Thing #23: The end, or the beginning?

Congratulations!

You’ve reached the 23rd thing. Be sure to give yourself a pat on the back for completing the program. Your reward for completing this journey before the 30th of November is a RED iPod, but before we finalise the list of recipients of this "prize", you have one more thing to do.

For your last and final exercise for this program, please reflect on your learning journey and post a few thoughts. Here are some questions to prompt you if you're drawing a blank...

• What were your favorite discoveries or exercises on this learning journey?
• How has this program assisted or affected your lifelong learning goals?
• Were there any take-aways or unexpected outcomes from this program that surprised you?
• What could we do differently to improve upon this program’s format or concept?
• If we offered another discovery program like this in the future, would you again chose to participate?

To all of those who participated in this program, I thank you. Now that you have the skills and confidence in many of the Web 2.0 tools and technologies available to us, I hope that you consider this to be the beginning, rather than the end of something.

Cheers,
Wags.

Thing #22: Create your own audio or video message

OK - for those up to a challenge, you should enjoy this "thing"! It's time to create your own simple video or audio message, and include it in your blog.

Rather than lead you step-by-step through the process, you are encouraged to explore various tools and techniques, and work out which one works best for you. If you're not sure, then take a look at what other participants have done, and feel free to ask someone who's been successful for their tips and advice.

To get you started, take a look at the following video that I just created using Screenr.com - a quick and easy way to record a video of your computer screen:



Other Resources:

- YouTube upload page
- YouTube - record video from your webcam (if you've got one on your computer!)
- Vocaroo - simple voice recording and sharing online
- 12seconds.tv
- Xtranormal.com - text-to-movie tool, worth a try!
- ... and don't forget that you've probably got a video and voice recorder in your pocket right now on your mobile phone!

Share your experiences in your blog. Good luck!

Thing #21: Podcasts

The word podcast is used to refer to an audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by the New Oxford American Dictionary, and with the growth of podcasting since then, it's easy to see why.

Podcasts take many forms, from short commentaries of less than one minute, to much longer recordings, such as a two-hour Monash University lecture! There's a podcast out there for just about every interest area, and the best part about this technology is that you don't have to use an iPod or mp3 player to access them. Since podcasts normally use the mp3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application from Apple, is the directory service most often used for finding and downloading podcasts, but if you don't have iTunes installed, there are still plenty of options.

For this exercise, you are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Google Reader account as well, so that when new episodes become available you'll be automatically notified of their existence.

Discovery Resources:

To find out more about podcasting, watch this video:



There are many podcast directories available, including iTunes. Here are just two of the more popular ones that, unlike iTunes, don't require a software download:
- Podbean
- Podcastalley.com

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at a podcast directory, either in iTunes, or another one of your choice. See if you can find a podcast that interests you.

2. Add the RSS feed for the podcast to either your Google Reader account, or to your iTunes podcast subscriptions.

3. Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?

Thing #20: Discover YouTube

Over the past few years, video hosting sites have exploded in popularity, allowing users to easily upload and share videos on the web. Among all of the players in this area, YouTube is currently top dog. YouTube users are watching hundreds of millions of videos a day, and uploading hundreds of thousands of videos daily. It was recently announced that every minute, 20 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube.

Do some searching around YouTube yourself and see what the site has to offer. Of course, like any free site you'll find a lot of stuff not worth watching, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't explore and see for yourself what is available!

Discovery Exercise:

1. Explore YouTube and find a video worth adding as an entry in your blog.

2. Create a blog post about your experience. What did you like or dislike about the YouTube site, and why did you select the video that you chose? Can you see any features or components of the site that might be interesting in teaching and learning?

OPTIONAL: Try adding the video to your blog using the embed code provided on the YouTube page. If you're not sure how to do that, then watch this video below that I have embedded for you!

Thing #19: Discovering Web 2.0 Tools

Throughout the course of this Learning 2.0 program we’ve explored just a small sampling of these new internet technologies and websites that are empowering users with the ability to create and share content. But given time there are so many more we could explore. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of new Web 2.0 tools being launched every year. And although time will only tell which of these new collaborative, social networking and information tools will remain on top, one thing is for sure, they're not going to go away (at least anytime soon).

