Bryan Mathers and I like to mess about with new technology. So when we saw MOO.com launch NFC-enabled business cards we thought we needed some of that action.
They arrived, with some great designs from Bryan, earlier this week. We put together this quick video when at City & Guilds HQ in London yesterday:
(no video? click here!)
We’ve got some ideas around issuing Open Badges via NFC prompted by this technological development and Tim Riches efforts at MozFest last year.
More soon!
Last week I mentioned in a blog post and my weekly newsletter the pre-launch website of my new (part-time) consultancy Dynamic Skillset. I had an enquiry as to how the site put together, so I put together this screencast:
The great thing about being shown how to do something via video is that, if you get stuck, you can pause, rewind and watch parts again. In this one, I go through the process of downloading a responsive website theme and hosting it for free using GitHub Pages.
Remember, the way to increase your digital and web literacies is to tinker about and try new things. You can’t break anything here and all you have to lose is your GitHub virginity. 😉
PS If you’re interested in using GitHub to ‘fork’ (i.e. remix) someone else’s repository, you may find this video playlist helpful.
About this time last year, the Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA) kindly invited me over to keynote their annual conference. I had a great time and presented on Zen and the Art of Digital Literacies.
Subsequently, I was asked to write it up as an article for the inaugural issue of the ILTA’s journal, which has been published recently. They’ve done a really nice job of creating a responsive, web-native, open-access journal that also include the video of me presenting.
Check it out here: http://journal.ilta.ie/2013/05/21/zen-and-the-art-of-digital-literacies/
(you should also take time to go through the other articles in the issue)
I’ve only just got round to watching a TED talk from Clay Shirky entitled How the Internet will (one day) transform government:
(no video? click here!)
Shirky, as ever, makes some really good points but the key for me is the way how well he explains the significance of Git version control software – perhaps most commonly used via Github. It has democratic features built into its core.
Watch the video through to the end and you’ll understand why we at Mozilla are trying to create a generation of Webmakers – people who can tinker with the web and, by extension, engage in participative, democratic activity.
I forgot to mention that you can get a badge for trying Git!
Back in May 2011 I put together a 9-minute screencast showing how I used a (previous work’s) MacBook Pro. That proved reasonably popular with over 18,000 views on YouTube and plenty of comments here. Happily, Stephen Downes picked up on it and shared the way he works.
I thought it was time for an update, not least because I now work for a different organisation and do so from home. I can’t promise that the video screencast above is a comprehensive overview of everything I do, but it reflects what I’m up to right now! Thanks to colleague Laura Hilliger for giving me a nudge to do this. 🙂
Tip: crank the video quality up to 720p and click the arrows to the bottom-right of the embedded YouTube video to go fullscreen!
(can’t see the video? click here!)
Nigel Robertson (@easegill) works at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. A few weeks back he asked if I’d have time to put together a short video about digital literacies for Digital Literacy @ Waikato Awareness Week.
He asked very nicely, so I looked at my calendar and carved out some time yesterday to put the above video together. It only took about 45 minutes from beginning (shooting the video) to end (starting upload to YouTube). My wife thinks it’s OK so it can’t be too bad!
Did you know you can subscribe to my videos on Youtube? Just click on the button above or hit ‘Subscribe’ when visiting my channel!
Can’t see the video? Click here!
Building on the back of my recent DMLcentral post entitled Digital Literacies and Web Literacies: What’s the Difference? I’ve had a go at a more visual explanation of the relationship.
Here’s hoping it makes some sense! I’d love some feedback, if you have any. 🙂
(video not showing? click here!)
Yesterday I participated in my fourth Connected Learning webinar, this time about… Connected Learning! You can find the resources, etc. that were mentioned in the webinar here.
It was great to hang out with such smart people as Connie Yowell and Mimi Ito. 🙂
(click on image or here for larger version)
(video not showing? click here)
Today I did a fairly average job of explaining Open Badges to a roomful of people. I need to work on my elevator pitch.
This one from last year by people more eloquent than me is pretty good.
I recorded the above video in one take when I got back home. My reason for recording it was because I want to get better at explaining Open Badges to the uninitiated.
Questions:
I find Open Badges such a huge and nuanced thing that I may leave out really obvious stuff. Have a look at http://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges for a deeper dive if I’ve whetted your appetite!
I was delighted to be approached a few months ago to be part of the Hybrid Days conference that’s been going on recently. This video gives a useful overview:
What is Hybrid Days? from Hybrid Days on Vimeo.
My presentation is entitled How to Develop Digital Literacies in Yourself and Others and I’ll be delivering it via the official Hybrid Days Livestream channel at 20:00 GMT on Saturday 26th November 2011.
Do join me if you can!
