Activity 8.2 - Knowledge Marketplace

Selling = my skills / abilities that may be of interest to my peers

• Selling - screen cam program use
• Selling - Zotero - referencing utility
• Selling - basic but often not used utilities in MS Word

Buying = skills / abilities that I hope to learn from my peers

• Buying - remote technical support strategies
• Buying - Twitter users?
• Buying - Web 2.0 applications for use in

Selling - screen cam program use

I have made extensive use of screen cam programs such as Captivate ($), Camtasia ($ .. now free), Camstudio (Open Source) and Jing (free) to support remote demonstration of computer based activities. Useful for "showing" clients how to set something up or how something is "supposed to" work on the computer AND for leveraging one's already very limited time.

For example, I received many requests from faculty asking how to realize a listing of student email addresses. I shared with them how to use the CONCATENATE function in MS Excel to do this. I used Jing to support it.

The same information can be placed on an institutional server or remotely (i.e. Jing) for future access.

Jim Buckingham -email jab226@student.open.ac.uk

Selling - Zotero - referencing utility

I have become a habitual user of Zotero (Open Source) as an alternative to EndNote or RefWorks. It is built into Firefox and with the help of a Plugin can be used to easily cite within MS Word. Have used it to create libraries plus related online notes for each Unit of H808.

If you aren't familiar with Zotero... here's a more detailed review (Open U - password protected) I put together back in October 2008 which aims to describe it and present a value proposition.

Jim Buckingham -email jab226@student.open.ac.uk

Selling - basic but often not used utilities in MS Word

Embedding sound files to create listening jigsaw activities, password protecting documents to secure individualized tests, and bookmarking to support digital lesson plans for students.

Jim Buckingham -email jab226@student.open.ac.uk

Buying - remote technical support strategies

Looking for others who have dealt with the problem of remote technical assistance and what other strategies they have found useful / effective. Another technical tool that I'm currently exploring is Yuuguu

Jim Buckingham -email jab226@student.open.ac.uk

Buying - Twitter users?

Currently used in our department (spread across 2 campuses) to quickly call for and share expertise amongst us. Interested in learning how others might be using Twitter as a communications tool in either an educational or business or support setting .. perhaps setting up a similar support arrangement amongst fellow H808s.

If you aren't familiar with Twitter .. here's a more detailed review (Open U - password protected) I put together back in October 2008 which aims to describe it and present a value proposition.

Jim Buckingham -email jab226@student.open.ac.uk

Buying - Web 2.0 applications for use in

Some of this I've already started to explore but would welcome learning from others who have experience with innovative applications of Web 2.0 tools in such subject areas as Visual Arts, Mathematics and Statistics.

Jim Buckingham -email jab226@student.open.ac.uk

Twitter

I introduced the idea of using Twitter amongst my fellow H808 colleagues on the Open U's FCC system .. on the chance that others might be using it too.

Twitter has been better than email. With Twitter installed in Firefox as an addon (Twitterfox), I can get messages "pushed" to me for reading immediately by my colleagues and vice versa, I can "push" messages to them. We can "push" a simple message to all or a few. What do we mean by the term "push" here? Immediately after the message is written and sent.. it automatically comes to me .. I don't need to go looking or checking for it.

It's through my experience in using Twitter at work that I'm really supporting its use here. At work I stay connected with 5 colleagues 150 km away on another campus and even between the 3 of us here on the Abu Dhabi campus. Because we're all in a very small department (8 people) .. we're always either on the move or busy with something. Change is a constant.

How do I use Twitter at work?
We can solicit answers to questions. We can quickly announce new developments / changes in plans. We can confirm arrangements. We can arrange phone calls or direct someone to an email.

Why suggest Twitter for H808?
Because Twitter is so easy to use, I thought I might suggest using it to arrange last minute or impromptu synchronous commuications such as GTalk, Instant Messaging, Lyceum, etc. Even just to announce to others who are online .. what I'm working on. They might be saying "why?" or.. they might be saying "Hey! I'm working on that too .. perhaps we can connected to discuss issues..

Most important for H808 purposes, we can become better connected to support one another.

Here's a simple little video that goes a long way to explaining Twitter.



You can follow me on Twitter. Look for "buckinsand". Be sure to introduce yourself so I know who you are from our cohort.