eduMusings

Not in the least bit related to edutech, but several people have told me they’re going skiing at Mt Ruapehu and have asked me for tips, so here they are:

• Where the life is: there are 2 ends of Ohakune - the main street (which you drive through as you come into Ohakune), & the Junction (down the other end by the railway line). Traditionally the nightlife has been down at the Junction, but some nice pubs & restaurants have opened up on the main street now, too.
• Top pub: My favourite is the the Powderkeg, on the ground floor of the Powderhorn Chateau at the Junction. Margareta’s (otherwise known as Margie’s), around the corner at the other end of the Junction, is good, too.
• Top restaurant: for lunches, I like the Powerkeg or Margie’s (for the log fires, as much as the food). For dinners, the Italian restaurant a few doors down from the Powerkeg is good. The Matterhorn Restaurant, upstairs at the Powerhorn, has a nice quiet ambiance, but is a bit more expensive. But there’s lots of other nice places too.
• Top place to stay: a ski club - no contest. You usually have to go with members, and the accomodation is probably bunk rooms, but the atmosphere is great, and you’ll meet lots of other people. If that’s not an option, I like the Powerderhorn. The rooms are nice, but a bit small. The Chateau Tongariro, at Whakapapa, is lovely downstairs, and the rooms are nice enough, but it’s not as flash at is once was (although I think they’re doing it up). You can also rent many private chalets for the weekend - ask at the Information centre on the main street.
• Top ski & gear hire: on the mountain, on both Turoa and Whakapapa. 2nd choice - the Powderhorn. I don’t have shares in it, I promise!
• Top place to buy a ski pass: on the mountain. If you want to buy one in advance, you can do so at the ski hire places in Ohakune. If the mountain is closed on the day, you can usually get a bit of a refund (check first).
• Top thing to do if the mountain’s closed: Hot pool - the easy option is the hot pool downstairs at the Powderhorn. A better option but longer drive is the natural hot pools at Tokaanu, about 15 minutes from Turangi. They have private pools as well as the big outside pools. Also check out the army museum at Waiuru, or a short bush walk - there’s some easy ones near the DOC (Department of Conservation) stations at the bottom of the Mountain Road at Turoa and just above the Chateau at Whakapapa.
• Top way to get up the mountain: if you’re not used to driving in ice & snow, take a bus! The Whakapapa shuttle leaves opposite the Chateau, and the Turoa one leaves from the Powderkeg, I think - check at the information center. Much less hassle, especially when you’re exhausted from an awesome day on the mountain.

** Please remember ** that the weather can change very quickly - a storm can come up in half an hour, and just 2 weeks ago many people were trapped on the mountain overnight. It’s not like Europe, which has more predictable weather, and more accessible ski fields - the roads to the ski fields are steep with lots of tight corners.

Please go prepared with gear for a very cold day, even if it’s sunny. People leave gear in the cafes up the mountain - you’ll see the bags stashed away under stairs or on hooks outside. Don’t leave valuables in them, but usually your things will be perfectly safe.

Have a great time!

Twitter’s a great tool to connect with other educators & researchers, and to keep up with the latest news in your areas of interest and teaching.

People sometimes look at me strangely when I suggest it. You post messages saying what you’re doing right now: that might not rock your socks. But as with any conversation, you just have to find the right people …

Imagine that one day you come across a whole lot of people, milling around in groups, chatting. They’re talking to people with similar interests - project management, say, or civil engineering, or knitting. And they’re sharing whatever interests them - social news, if it’s that kind of group, or the latest research, or technologies. You don’t have to stay very long - most people wander in for a while, then go away again, and wander back later.

The groups aren’t fixed at all - most people are listening in to different sorts of people: they might be part of a big group of educators, for example, but also following a few people who’re into photography, an old friend from high school who’s now a fishing guide in Minsk, and a researcher from Peru that they’re collaborating with. There are many other conversations going on, but they’re only tuning in to the ones that interest them.

This is the power of Twitter. It lets you connect with people who’re talking about the things you’re interested in. It’s also in very short bites - max 140 characters - so the conversation can’t get hijacked by the bore from the 3rd floor. And if it does, you can simply stop listening to him.

Some real-life examples of how I use twitter: I follow people who “tweet” about the latest educational technology. I follow a research librarian who asks for questions when she’s on the desk (thanks ailie!). And I asked the twitterverse for ideas for a web 2.0 presentation, and got some excellent suggestions. Alex Courosa recently used twitter “live” in class to ask for thoughts on online bullying - it was a real eye-opener to his students that so many people are out there; and demonstrated to them that the web really is a public place.

As with any group, it’s good to find a friend to introduce you. But if you don’t know anyone, search for terms you’re interested in - ‘molecular biology’ for example - to find people who are talking about that. Check out their posts, and if they seem to be saying interesting stuff, follow them. And check out the people that they follow, too (look for the photos on the right hand side of the page). If you’re into education technology, you could check out my network at www.twitter.com/onekim.

