(best viewed at 800 x 600 with IE6)    


http://www.shambles.net
 
Custom Search
 

With the growth of the internet, technology and especially with web 2.0 tools it is now easier for each of us to build a unique online Personal Learning Network (PLN).

These networks often grow organically as we ourselves evolve both needs and skills ... with the increase in available information worldwide and easier access there comes a time when it's advisable to pause and reflect.

Not only is this an exercise in time management but also one related to
keeping sane under the rapid growth of information available.
With this all in mind I created this page
to identify and visualise my own PLN
.

It is critical for us to take control of our own learning ... lifelong learning ... we owe it to ourselves not only as a survival strategy but one that contributes to the quality of our own life and also those whose lives we touch and who, in turn, touch us.

Rate this page

Chris Smith csmith@csmith.info
Chris Smith's Workshops (header)
Support Shambles with a donation (through PayPal) towards the running costs ...  many thanks if you do  .... Chris Smith (Shamblesuru)



webpage with others

Shamblesguru ... the avatar

Chris Smith
(Shamblesguru)
digital footprint
click on  below
Digg
shambles
DIGG

Flickr
shamblesguru

Flickr: photo osting
SOCIAL NETWORKS Shambles: list of Social Networks
Facebook : a social network Facebook
ChrisSmith
Facebook: Social Network
Nings
shamblesguru
Nings listed on Netvbes
Friendster
ChrisSmith
Friendster: Social Network
Virb
shamblesguru
Virb: Social Network
Linkedin
ChrisSmith
Linkedin: Social Network
FriendFeed
shamblesguru
FriendFeed: Social Network
Diigo
shamblesguru
Diigo: for sharing web content (social network)
TWITTER
shamblesguru
Twitter: everything ... list on Shambles
Twitter : micro blogging Twitter ... follow me
shamblesuru
Twitter: follow me ... shamblesguru
Twitterfall live feed
(public)
Twitterfall: live twitter feed
Monitter (3 #tags)
(public)
Monitter: live check of 3 hash tags at the same time
Twibes (Twitter Grps)
shamblesguru
Twibes: twitter groups
Last.fm
shamblesguru
Last fm: listen to music
Blip.fm
Blip.fm: online disk jockey
Audioboo
shamblesguru
Audioboo: audio from iPhone to Web
Delicious
shamblesguru
Delicious: social bookmarking
WIKIS Wikis: evrything about wikis on Shambles
Wikipedia
shamblesguru
Wikipedia
Wikispaces
csmith
Wikispaces
pbWorks (pbwiki)
shamblesguru
PBWORKS ... was pbwiki
Skype
cthsmith
Skype
AIM
shamblesguru
AIM
Technorati
shamblesguru
Technorati: Blog Search Engine
EverNote
shamblesguru
EverNote : remember everything ... find things,  capture, sync
MyWespiration
shamblesguru
MyWebspiration : mindmapping and concept mapping
StumbleUpon
csmith
StumbleUpon : helps you discover and share great websites.
Scribd
shamblesguru
Scridb : the "YouTube" for  documents
VIDEO ONLINE Shambles: list of videos online
YouTube
shamblesguru
YouTube: video hosting and sharing
Google Video
csmith@csmith.info
Google Video

