Comments for Tech-Ed Collisions

Comment on Reflection - is eportfolio’s biggest asset also its biggest problem? by Jerry Leeson

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 17:07:08 +0000

Hi Ray,
Thanks for your comments. You make some very keen observations here and I really appreciate the time you make to comment and share your thoughts. It certainly helps me develop my knowledge of this area. Something else that has been nagging at me but I’m not sure the best way to express it as I am not qualified in the area is that of individual learning styles and the role they may also play in the effective use of eportfolios.

Cheers,
Jerry

Comment on Reflection - is eportfolio’s biggest asset also its biggest problem? by Ray Tolley

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:23:15 +0000

Hi, Jerry,

Yes, a great conference, and many thanks to Serge and the EIfEL team for putting it all together!

Firstly, on reflection. Yes an essential (but not the only) process in the e-Portfolio pack! Reflection is not a skill equally developed in all and equally not easily taught. Perhaps adults unused to reflection might have difficulties in knowing where to start. It is my experience that this is best introduced with Primary school children at a ‘concrete/operational’ level and steadily developed as the child matures. Certainly, we expect students in Secondary schools here in the UK to be reflective workers. And thus, in the not too distant future, this concern over reflexion will no longer be a puzzle to those in HE.

You mention one institution using two (or more?) different e-Portfolios for different purposes. That, I would suggest is a limitation of the tools being used. I am sure the better solution is to use ONE tool that is capable of being used in different ways, for different purposes and for different audiences. This makes for a much simpler system of storage and re-purposing of artefacts.

However, you ask why e-Portfolios are not adopted in other parts of the world. I would strongly argue that it is NOT the e-Portfolio which is the barrier. My suspicion is that many areas in the world are still dominated by didactic methods which we have only recently begun to discard. Until the pedagogy has begun to change in those countries I do not anticipate any move towards, collaboration, peer review, formative assessments or mentoring etc. And thus without any motivation to move forward with such processes I am not sure that the e-Portfolio is seen as needed.

It is all a case of carts and horses or chickens and eggs! But as the philosopher says, ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.’ All we can hope for in other countries is that the e-Portfolio will be understood as a tool towards sharing or self-representation and then all the other advantages will steadily follow.

Comment on A truly versatile input device - You! by Tech-Ed Collisions » More on Natal - imagine what could be done in education

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:19:58 +0000

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Comment on Google vs Bing - which will you use? by Jim

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:33:31 +0000

i’m enjoying using bingle to search both at the same time..

http://bingle.pwnij.com

Comment on Google vs Bing - which will you use? by ben

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:57:04 +0000

Bing found me faster.

Comment on Nice new search options from Google by Tech-Ed Collisions » Google vs Bing - which will you use?

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:27:29 +0000

[…] My Twitter feed is starting to get a heap of activity about bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, so I thought I better check it out. There’s an interesting conversation going on over at Robert Scoble’s friendfeed - must be great to have so many connections - but even with all the opinion going on, it’s still good to kick the tyres yourself. On launching bing in my browser I was presented with a great image of Santorini and now I just want to go on holidays there. I tried a couple of searches and the first thing I noticed was the speed - its ‘google-like’! It’s also great to have a nice, clean, simple search interface, unlike some of the horrendous offerings on some of the portals that are seen as competitors to Google. I have only tried a few searches so its hard to comment with authority on the quality of the search results but they seem generally ok in the same way that Google’s are generally ok. Context is still an issue for these search engines. Try doing a search on ‘bing’ and you will see what I mean. At the time I tested Google seemed to have better search results for me than Bing did when I used ‘bing’ as the search term. Next thing I noticed was the lack of ads down the right side which was a big plus for me. However, that was when I searched for ‘eportfolio’, a keen interest of mine. When I then searched for ‘bing’ there was a sponsored link at the top of the search results, and it was for something totally irrelevant to me (sorry Bing Lee whoever you are and whatever you are trying to sell on eBay). Ads can be annoying but when they are totally irrelevant and in a prominent position they can be really irritating. Some work to do there I think - at least its all Beta so it has a ready made excuse. There is an attempt at providing some context through related search suggestions (down the left side) but no joy there at all for the afore mentioned ‘bing’ search if you are interested in Microsoft Bing. Google also has some really cool ways of displaying results now (discussed previously here) that Bing doesn’t match. So what else does it offer? There are a number of links to other Microsoft related services such as Windows Live and ninemsn. The latter one is a bit of a turn-off for me as I really don’t like using a search engine provided by a major (in this part of the world) traditional media outlet. This is one of the main reasons I don’t use the local Yahoo! offering unless I am getting no joy on other search engines. When I compare the various menu options available from Google and Bing I probably get to the real reason why it will be difficult for me to switch search engines from Google to Bing. I am a user of a number of Google’s other services and it is just too convenient for me to have Google as not just my default search engine, but my default home page in my browser. This is going to be a real challenge to Microsoft - how do you convince people to switch search engines to you when it’s not just search that people are invested in? I guess if you are a Windows Live user then this decision would look quite different. Unfortunately for me at the moment there doesn’t seem to be a really compelling reason to switch search engines but I am really hoping that someone, maybe Microsoft with Bing, can offer some serious competition in the search marketplace. […]

