Help Tony Bates with input regarding Canadian access to post-secondary

Tony Bate is giving input to a committee this week and he's asking for ideas (not that he doesn't have a lot of his own ideas already). But here's our chance to contribute:


http://www.tonybates.ca/2010/06/06/what-should-the-canadian-government-do-to-increase-access-to-post-secondary-education/

The Personal Learning Network can continue even when ISWO is over

Through the blogs, you've shared your reflections in a format that's external to the course and I'm sure you all realize that this sharing doesn't have to end when the course ends. And blogging is just one of many social media tools that can extend your personal learning network and help you establish or deepen connections with people who share your interests.  It takes time to develop a sense of trust with the people in your PLN so this could be an ongoing process for you.

My hope is that in one way or another, your PLN will evolve and become more and more useful to you. You might continue with the blog you created here. You might have a different appreciation when you read the blog postings of others and you might be more likely to comment on postings you find or make the effort to seek out a favourite blogger at a conference (b.t.w. did you know you can narrow a google search to look only in blogs? and that you can refine that search by date?)

And you might decide to explore other aspects of social media.  Twitter, LinkedIn, sharing photos on Flickr -- the "participatory web" is vast.

And Royal Roads will soon launch a community called MyRRU. It's a space where you can view information and create your own as well. The ideas I've conveyed as your blogging steward will apply to that community and I hope it becomes a vibrant one. 

And this "meta blog" will remain in place as well :-)  I'll certainly continue doing what I've been doing because it's really led me to some interesting places.

Personal Learning Networks/Environments via the work of Wendy Drexler

Just want to share the link from today's posting on my other blog as it's all about the concept of the PLN/PLE.

http://wp.me/ptZn3-4r

A couple of videos and a scholarly article. Lots of vision but also on-the-ground real examples.

"Twitter’s role in Bangkok conflict unprecedented" - quotes from a news article

Some quotes from an article discussing the influence of social media (in this case, Twitter) during the crisis in Thailand. It's not all good -- the medium was used for propaganda as well as for useful information, but it appears that the truth did rise to the surface.

 http://updatednews.ca/?p=20734

...Some say Twitter – or rather its users – may have even saved lives as fighting consumed the streets of Bangkok

....With many websites censored and Thailand’s traditional media deeply divided into pro- and anti-government camps, it arguably became the only forum where you could get a clear picture of what was really going on

....“The propaganda is not good, but because of the speed, people can check and cross-check. If you put something out there that’s untrue, within 30 minutes the truth will come out because people will show evidence, photos and videos.”

---

And the above photo is my personal memory of Thai soldiers in 2008. Sad to think of what they might be doing now. I shot this picture in the old capitol (Ayutthaya) where, with the most generous family of a student we had as a homestay, we visited ancient temples, rode elephants and loved what was at that time a peaceful, beautiful, busy and diverse country.

Moderation

I'm talking about blog moderation here :-)

I know that a couple of comments I've made to ISWO people's blogs are not visible because they are "awaiting moderation".  Perhaps others in ISWO have made comments that are in the same state.

As a blogger, you of course have the opportunity to filter comments to your blog, but please make sure to follow through when that request comes to you (it should be an email with a link directly to the place where you make your decision) and either accept or reject the comment.

Keep the conversations flowing......