NAME: Sarah Clarke DATE: Tuesday, March 31st, 2009

LOCATION: New York

An exploration of NETVIBES

AGGREGATORS AIDING PERSONAL LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Hi!

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us

backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.” Anais Nin

By 2010 the collective volume of global information will double every 11 hours

How do we manage all this data?

Managing Data

Taking Center Stage

o Pin down one platform – focus on building your information from that point. Create the right paths to your platform and the most valuable information you need will come TO you.

o We’ve spoken of Digital Literacy – this brings into question digital efficiency - knowing how to get the best from the available tools.

o We need to create comprehensive Profiles. To do this we need to understand what works for us. What our preferred learning styles and approaches are. We need to explore and mature our online identities - what shapes us as students and teachers and enter into the mass collaboration that is this new world.

Once we address the fundamental questions of what we want and when we want it, it becomes a matter of selecting the tools to bring the right information to us at the point when we need it.

Working Smarter

The real purpose for the constellations is to help us tell which stars are which, nothing more. On a really dark night, you can see about 1000 to 1500 stars. Trying to tell which is which is hard. The constellations help by breaking up the sky into more managable bits.

Presenting Aggregators…

LTC’s view on Aggregators

Click me!

This part has already been written (and far better than I could write) so rather than add to the mounting volumes of info on the same subject I’d like you to look at two links that I have rated highly - if you trust my opinion click below, if not do a search for Aggregators on Google

Now, ideally to illustrate the concept I would like to have the following link populate within this slide bringing the content to you – as we’re not quite there yet I’ll link to directly with where you need to go. Click on the links below.

Wikipedia’s view on Aggregators

..and me!

Aggregation What is it? How does it work?

….and if you skipped the links here’s a short summary

In essence Aggregators help you manage your digital life by bringing all your favorite things on the internet together on your own personal web page.

Introducing

A step in the right direction towards building a universal platform

Take these next 3 simple steps and you’ll be ready to go.

LET’S GO!

First go to http://www.netvibes.com/ and personalize your page in 3 quick steps

Step 1 - Sign up Stick your pin in!

LET’S GO!

First go to http://www.netvibes.com/ and personalize your page in 3 quick steps

Step 1

Step 2 Add your interests - bringing content to you

LET’S GO!

First go to http://www.netvibes.com/ and personalize your page in 3 quick steps

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3 - Your page is ready…

Your PLE will look something like this

Your PLE will look something like this

Click here to add more content

Continuous Learning

Over time monitor your learning habits and adjust your PLE accordingly

I’m still moving panels to figure out what view works for me – what information is more important in my daily activities - continuously adding and deleting widgets.

For a more detailed view on how to use Netvibes click here:http://www.slideshare.net/HelenaMFehr/slideshows

Information needs to work in harmony on one platform accessible whenever and wherever we need it. It is for this reason that I downloaded Netvibes a few weeks ago and that I continue to tweak my views of the world (wide web) to get the most from this tool.

My ongoing personal development associated with this tool helps me focus on:

Conclusion Journey

Building my Profile/Identity – likes and dislikes when it comes to learning and information gathering. What makes me tick – how my brain works. What is my learning preference? – what is my learning style?– how much of this is born out of habit and how much actually works with the natural state of my mind mapping.

Increasing my Digital Literacy - knowing what’s out there – staying current.

Contributing to build communities of practice where I can collaborate to provide the best classroom/teaching experience for my chosen subjects/passions.

Become a guardian of my own information/knowledge.

My next steps:

Exploration into building Smart Enterprises – ELE’s, Enterprise Learning Environments – overcoming security restrictions - building platforms shaped throughout your career.

DestinationBecome a guardian of other people’s information/knowledge.

Referenceshttp://ltc.umanitoba.ca/wikis/etl/index.php/Aggregation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggregator

http://www.netvibes.com/

http://books.google.com/books?id=3lFAAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA47&vq=aggregations&dq=constellations+aggegations&output=text&source=gbs_search_s&cad=0

Origin of Constellations. — A moment's observation of the sky on a clear and moonless night will show one that the stars are not uniformly scattered over its surface. Every one is acquainted with such groups as the Big Dipper and the Pleiades. This natural grouping was noticed in prehistoric times and was of more interest to primitive peoples, spending their lives in the open air under skies which were nearly always clear, than it is to the ordinary person in this age of houses and artificial lights.

Besides, the ancients were highly imaginative and, like children, they secured a sort of companionship for themselves by seeing all sorts of living creatures in inanimate objects, and they often wove about them the most fantastic romances. They saw in the

natural aggregations of stars the forms of all sorts of animals, whose names were given to the groups, or constellations. Only a few constellations have been added in modern times, except in that part of the southern sky which was always invisible to ancient observers.