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to select any site from either:
(a) the 2008 list of Web 2.0 Awards nominees; or
(b) the CNET Webware 100 winners list.

With so many to choose from, it might be handy to first select a category that interests you (like Books or Personal Organization) and then simply select a tool/site to explore. Be careful to select a tool that is Free and that doesn't require a plug-in or download. The majority of these free, so this shouldn’t be a problem.

Discovery Exercise:

1. Select any site/tool from the lists above.

2. Explore the site you selected.

3. Create a post about your discovery. What did you like or dislike about the tool? What were the site’s useful features? Could you see any applications for its use in a university setting?

Thing #18: Online Productivity Tools

The availability and use of online productivity web-based applications (think word processing and spreadsheets) has exploded over the past few years and for good reasons! These powerful applications provide users with the ability to create and share documents over the internet without the need of installed desktop applications. Some experts speculate that this emerging trend may mean the death to Microsoft Office and other software-based productivity tools, while others think web-based applications have their place, but not in the office. But no matter which side of the office suite platform you side with, on this both sides seem to agree; web-based apps have their place.

One large benefit to web-based applications it that they eliminate the need to worry about different software versions or file types as you email documents or move from PC to PC. Another bonus is that they easy accommodate collaboration by allowing multiple users to edit the same file (with versioning) and provide users the ability to easily save and convert documents as multiple file types (including HTML and pdf). And, you can even use many of these tools, such as Zoho Writer and Google Docs to author and publish posts to your blog. It’s this type of integration with other web 2.0 tools that also makes web-based apps so appealing.

For this discovery exercise, participants are asked to take a look at a web-based word processing tool (either Google Docs or Zoho Writer), create a simple document and then document your discoveries in your blog.

While you are looking at Google Docs, make sure you read about Monash University's plans to launch this service for all of our students later this month!

Discovery Exercise:

1. Either (a) create a free account for yourself in Zoho Writer; or (b) log in to Google Docs using your Google account details (the same username and password you are using in Blogger).

2. Explore the site and create a few test documents, spreadsheets, presentations, or forms.

3. Create a blog post about your discoveries.

For those who are enjoying the "In Plain English" series of videos, here's their explanation of Google Docs:

Thing #17: Wikipedia

How many times have you heard (or even advised your students) of the dangers of Wikipedia? Maybe you've seen an error or innacuracy in a Wikipedia entry? Well, here's your chance to improve the quality of Wikipedia, and learn a little more about how this massive online encyclopedia can be edited.

First, a few words of warning. If you are not a registered Wikipedia editor, then your IP address will be recorded and made publicly available whenever you edit a page. Also, if you are planning to make large-scale changes to a page, then you may need to learn how to edit a page. It may be easier to just make minor edits (to fix small errors or inconsistencies).

Discovery Exercise:

1. Visit Wikipedia, and find a topic for which you have some interest or expertise. It can be any topic, either professional, or a personal interest or hobby.

2. Click on the "discussion" or "history" tabs at the top of the page to see recent changes and debate on the topic you are viewing.

3. Optional task - If you are feeling brave, click on the "edit" tab to make changes to the page. Remember, only "save" your edits if you are confident that you are improving the quality of the information on the page.

4. Write a blog posting about your experience.

Thing #16: Learn about Wikis

A wiki is a collaborative website and authoring tool that allows users to easily add, remove and edit content. Wikipedia, the online open-community encyclopedia, is the largest and perhaps the most well known of these knowledge sharing tools. With the benefits that wikis provide, the use and popularity of these tools is exploding.

Some of the benefits that make wikis so attractive are:

• Anyone (registered or unregistered, if unrestricted) can add, edit or delete content.
• Tracking tools within wikis allow you to easily keep up on what's been changed and by whom.
• Earlier versions of a page can be viewed and reinstated when needed.
• Users do not need to know HTML in order to apply styles to text or add and edit content. In most cases simple syntax structure is used.

