Author: alison

After discussion with others, I start to wonder if calling TiddlyWiki a wiki system could be a little misleading…

Calling it a wiki somehow implies that anyone could modify/update the page; in the e-portfolio world, it would probably be the ability to provide feedback and comments directly on the page.

However, TiddlyWiki doesn’t really provide this functionality. In other words, it’s more of a personal wiki system in that the owner herself can edit the page like one would edit a wiki.

Why? and What’s the mechanism behind this? Since there is no database behind to drive the wiki, TiddlyWiki actually needs to create new files to save the updated page. It first creates a backup file that stores the original page. Then it updates the file and saves it in the system. To do this, the user will need to have permission to create and write files on the server.

Thus, the best way to have TiddlyWiki working would be editing and saving the files on the user’s computer, which she would have permission to save and create files.

I think TiddlyWiki might work in the WebCT environment because it saves the students from using the HTML editor (which could be a pain to load up the Java Applet), or having to do even a little bit of HTML editing (e.g. changing the title of the html file). Thus, instead of having students to edit the e-portfolio template (a simple HTML file) inside WebCT, we can actually ask them to use TiddlyWiki and make all the changes on their computers using simple wiki formatting rules. The final step would be uploading the wiki page and other evidences (e.g. word documents, images, movie clips, etc…)

To provide feedback or comments, instructors and students will still need to use the native tools like Mail and Discussion Board in WebCT.

Other features of TigglyWiki which I like are:

• its ability to generate an RSS feed
• custom CSS style sheet
• wiki on a thumb drive (think about e-portfolio on a thumb drive… cool)
• and there are other adaptations like TiddlyTagWiki and TagglyWiki that feature tagging

This is cross-posted on the alison’s blog.

Catching on the an earlier discussion with Brian and the Careers@UBC group on using a wiki tool to create an e-portfolio sounds like a logical approach for students with less technical skills or for students who just don’t wish to spend the extra time to learn about yet another system.

So recently I found out a wiki tool called TiddlyWiki, a self-contained (one html file), easy-to-edit wiki tool. The good thing about the system is that it does not require any server side support (no database, no php and no perl scripting). The entire tool is contained in one html file using HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Which makes the wiki very portable, and can be run in any modern browser. As suggested on the website, I also installed it and PortableFirefox on my USB thumb drive. This would make updating/showing the e-portfolio very portable as well. However, to save the changes of the wiki page, it requires Firefox or Internet Explorer, plus save capabilities (write access) to a server. Hence, I envision end-users working on a local copy of the wiki file in a folder on their computers. Then upload the final version and all associated files (contents in the folder) to a server.

Since the wiki system uses simple formatting syntax, students could easily build their wiki page (including the navigation) by following the wiki’s formatting rules.

With the experience from the last project using WebCT’s student presentation tool as an e-Portfolio tool, TiddlyWiki could be an easy alternative. Hopefully it could minimizes the issues with using the Java-based WYSIWYG HTML editor, and other frustration with HTML.

Here’s an example of my TiddlyWiki e-Portfolio

This is cross-posted on the alison’s blog.

OSPI posted the instruction for tomorrow’s load test on their website. I will simply copy and paste it here:

OSP 2.0 Load Test Instructions
(Friday May 13, 2005 2:00

Found on the OSPI website today:

… is planning a load test of the OSP 2.0 software on Friday 5/13 at 2pm Eastern time. No prior experience with OSP 2 is necessary. In the next couple of days we’ll be posting instructions for participation.

Here’s a link to the post.

I will post updates as soon as more information is released.

This came through the EPAC listserv recently: a call for public comments for OSP 2.5 requirements…

Today the Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) released the
functional requirements and specifications for version 2.5 of the
Open Source Portfolio (OSP) for public comment. Version 2.5 will be a
major revision of OSP that includes the full set of features to be
developed using resources from the Mellon Foundation grant. These
requirements were written by the OSPI Functional Requirements
Workgroup, of which I am a member, over the course of the last six
months. We welcome comments from all EPAC members. The comment period
runs from today through May 12, 2005. Comments should be posted on
the discussion forums on the OSPI website. You are also invited to
participate in an open conference call with the functional
requirements group, which will be annouced shortly.

To access the requirements document and and discussion forums, visit
the OSPI website:
http://www.theospi.org/

Recently, a friend of my sister created a VCD photoalbum. The photoalbum consists of all the pictures they’ve taken over the past few years. It’s funny that the “photoalbum” sort of become a digital story to me when I was watching it. It is like a documentary of their friendship… and they even “reflected” that they improved their skills in posing…

She used a software called InAlbum (http://www.inalbum.com).

I tried out the tool and it’s very user friendly and easy to use. I managed to create a quick movie (with 3 pictures due to the limitations of the trial version of the software) in less than 10 minutes. Overall, the experience is fun. IT’s always good to do fun things at work 🙂

The software allows you to export the movie into different formats including: Flash, VCD/AVI, Wallpaper, Screensaver, or even in print.

Here’s my first try of digital storytelling:

This is cross-posted on the Alison’s Blog as well.