BP9_Links to Comments

I'm posting this to show a couple great examples of RILS projects. Take a few minutes and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Link to my comments on Greg's post:
Link to my Comments

Link to my comments on Jess' post:
Link to my comments

BP8_RILS Publication

Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario

Chris Lenhart

Brief Overview: Objective will be to improve communications and problem solving within a dynamic business environment by introducing web 2.0 tools, more specifically mindmeister (www.mindmeister.com).

1) Target Audience- Current team members involved with development and creation of the first civilian unmanned aircraft school.

2) Materials–

a)     Computer

b)    Internet Access

c)     Basic knowledge of business concepts

d)    Some past aviation experience

3) Objectives–

a)     At the end of this assessment team members should be able to meet the following objectives:

i)      Create, proficiently navigate, and share mind maps online with other team members at www.mindmeister.com

ii)    Defend and explain your position of the software and its role in this task by a small speech or story.

iii)   Compare and contrast the differences between problem solving and communication pre and post software use. Be able to produce survey based on their findings.

4) Procedure–

a)     I will create an account at mindmeister.com

b)    I will invite all participating team members to my group

c)     I will give them a small demonstration of the software and explain the benefits.

d)    I will create a base map.

e)     Team members will then be able to add to the map throughout the week.

f)     We will meet at the end of the week to discuss the progress and benefits or drawbacks.

5) Web 2.0 Tool– The Web 2.0 tool we will use is mindmeister. It is an online mind-mapping tool that can be used by individuals or groups to help brainstorm, organize, and problem solve. http://www.mindmeister.com/

6) Social Participation/Social Learning–

a)     The exercise in and of itself will facilitate social participation. The program exists online and group members have to log in to contribute. They will be building a mind map together. The successful end result will be based on the team members playing off one another’s ideas, adding to the map, and achieving a solution to problems involved with the creation of the new flight program.

7) Making Connections– This activity is designed to bring together team members with knowledge in different areas; some know aviation, some business, some know education. This will bring them together and allow them to disseminate information in their field of expertise to other members in order to achieve a common goal.

a)     Previous Knowledge-Team members bring extensive knowledge in various fields. Some have been working in their area of expertise for thirty years.

b)    Relevance- This is relevant since this schoolhouse will be unique. It will have elements of traditional classrooms as well as aviation based learning environments. Team members will be able to share with one another increasing the team’s overall knowledge of the concept.

c)     Local/Global- The group will be able to make a connection between the use of the software and the resolution of problems with communication. This will transfer over into other real world scenarios where they can work with team members and company partners throughout the world.

8)    Create/Produce – All participating team members will send me a small assessment of the scenario. They will describe their experience and how it translated to the development of a team based mind map. I will then create a blog post with the information for everyone to view.

9) Assessment –

10) Reflection –

a.     The team members are all local at this stage. They will be able to meet and discuss the pros and cons of the scenario and if software implementation is something that has helped the company. They will then include their findings in the information they send to me for the blog.

b.     I will reflect on all the material I receive from the group. At this point and realistically determine how useful the scenario is. If I get positive feedback, I will suggest this at the corporate level. If I get negative feedback, I will refine the scenario and address the problem to streamline an effective problem solving and communication tool.

PE5_mindmeister

Greetings! Welcome to part two of my mindmeister post. I decided to go into another area of this software to demonstrate how flexible it really can be.

I think we've already established that mindmeister can help with brainstorming and with organization. But what other ways can we use it? Well, how about capturing important information in meetings?

In order to try and demonstrate to some of my co-workers and more importantly my boss, the benefits of the software, I decided to take all of my notes in mindmeister.

As the meeting began, I quickly was able to set up the base of the map. If we spoke about personnel, I went to that bubble and added the appropriate names. If any of those names changed team throughout the discussion for any reason, I simply "clicked, dragged, and dropped" the names to their new teams. It was very quick, and for me, provided a much better way to take notes due to its visual nature.

When any type of issue came up in the discussion with critical contact information, I would simply create a new bubble and insert the website for the organization in question. This provided a quick link to any information they might need post meeting.

In the end they were pretty impressed. I have a meeting Monday morning with them to show everything I want about mindmeister. This is great news actually. I might actually use this as an opportunity to show them a few more benefits of Web 2.0!

PE4_mindmeister

Greetings Chris' blog watchers! Or as I like to call you "chrblochers". Hey, the media doesn't get to monopolize crazy condensed names...I'm looking at you "Brangelina".

So I am posting about a great Web 2.0 tool called "Mindmeister". I know needs are different, but for my needs, this couldn't be better suited. I love it. And to be honest, I think my enthusiasm for it is selling a few of my audience members. Joy.

The program is perfect for brainstorming. I don't want to limit its capabilities in anyway though, so I'd also like to mention it's great for day to day tasks, project management, and general organization. Let me give you a quick run down on just a few of the goodies.

You start off essentially with one bubble or "base thought". For example, I might have a main thought called "philosophy". From there, I click on the add button. This creates and arm off of the original bubble with a sub-topic. Let's call this one "Western Philosophy". Click add again, and you can create another arm with a bubble. This one we will call, "Eastern Philosophy".

From there, it is very intuitive. You can continue to add to the tree be click and deleting as required. In addition, you can put in links, documents, pictures...anything you need to explain different schools of thought in philosophy. Of course it can be on any topic you wish. Within a few minutes, I've created an example and shared it out to a co-worker. Here's a pic...

I've added several branches and even a photo in a matter of minutes. I can not stress enough how great this can be for brainstorming. I'm even using it to take notes in meeting now to improve organization. Win.

Stay tuned and I will post something a little more in depth soon. Until then, you can have a look at the software first hand at http://www.mindmeister.com/

BP7_Vyew

The Web 2.0 tool I went with was view. I think it has some really great potential for any educator wanting a little extra edge for helping students after hours. Great potential!

In case the video doesn't work, here is the Viddler version

PE3_iMovie

Down to the wire on this one folks. But for good reason.

I decided that since my work and school schedule is taking me away from my girls a little too much that maybe I could involve them in the iMovie portion of school. They all were very excited and asked if they could be "superheroes" in the movie. I said they could do whatever they wanted. I would let them pick the shots and I would help them with any of the higher end stuff they needed in After Effects. It turned out to be a great time....until the past few days.

I've been incredibly busy at work and was home late every night. We've been getting a ton of rain so we couldn't get a few shots I thought we really needed. But the girls wanted to pick the shots anyway. I'm usually a perfectionist so part of me was getting hives while watching them decide what kind of videos they wanted, but in the end I had a great time.

It also gave me a chance to actually teach them something I was learning. They all stuck with me the whole time on this, since that was part of our deal. Now they are all familiar with iMovie, even my 8 year old.

They decided to make a trailer for a movie. Watch out folks...this is going to be a blockbuster....

BP6_Link to Jess' site

So you think competing with Facebook is tough? You say Youtube has taken your students? You think that the re-unification of Germany was a bad idea? Well, good news my friends; I can help you with two of those things.

One of my classmates at FullSail had put together a great video for a site called "edmodo". I'm not going to go too into detail, but it looks like a great tool for educators looking to keep up and work with, instead of against technology.

Jess has streamlined a quick one minute video for edmodo and probably received tons of corporate kick backs for putting it together....because that's how she rolls.

Check it out!

Jess' edmodo video