>If bb or Nate are available and contact me, some of this can be posted
>earlier or later, and we can begin some summarizing and discussing. Yet
>to be dealt with is whether this should go onto xmca or not. It may
prove
>simply a distraction for some/many. Any views on that appreciated.
Mike,
There was a short discussion on the different possible tools to mediate
discussion for the course (I think while you were gone back in sept.).
Below I've cut and pasted a summary David put together based on the
discussion. I don't think we ever came to consensus on what would work
best (or even work well).
of course, using the XMCA listserve would be the easiest (to implement)
but I'm not sure if everyone would appreciate the clutter in their inbox
and we would have to be very careful about using clear subject lines in
our posts so that we could keep the divergent discussions clear to the
other users....
One possibility is creating a Yahoo group. It is free, has easy access,
allows you to post and archive documents, has threaded discussions (like
XMCA), and also sends the discussion posts to your e-mail box. You do
have to register to get into the group (i.e. give yahoo some personal
info) and have to navigate ads....
I could also check to see if our locally developed Syllabase could be
made available to the group. It would support most of our activities
pretty easily and is easy for the organizers to set up.
other ideas???
jim
1) a web-based threaded discussion tool (what WebBoard, KF and others
would offer in part)--
Examples:
WebBoard - http://forums.chatspace.com/~wb5trial/guests
Knowledge Forum - http://knowledgeforum.ucsc.edu:27320/ Gordon says:
"First selct EDUC250_FALL02 as the database and then log in with
Username: visitor and Password: guest
PRO: permanent topical indexing with multiple threads; shared archive;
flexible management; embedded within web interface for easy linking to
resources (like document or link libraries).
CON: requires learner to be online over extended period for browsing,
posting.
2) a "newsgroup" discussion that could be downloaded locally--
Example: <alt.fan.dan-quayle> ;-)
PRO: basic indexing by reply-tos; shared archive; local download
requires less online browsing.
CON: interface (newsgroup reader) not widely used (IMHO); not as
flexible as current generation web-based tools.
3) email listserv like xmca--
PRO: only requires email client; minimal connect time; archive.
CON: not threaded; not integrated with web resources; messages sit in
your inbox along with all the other stuff.
4) hybrid of 1 + 2,3-- (a web-based course tool w/ newsgroup or
listserv, like Kevin has mentioned for WebBoard)
PRO: meets diverse needs.
CON: more difficult to manage; learners' experience of course varies,
which would affect participation.
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