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Claire<BR>
<BR>
In general, what kind of access do the students on the EP have for the internet? Schools would have a good connection. But these kids at home -- ADSL? dialup? Do you have any data about this?<BR>
<BR>
Maggie<BR>
VK3CFI <BR>
<BR>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">On Fri Jun 26 15:05 , Claire Adams <claire.e.adams@gmail.com> sent:<BR>
<BR>
</claire.e.adams@gmail.com></span><blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(245, 245, 245); margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px;">My students don't know what twitter, irc, or forums are.<BR>
They don't even think to look up help (F1 is unheard of!).<BR>
Most country kids (esp. here on the EP) have heard of MSN, but that<BR>
doesn't mean they even use that regularly.<BR>
In my experience some interactive device (maybe wiki, or IRC channel)<BR>
might get used by city kids, or<BR>
kids who live in more densely populated areas, but it would be a waste<BR>
of resources over here.<BR>
<BR>
Claire Adams<BR>
Cummins Area School<BR>
Eyre Peninsula<BR>
South Australia<BR>
<BR>
On Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 1:35 PM, Roland Gesthuizen<<a href="javascript:top.opencompose('rgesthuizen@gmail.com','','','')">rgesthuizen@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<BR>
> (* hand over mouth *) OK you lot .. toss in your 2 cents worth.<BR>
><BR>
> Regards Roland<BR>
><BR>
> 2009/6/23 Dr Paul Chandler <<a href="javascript:top.opencompose('paul.chandler@une.edu.au','','','')">paul.chandler@une.edu.au</a>><BR>
>><BR>
>> Roland and others,<BR>
>><BR>
>> I hope you haven't put the moz on other responses to my question, Roland<BR>
>> :-)<BR>
>><BR>
>> I'm presently engaged in observing classes using Kahootz, for which there<BR>
>> is no existing (student-accessible) forum or similar system.<BR>
>><BR>
>> What we are observing is that students are thriving on the immediacy of<BR>
>> getting help. For instance "how do I make it seem that this character is<BR>
>> morphing to another ... oh, I can show you how to do that" There is help<BR>
>> being spread across schools ("how can I show rain"), but it is<BR>
>> teacher-mediated and word of mouth (but very efficient when it works).<BR>
>><BR>
>> I think help forms are terrific. The rapidity in which I've received<BR>
>> assistance for products like vlc and PGV is astounding, but these are very<BR>
>> large and very active communities, where the principal developers devote<BR>
>> huge numbers of hours to answer questions. This is not likely to be the<BR>
>> case with Kahootz.<BR>
>><BR>
>> You're not going to get extended responses in a medium like twitter. But<BR>
>> interactions such as "Can u mk rain?" "yeah - check <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fsomerain%22" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://somerain"</span></a> are<BR>
>> possible, and probably very helpful.<BR>
>><BR>
>> So, notwithstanding Roland's informed comments about forums and Yahoo<BR>
>> answers, I think my question still remains: I'm wondering if anyone as<BR>
>> thought of - or implemented - the use of Twitter (or some twitter-like<BR>
>> technology) as a "help system" for students?<BR>
>><BR>
>> Regards,<BR>
>><BR>
>> > Twitter is a bit different from a forum to ask for help .. it is an odd<BR>
>> > mix<BR>
>> > of micro-blogging and chat. I have a small, friendly gathering of<BR>
>> > educators<BR>
>> > on my Twitter rgesethuizen identity but not as many as I can tap into<BR>
>> > via<BR>
>> > these forums. No students although I expect they have moved beyond<BR>
>> > micro-blogging to communicating in fewer syllables with words like hmm,<BR>
>> > shh,<BR>
>> > ahh, grr, hah, ugg, huh, yeh etc.<BR>
>> ><BR>
>> > Perhaps if students were looking to share questions they would use Yahoo<BR>
>> > Answers. Last year I was surprised to spot my VCE students skim this for<BR>
>> > answers until I found out that one was handing out IT advice and trying<BR>
>> > to<BR>
>> > gain more 'points' than somebody else! She was doing a swell job of<BR>
>> > answering basic questions by doing some snap research and typing up<BR>
>> > short<BR>
>> > answers. Apparently they got the most points if the questioner voted her<BR>
>> > answer as the best. Worth studying although I should warn that I now<BR>
>> > recognise that like other similar engines, some of the questions<BR>
>> > discussed<BR>
>> > cover adult concepts.<BR>
>> ><BR>
>> > Regards Roland<BR>
>> ><BR>
>> > 2009/6/22 Dr Paul Chandler <<a href="javascript:top.opencompose('paul.chandler@une.edu.au','','','')">paul.chandler@une.edu.au</a>><BR>
>> ><BR>
>> >> Hi folks,<BR>
>> >><BR>
>> >> I'm wondering if anyone as thought of - or implemented - the use of<BR>
>> >> Twitter (or some twitter-like technology) as a "help system" for<BR>
>> >> students?<BR>
>> >><BR>
>> >> We all know that kids talk with one another and 'get help' on various<BR>
>> >> aspects of computing when they are working in the classroom ... is this<BR>
