eXtreme Learning

eXtreme Learning - XL

Duncan Smeedduncan.smeed@cis.strath.ac.uk

http://www.cs.strath.ac.uk/~dunc/

http://www.smeed.org/

eXtreme Learning

eXtreme Learning - XL

• What?• Why?• How?• When?• Issues?

eXtreme Learning

XL - What?

• Term coined after eXtreme Programming (XP)• XP is a design technique for the rapid

design/prototyping/implementation of software• Can XL learn lessons from XP? I terms of…

– Collaboration within the ‘team’

– Rapid creation of (links to) content

– Communication

– Rapid feedback/amendments

– …more points at http://duncan.smeed.org/2452

eXtreme Learning

…XL - What?

Aims and Objectives of the XL Project:

Aims:– To involve students at Dunbar Grammar School in a

web-based collaborative project, which will extend and challenge them.

– To develop methodologies for incorporating web-logging into the teaching and learning environment.

– To produce a report/templates for other schools.

– To provide a relevant context for students to develop writing skills.

eXtreme Learning

…XL - What?

Objectives:

By engaging in Extreme Learning Projects students will develop the following skills and personal qualities:

1. web-based research;

2. weblogging;

3. website design;

4. independent work;

5. teamwork;

6. collaborative planning;

7. adopting differing roles;

8. writing skills;

9. time management;

10. awareness of alternative points of view.

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XL - Why?

• See Aims and Objectives ;-)• Enthusiasm

– Project champions

– Students

– Staff

– Parents

• Effective use of new ICT technologies in a teaching and learning context

eXtreme Learning

XL - How?

• Pilot Project– Human element:

• Students

• Staff

• Parents

– Technological element:

• Weblogging using a Content Management System– [Weblogging presentation if there's time]

• Web Server plus CMS Software– [Demo if there's time]

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XL - When?

• ASAP!?• Action plan for the Pilot Project• Server and CMS software can be set up within a

short space of time• Projects identified, allocated, and started

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XL - Issues?

• Privacy• Permissions• Public access

“It will be critically important that we ensure that students or any other party cannot access these personal portals without a password and a user account.”

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XL - Further Reading

• See http://duncan.smeed.org/xl for the discussion that started this all off and a number of links to, for example, other weblogging in schools projects.

eXtreme Learning

What is a Weblog?

Weblogs are often-updated sites that point to articles elsewhere on the web, often with comments, and to on-site articles. A weblog is kind of a continual tour, with a human guide who you get to know. There are many guides to choose from, each develops an audience, and there's also comraderie (sic) and politics between the people who run weblogs, they point to each other, in all kinds of structures, graphs, loops, etc.

Source: Dave Winer - http://newhome.weblogs.com/historyOfWeblogs

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…Death to Blogs?

Continuing to discuss "what is a blog" in technical terms makes the whole thing feel like CB radio.

Distributed conversations and the communities that they create/nurture are the killer app of the internet. Let's talk about why that is revolutionary...”

Source: Jonathan Peterson - http://www.way.nu/archives/000244.html#000244

eXtreme Learning

Weblogs - Who?

• Early adopters were avid enthusiasts– Very few weblogs five years ago– Early webloggers often wrote and used their own weblogging

systems:• These early systems were relatively unsophisticated amounting

to little more than front-ends to HTTP and FTP uploaders– Most/all were technologists

eXtreme Learning

Weblogs - Who?

• Late adopters are just webloggers– Hundreds of thousands of weblogs currently. – Nowadays most webloggers use a ‘commercial’

weblogging systems - a means to an end, not an end in itself.

– Technologists are in the minority having been joined by the likes of:

• Hobbyists, activists, journalists, novelists, diaryists, egotists

– But are all ‘web archaeologists’!• Digging up links and summarising, quoting,

annotating, and reviewing them are their raison d’etre.

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Weblogs - Why?

• Weblogs are the ultimate personal publishing system. There are three main reasons why weblogging has mushroomed in the past few years:– Ease of Use– Ease of Use– and…

eXtreme Learning

Weblogs - Where?

• “Where to Weblog” can be interpreted in several ways:– Where would you need to be to weblog?– Under what circumstances would you weblog?

eXtreme Learning

…Weblogs - Where?

• Where would you need to be to weblog?– This depends on the type of weblogging tool you use– Tools basically fall into one of two categories

• A centralised weblogging system• A semi-decentralised weblogging system

eXtreme Learning

…Weblogs - Where?

• A centralised weblogging system– Uses a front-end (usually a browser) to a server-hosted, usually

dynamically generated, weblog.– Creation, editing, administering, etc.,of weblog posts are server-

side operations.– Can be used from any browser, anywhere, anytime.– Potentially lower cost ‘per user’ but issues of load and scalability

server-side.

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…Weblogs - Where?

• A semi-decentralised weblogging system:– A front-end (sometimes a browser) to a client-hosted weblog, that

is mirrored (usually as static pages) to, and served from, an ‘upstream’ server.

– Creation, editing, administering, etc., of weblog posts are client-side operations.

– You need access to the client. Use restricted to when you have access to your own desktop/laptop.

– Potentially higher cost ‘per user’ but lower load on server hence better scalability.

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Weblogs - When?

• Under what circumstances would you weblog?– Whenever you wish to capture some knowledge or information

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Weblogs - Which?

• There are many popular weblog tools– Blogger - http://www.blogger.com

– Conversant - http://www.free-conversant.com

– Movable Type - http://www.movabletype.org

– Radio Userland - http://radio.userland.com

• My favourite is Conversant– See http://duncan.smeed.org/iwmw-2002 ;-)

• Not all have the same capabilities/functionality

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Weblogs - Conclusion

• Weblogs are currently under-rated– Most often dismissed as ‘vanity’ publishing systems

• Some weblogging systems are, in fact, highly sophisticated personal content management systems

• Judge for yourself – http://www.weblogs.com

• Create your own and/or subscribe to mine!