Vimeo
shamblesguru

Vimeo: video online and hosting

Revver
shamblesguru

Vimeo: video online and hosting

TeacherTube
shamblesguru

TeacherTube: Video hosting

VodPod
shamblesguru

VodPod : Hostyour own video collection from around the web
SchoolTube
shambles
ScchoolTube: online videos
Animoto
csmith@csmith.info
Animoto: produces TV-quality music videos using your photos in just minutes.
VoiceThread
csmith@iESF.net
VoiceThread: a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos
Prezi
csmith@csmith.info
Prezi: create and perform stunning non-linear presentations
SlideRocket
csmith@csmith.info
SlideRocket: helps you make great presentations
Slideshare (ppt)
shamblesguru
Slideshare: powerpoints online
LMS Shambles: list of LMSs
Moodle LMS
shamblesguru
Shamblesgurus Moodle LMS (hosted by KeytoSchool.com)
SLoodle LMS
shambles
Shambles SLoodle LMS
LearnHub LMS
shamblesguru
LearnHUB : LMS
File Storage Shambles: list of LMSs
Dropio
shamblesguru
Shamblesgurus Moodle LMS (hosted by KeytoSchool.com)
WEB 2 START PAGES Shambles: list of web 2.0 start pages
Netvibes
shamblesguru
Netvibes: web 2.0 startpage
Protopage
shambles
Protopage: web 2.0 start page
PODCASTING Shambles: Podcasting area
Clickcaster
shamblestechcasts
Clickcaster: shambles podcasts
Odeo
shambles
Odeo: Shambles Podcasts
Podomatic
shambles
Podomatic: Shambles General Podcasts
Podbean
shambles
Podbean: Shambles podcasts
VIRTUAL WORLDS Shambles: list of Virtual Worlds
Second Life
Shamblesguru Voom
Int. Shools Island
OpenLife / OpenSIM
Shamblesguru
OpenLife : 3D online virtual world (OpenSIM)
3dxplorer
shamblesguru
3dexplorer: 3d Virtual World .. in a browser .. no plug-ins needed
ExitReality
shamblesguru
ExitReality: the entire web in 3D
Reaction Grid
shamblesguru
ExitReality: the entire web in 3D
BLOGS Shambles: everything about Blogs
Blog Forest Shambles: Forest of Theme Blogs
Int.Schools Island Blog: International Schools Island
New on Shambles Shambles: What's New
VIDEO STREAMING Shambles: video streaming info
LiveStream (Mogulus)
shambles
Mogulus: video streaming
uStream
shamblesguru
UStream: Video Streaming
WEBINARS Shambles: online meeting places ...
Learn Central
shamblesguru
Learncentral webinar solution ... powered by Elluminate
DimDim
shamblesguru
DimDim : online meetings / webinarsVideo Streaming
GOOGLE
everything
Shambles: Everything Google
GOOGLE Accounts
shambles.guru
Google: Accounts
iGoogle
shambles.guru
Google: igoogle
Google gmail
shambles.guru
Google Mail
Google Docs
shambles.guru
Google: Docs
Google Knol
shambles.guru
Google: Knol
Google Groups
shambles.guru
Google: Groups
Google Analytics
csmith@csmith.info
Google: Analytics
Google Friends
shambles.guru
Google: Friendds Connect
Google Calendar
shambles.guru
Google: Calendar
Google Talk
shambles.guru
Google: Talk
Google Notebook
shambles.guru
Google: Notebook
Google PageCreator
shambles.guru
Google: page creator
Google Labs
public
Google: Labs
  Watch this space
shambles.guru Labs




Take a guided tour of the Shambles website

Web 2.0 in Teaching and Learning on the Shambles website

The Shambles 'Forest of Theme Blogs'

Podcasts and Podcasting on Shambles

Shambles newsletter

Workshops offered by Chris Smith

chat live online

Second Life ... 3D online virtual world

International Schools Island in Second Life

Shamblesguru on YouTube ... video online


Follow me on Twitter : Shamblesguru


share this page
on facebook
Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence


Second Life area on the Shambles website web 2.0 area on the Shambles website Chris Smith :  ePortfolio social networks bkogs micro blogs other podcasts calendars images and video search social bookmarks wiki listservs and newsletters email SL groups SL meetings SL listservs SL calendars SL avatar profile mining SL other
 
click on the  area on the Shambles website  to go to the relevant area on the Shambles website                        Leave a  Comment
my PLN tools ... on the internet ..... in no particular order
 
SHAMBLES

Shambles website home page
          top of pag
My PLN network possibly differs from the norm because in 2002 I founded and manage a high traffic website ; Shambles www.shambles.net.
Shambles has over 10,000 visitors a day ... most new web resources and links I become aware of are published on Shambles ... the submission forms on Shambles receives suggestions for links on a daily basis .... for which I'm really grateful.

If I did not have Shambles then I'd probably replace its functionality with a Social Bookmarking site.
 
social networks

Social Networks area on Shambles

          top of pag
See the seperate collation and visualisation
of just my Social Networks at
http://shambles.net/socialnetworks

Social Network Aggregators& LifeStreaming: on my list to investigate in more detail
www.shambles.net/pages/learning/infolit/socialaggr ... maybe I can use one of these to collate all my social networks ... need to experiment.