Watch this short video:

Discovery exercise:

For this discovery exercise, you are required to take a look at some wikis and write a blog post about your findings. Here are some case studies and a few (diverse) wikis to get you started:

• PBWorks business case studies
• Social Marketing wiki
• Mad Men fan site wiki (only members can edit this page)
• Higher education wikis at Wetpaint.com

What did you find interesting? What types of applications do you think might work well with a wiki?

Thing #15: Web 2.0 and the Future of Marketing

Is Web 2.0 changing marketing?

It's been fascinating reading some of your thoughts in your blog posts so far, so here's an opportunity to share more of your ideas with us. For this "thing", you are required to find some perspectives on Web 2.0 and the future of marketing. Write a blog post describing what you've found, and provide a link to the article for us all to read.

To get things started, here's an interesting article from the Wharton School discussing how technology is changing the way in which products are priced... a fascinating article, which challenges some of the traditional views on pricing.

So, start reading and sharing!

Thing #14: Explore Technorati

So now that you’ve been blogging for a while, you might be wondering just how big the blogosphere is? Well according to Technorati, the leading search tool and authority for blogs, there are “over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second.”

Yes, these numbers are astounding, but as you’ve already seen for yourselves, blogging is so easy that these publishing tools are being taken advantage of by almost every industry.

There are a lot of features in Technorati including the capability to search for keywords in blog posts, search for entire blog posts that have been tagged with a certain keyword, limit a search by language, or search for blogs that have been registered and tagged as whole blogs about a certain subject (like marketing or advertising).

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at Technorati and try doing a keyword search for “Learning 2.0” in Blog posts, in tags and in the Blog Directory. Are the results different?

2. Explore the Technorati Top 100 Blogs. Is there anything of interest in there for you?

3. Create a blog post about your discoveries on the site.

Thing #13: Discover Del.icio.us

del.icio.us is a social bookmarking manager, which allows you to categorise and share your bookmarks online, so that you can access them from any computer connected to the internet - great if you need to access your bookmarks from multiple locations.

Just like Flickr where you can organise your photos using tags, using del.icio.us you can also organise your bookmarks with tags any way you want to.

What makes del.icio.us attractive to its users is the social aspect. You may think you have found some great web sites and then you tag them, but you are also able to see what other people have bookmarked and see what else they have tagged that may be of interest to you. It's a great way of sharing interesting links with colleagues or friends.

For this exercise, you need to visit del.icio.us and type something of interest to yourself into the search bar. Find another user's trail and you may just discover a new wealth of information. Let us know what you find and what you think of social bookmarking on your blog.

If you are really keen sign up and become a del.icio.us user it's a great way of keeping track of interesting websites, especially if you are someone that works from a few different locations or you want to share links with others.

Thing #12: Catch up and Comment!

Watch this little video...

... and then go and comment on two other participants' blogs. Easy!

Thing #11: Explore Twitter

Have you experienced Twitter yet? It's a free social networking and micro-blogging service that connects its users through short messages called "tweets". It's really just like a blog, only each post can contain a maximum of 140 characters.

Watch this video:



Even if you don't join or contribute to Twitter, you can still use its powerful search function. Now watch this video:



So, for this "thing", you are required to search on Twitter for tweets on a topic that interests you. If you wish, you are also encouraged to sign up to Twitter and tweet about the 23 Things program!

Discovery Exercise:

1. Go to Twitter and search for a term that interests you. For example, try "Monash" and see what people are saying!

2. Sign up for a Twitter account. You can use a pseudonym if you are concerned about privacy, and you are welcome to delete your Twitter account later if you decide not to continue using it.

3. Tweet! If you include the hashtag "#monash23" in your tweet, then other participants in this program will be able to find it by simply searching for it. It will also appear in the new widget that's been added on the left of this main page!

4. Write a blog post to describe your experiences on Twitter.

Thing #10: Play with an Online Image Generator

Online image generators allow you to easily manipulate text, image and graphics to create fun images like the one above, or like these:

For this discovery exercise, you can have some fun. Find a few fun image or text generators to play around with and write a post in your blog about one of your favourites. Make sure that you display your newly generated image in your blog posting. Often it will be a matter of copying and pasting some code. If not, you might just need to right-click on the image and then save it to your hard drive before using Blogger's image button to add it to your post.

