I’ve posted over here about educational blogging and web 2.0 resources. I’d be interested to hear any comments you might have.
Incidentally, the Emerge project is a JISC funded project exploring the use of web 2.0 for collaboration. It goes without saying that they’re running Elgg as the platform.
The University of Brighton funded development of the presentation tool we’ve been conceptualising for the last year. It’s now in testing, and we’ve uploaded it on this site for you to try out.
Here’s my sample presentation: the history of Elgg development.
If you’re an Elgg.net user, this is an essential read.
In brief: we’re changing its name, because people get confused about what Elgg actually is. It’s not really going to affect you much, but you should know what’s going to happen.
This isn’t a usual kind of post for me, but an old friend of mine just nudged me because he is seeking new employment.
If anyone’s after a first-rate programmer whose CV contains just about anything you could wish for (PDF), Marcus comes with a very high personal recommendation from me. He’s got extensive experience in both the private and public sector, from commerce through health to education.
Check out his CV; contact details are at the top of the PDF.
I’m generally reluctant to wade into arguments, but there’s been a war of words between Dave and Stephen Downes over the weekend – and unlike the slightly jovial sparring I had with Marc Canter a while back, this one has made us both quite upset.
Dave’s post on Saturday, open source – only in an ideal world, was intended to draw out argument, and hopefully provoke a little discussion about the business models we take for granted on the Internet. It’s no secret that we’ve found it a struggle to make ends meet while developing Elgg, and the other Curverider projects are a way for us to make more of an impact. In particular, in just over two weeks, Explode has had more publicity and interest than Elgg has over three years. That’s made us look up and take notice, and I believe was one of the catalysts for Dave’s post.
There’s nothing wrong with his assertion; it’s not a closed case that open source is a better model. Debate is what the Internet is really good for, because you can easily reach a lot of different people with radically different viewpoints than your own. That’s one of the reasons we built Elgg, and I think that principle stands up as a good one for society as well as for learning. If everyone follows some basic rules, you can widen the gene pool of ideas. Rule number one is avoid ad hominem attacks, and unfortunately, this is the way Dave was responded to on a very well-read elearning blog.
In another life, I’ve run a forum for serious debate (which I won’t link to, but you can find it if you try) for over five years, which gets roughly the same number of pageviews and contributions as Elgg.net per day, and where teenagers – not usually the most level-headed of people – have discussed everything from Cindy Sheehan to gay marriage, largely without incident. These are the rules that have kept us going for all that time:
Use the English language to the best of your ability. That includes at least trying to use the correct spelling for your region, and using easily understandable punctuation. If we see you speaking in 1337, or writing “hey peeps how r u”, we will cry.Don’t personally insult another forum user, especially not because of their political or social views. This also includes trashing a forum topic they’ve made; if you feel it’s below you, don’t contribute. Basically, if you don’t have something constructive to say, don’t say it at all – if you’re too abusive, you might find yourself banned.
Don’t post IN ALL CAPS, or make “me too” postings – i.e., if you’re posting, make it legible, and try to further the conversation.
I think this stands up as a good principle to debate anything on the Internet. One of the most powerful features of personal publishing is the ability to get your message out there instantly – whether you’re right or wrong. To quote someone else in a webby field, with great power comes great responsibility; in other words, think before you post.
Arguing with Dave’s post about the merits of open source is fine. Debate away; all parties might learn something, as often happens when people disagree and discuss civilly. But there’s nothing to gain from attacking him as a person, or smearing our goals as a project based on your personal suspicions or prejudices.
Let’s keep this adult, people.
This is a heads up. It’s unlinked from anywhere but this blog post for now – but this is a ping-based person search, designed to work across all social networks. We’re going to do a lot more with the results (as well as paginate them), but for now, feel free to have a look.
If you’re interested in hooking your service into this – and for the record, we don’t plan on leaving this to just people – we’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment, send us an email or phone us on +44 1865 339313 / 339314 during office hours. Cheers.