NOTE: Web 2.0 Start page allows aggregations of Ning RSS feeds (if switched on) ... www.netvibes.com/shamblesguru#Social_Networks

 
blogs

Blog area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Ways in which I use Blogs ... my preferred platform is Google's Blogger

Workshops: for most of the workshops or presentations I give there is usually a unique supportive Blog in order to create a group awareness before we meet. A Blog allows me to introduce myself, allows participants to introduce themselves, allows participants to comment and influence the content and structure of the works to better suit their specific needs.
As an example see the Blog for workshops I do in Singapore.
International Schools Island: a Blog is being used as a tool to record the build and development of Int.Schs.Island in Second Life ... this has been an excellent solution to archive a S.L. education case study.
Shambles What's New and Exciting: this Blog is designed to record developments on the Shambles website ... but 'much to my shame' I give very little time to this ... and I know I should ... ;-(       http://shamblesnews.blogspot.com
Forest of Theme Blogs: growing this "Blog Forest" has been an exciting project, a very simple way of providing media (mainly video & still images) in a controlled and safe environment to students and educators. It is not difficult to do .. but is time consuming, so the advise is ... "slowly"

 
micro blogs

Micro Blog area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Micro blogging arrived in 2007 ... "what is happening?" in less than 140 characters ... although I do prefer the terms "presence monitoring" .. or "Micro IM", I feel they better describe what is happening.
Twitter: is the best known and I do visit daily ... it's a great way to find out about new resources and to share ... the trick to managing this seems to be to keep the 'noise' minimal by choosing who you follow carefully.
www.twitter.com/shamblesguru .. follow me ;-)
Worth keeping an eye on are the Twitter look-a-likes designed for education where a teachers can take a moderation/control role over student members. (e.g. Edmodo)

Twellow is a 3rd party real time Twitter directory .... where you can choose areas of interest ... try 'education' see www.twellow.com/category_users/cat_id/22 .. brilliant resource but time demanding, I do not visit often.

 
others

web 2.0 area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
There will always be 'others' ... be vigilant ... what's new in Web 2.0 ?

Skype: my Skype name is 'cthsmith' .... and has become on of my main synchronous communication tools which serves 3 purposes
(a) VoIP Voice over I.P. ... i.e. free telephone calls or low cost to regular phones
(b) I.M. instant messaging
(c) It gives people the ability to see if I'm available online in real time ... this third is probably the most useful/powerful.

Google Apps: .... being used more and more by me to support collaboration and projects ... mainly Google Docs ... "Watch this Space" .... cloud computing is on the way.

Evernote: I joined EverNote in 2008 but did not start to use it until May 2009 ... I am now "totally hooked". This is becoming a killer application for me ... keeping notes that can contain text, images, webpages, files, document, sound file .... that are all saved in 'the cloud' which sync across ALL of my computers (PC & Apple) and iPhone.
This is becoming one of my main "Information Management" survival tools.
Public Shared Notes here.

Professional Associations: earlier in my career I used to be a paid up member of several professional organisations and associations ... now it's down to one ...
Naace: "Naace is the (UK) professional association for those concerned with advancing education through the appropriate use of information and communications technology (ICT). Naace was established in 1984 and has become the key influential professional association for those working in ICT in education."
Main benefits of membership for me (I'm an overseas remember) is the weekly emailed newsletter and also access to the Naace online forums/listservs.
Naace became an affiliate of ISTE (USA) in 2008

 
podcasts

Podcasting area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Subscribed: Podcasts (99% through iTunes)
.... regularly listen to:

Technology: | TWIT | Net@Night | Cranky Geeks | Blogs & Pods (UK) | gdgt weekly |
| commandN | Mahalo Daily | MacWorld | BBC Digital Planet |
k-12 Education: | The Teachers' Podcasts | Teachers TV (UK) (a)Gen + (b)News |
| Adventures in Podcasting |
Miscel: | TED Talks |

Shambles Podcast Series: there are four different Podcast series that I produce and all can be seen at www.shambles.net/podcasting ... unfortunately recently neglected ... I shall return ;-)

 
calendars


Calendars area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
Shambles Calendar: the main calendar is at www.shamblescalendar.net which lists events of interest to educators in S.E.Asia .... it also lists bookings on International Schools Island in S.L.
 
images & video

 area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
Images: We are spoilt by the number of free online image hosting sites ... Flickr is my main choice www.flickr.com/photos/csmith   US$25 per year
Checkout the Tools especially the desktop "Flickr Uploadr" ... it saves me loads of time.

Video: again we are spoilt by the number of free hosting sites for video but the largest of the large is of course Google's YouTube.
The use of "Favourites", "Playlists" and "Custom Video Players" is a powerful combination to help you build collections to embed into your Blogs or Websites. (worth spending the time learning how to use these)
I also use YouTube clones which are focused specifically on education :
| TeacherTube | EduBlogs.tv | eSchool News tv | SchoolTube | more ...