If you're having difficulty getting your image added to a post in your blog, then check other participant's blogs and ask someone who has succeeded for some help.


Discovery Resources:
The Generator Blog
Big Huge Labs
Copyright Friendly Image Generators Wiki
... or search on Google for others!


Discovery Exercise:
1. Play around with some image generators and find one that you like.
2. Post the result of your discovery in your blog. Please be sure to include a link to the image generator itself, so other participants can discover it, too!

So, take some time, and have some fun!

Thing #9: Locate some Marketing blogs

Now that you have your newsreader setup, you can begin adding other newsfeeds that interest you. There are several ways that you can locate newsfeeds:

• When visiting your favourite websites, look for news feed icons that indicate the website provides it. Often a feed icon will be displayed somewhere in the navigation bar of the site.
  
  
• Use Google Reader's search tool - just click on the "Add a subscription" button in Google Reader, then get searching!
  


• Find a reliable list of useful blogs. You might want to take a look at Julian Cole's Top 50 Australian Marketing Blogs - Julian completed his honours at Monash a couple of years ago, and is now working in a digital agency in Sydney.
  


• Use other search tools to find feeds, such as Technorati or Syndic8.
  

Discovery Exercise:

Explore some of the search tools above, find some relevant news feeds, and add them to your reader. Then, create a blog post about your experience. Which method was easiest to find relevant feeds? Did you find other search tools that were useful? Which feeds appear to be of interest, that you can recommend for others?

Thing #8: Learn about RSS feeds

information hydrant
Originally uploaded by Will Lion

You've heard of RSS? You've probably seen those little orange icons on websites, but maybe you still don't know what RSS is all about. Well, don't worry, many people are confused by RSS, but this is changing rapidly. In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionising the way news, media and content creators share information, but it is also changing the way everyday users are consuming information.
RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication", and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.

Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit every day. It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it? Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually. Would that be valuable to you? Well, it’s available now through a newsreader and RSS.

To learn more about RSS, start by watching this short video from Commoncraft, RSS in Plain English:

Discovery Exercise:

Your discovery exercise for this "thing" is to set up your very own RSS reader. Seeing that you now have an active Google account (the one you used to set up your own blog in Blogger), it may be easiest to use Google Reader. Here's another video from Commoncraft, explaining how Google Reader works. Alternatively, there are many other RSS readers available that you can use - there's even one in Lotus Notes (but you're on your own if you choose to use that one!).

Once you've got your RSS reader setup, see if you can add this blog to your feeds, and some of your colleagues' blogs too!

Finally, create a post in your blog about this exercise. Many earlier postings have noted that it's becoming challenging to filter the huge volume of information available online these days - do you think an RSS reader will help?

Thing #7: Blog about Technology

Here's a quick and easy "thing" for you... simply blog about anything related to technology. You just have to share a few thoughts!

Perhaps you might like to talk about "creating content", or maybe a technology that you are using in innovative ways in your teaching or learning. Try for at least 100 words!

Please also be sure to add at least one comment to another participant's blog. That's what online communities are all about - connecting and communication!

Thing #6: Some Flickr Fun

Like many Web 2.0 sites, Flickr has encouraged other people to build their own online applications using images found on the site. Through the use of APIs (application programming interfaces), many people have created third-party tools and mashups* that use Flickr images. Here is a simple one that I put together very quickly using Bookr:

Here are a couple of other mashups that are interesting:

• Flickr Color Pickr - lets you find public images in Flickr that match a specific colour
  
• Montager - creates a photo mosaic from Flickr images

Discover more mashups, web applications, and Flickr tools. Please share any other links to lists of Flickr mashups and tools either here in the comments section, or on your own blog.

Discovery Exercise:

Your discovery exercise for this "thing" is to:

1. Explore some of the Flickr mashups and 3rd-party tools that are out there;

2. Create a blog post about one that intrigues you.

So have some fun discovering and exploring some neat little apps.

