Tech4ed

Not sure if I am a fan of the discussion tab in the Wiki. I realize it is not instant like a forum or chat session, but here are some advantages and challenges that I see in using a wiki collaboration group space.

Advantages:
1. It can be added/edited by others, even if they are not particular to your topic; value in outside opinion
2. It is an ongoing thread that can be looked at from the very beginning; reminds me of going back to original notes or back to the start
3. The opinions of others are extremely valuable, whether you agree or not; interesting to be able to go back and see if changes have occurred over time

Challenges:
1. Not instant feedback like a chat, Skype, Google doc session
2. can be edited or added to by anyone having access to the wiki
3. You would have to keep logging in to check that someone has provided a comment or edited the discussion

I am a total constructivist when it comes to building and uploaded a webpage. My experience has been at the schools I have been at in the past 7 years. I have seen the best of times and the worst of times. Worst mainly experiencing the frustration of taking so much time playing with the options available, learning basic HTML on the fly and the slowness of our school’s network.

It is a challenge for sure and I started with FrontPage and FTP uploading. It was easy at the time, but it took too many steps for the novice user. My goal was always to pass on the updating to someone else in the school (in the event I leave). I dabbled in Dreamweaver, but found I was lacking the know-how and time to really make something special. I eventually stumbled onto Kompozer, a free design tool, that had many great looking free templates. However, it was the same FTP uploading formula and took too many steps to maintain by a novice user. Used Joomla (still maintain my Associations website using Joomla), but it often costs for initial setup if no one has the knowledge to do so. I find that once it is up and running, it is easy to make some quick changes. You do have to know where to navigate in the backend in order to make those changes. Joomla sites are slick and the templates are awesome.

Finally the answer has been weebly.com. Simple, stylish, many options, and can be maintained very easily. Also it is free (unless you want the Pro version). I was able to re-do our school webpage in almost 2-days. Even having the ability to easily add HTML code (like Twitter feeds).

So far so good on weebly and I’ll keep you posted if something else comes my way.

I have to say I have used many different DVD authoring tools, and by the far the easiest and slickest is iDVD. I fell in love with this program when I starting work on my school’s year end and Grade 7 slideshows.  It is so easy to use and it looks professional. In may last two schools, I have used this program to produce the Grade 7 version of a year book. Not only is it less expensive ($2 to produce rather than $20), but you can get a lot more content on it and it has a greater environmental advantage over paper books. Parents have also told me they love the simplicity and size. It is also very cool and 21st Century.

Hopefully you will find some useful information in many of the tabs found in this blog.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/mitzel88/feed/