Terence Armentano - eResume & ePortfolio

Open-source software is impacting business, transforming governments and enabling education across the planet. Open-source is built on the principle that the source code of a program should be readily accessible, so that users have the right to maintain, adapt and improve the software they use in any way they see fit. Linux, Firefox and Wikipedia are just three of its success stories, which are too many in number to count. But where did open-source come from, and where is it headed next?

The feature length documentary Revolution OS offers excellent insights into both questions, tapping into the thoughts and stories of the people that made open-source a reality. Read Full Article Here or Watch the documentary in it’s entirety below.

Google makes searching for patents easy. I saw this on a blog earlier this week and I thought it was neat.

Everything is Miscellaneous looks like an interesting book. David Weinberger’s new book covers the breakdown of the established order of ordering. He explains how methods of categorization designed for physical objects fail when we can instead put things in multiple categories at once, and search them in many ways. Much like the organization of this blog and even this post. I am tagging this post with 3 labels so this article will show up in 3 different categories on the right hand side of the screen (web 2.0, video, and folksonomy). I also have a custom google search engine in this blog, which enables the reader to retrieve information by searching for key words. It’s no card catalog, that’s for sure (thank goodness), but the idea is to connect relevant information to the reader in the most effective and efficient way possible.

I have included a few pre-publication quotes about the book as well as a google video of a presentation that David Weinberger delivered to spark your interest.

“From how information is organized, to the nature of knowledge and how meaning is determined, this book is a profound contribution to understanding the impact of the digital revolution.”
- Richard Sambrook, Director, BBC Global News

“The world is messy, like it or not, and it’s only going to get messier as the Web destroys rules and rule-makers. You can either complain about the chaos and wish for the good old days of order, or you can buy this book and understand why delirious disorder will soon make us all smarter.”
- Chris Anderson, Editor in chief of Wired, and author of The Long Tail

I have been thinking about ways of connecting with the folks that visit TerenceOnline and I thought one way to do it would be to create a social network. Join the revolution of online teaching & learning and harness the collective intelligence of your peers. Use this network to stay connected, share ideas, collaborate, and more.

JOIN THE REVOLUTION TODAY!

http://onlineteaching.ning.com/

“Imagine an electronic page for each species of organism on Earth, available everywhere by single access on command.” - Edward O. Wilson

This project is awesome in scope and looks to be be an amazing resource for the field of science and the world at large. It also serves as an example and reminder to institutions of higher education of the potential and power that online collaboration through technologies bring to the field of educating.

Watch the video:

What does Encyclopedia of Life seek to accomplish? What are its objectives?
“Ultimately, the Encyclopedia will serve as an online reference source and database for every one of the 1.8 million species that are named and known on this planet, as well as all those later discovered and described. Encyclopedia of Life will be used as both a teaching and a learning tool, helping scientists, educators, students, and the community at large gain a better understanding of this planet and all who inhabit it.” - View the Site

Richard Baraniuk is a Rice University professor with a giant vision: to create a free, global online education system. In this presentation, he introduces Connexions, the open-access publishing system that’s changing the landscape of education by providing free coursework and educational materials to everyone in the world.

Finally, a video in plain english that explains one of the most important Internet technologies that is revolutionizing the internet and making it better…RSS. This video is a great follow-up to my previous post on Blogging in academia. This video simply demonstrates the power of the blog and RSS technology. His favorite reader, as mentioned in the video, is Google Reader, but I find Netvibes works much better for my style (Netvibes is my personal learning environment packed with feeds, podcasts, vodcasts, to-do lists, bookmarks, and much more). I’ll make a post on the power of personal learning environments later, but for now, enjoy the video and be prepared to completely understand RSS.

I believe blogging is going to play a much greater role in the future of academics and educational institutions. The Information Age in which we live is moving us in the direction of a knowledge based economy. In this knew economy where information is created, shared, and re-mixed at the speed of light, consumers demand quality, up-to-date, relevant information, and they want it now! Professors that blog are moving in this direction and their students will recognize and appreciate it.

It’s similar to the way computer companies have evolved their business model for developing new software. They realized 2 major things: (1) that people would rather have something to use in a Beta version than years of waiting for a product that ends up being buggy anyhow (2) the feedback they get while in Beta version enables them to make a better product more quickly. It is a move from the Microsoft model (wait 5 years for a substantial upgrade) to the Google model (perpetual upgrades).

A teacher that blogs is like a company moving from the Microsoft model to the Google model. The following is a great example of a college professor using a blog effectively in the field of higher education. Notice the rich media, large network of related blogs, and tons of resources, which makes this blog a jackpot for anyone interested in journalism. I’m sure her students appreciate it. Check it out here - http://tojou.blogspot.com/

I know it has been a while since my last blog so I hope your RSS reader is still plugged in to TerenceOnline because I have a really neat piece of technology to share with you today. Jott is a fairly new free innovative service on the internet that enables people to dial a phone number (on a phone they registered with Jott for free), record a message, and then Jott will record and transcribe the message for you and email it to you, another person, or a group. For example, students could use the service to remind them of a test that is coming up or homework that is due. In addition this service could enhance group collaboration. Teachers could use the service in a variety of ways such as for personal organization as well as integrating the technology into class assignments. My main reservation about the service is that if I am constantly using my cell phone to Jott my thoughts down, will my Verizon phone bill be really expensive? Jott uses a toll free number, but I don’t think my cell phone company cares about that. I’m not positive though.

The Jott website states “At Jott, we’re simply trying to give you more access: to your ideas, to people, and more. We do it using things you trust that are already in your life: an ordinary cell phone and your voice. To Jott, just make a phone call. The way we figure it, if Jott gives you time back, let’s you connect or get more done, we’ve done our job.”

It is a pretty cool and an extremely easy to use service. Check it out at http://www.jott.com and create your first Jott today.