PLE Update Version II

I thought I take another look and contrast how my PLE has changed in recent years.

Probably the most significant change has been the shift away from learning in the last twelve months and more towards consolidating and updating my knowledge within Electronics and Controls. This was neglected as I pursued my Masters and then QTLS. However surprisingly I still use a lot of these tools.

Facebook is moving outwards as I don't trust this application and only use it to share with some immediate family and old friends. In place has appeared WhatsApp which is a better way of communicating  I feel. Evernote is starting to charge so has disappeared and I make greater use of google docs these day because I can control the security better.

Current research is around the family tree and has become a bit of a hobby and several additional apps are now in focus including MyHeritage but again these sites charge for their data.

My sites are still up and running although I don't tend to add a great deal at the moment but it surprising how often I get hits.

PLE where am I going

Well I know where I am going, 'to the cloud', and with the seal of approval from the OU I know I have made the right decision. Yes I will populate the college Moodle system but wherever possible I will be linking out to resources that are available elsewhere. My motivation is one of reliability as I don't think the college knows what it is doing with the VLE which by the way is now an Enhanced LE for some reason.Only this week I have seen a branding imposed on all my pages I have lost 20% of the page to a Banner fine on the home page but every page? The banner also wraps on larger pages so the fancy pointless log appears again on the right hand side cut in half. This is ridiculous and forums are no longer working so I can't even voice my feelings any more. So do I care.

In contrast the OU would have discussed these changes and offered an opportunity to share ideas and offer alternatives, I live in hope. 
My teaching material will be moved to my own platform and linked back in so I guess I am all for PLEs and free use of web 2.0 applications. Most learners that take the time to experince them realise their use very quickly but the barriers to the applications presented by the college muffle their enthusiasm.

My reaction is simple, 'How long are you going to be in the confides of the college and its restrictions'?

I know for assessment I will have to move it inside the wire but teaching resources need to be where they are accessible. I also refuse to accept that some of the tools I use should not be shared with learners who despite what some colleagues think are actually quite hungry for them.

In years to come I am sure I will be glad that I made this decision especially when the colleg realises they have to open up the route to the internet in a less restrictive way.

Just got to share this visual tool.

I currently add my shortcuts to learning tools etc on my iGoogle page the following pick will give the general idea.

But there is a useful alternative Symbaloo is a bookmarking service that creates visual bookmarks, lets you organize them and you can also share them. You can access your bookmarks from any computer.

David Andrade blogged the following addition information on this. A free account is available. For more features, you would have to sign up for one of the fee accounts.

As seen above in the Symbaloo Edu page, you can organize your bookmarks in different categories. The Symbaloo Edu page has lots of great links for teachers to use, organized by subject and topic.

SymbalooEdu can be used by teachers to create their own bookmark webmix for classes and for themselves. Students can use it to create bookmark webmixes for their classes.

There is also an EduTools page with links to lots of great resources, an educational news page, and a widgets page with calculator, stocks, tasklist, notepad, and more available to add into your webmix.

It is very useful for education and free.

Brought to my attention by David Andrade who posted most of this on his Blog but I wanted to make sure I had access to this later so apologies for the blatant copy but I am at least acknowledging you as the source.

http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/