Disqus - Latest Comments for Ewan McIntosh

Re: NCSL / SLICT Day

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:52:31 -0000

"The next big thing"? What did you guys consider as the next big thing? I'm really keen to know what leadership considers 'new' when things change so quickly.

Re: Half Term Review

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 14:56:58 -0000

Thanks for the links back - lots of perusing ahead!

Re: Half Term Review

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 03:25:09 -0000

Would *love* to see some of the links and how you used the tools.

Re: Linux eye candy

Ewan McIntosh — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 10:00:17 -0000

"Mac style window selection"

Quite - it's still not a Mac ;-)

Love the new blog. You seem to have a different style here. Do you feel it's more 'yours' than the Exc-el one?

Re: Fame at last

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:42:07 -0000

Fame indeed! Even if I haven't a clue how it works ;-) I've got some really interesting stuff from the Curverider conference to do with SSE. Kevin Jardine was giving the talk. Do you know of him?

Re: Linux eye candy

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:43:31 -0000

Well, I for one really like your writing on this one compared to the Exc-el site. There's a good lesson for institutions wanting to get the best out of these tools with their employees: loosen up your control!

Re: Glow, SETT, TeachMeet06

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 16:38:22 -0000

I think LTS got a real awakening to the potential of 'this world' when they saw how many people and how well we self-organised ourselves. As someone who works in LTS I also know that we are making huge efforts to encourage more blogging, podcasting and wiki-ing. It's an organisation - organisations always take more time than individuals. But we are moving. Quicker now than ever before ;-)

Re: Glow mentor meeting

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 03:12:32 -0000

Hi guys,
You got what I said spot on. I think the challenge will be there, however big or small it turns out to be, to get teachers to see the point in collaborating. A lot of teachers are used to working alone and like it that way. I was reassured by Don's explicitness on the responsibility of teachers to get out of that mindset but, as a colleague said, Don doesn't 'sound like' a head of education when he says this. Perhaps other local authorities might not be so explicit and the glow mentors' job will be that little bit more difficult.

However, staying optimistic, the fact that all these tools are under one roof will provide a great intro to this way of working for the majority. In the long term, there will be demand for more cmplex social tools to involve more people on different levels of collaboration. I can't wait to see what demands come to the surface over time.

Re: I am not an expert

Ewan McIntosh — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 03:22:58 -0000

We had thought of using Ruby for some of Excel because of what it might be able to add. Being a 'non-expert' in this field ;-) I'd welcome your ideas on what it could contribute to the dynamic aspects of the sites. Maybe after that we could look at how it could actually be used. Cheers!

Re: ActiVote Walkthrough Part 1

Ewan McIntosh — Sat, 07 Oct 2006 05:57:59 -0000

Anonymous commenting only devalues whatever points are trying to be made, especially when the author of the blog has made every effort to keep your comments online. It's important to have a conversation on a blog, not a rammy. That's what Robert's trying to do here. Yes technicians work hard, yes they could be paid more, yes it's a job which is difficult to plan out - is a problem going to take 2 mins or 2 hours to resolve? Yes it's made more complicated when you turn up and cannot get access to classrooms. From the teachers' point of view there are other pressures which are equally unpredictable, namely kids ;-)

Hopefully through blogs like this we're able to better explore the tensions than we ever have done before, but we must do it in a constructive manner, not a destructive one.

If I had been the author on this blog I would have already deleted the anonymous remarks and reposted the rules on commenting on my blog: you say who you are and have a conversation with me, you don't hide.

Re: Why I want my colleagues to blog

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 13:58:49 -0000

And as a non maths teacher I would love to see how you teach - we can all learn from it.

Re: So what’s so special about blogs?

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 01:20:38 -0000

I think you've got the main reason: ownership. There are other reasons that depend on the individual or organisation: better profile, easier to find on Google (more Googlejuice with a blog than a website), easier to find through serendipity (RSS feeds mean the blog is replicated all over the web so more of your potential audience have a chance of finding you).

Above all, I think the conversations are better on a series of blogs than on a forum. On forums people shout over each other, rarely reading the whole thread. On a blog each post can be separate or at least link back to fill readers in on th history. In this respect the quality of interactions can be better and people tend to be more helpful.

By adding comments like this one ;-)

Re: How will we deal with success?

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 04:01:49 -0000

Hi Robert,
A post is probably due on this. I've been working with David at designing a place where people can go do tap into the part of the community that interests them most. Even if half the authority blog I'll only be interested in small pockets of that. What I need is a tool to take me to them easily. That's what we're designing. We could probably do with some of your programming skills, though, to make it become a true success. There's a limit to what Java can do ;-)

Re: Services I want (and I want them now!)

