Write Technology

Edmodo for Education

I've submitted to a few conferences to speak on microblogging. The Twitter scalability issues have me worried that we might lose Twitter before the conferences roll around, but at least I know things like Plurk, Jaiku, and Pownce will rise up to take its place. Microblogging is here to stay, even if Twitter might not be.

With that in mind, I'd like to talk a little about alpha-stage startup Edmodo. When I'm done with this post, you'll know as much as I do, but believe me, I intend to find out more.

I've blogged before about potential uses for microblogging (Twitter or otherwise) in education. Well, Edmodo takes some of those ideas and turns them into reality in one easy-to-use software app geared at the classroom.

Some of the more interesting features, beyond the standard community and conversation, are the ability to tag a post for future reference. As you may be familiar, in Twitter, you can favorite something. This is a step above that, adding a del.icio.us-like capability to the app. You can also share media files, such as images or videos. Media sharing is one of the advantages that Pownce has over Twitter, and I'm glad to see that Edmodo incorporated this option for education.

I'm not yet sure when they're going live. The video you see here, from early March, says "a few weeks," so I guess that didn't happen. I hope to get in touch with the developers soon and see how things are going. I think this is a fantastic tool.

--
Find Michelle Lentz here at Write Technology, on bub.blicio.us, on Twitter, or Pownce.

YouTube Insight

Yesterday, Google announced YouTube Insight. Ever wondered who, or why, people are watching your monkey video on YouTube?

Today we're taking our first step towards answering these questions with YouTube Insight, a free tool that enables anyone with a YouTube account -- users, partners, and advertisers -- to view detailed statistics about the videos that they upload. For example, uploaders can see how often their videos are viewed in different geographic regions, as well as how popular they are relative to all videos in that market over a given period of time. You can also delve deeper into the lifecycle of your videos, like how long it takes for a video to become popular, and what happens to video views as popularity peaks. For now, you can find currently available metrics by clicking under the "About this Video" button under My account > Videos, Favorites, Playlists > Manage my Videos.

So off I went, to check out the metrics for my ridiculous YouTube videos.

Now, let me preface these screenshots with the fact that I am a poor videographer. I cannot hold a camera steady to save my life. Add to that I get sidetracked and forget I'm filming, so the camera veers off occasionally. My YouTube videos are not high-quality, but they are fun.

Here are the metrics:

click to view the full-size image

Social Networking Brought to the Real World

I find this a hilarious concept. Basically, a bunch of developers created a game that forces people to talk to each other to acquire points.

Now, social networking on the computer evolved from networking socially in person. This game brings networking back around again to its origins: real live people talking to each other.

I also have to wonder if any questions would be raised at a bunch of people walking around any building with what looks like a bomb around their neck.

As seen on BoingBoing TV and filmed at the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference:

David Pogue "In Concert": The Sounds of Silence

Using my adorable little FlipUltra video camera, I took "YouTube Quality" video of David Pogue as he performed at our opening session. Here's David Pogue performing The Sounds of Silence - about tech support and dying computers.

David Pogue "In Concert": Download Medley

Using my adorable little FlipUltra video camera, I took "YouTube Quality" video of David Pogue as he performed at our opening session. Here's David Pogue performing my favorite number, a medley composed of three parodies on downloading music and video.

David Pogue "In Concert": I Want an iPhone

Using my adorable little FlipUltra video camera, I took "YouTube Quality" video of David Pogue as he performed at our opening session. It's worth noting he also had a fun keynote address, which mentioned a lot of cool techie items (including Google 411 and Grand Central, which I already used, and EyeFi, which I need to learn more about).

Here's David Pogue performing "I Want an iPhone" to the tune of "My Way." (You can view David's original music video for this, which is hilarious, here.)