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BuzzLion for the Week of June 22

Despite the muggy weather that makes the BuzzLion exist in a sort of a torpor, things are rolling right along in Educational Technology Services these days. So let’s get right to our look at the week that was….

You don’t need an invitation to participate in Web 2.0, so says Chris Stubbs, ETS programmer. In fact, he even declares this Stubb’s First Law of the Social Web: No Invitation Required. He urges more participation in things like wikis, blogs, etc. on his outstanding blog, and even somehow manages to use a John Mayer quote (yeah, the musician, that one) to good effect. Go to the blog, and consider it an invitation, er, opportunity to participate by offering your thoughts on this subject (Cole Camplese, ETS director, offers sort of a companion piece to Mr. Stubbs’ thinking on his blog, as does Allan Gyorke, ETS manager of educational technology, on the Learning Design Community Hub).

Brett Bixler talks about the challenges of getting faculty and administrators to learn more about and accept gaming in education. Given so many people think of gaming as pong or Grand Theft Auto, this is a challenge. Read the suggestions Brett offers to overcome this challenge on the Educational Gaming Commons.

Yvonne Clark, ETS instructional designer, invites everyone to go to the Adobe Connect Community Hub and complete the analogy “Adobe Connect is to holding a meeting as Microsoft Word is to ________________.” Go to her post there and offer your ideas.

Elizabeth Pyatt, ETS instructional designer, recently posted on Information Sciences and Technology students from Penn State who are blogging about their summer internship using blogs set up via Blogs at Penn State. Sounds mundane, but they are doing it in Bangalore, India. Find links to their blogs here.

Elizabeth also offers a muse on Personal Learning Environments titled “Lifelong Learning or Lifelong Research”. What on earth is a “Personal Learning Environment?” Elizabeth explains that and more in an excellent blog post.

A quick reminder, ANGEL, Penn State’s Course Management System will be unavailable during the upgrade to version 7.2 from 6:00 p.m. (EDT) Friday, July 18 to 6:00 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, July 20.

BuzzLion will end with another note on participation. ETS is planning a Learning Design Summer Camp August 12 and 13 here at University Park and would like your input and planning help. Go to the Learning Design Summer Camp wiki to find out how you can participate in this great event.

That is all for BuzzLion for this week. Thanks for reading!

TLT CoffeeRead: Digital revolution fails to inspire teachers

Digital revolution fails to inspire teachers

While this article talks about Australian teachers, is this the case in the US? And if so, how do we inspire instructors both here at Penn State and in other classrooms?

TLT CoffeeRead: Big Ten school uses Web 2.0 to collaborate with other U.

Students Put Web 2.0 Through a Test in Virtual Classroom with Far-flung Cohorts at Another College

“Students from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business worked in synch — virtually — with cohorts at North Carolina State University’s Jenkins Graduate School of Management this past spring to learn about service innovation without ever leaving their campuses.

Instead, they used a collection of Web 2.0 technologies, such as wikis and the 3D virtual world Second Life, to hold meetings and collaborate on team projects.”

Interesting - is Penn State considering anything like this?

TLT CoffeeRead: Rumor - Apple to push iPhone sales through student communities

Rumor - Apple to push iPhone sales through student communities

Would something like this happen at Penn State, if it is true? If so, what would be the benefits/risks/drawbacks?

TLT CoffeeRead: Twitter Tweets Tell Twister Tale

Twitter Tweets Tell Twister Tale

“Twitter in Action as Breaking News Warning System: Colorado Tornado”

During one of what has seemed to be an endless parade of severe weather breaking news situations this year, a tornado roared through the northern-most suburbs of Denver. This gentleman in Boulder, CO, attempted to find out if he was under a threat as well. What was his most reliable source of information?

Wasn’t the National Weather Service, CNN, local news sites - it was Twitter.

Should Penn State review the possibilities of social Internet sites such as Facebook, Twitter, whatever the next big thing will be, etc., for emergency alerts?

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