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 18:47:38 -0000

They're not your idea - I heard at least four companies also proclaiming it was their idea today (see my point: http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2006/11/intellect...) You already get blog posts that allow you to say how useful they were for you (in Vox, for example) and, as such, your information dwindles to more and more relevant stuff. Sorry to kill your startup ;-) Get that IP patent in the next time!

Re: Dapper just blew my mind

Ewan McIntosh — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 06:38:30 -0000

Well, there's a lot more that's not on the sidebar. We are in the process of putting together feeds based around certain types of Excel blogs rather than the feed of the whole thing - a bit OTT for most users. We're also looking at things other than blogs, of course, which mostly carry RSS feeds so it'll be an interesting river of information. It's certainly a useful tool for keeping track of things from outside the admin dashboard of the blog engine.

Re: Ho ho ho

Ewan McIntosh — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 03:09:06 -0000

You've both given me an excuse to go and get mine today. I realised this weekend that if we didn't get it soon I would only see it for three days before Christmas since I'm away on work. You've no idea how happy you've made me... ;-)

Re: Pushing at an open door

Ewan McIntosh — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:40:29 -0000

Manual trackback for the discussion:
http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2006/12/lts_at_th...

Re: Services I want (and I want them now!)

Ewan McIntosh — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 09:50:28 -0000

This what you're looking for maybe:
http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2006/12/blastfeed...

Re: How do you see Glow?

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:29:28 -0000

Why does everyone read into my post as me bashing Sharepoint?!?! It's just not true!!! ;-)

Re: Scotedublogs - A New Hub for Scottish Educational Blogs

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 16:18:00 -0000

Looking really good - I'll have a proper poke around tomorrow. Nice work!

Re: Open Source on the BBC

Ewan McIntosh — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 14:09:47 -0000

This is the way that most startups and VCs view things, too, tbh. Doug Richards, the entrepreneur and angel from Dragons Den, said himself at Mediatech2.006 that having the patents on something (what the Dragons from the Den always seem to be banging on about) was much less important today than how you package and follow up the service. If Open Source doesn't have the exclusivity on good support and moreover most web-based startups offer support for free or use the community to provide it for the bettering of the free product they are receiving, is there a further difference we're not seeing?
Disclosure: I'm about to eat dinner and haven't heard the radio show ;-)

Re: Open Source on the BBC

Ewan McIntosh — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 16:19:27 -0000

I know the GNU Public License and guess my question comes down to whether the proprietary code in the Web 2.0 tools you name is, now, that secret. If you know Ruby, Ajax, Javascript, HTML, XHTML, XML and all the rest is it not relatively easy for a group "that know how" to replicate those services? In the same way, does it not take a certain degree of having "that know how" to take advantage of the development opportunities in Open Source? At the end of the day, for the average user, they're both free and apparently stable platforms. What are the other USPs of Open Source?

Re: Scotedublogs - A New Hub for Scottish Educational Blogs

Ewan McIntosh — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 14:50:50 -0000

I think the Glow team will be chuffed that this is happening but green with envy, Bob? As Robert says education is why we are here, not for US or THEM to provide the top one-stop-shop but to improve the education of our learners, be they 3-18 years, over 18s, teachers, parents...

What I would hope is that the ScotEduBlogs system is integrable into the Glow portal if the user chooses so. In principle it's possible through the XML editor but it's still not 'one-click' enough for me. Once the portal becomes public properly I look forward to seeing a lot more individuals writing content for it to make it a truly national portal and not the portal of one or two organisations.

Re: Aviemore

Ewan McIntosh — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:20:50 -0000

It looks like Gordon McKinlay is also up there enjoying the wifi at the moment. Have you spotted any other edubloggers sipping their lattes?

Re: The Web let me down

Ewan McIntosh — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 14:06:41 -0000

I had the *same* ones when I was wee. They were fantastic, although they had a funny smell when they had been in operation for a while. Probably some poisonous material on the speakers. What I loved was when you half-pressed the button you got that TJ Hooker type "chschschs' noise. Oh, those were the days...

Re: Help! MediaWiki CSS woes!

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 16:25:25 -0000

I'll see if any of our MediaWiki guys can help out at work. We're also getting to grips with it at LTS so they my be as bamboozled as you, but we can try :-)

Re: Help! MediaWiki CSS woes!

Ewan McIntosh — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 06:43:22 -0000

From Graham at work today:

We've got a similar layout issue with the skin that we're planning to
use for the edupedia - works fine in everything except IE6/7. I don't
know if [our designer]'s managed to have a proper look at it yet, and he's off
sick today, but if we make any progress I'll keep them in the loop.