Forest of Theme Blogs: it is now so easy to embed images and videos into Blogs that this becomes a way of creating collections designed for specific students or learning objectives ... as an example see my growing Forest of Theme Blogs. Forst of Theme Blogs

 
search engines
&
browsers


Search Engines area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Search Engines: are an integral part of everyone's online experiences ... but which one?. For me it is almost exclusively Google.
Very rarely do I use any of the other multiple search engines that are available; exceptions being search engines specifically to find images and visual search tools.

Google also provides the site search engine for Shambles.

Browsers: it seems logical to also mention web browsers as they no longer just display webpages but contain functionality to help manage the information displayed.
I migrated from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to Firefox in 2004 ... and the plethora of plug-ins and extensions made by third parties have made this option a very powerful information management tool .. although in mid 2008 I started to have troubles with the browser 'hanging' which is probably due to having too many plug-ins running.

In the summer of 2008 Google released their own browser Chrome .... I have surprised myself at how quickly I have moved over to this ... it is now the default browser on many of my computers ... speed and stability being the main reasons.

I plan to experiment with Flock ... a browser designed to specifically support Social Networking.

Techii Stuff: usually I set up my browsers to use (free) OpenDNS to help combat problems that might be caused with network filtering.

 
social bookmarks

Social Bookmarking area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
Because of using the Shambles website I rarely use any of the Social Bookmarking options ... I do have an account on Delicious http://delicious.com/shambles
 
wiki

 area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Wikipedia: I am a fan of Wikipedia ... I appreciate that this is an ongoing discussion with parents and educators ... should we allow students access or allow then to quote/cite. My vote is in the corner of allowing access ... hand-in-hand with an education programme that encourages critical evaluation of all knowledge sources.

Wiki Hosts: the only wikis I create myself are usually for specific workshops , either as a demo or as a tool to support the organisation of the workshop. My favourite Wiki hosts are pbwiki and wikispaces.

Google Knol: it was interesting when Google launched Knol early in 2008, thought to be a Wikipedia killer ... I set up some pages to evaluate ... Wikipedia should not be concerned.

Don't miss the "Wikis in Education" section on Shambles.

 
listservs &
newsletters

Listservs area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Receiving ...
Librarians
: Listservs area on the Shambles website | LM_NET (world) | SILCAsia (Asia) | ALESS (Hong Kong) |
InfoLit@ala.org | Library Link of the Day | ResourceShelf |
k-12 Education: | Ofqual News (UK) | DCSF SEN & Disability (UK) |
| Independent School Educators ISED-L | Dig_Ref | Edutopia |
| Guardian UK Newspaper .. RSS Full Text Feeds | Tappedin |
Professional CPD: | Naace (UK) | ECIS shortcuts |
Tech / Web 2.0: | Diigo | Mashable | WOICT (Thai) | Mashable |
Technology (pure): | eChannelline (USA) |
Edu Tech: | ISTEC (Thai) | iSAN (Japan) | HMC_ICT (UK) | MITworld |
Recruitment: | TES Job Alert (UK) | Independent Schools Vacancy Bulletin |

Sending ...
Shambles Newsletter
: three times a year a free Shambles Newsletter goes out to around 10,000 ... although is is designed with International Schools in S.E.Asia in mind .. it is now a global initiative read by many educators.

 
email

using email area on the Shambles website
          top of page
I suspect like many in the world I wake up to a pile of email each day waiting for attention. I have several email accounts the main being csmith@csmith.info ... I also have csmith@iESF.net (inherited from an earlier time), csmith@shambles.net (usually used when sending the Shambles newsletter) and internationalschoolsisland@gmail.com (for all thing related to International Schools Island in Second Life). There is a shambles.guru@gmail.com used with iGoogle and Google Apps.

All of these can be accessed through their own individual webmail pages ... although I occasionally use www.shambles.net/checkemail which can access any email account.