>> >> the logical extension?<BR>
>> >><BR>
>> >> Thoughts?<BR>
>> >><BR>
>> >> --<BR>
>> >> Dr Paul Chandler<BR>
>> >> Research Fellow<BR>
>> >> 'Multimedia grammatical design and authoring pedagogy' (Kahootz)<BR>
>> >> project,<BR>
>> >> School of Education, University of New England<BR>
>> >><BR>
>> >> located at Australian Children's Television Foundation<BR>
>> >> 145 Smith Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, 3065<BR>
>> >> e-mail: <a href="javascript:top.opencompose('paul.chandler@une.edu.au','','','')">paul.chandler@une.edu.au</a><BR>
>> >> Ph: 0400 198 187<BR>
>> >> Fax: (03) 9419 0660<BR>
>> >> Skype: paul.d.chandler<BR>
>> >><BR>
>> >> _______________________________________________<BR>
>> >> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edulists.com.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.edulists.com.au</span></a> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe<BR>
>> >> Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by<BR>
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>> >> Authority<BR>
>> >> and<BR>
>> >> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitta.org.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.vitta.org.au</span></a> - VITTA Victorian Information Technology<BR>
>> >> Teachers<BR>
>> >> Association Inc<BR>
>> >><BR>
>> ><BR>
>> ><BR>
>> ><BR>
>> > --<BR>
>> > Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College<BR>
>> > <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.westallsc.vic.edu.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</span></a><BR>
>> ><BR>
>> > "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can<BR>
>> > change<BR>
>> > the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead<BR>
>> ><BR>
>><BR>
>><BR>
>> --<BR>
>> Dr Paul Chandler<BR>
>> Research Fellow<BR>
>> 'Multimedia grammatical design and authoring pedagogy' (Kahootz) project,<BR>
>> School of Education, University of New England<BR>
>><BR>
>> located at Australian Children's Television Foundation<BR>
>> 145 Smith Street, Fitzroy, Melbourne, 3065<BR>
>> e-mail: <a href="javascript:top.opencompose('paul.chandler@une.edu.au','','','')">paul.chandler@une.edu.au</a><BR>
>> Ph: 0400 198 187<BR>
>> Fax: (03) 9419 0660<BR>
>> Skype: paul.d.chandler<BR>
>><BR>
>> _______________________________________________<BR>
>> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edulists.com.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.edulists.com.au</span></a> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe<BR>
>> Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by<BR>
>> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vcaa.vic.edu.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au</span></a> - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority<BR>
>> and<BR>
>> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitta.org.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.vitta.org.au</span></a> - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers<BR>
>> Association Inc<BR>
><BR>
><BR>
><BR>
> --<BR>
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College<BR>
> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.westallsc.vic.edu.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</span></a><BR>
><BR>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change<BR>
> the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead<BR>
> _______________________________________________<BR>
> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edulists.com.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.edulists.com.au</span></a> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe<BR>
> Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by<BR>
> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vcaa.vic.edu.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au</span></a> - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority<BR>
> and<BR>
> <a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitta.org.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.vitta.org.au</span></a> - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers<BR>
> Association Inc<BR>
<BR>
_______________________________________________<BR>
<a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edulists.com.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.edulists.com.au</span></a> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe<BR>
Year 7 - 10 IT Mailing List kindly supported by<BR>
<a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vcaa.vic.edu.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au</span></a> - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and<BR>
<a href="parse.pl?redirect=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.vitta.org.au" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">http://www.vitta.org.au</span></a> - VITTA Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association Inc<BR>
)<BR>
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