Re: Have you claimed your blog on Technorati?

Ewan McIntosh — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 02:20:56 -0000

I have.

Re: Unplugged

Ewan McIntosh — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 14:03:33 -0000

When I first started working all over the joint instead of being in one, relatively steady place, I found myself writing lists of things I could do offline when I was on the train (with laptop) on the bus (with iPod and phone) or stuck for ten minutes in between appointments or waiting for said bus or train. Now I've got a good idea before I step out the door what I need to get done in each place but it doesn't stop being webless being a really strange sensation!

Re: Unplugged

Ewan McIntosh — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 15:24:06 -0000

It might seem scarily organised but something tells me that this August 6th, or there abouts, I'm going to need to up my efforts even more ;-)

Re: School Filtering blocks an entire TLD!

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 06:18:04 -0000

Blacklisting an entire nation? Doesn't sound quite right to me. Bit like China blocking any UK sites - how would that be viewed?

Re: Connected Live Blog

Ewan McIntosh — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 17:36:32 -0000

Thanks for the comments - I think Mark and the video guys have done just a great job with the video and audio podcasts. My attention span can be about three minutes long, so it's perfect for me and, I think, the average busy teacher. Oops... three minutes are... zzzzzz

Re: 2007/06/30/pownce-invites/

Ewan McIntosh — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:55:13 -0000

This looks really cool; I'd love an invite at e.mcintosh@LTScotland.org.uk
Cheers!

Re: Cool Tablet PC school

Ewan McIntosh — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 05:36:18 -0000

Rachel was kind enough to 'heads up' me, but the real work is being done by some great teachers here in Scotland. We've got schools working at Tablet PCs for all (and they're state schools, paying for it themselves) and many, many more picking up blogging and podcasting to aid their students. Drop me a line or skype in if you want to get some good examples (and Microsoft ones, too, if you want ;-)

Re: Who cares about conference Wifi anymore?

Ewan McIntosh — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 13:47:53 -0000

I'm feeling quite well endowed after all this with my 2GB upload/download per month on my Vario with T Mobile. My organisation gave me the smartphone and challenged me to outstrip the month allowance - which only costs us £8.50 per month! I'm working on it....

I'll show you, Robert, when you're over in London at the end of the month.

Re: How to respond to criticism?

Ewan McIntosh — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:49:05 -0000

Worth pointing out that Loic has (kind of) responded, although it's unhealthily defensive. His co-organising pal Ouriel has also posted but has done so in an way which only panders to the kind of "you say tomato" debate that gets things nowhere:

http://ouriel.typepad.com/myblog/2006/12/leweb3...

(though he has also accepted that 'two stars and a wish' is sometimes better than feeling you have to take a stance).

Interesting case study for the next book, Robert ;-)

Re: Quintura has an interesting new look at search

Ewan McIntosh — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 07:27:11 -0000

There's now a brilliant Quintura for Kids, which I reckon fills in an as yet untapped group:
http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2006/12/quintura_...

Re: “Default” racism

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 03:52:47 -0000

The old chestnut of "are they racist" or "are they just stupid" is coming out this side of the pond as overt racism is played out on national TV against an Indian contestant of Celebrity Big Brother (and Jermaine Jackson is getting some, too). The TV complaint watchdog's website has even collapsed under the strain of last night's 20,000+ complaints that got through!

http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2007/01/little_bi...

Re: Meet the “Learning Lunatic”

Ewan McIntosh — Thu, 03 May 2007 03:37:47 -0000

To link back to Hugh Macleod, I think that with a built-up Global Microbrand you can live anywhere - even if a wee place like Scotland - and have a disproportionate influence on educational change elsewhere around the world.

However, what I find interesting is how the large number of American educators who blog about their woes in trying to change a system in crisis are drowning out the voices of many of the worthwhile voices coming from elsewhere around the world, particularly from the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

So, maybe there is value for this ambitious project to be kicked off in SF, after all ;-)

Re: The power of ubiquitous media - UCLA Police on YouTube

Ewan McIntosh — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 04:40:14 -0000

In many countries, especially France since the 1968 riots, it is unthinkable to have *any* police present on university campus, a place where the market is in expression of thought. In Scottish libraries we also have limits on who can enter a library - you must have your card with you to get in, thus avoiding the issue in the first place.

I am completely shocked by this outrageous behaviour and hope that some severe action is taken against these rogue policemen. For me it amounts to nothing more and nothing less than serious assault.