast, podcaster, podcasting

• A media file distributed over the internet– Via subscription (Paid or unpaid)– Download or stream for play back on computer or

personal mobile device– Syndicated feeds which can be downloaded

automatically

Source: Wikipedia.com

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Who is doing it

• In 2005---3000 podcasts• In 2006---60,000 podcasts• Business categories added• Mainstream media uses it

• Companies large and small are getting their

message out there via the “podosphere”

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ContentWhat do I put in it?

• Basic course info– Avoid continuous “commercials”

• Select a topic that is important to your students– Become a trusted advisor

• Create a schedule of topics– Keep your podcast fresh to keep your

students/subscribers happy• Use music as intro and bumpers from segment

to segment. See:http://music.podshow.com

http://promonet.iodalliance.com/login.php

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Some Basics Before Recording

• Keep hydrated

• Talk across the microphone and not into it

• Write out your content ahead of time

• Apple offers 3 part online seminar: http://seminars.apple.com/seminarsonline/podcast/apple/index.html?s=203

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Getting Started

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iTunes Demo

Source: http://www.apple.com/itunes/

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Internet

PC Running iTunes Client

Host Server

iTunes Server

What’s Happening?

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PC Running iTunes Client

Hand Held Device(iPod, etc)

What Next?

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RSSRSS (RDF Site Summary - formerly called Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication) is a method of describing news or other Web content that is available for "feeding" (distribution or syndication) from an online publisher to Web users. Procedure:

1. A Web site that wants to "publish" some of its content, such as news headlines or stories, creates a description of the content and specifically where the content is on its site in the form of an RSS document.

2. The publishing site then registers its RSS document with one of several existing directories of RSS publishers.

3. A user with a Web browser or a special program that can read RSS-distributed content can read periodically-provided distributions.

• Some current directories of RSS files include Meerkat, GropSoup, NewsIsFree, UserLand, and XML Tree; these sites are sometimes known as content aggregators. Web based aggregators include My Yahoo! and Google Reader.

4. You can feed discussion forum excerpts, software announcements, etc - ny form of content retrievable with a URL can be RSS fed.

Source: http://searchvb.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,290660,sid8_gci813358,00.html

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1. Write and Post Blog

Create/Autocreate/Append RSS feed document on blog page

Feed Picked up by Aggregator, modern OS’s (Mac and Vista) and/or Modern Browers (IE7, Firefox, Opera) based on XML file description

RSS

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RSS Feed Demo

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Internet

my.yahoo.com

PC Running Web Browser

nctt.org servermy.yahoo! Server

BlogContent

Lots of Other RSSServers!

What’s Happening?

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Record Podcast

Edit Podcast

Post using a media distribution service

Skype if RemoteHot Recorder or

HiJack Pro, etc

Audacity(Windows)

Garage Band(Mac)

Libsyn.com

iTunes

Retrieve and Listen iTunes

My Yahoo!, ipodder, etc

etc…

etc…

etc…

etc…

etc…

Audacity if Local

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Recording Equipment

Samson C01U USB Studio Condenser Mic

PC

Recording & Editing Software

orSnowball Blue USB microphone

Select a Cost Effective Microphone

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Recording Equipment

Microphone Pop Filter - Nylon mesh screen that reduces

vocal popping and sibilance

Tabletop Mic Stand

Headphones

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Common Setup

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Podcasting Software

Source: http://www.podcastingnews.com/topics/Podcasting_Software.html

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Recording Demo

Source: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

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Editing Demo

Source: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

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Posting/Publishing Demo

Source: https://www.libsyn.com/index.php?&mode=logout&message=

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What’s Happening?

Internet

PC Running Web BrowserPC has completed mp3 audio File

Ready to DistributeLibSyn Server

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iTunes Demo - Again

Source: http://www.apple.com/itunes/

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What’s Happening?

Internet

PC Running iTunes Client

LibSyn Server

iTunes Server

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RSS Feed Demo (Again!)

Source: http://my.yahoo.com/index.html

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What’s Happening?

Internet

PC Running Web Browser

LibSyn Server

iTunes Servermy.yahoo! Server

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ID3 Tags

• Digital audio files can contain, in addition to the audio track, related text and/or graphical information. The information you're probably familiar with take the form of Song title, Artist name, Album name, Year and Genre. This is the information displayed when you playback a digital audio file on your computer or portable device.

The process of including information other than sound into these digital audio files is commonly referred to as "tagging" in which you "tag" the audio file with additional information that describes the audio file. The original standard for tagging digital files was developed in 1996 by Eric Kemp and he coined the term ID3. At that time ID3 simply meant "IDentify an MP3".

Source: http://www.id3.org/intro.html

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If Time

• Jing: – www.jingproject.com

• Slideshare and Slidecasting: – http://q-ontech.blogspot.com/2007/07/slideshare-and-slidecasting.html

• Skype: – www.skype.com

• Camtasia: – http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp

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Michael T. QaissauneeDirector / Principal Investigator MAITT, Co-PI NCTTBrookdale Community College765 Newman Springs RoadLincroft, NJ 07738(732) 224-2879 mqaissaunee@brookdalecc.edu

Gordon F. Snyder, Jr.Executive Director / Principal Investigator NCTTSTCCOne Armory SquareSpringfield, MA 01102Phone: (413) 755-6550gsnyder@stcc.edu

Contact Info