Are you confused?

Then you're not alone. One of our team has asked for some clarification of how creating a blog fits in with the Talking Visuals Project.

Thanks for your question. In hindsight I don't think we did explain that too well. I hope this helps...
During the course of the project, Toni and I will be using different technology to present information to remote facilitators and the public. We thought that everyone would be more comfortable with this if they understood some of the online tools we will use. This is where the Talking Visuals virtual classroom comes in.
The tools you learnt last week, blogging and live classroom, are the ones we will mostly use.
We will keep a photo journal of the project using Flickr - I've just added resources and excercises to the Virtual classroom for this; [See posts below] and when we get right into it, we will also introduce podcasts, video and a wiki.
Doing the exercises is optional, we are offering these tutorials to take the mystery out of web 2.0 tools and give participants who haven't seen or used them before an opportunity to play with them and learn how they work.
Why the blog?
As a bit of background - At the library, we discovered that using the tools to learn the tools in self paced discovery sessions worked well. That is why we ask people to create their own blog and use it as a journal, recording their progress through the exercises. We add the exercises at intervals; to maintain contact with the group, not to overload them with information, and to give them time to explore and experiment.
Please let me know if you are still confused.
Denece

Face-to-Face Introductory day

Hello everyone
First, a big thank you to everyone that turned up on the 22nd. It was great to meet some old friends and put faces to new names.
I know I always learn something new from Toni's talks on Communication and find it really helps to understand the processes we use and take for granted in our everyday speech and to appreciate the difficulties that other people endure.
I really enjoyed the day and am most impressed with the way you all participated. Your new blogs are fantastic, and I'm looking forward to watching them develop as you work your way through the exercises. We will be using some of these tools in the project, some others are included purely for the experience and play. Who knows what tools you will discover for your personal use??
Regards for now.
Denece

Discovering Flickr

Photo sharing websites have been around since the 90s, but it took a small startup site called Flickr to catapult the idea of “sharing” into a full blown online community. Within the past couple of years, Flickr has become the fastest growing photo sharing site on the web and is known as one of the first websites to use keyword “tags” to create associations and connections between photos and users of the site.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people are using Flickr for.

We will be using Flickr to record milestones and events in the Talking Visurals Project. However, you can have a lot of fun with these tools, so have a play and see what interesting images you can produce.

Discovery Resources:

Flickr Tutorials Series
Starting with Flickr
Signing up for Flickr
Uploading Photos to Flickr--01
Creating a Flickr Web Address
Who is Scooby Gooseberry?
What are Flickr Sets?

Flickr Learn More tour (6 steps)

Flickr: Popular tagsInteresting- Last 7 days

Flickr Services (3rd party applications & mashups)

Discovery Exercise:

In this discovery exercise, you have two options…

Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or, if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool to add the image in your post.

-- OR --
If you have access to a digital camera you might like to upload a picture to Flickr.

I have created an account for the project. http://www.flickr.com/photos/talkingvisuals/

To upload a photo, first save your photo to your computer (or USB).
Then:
Go to the Flickr website at http://www.flickr.com/
Sign in (using the login and password I have emailed to you. If you have forgotten it, please email me and I will send it to you).
Click on upload photos.
Click on browse and locate where you have saved your photo (you can upload more than one photo at once).
You can add tags describing your photo at the bottom of the page including the project tag - Talking Visuals
Click upload to complete the process.

Something else to look at: You might also like to take a look at the National Library Picture Australia website
Click on the Flickr icon on the front page and you will be led to a display of images the National Library have used from Flickr. This is part of the National Library's vision of building a comprehensive pictorial record of Australian history.

Other photosharing and photography websites include http://www.snap.com/, http://www.fotolia.com/, http://www.slide.com/, and http://www.dumpr.net/.

PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette - When posting identifiable photos of other people (especially minors) is it advisable to get the person's permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr. Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you (unless you have the photographer's consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog.
Don't forget to label this post on your blog “Flickr” and talk about what you have learned doing this activity.

Live Classroom

Each participant will need a computer and an internet connection with a microphone - ideally we recommend use of a computer headset, but speakers may suffice.

The login for Live Classroom is http://liveclassroom.tafevc.com.au/

Before trying to access the live classroom, please go to the setup wizard (Note: It is critical that this be used before attempting to access Live Classroom for the first time on any particular computer).




Once you have navigated through this wizard and sorted any problems, you should be able to access the room easily. Please feel free to login any time before the session to check you can get in.

Please Note: There is a Live Classroom help desk available to users of Live Classroom. If you have any problems that the wizard can't sort out, then please contact the help desk.
Phone 1800 730 288
Email: liveclassroom@tafevc.com.au
(Hours: 8am - 6 pm Mon-Fri)

Please refer to the handout for additional instructions.

