SESSION+2+-+Mashing+up+your+own+PLE

<- Back to Main Workshop Outline

Short Outline

 * < **Time** ||< **Activity** ||
 * < 1-1:05 ||< Intro ||
 * < 1:05-1:35 ||< Re-syndication, Feed Rolling ||
 * < 1:35-2:05 ||< Scraping Sites ||
 * < 2:05-2:35 ||< Personal Search Engines ||
 * < 2:35-2:45 ||< Demo browser based extensions; discussion ||


 * Pre-Reqs**
 * a blog or some other web space you can write to (even a file on your desktop will do)
 * Yahoo Pipes account - http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/
 * google account (ideal with Coop already enabled) - http://www.google.com/coop/cse/
 * lijit account - http://www.lijit.com/
 * in the "we'll see" category
 * Grazr account - http://www.grazr.com/


 * Key Take Aways**
 * Tools and techniques for generic personal mashups are applicable to your learning environment as well
 * On top of information literacy and computer literacy, "data literacy" is fast becoming a new essential learning skill - the knowledge of where to find data in forms that are reusable elsewhere, the knowledge of what you can do with that data, and the ability to render data into a usable format even when it is not originally presented like that
 * Understanding of the key notion of separation of content and display, and basic understanding of the formats in which data can "flow" and is re-usable
 * Be able to redisplay content where they want it
 * Be able to combine content from different sources
 * Be able to harness their social network to augment their collaborative filtering/search capabilities
 * Be able to render data into a useful format even when it does not start off like that

Long Outline

 * < **Time** ||< **Activity** ||
 * ** 1-1:05 ** || Intro**Intro** ||
 * <  ||< * PLEs are about giving control to the user of how, what and where they learn.
 * Mashups are about taking two different things (be they content or services) and turning them into something new
 * in many ways, PLEs are the "mashups of learning" and many of the skills, techniques and technologies we see in the broader internet mashups also apply to PLEs
 * Simplest mashup - syndicating feeds with feed2js, grazr, webtop or widget
 * Next simplest - combining multiple feeds - Pipes, grazr
 * BUT...what if the site doesn't have a feed or give you data in a usable format - Scrape it!!!
 * Using your network to provide context in collaborative filtering and search
 * The browser as THE place to perform on the fly mashups to augment the learning experience ||
 * **1:05-1:35** ||  **Re-syndication, Feed Rolling** ||
 * <  ||< The simplest form of mashup is taking RSS feeds, and either combining it with another feed or embedding it in another location. There are MANY ways of doing this. Some are:
 * [|Pipes]
 * [|Feed2JS], [|Grazr]
 * [|Google Dynamic Feed Control Wizard]


 * My Examples**
 * [|Use grazr to roll together feeds on "CMS migration topics"]
 * re-syndicate it on wiki page about "CMS migration tools"
 * Becomes (one off my) "hubs" for topic of "CMS migration"
 * Others can see what I am learning
 * Others can easily re-use or subcribe to this same content
 * Others can contribute back to my learning, either in this wiki page or through delicious links


 * Exercises**
 * Combine multiple feeds ([|Pipes])
 * Insert a feed someplace else ([|feed2js])

Why is this a Useful Skill/Technique**
 * Discussion
 * allows you to move your content (and others') easily around the web, reuse it, share it
 * useful for bringing content to students in "central" places while still allowing it to flow elsewhere, be used elsewhere

//**Other Ideas? Other Ways of doing This?**// ||
 * **1:35-2:05 ** ||  **Scraping Sites** ||
 * <  ||< Syndicating content is great, it allows you to get the content *where you want it.* And rolling together feeds means you can get multiple feeds in the same place. But what happens if the content **//is not available//** in a form that is conducive to aggregation/syndication?

