Blurts

I have tried to use Twitter for several months and I am still frustrated with what for me are limitations. I will probably hang on because the system appears popular with so many, but I have shifted how I use the system.

I know that other educators find value in Twitter and have attempted to explain to the rest of us what of educational value this system has to offer. My reaction to these suggestions is pretty much my reaction to those who propose that the cell phone, the old Palm, or classroom clickers are of educational value. To me, these systems are drastically under-powered and often are cumbersome to use. “Better than nothing” should not be our goal.

I do recognize that “group microblogs” offer some opportunities. The traditional blog (e.g., this one) discourages the participation of others (mostly to prevent spam and inappropriate comments) and may offer so many opportunities that some are intimidated. I think there is another factor involved. Many simply do not want to spend the time to generate lengthy posts and post after post of 140 characters or less would appear pretty anemic within a community devoted to more lengthy offerings. Short comments are the only option available within the Twitter community.

My quarrel is not so much with microblogs as it is with Twitter. A post of less than 140 characters is limiting. What can really be accomplished through short posts. A simple request and response pattern is sometimes helpful. What can you tell me about XX? Here is what I know. Here is what I use. etc. I do understand the notion of a conversation but I react the same to Twitter as I do to the experience of attempting to run a chat with more than a couple participants – the noise to information ratio is limiting to meaningful conversation. One way around this is to limit participation. For example, Room 24 uses Twitter to carry on a conversation or at least generate an on-going record of ideas within a classroom. The key is to  connect to http://twitter.com/room24 instead of http://twitter.com.

I also don’t like the focus on text. What is the value in such a minimalist approach? Rather than text-only, I prefer the tumblr approach. Tumblr attempts to differentiate itself from blogs by encouraging posts of a specific type – a text comment, an image, a link. Tumbler attempts to explain the difference as a scrapbook vs. a journal. The idea of self-defined groups (think friends or followers) combined with simple, but diverse post types make sense to me.

It is sometimes difficult to overcome inertia. Some would argue that more recent social bookmarking services offer superior features to del.icio.us. However, the value of a service extends beyond the software to the community using that software. Perhaps the same is true with Twitter. Folks are afraid to switch from an active, but limiting system to a less popular, but more powerful environment.

I have developed my own compromise. I am using an open source microblog called Chyrp (this site). One feature that can be activated within Chyrp allows the announcement of a Chyrp post within Twitter. Others I follow on Twitter appear to take a similar approach combining some Tweets and links from another service. I am not certain how this approach will be accepted. When I first noticed this approach, I was somewhat annoyed but what appeared to be an effort to broadcast posts across several formats. After struggling with Twitter for a few months, I now have a different perspective.

Two-year old Addie received a Dora digital camera for Christmas. She really likes to take pictures. Perhaps she just likes the flash.

Son Todd, the video editor, wonders what very young children or people inexperienced with video or pictures would capture with a camera. He claims we are limited by our past experiences. Addie took pictures of doors. Daughter Kim, autism specialist, says some autistic children struggle to look at faces and may avoid faces when taking pictures. You learn interesting things hanging our with your kids.

Addison With Dora Camera

A near miss of brother Preson

I encountered Jeff Buckley’s version of the Leonard Cohen classic “Hallelujah” some years ago. I have since acquired the original Cohen; and several other versions (Chris Botti, IL Divo, KD Lang) via iTunes.

It is sometimes strange what you can find online. Today, I discover an article from the Mirror (British) identifying the top 10 versions of the song. You can listen to all versions via YouTube links.

The Google Image Search service has been improved by allowing the designation of “content types“.

ReadWriteWeb explanation.

President-elect Obama has made his choice for the next Secretary of Education (see AP summary). While a professional educator all of my life, I have lived mostly in the midwest and never in a large city. I wonder about the choice of a “big-city schools chief”. I understand that the “issues” are very different in this setting and why those who succeed in such environments need be more of a political/business background rather than an educational orientation. Why is this a good thing? New ideas coming out of such a background likely emphasize management and reward structures. The logic appears to be if we can make education a more economically competitive environment, we will attract needed talent to the field and get rid of the less competent. Perhaps, but simplistic.  Seems like a different version of more of the same.

The thing I remember from the acceptance speech was the message the President-elect had for parents. The comments seemed to offer a broader perspective and explain a broader responsibility for student achievement. I understand that it is far too early to tell and I do like the priorities of the Obama education platform. Maybe a break from the traditional was too much to hope for with everything else that is going on.

Some video clips

NYTimes Video

Apple announced today that it was ending its relationship with MacWorld. So many things going on here.

First, the events placed unfair pressure on Apple. The assumption was that Steve Jobs would show, present a keynote, and reveal some fantastic new product. When you think about this, it is unreasoanble. Some product upgrades can be predicted, but new products emerge when they are ready. The pressure to deliver something of the caliber Apple creates by a given date is pretty difficult and perhaps not even a good business decision. What if no great new products happen to exist? What if a product under development is not ready? Why should Apple the company operate according to the time table of trade shows?

Second, there are continued concerns about Job\’s health or at least his role within Apple. Everytime something unexpected happens, this concern reappears and the stock market reacts. At some point, someone else is going to have to emerge.

Third, the day of the tech conference may have passed. I attended an early MacWorld in Boston and it was spectacular. I doubt if I would be as impressed or be willing to spend the money today. The focus on cloud computing has changed many things. The  power of the hardware and software you own matter less and you can preview products online. For me, this transition relates to a different convention (NECC).  Early on, I would spend most of my time in the exhibit halls and ignore the sessions. Not so much anymore. When you have seen one whiteboard, video projector, security system, etc., you have pretty much seen them all. The things that change about technology for me have less to do with what I own or at least that exist in my house or office and more with the services or people I can access online.

I have thought Microsoft was becoming less relevant as the rest of the world took a new direction. I am starting to have similar thoughts about Apple. The company has great equipment and innovative software, but these things matter less now. Apple – time for an inexpensive (but cool) netbook.