June 10, 2008 – Silence and Voice

Jeffrey’s Twitter Updates for 2008-06-10

@dougsymington I can relate. I have felt somewhat unnaturally withdrawn while at a conference and then in upstate NY. #
@jazzychad I wish I waited where you eat! #
Going into a meeting that will last until 3:00. Nothing like all day commitments. #
Trying to make use of LinkedIn since @TonyKarrer convinced me of its value. #
Saw some of my current work colleagues are also on LinkedIn. Is it a good practice to link to them there? #
@maniactive They are probably hoping you will also pick up batteries, some plants, a few things for the grill, etc. #
@gminks That is a great site! I think http://www.twiddict.com will be a new regular website for me! #
@tonykarrer Yes; I think that is the promise of open social. Now it is just one walled garden after another. #
Planning to use a wiki with my class to brainstorm and develop the final exam. #
Have never used a wiki before for this purpose in my class, so see this as a colloborative learning opportunity. #
Still in the all-day meeting. My typing is getting faster. #
@NicoleRyan Will let you know. Never tried one for this, and want to increase democratic education, learner involvement, and ownership. #
@gminks Do you have any instructions or tips you can share? #
@maniactive Can you share some ways you have successfully used it? #
@mathplourde Thank you for the wiki in education lead. Your report gives me some reading tonight. #
At Starbucks. First time outside all day and first coffee since this morning. Sleepy. #
@maniactive Ouch! I mean LinkedIn! #
@gusgreeper I had the regular–triple grande skim latte. I take the calling it “skinny” or “no-fat” too personally . . . #
@mathplourde Will do. #
@gminks Were there enough instructions or guidance? #

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Jeffrey

SnagIt 9: A Must for Designers and Instructors

I just installed the new version of SnagIt, the ubiquitous screen-capture utility, and am really impressed with the new featuresof this must-have for my instructional design and teaching work. I have used SnagIt for years and years for everything from creating step-by-step instructions to editing images for my class PowerPoint slides, and with each new release the folks at TechSmith seem to get it better. I really like the ability to now be able to combine elements from various screen captures, search more easily, and even share to Flickr and WordPress.

I presented a poster session at ASTD last week, and showed people some of the nifty things that can be done with the previous version. Having now played a bit with the new version, I am hooked. If you have not used this software in some time or from an older version, you will be amazed at what can now be done. One thing is for sure–this is not just a simple screen capture or <Print Scrn> program.

One of the things I like best about all the TechSmith products is that full versions can be downloaded, installed, and tried for free for a month. Check out Betsy’s blog post where she goes into more detail of the new features. Leave her a comment there as well and say hello to her for me.

Egyptian Jail, Social Networking, and Twitter

One of my students sent me this story on CNN about a student who was arrested and jailed in Egypt and who communicated this to the outside world via Twitter. While I think about the networking and communication and leadership possibilities of the microblogging application Twitter, there seem to be even life-or-death uses for this simple online program.

I have used it with my classes, at conferences, to learn of breaking news, to communicate with people I follow whose email addresses I do not have, to communicate via my BlackBerry when I have no other access, to ask questions in the style of the wisdom of crowds, to follow industry colleagues whom I respect, and to share the little things I do as they occur. I never considered Twitter in this manner.

Who knows what other ways Web 2.0 are changing our ways of living; quite literally. Have you seen any novel uses of Web 2.0 that shows our ways of interacting and communicating are changed for good?