Thing 14: Online videos

I've just finished watching An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube.  It's been a painfully process.  Angola internet services are not so good and it took forever to download the whole video.  I watched in segments, in several days, as I could not afford spending the time, waiting for the video to download.  I could not stop thinking (and talking) about the video in between the segments, and I am so glad I've lasted till the end. This video is thought provoking.  Michael Wesch strikes me as not only a great passionate professor, but a fun presenter. I loved the way he started the presentation with the story about the guy from New Jersey, tracking back the history of the webcam phenomenon.  I also watched his video Web 2.0... The Machine is US/ing US, which, to me, was a brilliant summary of all these tools (Things!) that we use in social media - it made a lot of sense to me as it touched on all of the tools we've been exploring in this course.  His conclusion that "media mediate human relationships," brought some higher order thinking to the use of all these Things.  Thing 14’s use of Michael Wesch’s anthropological work was a brilliant addition to 23 Things.  What a joy!

An anthropological introduction to YouTube

Thing 17: Books 2.0

A question: RSS Feed from Visual Bookshelf

On the homepage I was able to get an RSS feed of my Visual Bookshelf by following the instructions

"Have a blog or want to syndicate your reviews and activity outside of LivingSocial? Click the link below to get an RSS feed.

My feed"

My question is: how can I incorporate the RSS feed to my blog?

Thing 16: Online Book Catalogs

My books on Library Thing.

Thing 15: Podscasts

Handwashing and Sustainable Development

Podcasts can become an addiction!  I've been listening to podcasts for a while now.  I remember my very first podcast was President's Obama Inauguration Speech (I steel have it and it gives me the goose bumps whenever I hear it - you can feel the presence of millions of people there with him).  It's a wonderful tool for language learner since listening is such an important skill to achieve.  And it is a wonderful learning tool. Period. You can learn anything you want with podcasts and the best thing: wherever you go.  I've listening to podcasts while cooking, walking, relaxing, driving...

Thing 13: CON.NX Webchats

Last year I participated in a webinar organized by the Office of English Language Programs, and I believe the event was organized by CON.NX. The webinar was about English materials and the FORUM magazine.  Previous to the event I sent invitations to university and high school English teachers.  It was a rewarding experience as we had Angolan teachers learning about their area of expertise (English) but also had them exposed to technology in a friendly environment, here at the Embassy.  I passed the keyboard around so the teachers could submit their questions.  Surprisingly everything worked just fine (we usually have connections problems in Angola). At the end of the event I distributed Forum magazines to the teachers.  It was a worth wised  outreach and we did not have to spend money with lecturers!

I receive the CON.NX upcoming events updating regularly.  Actually tomorrow we will host a CON.NX webchat about Fulbright Alumni Innovative Funds.  

Thing 12: Google map

Click here to find your way to my neighborhood in Luanda.

Google maps is a wonderful tool to help people finding their way to places.  Unfortunatelly not all streets in Luanda are mapped, and that is due to the fact Angolans are not so used to refer to street names.  I was able to find an Educational site where PAS does outreach, which would be helpful. I can think of a few ways to use Latitute, such as getting in contact with people running an only event in different parts of the city, but the internet services here are basic and the band small. Maybe in a few years...

Thing 11: Flicker account

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29230697@N06/

Thing 10: Introduction to SharePoint

I was able to upload a document from my files and also create a new document for the 23 Things SharePoint site.  I understand we can set up a SharePoint site for intranet users.  Could we set up a SharePoint site for a target outreach audience, let's say, teachers of English?  It seems SharePoint is more sophisticated than Google docs as you mentioned, Karen.  However, to share documents with Fulbright folks, for example, Google docs is still my only option - is that correct? 

Thing 9: Document Sharing in the Cloud

·         How might you use Google Docs as an alternative to the standard document creation tools in Microsoft Office? As a group project; whenever I would like to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations in group. 

·         What drawbacks did you notice in Google Docs, if any? So far I haven't noticed any but I am curious about tracking the changes made.  I understand I will receive the document edited by my contributers but, will I see what they've changed?  Does it show as the Review track tool in Word documents?  Will I be able to accept the changes or they will change automatically?

·         Describe your experience of collaborating on a single document with multiple users. I haven't done this part yeat as I just shared the document.  Once I experience the collaboration phase I will be able to come back to my doubts mentioned on the previous question.