e-wot? » what is … ?

Green Chameleon » Knowledge Management Explained in Five Disciplines

Mark — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:16:40 +0000

Green Chameleon » Knowledge Management Explained in Five Disciplines.

IMO this is the most coherent and concise explanation of KM. Definitive.

How different age groups are using the internet – via DataViz

Mark — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:00:51 +0000

Via DataViz

8 Things That Suck About the iPad – but it still looks very cool

Mark — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 13:37:54 +0000

8 Things That Suck About the iPad – apple ipad – Gizmodo. I don’t mind the bezel, but I agree with everything else. I mean, what? No camera? No Flash?

But it still looks pretty awesome.

Why Twitter is great in the classroom

Mark — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:15:51 +0000

Why Twitter is great in the classroom. A great article with a nice set of videos and some good tips on using Twitter in class.

From Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom

Internet Meme Database | Know Your Meme

Mark — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:58:27 +0000

Internet Meme Database | Know Your Meme. A site that lists all the known internet memes and explains what they’re about.

[edit: oh, the fun... hours of it. Well worth a few minutes/hours]

China’s attack on Google explained

Mark — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:43:57 +0000

Some useful questions – science

Mark — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:25:21 +0000

RDF TV – Baloney Detection Kit – Michael Shermer

Some useful questions to ask from a science, atheist perspective. Quite a bit about climate change here too.

100 (Really) Creative Business Cards

Mark — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 05:44:13 +0000

Some of these are truly brilliant: the personal trainer, the divorce lawyer, the dentist, among many…

Click for ‘100 (Really) Creative Business Cards’ | Webdesigner Depot.

Social media – age restrictions

Mark — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:55:33 +0000

Here’s a list of online apps (games, chat, forums, social networks, blogs) with the age restrictions as seen in the sites’ terms of service/use. I made this list because I needed a list to show some teachers what they could/could not use with their students depending on age. This list is by no means complete, just a few online apps I’ve heard about.

This is purely informational. I haven’t tried them all, so I can’t say how well they safeguard minors. It’s best to be thorough and try them out properly yourself. YMMV

Ones I’ve tried and I think are good, though not with age restrictions in mind: Wordpress, Blogger, Facebook, Ning, Club Penguin, FreeRealms, Writeboard, 21Classes, PBwiki & Delicious.

RPG = Role Playing Game

Must be at least 16

Friendster social network

Must be at least 13 and in high school

Facebook social network

Must be over 13

Bebo social network
Blogger weblog publishing tool
Chamber of Chat Harry Potter multiplayer RPG (no private chat, moderators)
Gaia Online community with games, message boards etc…
Hi 5 social networking site
IMVU chat with friends in 3D
Jaiku microblogging
MySpace social network
Ning social network created around an area of interest (can be open or private)
Runescape multiplayer game
Tokbox video chat (works with Twitter & others)
Twitter microblogging Twitter is now for over-18s. See comments to this post.
Vox weblog publishing tool
Weebly website creation tool (includes blogs, forums)
Wetoku video interview tool (requires parents’ approval)
Wordpress.com weblog publishing tool
Writeboard single wiki pages for writing activities
Xanga weblog community
12Seconds video microblogging
43 Things microblogging site based around personal goals

Download & install application required

There virtual world
Teen Second Life virtual world (13-17 yo)
vSide virtual world

No Age minimum specified, but require parental approval

Awol chat, games, diary, friends, & cribs
Boom Bang chat, make friends and explore a virtual world (moderated)
Club Penguin virtual world for kids populated by penguins (moderated, ’safe’ chat)
Endless Online multiplayer RPG
Graal Online multiplayer RPG
Marapets virtual pet site with games and chat community
Neopets Virtual world for pets
Millsberry Home building community (pre-scripted chat, monitored)
Sanriotown Hello Kitty games, blogs and forums
Shining Stars Chatting, naming stars, star worlds (’safe’ pre-constructed chat)
Typepad weblog publishing tool
Webkinz virtual pet community (’safe’ chat)

Download & install application required

Dofus multiplayer RPG
Eternal Lands multiplayer RPG
Furcadia multiplayer RPG
FreeRealms multiplayer RPG (restricted chat, moderated)

I couldn’t find anything definitive about age restrictions on Wikispaces, EduBlogs or 21Classes, but considering that they’re aimed at teachers and learners, I’m guessing that they must be OK for all ages?? I couldn’t find anything in PBworks’ (PBwiki), or Delicious‘ Terms of Service mentioning age either.

As a rule of thumb, when checking out an online tool that you might want to use with younger learners, check the Terms of Service (sometimes called Terms of Use) and their privacy policy. This should be somewhere on the homepage (usually at the bottom). Then do an inline search (hit Ctrl+F) for ‘years’ or ‘guardian’ or ‘13′ or something like that to jump to the bit about age restrictions, and then read the small print.

By the way, blogging tool tumblr. requires subscribers to be over 18.

And thanks to Denis for helping me with the list.

Planning to process map… Ning

Mark — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 17:09:27 +0000

It’s been a year, and I’ve decided to process-map how I set up a private Ning network for our teachers to use for their personal development. It’s been quite a success. The Google Analytics show good stats and senior teachers are asking me for info about the sites to add to their presentations, or to do more – and better. All good. So I think it’s time for me to outline how we got to where we are.

I’m going to start this next week. I think I’ll be using OmniGraffle to build the flow charts.