Comment on Is Google my ePortfolio? (revisited) by Jerry Leeson

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:52:27 +0000

Thanks for you comments Michael.
I think your spot on about free speech and the notion that we largely (hopefully) live in a cyber-world that is governed by it. We don’t have to look to far to uncover concerns about freedom of speech and freedom of information though.
There is enormous debate and concern over that in our own country at the moment.
I think with Google profiles, as with other user generated content, that we see on the Web (such as Wikipedia), the onus is on us to teach how to assess the quality and credibility of that content rather than take it as read.

Cheers,
Jerry

Comment on Is Google my ePortfolio? (revisited) by Michael Stevenson

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:13:54 +0000

What tangled webs we weave eh? This was an interesting and insightful post, and I agree that there are many more questions than answers in this arena.

From a philosophical viewpoint, I think another interesting question is: should we actually have control over what happens in a Google search on us? Is there something democratic about the notion that we live in a cyber-world that is largely governed by the doctrine of free speech and that a search uncovers that notion every time we look someone up?

What, for instance, would be the ramifications of a dictator changing information on themselves with a view to circumventing searches that focused on abuse of human rights? What about corporations who reinvent themselves trying to block out things they have done wrong and buying high page ranks? Is user control potentially supporting that?

Comment on is Google my ePortfolio? by Tech-Ed Collisions » Is Google my ePortfolio? (revisited)

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:06:59 +0000

[…] Quite some time ago (way back in June 2007) I posed this question in a post and while the intent was never really to answer the question with a yes, but to highlight some of the features that are important to eportfolios and their owners, it’s interesting to see that in some sort of manner, Google is now offering functionality that eportfolio owners would find useful. It has been possible to create a Google site for quite some time and call it your eportfolio (and many people do so very successfully). Just recently however, Google has released Google Profiles allowing you to create your own profile on Google and have it appear in Google search results. More information on the service can be found at the Google blog. […]

Comment on Sign of the times: Microsoft Encarta soon to disappear? by Michael Gehling

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 02:12:06 +0000

Wikipedia was launched when I was in Year 10 at high school, and I can remember showing it to my Geography teacher when it was only a couple of months old. He, and most of the class, discredited it as a bizarre fad. I found it hard to disagree with them.

Things changed - by the time I got to university, it was a well regarded tertiary reference, and many librarians recommended it as a way of finding a summary of a subject before doing further research.

I was banned from using both Wikipedia and other encyclopedias in most university work. As Wikipedia themselves state on their citation page - “Most educators and professionals do not consider it appropriate to use tertiary sources such as encyclopedias as a sole source for any information… Wikipedia articles should be used for background information, as a reference for correct terminology and search terms, and as a starting point for further research.”

I believe that Wikipedia has as much credibility as Encarta, and with an increased base of writers, editors and quality guidelines, it is probably better in many cases. One could also argue that, with such ubiquity, availability and plugability, Wikipedia has the potential to shape and define our general knowledge.

However, we’re not quite there yet. Our brains are not plugged into the wiki, knowledge hasn’t become that homogenised, and the best papers are written with by referencing competing arguments. For the time being, scholarly works have a place. I agree with the old and daggy school of thought: neither Encarta nor Wikipedia could be counted as scholarly works or referenced as such.

As for Encarta? Ave. You’ve been out-foxed. Britannica and the others will follow too no doubt. But they were amazing things while they lasted, and universally loved around 1994, giving us the first taste of endless and searchable information at our fingertips.