Blogging

1. Set up your own blog and add your first post. The handout will help you step through this.

2. Register your blog address by email with Talking Visuals Admin mailto:TalkingVisuals@gmail.com and begin your Talking Visuals 2.0 journey.

Regarding blog registration – Blog registration is not automatic on our end. After everybody registers, we still need to manually add blogs to the blogroll. We plan to do this daily and will regularly check to see if we catch any new ones as we move forward in this program. There is no need for you to email us unless you see that your blog doesn’t get posted within two days.

People frequently confuse the *title* of their blog with the *address* of the blog.

The ADDRESS is found in the address bar of your browser - Internet Explorer. It should look like http://bcpltestblog.blogspot.com/ where bcpltestblog is whatever name you gave your blog when you registered it at Blogger.com. This is the address we need from you so we can post your blog on the participants blogroll .

The TITLE is the name that displays on your blog’s main page. In the example I gave, the blog has a title of “Ellen’s Test Blog.” You can see that it can be different than the ADDRESS.
If you have other questions, post them in the comments section of this post. Part of the program is working on this and learning with your colleagues.

Some helpful links:
Blogger Basics: http://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=8912
Blogger Basics: How do I post a picture: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41641&topic=10271
Blogger Basics: I can’t log in: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?ansswer=41971&topic=10269
Blogger Basics: Posting and Editing: http://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=8915
How do I post to my blog? http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41378&topic=8915
How do I add a photo to my profile: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42093&topic=8928
Please share this with anyone who might not otherwise receive it. Good luck and let us know how it’s going.
The Talking Visuals Online Team
TalkingVisuals@gmail.com

Discovery starts here

This Program is based on the PLCMC Learning 2.0 program developed by Helene Blowers of the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County. Our thanks to Helene Blowers for allowing us to use elements of her program. Learning 2.0 is licensed under Creative Commons .

#1 Discovery has never been so much fun ...Talking Visuals 2.0 is an online learning program about emerging technologies and tools on the web that are changing the way people and society access information and communicate with each other.

1. Listen to this podcast to learn more about thie program http://talkingvisuals.podbean.com/


2. Register your participation in this program. Send your Name, Organisation details and a contact email address to the Talking Visuals administrators mailto:TalkingVisuals@gmail.com

3. Before we continue on this online learning journey we should take a few minutes to review a few habits that can assist in creating lifelong learners. These habits, which we’ve called the Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learners, will provide you with a refresher on what it means to be a lifelong learner.

Habit 1 – Begin with the end in mind

Habit 2 – Accept responsibility for your own learning

Habit 3 – View problems as challenges

Habit 4 – Have confidence in yourself as a competent, effective learner

Habit 5 – Create your own learning toolbox

Habit 6 – Use technology to your advantage

Habit 7 – Teach and mentor others

Habit 7 ½ – PLAY! Have fun! It's never too late to become a lifelong learner.

Discovery Exercise:
Make sure you have headphones or speakers attached to your computer.
Open up the 7 & 1/2 Habits online tutorial and view the online tutorial.
As you watch and listen, write down which habit among the 7 & 1/2 that is easiest for you and which is hardest. You will use your personal blog (which you will set up next) to post your thoughts about lifelong learning.

Introduction

The program commences on Tuesday 22nd April 2008 at a face-to-face training day for our Talking Visuals facilitators.

Toni will begin with a session on Communication and how people communicate.

Next we will look at the web 2.0 tools we'll be using during the project. We will begin with several small exercises that you can do on the web to explore and expand your knowledge. Additional exercises or activities will be added every few days, along with tips and tricks. Our aim is to help you feel comfortable with this technology and we encourage you to PLAY and have some FUN with it.
Don't forget to let us know your email address so we can alert you to the new material being added.

There will be two blogs operating for the project each will have a direct link to the other.

The first one, hosted on edublogs will be the home site for information, resources and forums.
It's address is http://talkingvisuals.edublogs.org/

The second is hosted on Blogger. It forms part of our Virtual Classroom and can be found at http://tvclassroom.blogspot.com/
The focus of this site is to provide an opportunity for self-paced learning and exploration of the tools. You use the tools to learn the tools.

When activating podcasts, slideshare or videos on these sites, please be patient as they may take some time to begin.

The third part of the session will be an introduction to Live Classroom, an online interactive tool where we can communicate with print, images and voice in real time. There will be some follow up sessions with this software before we go live with the public.

While we are all still learning to use this new technology, experimenting and feeling our way , we are excited by the prospect of jumping in and creating a support network for our community that we hope will overcome some of the difficulties of distance and limited access to professional assistance.

We thank you for taking up the challenge and for your support of this project.
Good Luck!

The Talking Visuals Team
mailto:TalkingVisuals@gmail.com