*Mashup note: Wikipedia offers some great articles that explain mashups. Basically they are hybrid web applications that take features from one application (like Flickr) and combine it with another (like a map).

Thing #5: Explore Flickr

Photo sharing websites have been around since the 90s, but it took a small startup site called Flickr to catapult the idea of “sharing” into a full blown online community. Within the past couple of years, Flickr has become the fastest growing photo sharing site on the web and is recognised as one of the first websites to use keyword “tags” to create associations and connections between photos and users of the site.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a good look at Flickr and discover what this site has to offer. Find out how tags work, what groups are, and all the neat things that people and other universities are using Flickr for.

Discovery Resources:

Flickr Learn More tour (8 steps)
Mediamazine Flickr Tutorials
Flickr: Popular tags and Interesting - Last 7 days
Flickr Services (3rd party applications & mashups)

Discovery Exercise:

In this discovery exercise, you have two options…

• Take a good look around Flickr and discover an interesting image that you want to blog about. Be sure to include either a link to the image or, if you create a Flickr account, you can use Flickr's blogging tool to add the image in your post. Another option you have for including images in your post is to use Blogger's photo upload tool.

-- OR --

• If you're up to an easy challenge ... create a Free account in Flickr and use a digital camera to capture a few pictures of something that interests you. Upload these to your Flickr account and tag at least one of the images “monash23” and mark it public. Then create a post in your blog about your photo and experience. Be sure to include the image in your post. Once you have a Flickr account, you have two options for doing this: through Flickr's blogging tool or using Blogger's photo upload feature.

So go ahead, explore the site and have some Flickr photo fun. If you are familiar with a different online photo sharing site (other than Flickr), then please let us know via your blog, and include a link so that we can all learn from your experience.

PS: A quick word about photo posting etiquette - When posting identifiable photos of other people is it advisable to get the person's permission before posting their photo in a publicly accessible place like Flickr. Never upload pictures that weren't taken by you (unless you have the photographer's consent) and always give credit when you include photos taken by someone else in your blog. The photo of Geelong celebrating their AFL premiership victory on the weekend that I have included above has been licensed by the photographer under Creative Commons - in other words, I have his permission to use it here!

Thing #4: Register your blog

If you've made it this far, then you already have three "things" completed of the 23 that are required to earn your iPod.

But how do you qualify? By simply registering your blog, and then documenting your progress on each of the 23 things in your own blog over the next two months.

To register, simply visit this easy registration form. Remember, we'll only be publicly listing the name of your blog and its URL, not your own name (unless your blog is self-titled!). You may choose, however, to identify yourself in your own blog - that's up to you!

Over the next few days, as people register, a link to each blog will appear here in the central site. You are encouraged to visit regularly, and comment on other people's blogs. Together we will all learn more about each of the Web 2.0 tools as we explore and discover.

P.S. If you are not a Monash Marketing staff member undertaking this program by invitation, then you are welcome to follow along, however we won't be linking to your blog, nor will you be eligible for the iPod at the end of the program. Sorry!

Thing #3: Set up your own blog

OK - now that you've settled in to this program, it's time to setup your own blog and begin contributing your own thoughts, discoveries and exercises. There are a number of free blogging services available, but for this program I recommend that you use either Blogger (which is the one we're using for this main site), or Wordpress. The choice is yours. The following instructions are for Blogger.

Creating a blog using Blogger takes just three steps:

1. Create an account (if you don't already have a Google or Blogger account - see screenshot)
   
2. Name your blog (see screenshot)
   
3. Select your template (see screenshot)

Once you have created your blog, there are two simple things to know:

• To add posts: The maintenance interface that you will use to add posts, edit or change your blog settings is accessed online at http://www.blogger.com/. Be sure to write down or remember your login and password.


• To view your blog: Your blog address is http:// (xxxx).blogspot.com/, with (xxxx) = the unique name you gave the blog in step 2 above. Be sure to also write down and remember your blog address.
  

