Heuristic Evaluation

I chose to evaluate the NSW Department of Education's Curriculum Support Website


Effectiveness: This site is well set out and can be navigated effectively. Areas of curriculum are set out using easy to follow tabs and links.
Efficiency:Downloads are fast, all links work as long as you are connected through the det portal.
Satisfaction:High satisfaction was experienced. The site is easy to manoeuvre, intuitive and learning objects and information were quickly downloaded when required.

Subject: http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/index.htm: Computer System Usability Questionnaire
Sender: peta.robinson@gmail.com
From: peta.robinson@gmail.com (CSUQ)

system=http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/index.htm
date=2009-08-29 10:01:45
comment=
q1=6
c1=The drop down menus and links are clear.
q2=6
c2=The site is well planned and there are lots of links
q3=6
c3=I am able to download proformas, information and learning objects
q4=6
c4=all pages download quickly
q5=6
c5=The speed of the downloads means I can quick open a learning object
q6=6
c6=It is easy to read and to manouvre from page to page
q7=6
c7=Including the learning objects I had a go at.
q8=0
q9=0
q10=0
q11=6
q12=6
c12=information was set out into Key Learning Areas, policies and initiatives.
q13=6
q14=0
q15=6
q16=7
q17=7
q18=6
q19=6
negative1=sometime unable to download DET intranet only file from home even when logged onto the Intranet,
positive1=easy to navigate
positive2=provides relevant and current information

Social Networking Taxonomy

FOAF
The following website defined a FOAF as The Friend of a Friend, which involves people creating a Web of computer-readable pages describing people, the links between them and the things they create and do. FOAF defines an open, decentralized technology for connecting social Web sites, and the people they describe.

I can see the benefits of FOAF as it is coding that lets users share and inter-connect information from a variety of different sources and change it in numerous ways.
http://www.foaf-project.org/

Folksonomy
Thomas Vander Wal claims he coined the phrase folksonomy and he was vigorously debating the Wikipedia definition in 2005. Now there is a link on Wikipedia to a static webpage where his definition can be read. He states, Folksonomy is the result of personal free tagging of information and objects (anything with a URL) for one's own retrieval. The tagging is done in a social environment (usually shared and open to others).

Flickr uses folksonomy as people can add labels to other people’s photos.
http://vanderwal.net/folksonomy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folksonomy

Social Networking & Online Communities

Pre ICT510 knowledge on social networking: Before ICT510 my definition of social networking would be described differently to what I may describe it now that I have been busy socialising on the Internet. I belong to many offline social networks, such as old work colleagues, book club, local girls group, hockey friends and local community groups. Now I socialise and discuss issues online. I have been socialising Facebook for a short while, I have caught up with old school friends and people who have moved away from the area. It is a quick and easy way to keep in touch, but I find Facebook is for trivial stuff, it doesn't seem like the forum for deep thinking and debate, or maybe it is the friends I keep!

Social networking is explained by fatpublisher - web design and development as a social structure made up of relationships and links, whether strong or weak, to people we have something in common with. The article goes on to explain that online networks such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, twitter, Linkedin, Bebo, Flickr, Friends Reunited have grown considerably in recent times and they enable people to widen their social networks in regards to their special interests across the world. Social Networking websites are not just for brief informal chats, but the provide an environment for finding information from a trusted source (e.g. a selected colleague on twitter) along with providing a forum for discussion and debate.
http://www.fatpublisher.com.au/resources.php?topic=6&article=14&page=1

Pre ICT510 knowledge of online communities: I have to say my knowledge until recently of online communities probably would not have gone past those that my teenage children (now adults) were involved in. These were mostly online games such as World of Warcraft. They also chatted using hotmail the came Facebook and My Space. Until the last couple of years I only saw online communities being for young people, I didn't realise it catered for all of us (or should I say for people of any age and a variety of interests).

Online communities is explained by BusinessDictionary.com as a frontierless, geographically dispersed community of people and organisations connected via internet or other networks. Preece and Maloney-Krichmar (2005) discuss the rapid change of the definition of communities with the advent of people meeting online. They explain that the term community has changed from being where individuals' interactions took place primarily face-to-face; therefore, social relationships took place with a stable and limited set of individuals (Gergen, 1997:Jones, 1997) to today where community is measured by the quality of relationships, this then allows for the online relationships to be included as communities. These online relatinships may by strong, weak, brief or long standing.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/virtual-community.html

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue4/preece.html

The connection of social networking and online communities: I am part of many social networks and these relationships may overlap as some people I know have connections with people I know in other areas of my life or with people I want to know. My relationships with these people varies considerably depending on the group. These networks are both online and offline or a mixture of both. But more and more I am finding that my social networks are moving online. When I am in a social group online it becomes an online community.

What I want to get from ICT510: I like using computers and I always get excited about the way the Internet has and it changing my life. I want to develop a better understanding of what is presentlu available, what is coming and how I can best use it in my role as a teacher. As an educator I am very quickly coming to understand that the Internet is creating a new paradigm in education. I don't want to get left behind.

Video Conferencing

Tomorrow my class will be participating in a video conference with another school. My students will be able to talk to peers at another school about 50 odd kms away. This will be the first time my Kinder / Year 1 students will be participating in a video conference. It should be fun.

Becoming Online Community Savvy

I went to a course for Future Leader with the DET last week and I felt really great as we were asked if we had used various online community sites such as twitter, blogs and Facebook and I could say that I had used them all. Interestingly there were very few of us who had ventured into these areas.

Skype

The chat on Skype worked well and thanks to my new ICT510 friends I learnt how to put the little smiley faces and other symbols into my chat. We all tried to do a phone chat and video chat. Although I could hear everyone saying hello, I also kept getting the Skype lady talking about doing a test. Others complained of the same thing. I am going to practice on the weekend with my kids and sister, so I will be more confident soon.

twitter

I really love twitter, I have had a few discussions with some into it IT teachers and they have described how twitter has been a great way for them to get on the spot information about teaching. It sounds like a great way for teachers and anyone else for that matter to receive short snippets of relevant info from colleagues.
I love the short briefs on news and current affairs too.

CSU - Chat on Iteract

Our chat on the Interact site on Wednesday the 19th went really well. The conversation flowed quickly. It was good to get in early with a couple of early birds as the conversation could be a bit more in depth. The beauty of the typing type of chats is that they are all fairly similar, which means you can easily move between the various sites offering chats.

twitter

I became a twitter-er a couple of days ago and I think it will suit me very well. I am following ABC new and Radio National. I am trying to think of some others that will interest me, I think Kev's (as in PM) will be a bit boring as I'm over politics at the moment.

I think my next mission is to become a podi, I use my iPod for music, but I haven't downloaded a program to listen to yet? I will download one before Friday and listen to it on the plane while I'm travelling to Sydney for a conference.

Why is my post time wrong?

I just posted my last message at 8:43pm and it said it was some time around 3am. It is now 8:45pm on my computer.

Video chat

Well I tried to do the video chat tonight, but was unsuccessful. I did manage to chat with Ash and Diana. It was the same as chatting on Facebook, so I felt fairly comfortable. I will practice with one of my kids this week and then try again with a uni pod member.

It is a start!

Well, how easy was setting up this blog! I don't know why I have waited so long. I have always liked the thought of having a blog. Now I will have to do a bit of work to make it look more like my personality.