I use Blogger to house reference materials I might need such as meeting notes, ePortfolio information, and for reflection. I like to put articles or website urls up there so I can find them quickly and from any computer I'm on.
I have eportfolio information on http://kweportfolios.blogspot.com/ and try to write up a page or so when I attend a meeting or go to a conference I use http://kwmeetingnotes.blogspot.com/. In my Imminent Transformations blog I write about what's new and will change education http://imminenttransformations.blogspot.com/. I started a recipe blog especially for my kids who are at college - they'd call at inconvenient times and ask how to make something. I tried e-mailing the recipes, but they can't find the email. Now I just post them on Blogger. http://kwrecipes.blogspot.com/
I often find resources I might use as a reference and Blogger keeps my comments and allows me to put in links. If I don't publish the post, I can still get to it but it's not open for others to see.I don't really use these for social networking, but more for "anywhere, anytime" access. I think it's very easy to use and is a quick way to get information up on the internet for easy access. GoogleDocs is easy and could provide the same "anywhere, anytime" access, but it's not as pretty!
2. Pachyderm -
I've used Pachyderm for a few years. I was on the CSU Pachyderm team and attended the first few project planning meetings. The goal was to rewrite the program (originally developed at SFMOMA) and make it an open source project for use in other libraries and higher education institutions. bringing Pachyderm from SFMOMA to . The entire process was interesting; it was one of the first projects I was involved with that had contributers working at a distance. Programmers were from California, Arizona, Case Western, etc. Many conference calls, emails, instant-messaging, online chats, supported by quarterly face to face meetings, helped with communications.
Pachyderm is pretty easy to use, and the general formatting provides consistent opportunity for pedagogically sound design, but there are things I don't like about it. I don't like the color scheme. I don't like the way pictures have to be loaded up one at a time. I think the formats requred for pictures and movies are a little prohibitive.
3. Newsletter - accessible word document and accessible pdf. http://teachingcommons.cdl.edu/eportfolio/documents/April2009v4.pdf
California has taken a strong stance in promoting accessibility, and the CSU is at the forefront. We have had to take a lead with accessibility - even ahead of the UCs and Community Colleges. I originally made this newsletter with Microsoft Word. I was careful putting in the links, and used the headers formating option within Word. This automatically gets read by screen readers. The text is readable and all the images are labeled. When I converted the 'word' document into PDF format, all of these precautions paid off. I recently installed Acrobat 9, and they have built in accessibility checks, both a 'Quick Check' and a 'Full Check'. The newletter passed both, with only the horizontal lines dividing sections showing up as potential problems as there wasn't alt text attached to them.
4. Social Networking - NING, Facebook, LinkedIn
I use NING for a group within MERLOT, but it doesn't get used very often. I think this kind of technology is useful but users need to have a reason for the site - either a big upcoming project/meeting, or a high concern. I don't think this passive site works well or allows for much interaction in our busy busy world. I use Facebook only to contact my kids. People invite me to join their groups on Facebook, but I really consider it out of the realm of my professional face. I keep a divide between professional and personal. I use LinkedIn to support friends. Again, I'm picky about who I link-into. For any of these I don't use many peripherals because I just want to get in and get my business done.
5. My biggest project is my website at http://teachingcommons.cdl.edu/eportfolio/index.html. The CSU ePortfolio project exemplifies the The Carnegie Foundation's idea of a "teaching commons" in which a community of faculty that are committed to enhancing the scholarship of teaching and learning can exchange ideas, best practices, discuss policy changes, and promote pedagogical innovations for their students. For more information about Teaching Commons see http://teachingcommons.cdl.edu/eportfolio/aboutus/index.html at the bottom of the page. The website is rich and complex, and supports a variety of resources for those interested in ePortfolios. This was built with DreamWeaver and is supported mainly through Contribute. I wish it was on the WebGUI CMS which would allow for more interaction including discussion boards and RSS feeds.
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