It pays to follow a bunch of people - those “in the know” suggest about 150. Less than that, you don’t get as good information, apparently. I’m happy with my current group of 65, though.

Twitter’s not a place for drawn-out conversations: it’s about small bites of information, and brief public exchanges. Don’t use it as an instant messenger - that’s what MSN is for. Share stuff that will be of interest to the people you’re following. And, above all, use it as a tool to connect with people in your field.

There are several firefox extensions you can use instead of twitter’s website, but the website works fine too. There’s some migration to similar tools in plurk, friendfeed and
facebook at the moment, because twitter’s getting big, fast, and having trouble coping. But I think twitter’s still the place to start - for now, it’s still the leader of the pack.

As always, to learn more, google “twitter”.

Enjoy!

I was going to say “trapped in a hotel with 150 educators … ” but I’m really enjoying this conference. I always do - this is a regular event for the EIT crowd, & next year we’re hosting the conference in Napier.

This is a group of IT lecturers and tutors from polytechs and some universities around New Zealand. The papers tend to be about education, education technology, and teaching technologies, although it’s also a forum for applied IT research - because that’s what polytechs do - and people present software concepts they’re developing. They’re a friendly group, and a great way to meet collaborators.

Favourite presentation so far: actually, my boss! Steve Corich’s presentation on teaching multiple generations - baby boomers, gen X and gen Y. I was Steve’s example for Gen X; it’s a fairly good description of my attitudes, but there’s nothing like being psycho-analysed by your boss in front of 50 conference attendees

Steve’s main message: don’t put people in boxes - these are just trends, but knowing them can help us; and don’t teach to Gen Y - in NZ they’re only predicted to be about 50% of tertiary students this decade. Instead, incorporate methods for all 3 groups.

Add that to Neil Commins’ & Kay Feldon’s presentation on learning styles in the Introduction to Business course at Unitec, which I teach next semester at EIT, and I have lots of food for thought.

Lee and Sacha leFever have created a set of excellent “low tech” videos explaining technical concepts like blogs, rss, twitter and more at http://www.youtube.com/leelefever.

This would be a great way to explain concepts to students - simply link to the page or embed the video.

Wow. I improved my research capability immensely yesterday by signing up to a few cool tools. I’m going to share the love in the next few posts.

First up: del.icio.us.

Yes, it has a funny name. But bear with me … it’s awesome.

What it is: It’s called a “social bookmarking” site. When you’re surfing the internet, and want to go back to a page, you probably save it to your Favorites or Bookmarks, right? Instead you can save it to del.icio.us, which is online, not on your computer. You can then access it on any computer - I’m constantly coming across things at home for work, and vice versa.

That’s handy, but what’s even cooler is that you can share your bookmarks with others (you can also choose to keep it private). So my friends can see what I’m reading.

Why this is great for educators:

1. When you find a site that would be useful for your students you can bookmark it. You can tell them how to get to your bookmarks (to see mine, go to http://del.icio.us/1kim), or you can put a link to your bookmarks on a web page (including your online learning system or blog).

A neat way to display your bookmarks to your students or readers is to display your bookmarks or tags on the website itself, rather than just link to them (to see what I mean, check out the “What I’m reading” section in the sidebar, which is a selection of my del.icio.us bookmarks).

2. Use the bookmarks for research - my o my!

When you find a blogger in your area of interest, check out their del.icio.us bookmarks. You can also see who else has bookmarked the page, then look at their bookmarks, and so on, and so on (I’ve circled this bit in the screenshot above).

You can also search from the del.icio.us website, say on “edutech” and follow the trail from there. Instead of doing a basic google search, you’re limiting your search to sites that people already think are useful. Cool, eh?

I absolutely recommend that you check it out. I can’t believe how many useful sites I found in one day using this - it would previously have taken me days to find this much reasearch. It’s wonderful. Of course, it can get addictive, so you have to know when to cut off.

Here’s some more information that you might find useful:

• A simple explanation of del.icio.us and how you can use it in higher education at eduGuru
• Top 10 ways to use del.icio.us (the top few are a bit techie, but keep reading).
• Check out the edublogger for easy-to-follow explanations of why and how to use common online tools.
• There’s heaps of cool del.icio.us apps and ideas at Lifehacker or Quick Online Tips.

All the time I’m learning about learning. My research is in different aspects of teaching & learning: mentoring, hidden curricula, learning to learn, educational technology, elearning, … , and I’ m finding new ways to teach and cool educational technologies all the time. I’ve started this blog as a place to muse about the things I’m learning, and share them with others.

It’s primarily aimed at educators, although learners might find it interesting too. It’s sort of the flip side to my blog for learners, Learning and Life.