{"id":5594,"date":"2020-03-17T16:06:24","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T16:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.learningaloud.com\/blurts\/?p=5594"},"modified":"2020-03-17T16:06:30","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T16:06:30","slug":"explore-a-new-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningaloud.com\/blurts\/2020\/03\/17\/explore-a-new-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Explore a new tool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The present situation may leave many of us trying to find productive ways to spend our time. There are no sports to watch. We are nervous and need a distraction that offers some redeeming value. My recommendation for educational technology advocates is to explore a different online service that may have value in a classroom or for professional development. This type of project is flexible enough to fit personal circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My recommendation would be wt.social<\/a>. This service is still under development by Jimmy Wales and crew<\/a>. You may recognize Wales as the developer of Wikipedia. I have explored multiple services on what others have described as the indie web and I think this service has a reasonable chance of gaining traction. One way to understand wt.social is as an alternative to Facebook. I see it a little differently. I would describe the service as a way to identify and subscribe to topics maintained by different groups that collectively result in a feed. In the following image, you should be able to see what I mean. I have subscribed to several topics (subwikis in the red box) that generate a feed (green box).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I endorse the diversification of our collective use of social media for multiple reasons. Among my personal reasons is the need to oppose monopolies as a way to encourage continued development and as an opposition to the collection of personal information as a way to support most existing services (this is different from the issue of displaying ads). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you decide to give wt.social a try, you will encounter a request to subscribe to the paid version. This may speed up your membership, but I did not pay and I was granted membership within 4 days. My concern which I have shared with the founders was that I would be willing to commit funds ($20 – I have been donating this amount to the startups asking for contributions), but the subscription options available seemed more than the service justified at this point. As a startup, this is the dilemma – the business needs funds to ramp up and the product has yet to get to a level warranting substantial payments. I think as a practical matter this is now, even more, the case than it was a few months ago. People are going to be resistant to adding another expense in uncertain times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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If you decide to give wt.social a try, take a look at the k12-edtech<\/a> subwiki I have established. This may look like a personal blog at present. This is not the intention. The subwiki offers a place for all members to submit content. I just established the topic. To assure others that some content would be available, I uploaded posts from my blogs. There are too many existing subwikis that have nothing in them when you visit. This is a startup problem and seeding this wiki with content I had available was my solution. This is intended to be a shared space. <\/p>\n

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The present situation may leave many of us trying to find productive ways to spend our time. There are no sports to watch. We are nervous and need a distraction that offers some redeeming value. My recommendation for educational technology … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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