Well, the determined learner refuses to throw up their hands, and instead learns how to liberate the content from its page-bound shackles

>
 * Dapper //- web-based screen scrapper -// http://www.dapper.net/
 * Google spreadsheets  - have built in data import tools - http://docs.google.com/
 * //cf. =**importXML**("http://freelearning.bccampus.ca/","////a")//
 * //=**importFeed**(URL)//
 * //=**importHtml**(URL, "list" | "table", index)//
 * OpenKapow - more complicated, but useful for getting things behind passwords - http://openkapow.com/
 * other methods to create notification systems //(e.g. [|watchthispage] [|freemyfeed])//


 * My Examples**
 * [|Job Postings want to be Free]
 * Liberating the WCET Conference Session Data - http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=ppXE7JHVDdcQBPDL8XzhScA&hl=en and then -> http://www.netvibes.com/wcet08#Planet_WCET08


 * Exercises**
 * Scrape wikipedia with Google spreadsheet
 * start with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_100_largest_metropolitan_areas_in_Canada
 * or maybe try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_population
 * use something like =ImportHtml("http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_100_largest_metropolitan_areas_in_Canada", "table",1) in the first column
 * publish the sheet - look at the different options

Why is this a Useful Skill/Technique**
 * Discussion
 * get data, AS DATA, even when its not offered as such
 * once its DATA, then it could be used and combined with other things
 * can you think of any data IN YOUR INSTITUTION that isn't offered *AS DATA*

//**Other Ideas? Other Ways of doing This?**// ||
 * **2:05-2:35 ** ||  **Personal/Social/Constrained Search** ||
 * <  ||< One of the exciting things that are emerging on top of our social networks is the ability to use **//that network itself//** as the lense through which to search the internet.

A parallel development has been custom/constrained search engines, and the ability to dynamically build these based on existing collections of links, feeds or networks.


 * lijit - your personal network search lense - http://www.lijit.com
 * rollyo - early example of a constrained search engine - http://rollyo.com/
 * google coop - Google's foray into the constrained search market - http://www.google.com/coop/cse/
 * mention 'markers'
 * see also CSE on the fly - http://www.google.com/coop/cse/onthefly
 * see also CSE from delicious links
 * see also http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/get_a_personal_search_engine_dashboard_with_hittery.php


 * My Examples**
 * lijit - search MY network - http://www.lijit.com/users/sleslie
 * rollyo search of CMS sites - http://www.rollyo.com/sleslie/course_management_systems/
 * earlier prototype - wiki driven Coop search
 * [|freelearning site] - google coop driven by delicious links on the fly


 * Exercises**
 * build own lijit search engine - http://www.lijit.com
 * build on google coop engine on the fly - http://www.google.com/coop/cse/onthefly

Why is this a Useful Skill/Technique**
 * Discussion
 * start to harness your social network automatically to filter and find what is relevant to you
 * use "expert" collections as "lenses" on the web
 * think about how this might work for classes (search all resources which have been shared/talked about in a class; search all of your classmates blogs/everything they have found or are reading)


 * //Other Ideas? Other Ways of doing This?//** ||
 * **2:35-2:45 ** ||  **Augmenting Learning with Browser based extensions** (Demo only) ||
 * <  ||< Perhaps the most promising avenue, from the perspective of the individual learner controlling how information and connections are presented to them, is the browser itself. Every time you access a website, you are actually rendering a local copy of it in your web browsers. By nature, web browsers make copies, copies that can be locally altered, on the fly.

In addition, the browser is fast becoming the "operating system" - the network platform from which a large portion of the networked learners computing takes place. There are a myriad of ways the browsing experience can be improved to make connection with knowledge and people easier.


 * Plugins
 * [|Greasemonkey]
 * [|Zemanta]


 * My Examples**
 * [|Context search] (build/find new searches with http://mycroft.mozdev.org/ and
 * OER recommender - augment the web with related OER resources - http://www.oerrecommender.org/help/demo.html
 * Finding Books - http://tinyurl.com/6qxu4y
 * WorldCat/Amazon plugin
 * Library Lookup Bookmarklet
 * Using Zemanta to draw in related materials to blog posts on the fly - http://www.edtechpost.ca/readingulysses/wp-admin/post.php?action=edit&post=8


 * Other Resources we likely won't get time to explore**
 * Ubiquity - http://labs.mozilla.com/2008/08/introducing-ubiquity/
 * plugins like Trailfire, PMOG
 * see also http://8-p.info/greasekit/ for Safari
 * cf. http://delicious.com/nessman/opened_presentation

Why is this a Useful Skill/Technique**
 * Discussion
 * can augment your experience of the web by bringing in other relevant educational resources on the fly
 * help you find what you need - instantly


 * //Other Ideas? Other Ways of doing This?//** ||

scrap