Mailwasher: Generally I run all my email accounts first through Mailwasher which identifies and deals with most spam. (there is a free downloadable version)
Outlook:Then they are all aggregated into "MS Outlook" where I plough through them.
iPhone: When traveling I'm sometimes forced to use webmail on the iPhone
 
RSS

          top of pag
I have evolved through a number of RSS Readers/Aggregators (list below) and at the moment am using a Web 2.0 Start Page site as an option. (thanks to David Warlick)
In many respects my subscriptions to listservs and emailed newsletters cover much of what an RSS reader can offer ... but NOT all ... still experimenting.

a) Firefox Plug-in : Wizz RSS News Reader
b) Bloglines : www.bloglines.com
c) Google Reader :
d ) Web2.0 Start Page : Netvibes : www.netvibes.com/shamblesguru

See full lists of feeds I subscribe to at www.netvibes.com/shamblesguru ... look under each of the subject tabs.
   
Leave a  Comment
                  top of page
my PLN tools ... in Second LIfe (Virtual World) ..... in no particular order
     
 
S.L. blogs & groups

 area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
Blogs: there are lots of Blogs about S.L. Using RSS to subscribe to your favourite is probably the most efficient way to keep track.

Groups: An avatar is able to subscribe to a maximum of 25 groups in S.L.:
| ALA SL-Events | ASTD | College of Scripting Music Science | Diginalet | Educational Podcasting | ELVEN | English Village | Fermi Designs | Hippo Technology | International Schools (k-12) | isi Management | ISTE SL Tour Grp | ISTE: Educational Technology Association | k-12 Educators | Naace | MNC Members | SL Business Communicators | SL Teaching Without Borders | Teacher Networking Center | TNC Tour Group | Train for Success | UpsideDown Society |
 
S.L.meetings

 area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Attend: There are only a few meetings I try and attend regularly in-world ...
| ISTE Speakers Series | Train For Success |
Time zones make it inconvenient to attend some others I'd like to ... fortunately SLCN (Second Life Cable Network) do record and archive some sessions
| Metanomics | Real Biz in SL | Tonight Live |

SecondLife
New York
London
Bangkok
Sydney

 
S.L. listservs
& newsletters

 area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
Listservs: there are three SL listservs I belong to and receive daily digests of messages ... if you are an educator then "SL Educators" is a MUST .... the other two about scripting and front end developing ... helps make me think I know what is happening in those areas ... I'm probably delusional about my abilities here ;-)
| SL Educators | SL Scripters | SL Builders/Developers |
 
S.L. calendars

 area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
S.L. Official Calendar: in-world use the 'search events' facility ... on the web go to http://secondlife.com/events ... where you can also add events.
Shambles Calendar: www.shamblescalendar.net which lists bookings on International Schools Island.
SLEDevents Calendar: http://sledevents.blogspot.com events in Second Life of interest to educators ... to add events IM or email Bruce Sommerville
SLED Mini Calendar: here is an online mini calendar that is designed specifically to go in an avatar profile under "web" http://sledeventsmini.blogspot.com

 
avatar profile mining

 area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
Profile Mining: right click on an avatar gives access to their profile, clicking on the "Picks" section lists the places in S.L. that the avatar recommends ... so if an avatar with education interests then their picks often include places with an education relevance.
Also see the 'web' tab in the profile.
 
SL other

 area on the Shambles website

          top of pag
Web (RSS):
| SL News |

Digital Nomad Scavenger: when I put on my Mad Max persona and roam the wastelands of S.L. searching for educational gems ...

   
Leave a  Comment
                  top of page
my PLN tools ... Personal ..... in no particular order

Streaming
Radio

Internet Radio area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
When working I'm often listening to RTHK 3 (Hong Kong) over the internet.

 


Podcasts

Internet Radio area on the Shambles website
          top of pag
Podcasts to relax:
| Friday Comedy Night BBC Radio 4 | Jonathan Ross BBC Radio 2 | Pets |

Listservs &
Newsletters
 

          top of pag
Thailand:
| Chiangmai Expats Club | Thai Visa |

 

   
Leave a  Comment
     
                  top of page
                  top of page
Creative Commons License
This work is licenced under a
Creative Commons Licence

.
direct links to subject areas on 'shambles' 'shambles' home
 


Site Index | Related Pages | Powered by Wanabo

| Shambles Home | Brunei Schools : bn | Burma/Myanmar Schools : mm | Cambodia Schools : kh | China Schools : cn | Hong Kong Schools : hk | India Schools : in | Indonesia Schools : id | Japan Schools : jp | Laos Schools : la | Macau Schools : mo | Malaysia Schools : my | Philippines Schools : ph | Singapore Schools : sg | South Korea Schools : kr | Taiwan Schools : tw | Thailand Schools : th | Vietnam Schools : vn | contact webmaster (Chris Smith) |

Pause
Resume