ALT-C 2011

This week I'll be attending the Association for Learning Technology Conference at the University of Leeds.
I'm looking forward to it as there are a wide variety of interesting and informative events taking place.  I'll be blogging from the conference whenever I can with the label altc2011


(It's also the first week of term at College this week and the first week of our new exciting student inductions so I'll be living a double life some days - going to College first then to Leeds.....)

The temporary plan.......

http://donlanresources.blogspot.com/2011/08/time-out-detox-cold-turkey-on.html

It's ALL too much - social media and technology

It seems fair to say that by now we all agree that there is more 'information' out there than we know what to do with.  Millions of websites, more than a billion internet users, 150+ million blogs, billions of videos and images and billions of emails every day,
http://royal.pingdom.com/2011/01/12/internet-2010-in-numbers/
On the plus side, it is possible to find some information about anything although whether it is true or of any use is another story.  But it is impossible to even imagine how it all fits together into a coherent mass and the truth is that it doesn't.  The information is not in any order but swirls around constantly being shifted by the next person sharing or recycling or adding to it and passing it on.
Last week I read three or four posts around this topic, about the phenomenon of social media and social networking some of which were prompted by the recent introduction of Google+.  One was 'Losing interest in social media: there is no there there' 
http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/2011/07/30/losing-interest-in-social-media-there-is-no-there-there/
and another by simfin  'Google+ ? I don’t think so 'http://simfin.wordpress.com/more/google-i-dont-think-so/ both of which make the point that people only want and need a certain number of social networks to engage with if they are to have any meaning.  

Aleks Krotoski Friendship: why social networks are too crowded to get close http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jul/24/aleks-krotoski-web-network-friendship explains how she thinks that social networks are changing and becoming less appealing perhaps by having too many connections.

The final post was regarding email and how, in order to keep email valid and to ensure the recipient interacts with the email, we should keep them brief or seek out other forms of communication.

Realistically If there is too much information being generated, it is not going to be possible to change that situation - and indeed why should we, the whole ethos of publishing on the web is that it is free and open and people should be able to do so (as long as they abide by ethical considerations).  It is nice to share photos and communicate easily and pass on good practice.

So the only solution is to build up your own defences and protection in order to limit yet exploit social media and networking to your own needs.  This should be a positive experience that benefits others as well as yourself but copes with 'information overload'. 

The difficult part is that I'm not quite sure how to do it.  I have to admit that I'm the sort of person who sleeps with their iPhone on the bedside table, that leans out of bed on a morning to check emails, Facebook, Twitter, blogs and the news before facing the day.  Luckily I do lots of other things too but I don't want to become disenchanted with all this technology which will surely happen without a plan.......

3D Induction Experience

3D Amazing Interactives Induction Experience
http://managingalearningresourcesdept.blogspot.com/2011/08/3d-induction-experience.html

New Mp4 Camcorders - Sony Bloggies

We have just bought some new camcorders to add to our collection of 'Learning Technologies for Loan'.

We have been using Flip cameras very successfully for the last 2 years and they are very popular with staff and students.  We decided to go for something different this time for a change and because the Flips are not being produced anymore.  I decided to get a selection of the different models - our e-Learning Technologist and Apprentice LRC Assistant are testing them this week and producing a mini helpsheet.  They will be ready to loan out from mid August and we will do some short training sessions to show staff how to use them.

(Interestingly, I don't know why this image is upsidedown - it is not upsidedown on the computer in the folder where it is saved.  To try and correct it I turned it the other way up in the folder and uploaded it again and lo and behold it was still upsidedown)

iPhone battery problems?

Over the last 3 or 4 weeks I've been having problems with my iphone 3gs.  It is related to the battery but I'm not sure exactly what.  When it gets to about 65% battery, it just switches off - it will back on but then switches off again as soon as you try to do anything e.g. take a photo.  If you plug it into the mains power it's fine.
I have tried resetting certain settings and functions but it doesn't make any difference.
Yesterday in desperation, I restored factory settings but then backed it up from iTunes.  It's made no difference.  I think I should have configured it as a new phone.  So I'm going to try that tonight.
In the meantime I'm using my original iphone which I still like the best although it has limited functionality but I love the handset. 

Blackboard VLE gets bought

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/07/01/blackboard_bought_by_providence_equity_partners