Discovery Exercise

1. Set up your own blog (preferably through Blogger, but you are welcome to use another blogging platform if you wish)


2. Add a test post or two. Note: One of your posts should be an entry describing your thoughts from "Thing #2".


3. Come back during the week and take a look at other participant's blogs. They will all be listed in the "blogroll" on the left of this main site. Add comments on their blogs, and respond to comments left on yours!
   

Note: How you choose to identify yourself on your blog is your choice. You can blog under a pseudonym if you wish, or anonymously, or as yourself. However, in order to qualify for the staff incentive, you will need to register (privately, in "Thing #4") so that we know who you are.

Thing #2: What is Web 2.0?

What is Web 2.0?

Here is a definition for you to consider:

• “Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an “architecture of participation,” and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences.” Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Media, 2004

Now watch this video, which attempts to explain Web 2.0 in just under 5 minutes:

Discovery exercise:

• Find other definitions and articles explaining what is meant by the term "Web 2.0". How do you think that Web 2.0 technologies will change the way we learn, teach and live?
• Write down what you are learning, and keep your notes. Next week you will use your personal blog (which you will set up in "Thing #3") to post your own thoughts about Web 2.0.
  

Coming next week: Creating your own blog so you can begin tracking your journey.

Thing #1: Welcome - this will be fun!

Watch this video:

Welcome to the Monash Department of Marketing "23 Things" program. It's great to have you involved in this exciting learning initiative. Together we'll be learning more about emerging technologies on the web that are changing the way that people, society, and in particular, students and teachers are accessing information and communicating with each other.

Over the next nine weeks we will provide instructions here in this blog to help you complete the 23 short exercises, so that you become familiar with blogging, RSS news feeds, tagging, wikis, podcasting, and many other online applications.

If at any time you have any questions or suggestions, then simply contribute right here, in the "Comments" section of any of the blog postings. Together we'll be able to help each other on this journey of discovery!

Make sure you come back here regularly, for the next "thing" - or even better still, subscribe to the RSS feed and you'll be notified when a new "thing" is posted!

The 23 Things

Listed below are 23 "things" (small exercises) that you can do on the web to explore and expand your knowledge of Web 2.0. Participants are required to complete all 23 items by Monday 16th November in order to receive the reward of an iPod Nano.

"Live" links will be added to each of the activities as we progress through the nine weeks.


Week 1: Introduction to the program (week commencing 14th September)

1. Read this blog posting and find out about the program.

2. Learn a little about Web 2.0 - the origins of the term, and how Web 2.0 technologies differ from their predecessors.

Week 2: Blogging (week commencing 21st September)

3. Set up your own blog, and add your first post.

4. Register your blog here for sharing with other participants. Start commenting!

Week 3: Photos and images (week commencing 28th September)

5. Explore Flickr and learn about this popular image hosting site.

6. Have some Flickr fun and discover some Flickr mashups and 3rd party sites.

7. Create a blog post about anything technology-related that interests you this week.

Week 4: RSS and Newsreaders (week commencing 5th October)

8. Learn about RSS feeds and setup your own feedreader.

9. Locate some useful marketing-related blogs and/or news feeds.

Week 5: Images and Microblogging (week commencing 12th October)

10. Play around with an online image generator.

11. Explore the Twitter microblogging service

12. Catch up and Comment!

Week 6: Tagging, Folksonomies & Technorati (week commencing 19th October)

13. Learn about tagging and discover Del.icio.us

14. Explore Technorati and learn how tags work with blog posts

15. Find, read and share a few perspectives on Web 2.0 and the future of Marketing.

Week 7: Wikis (week commencing 26th October)

16. Learn about wikis and discover some innovative ways that they can be used in teaching and learning.

17. Add or edit an entry in Wikipedia!

Week 8: Online Applications and Tools (week commencing 2nd November)

18. Take a look at some online productivity tools.

19. Explore any site from a Web 2.0 awards list, play with it and write a blog post about your findings.

Week 9: Podcasts, Video and Downloadable audio (week commencing 9th November)

20. Discover YouTube and embed a video in your blog.

21. Discover some useful tools for finding and downloading podcasts.

22. Attempt to create your own short audio or video message, and include it in your blog.

Conclusion:

23. Summarise your thoughts about this program on your blog.

Welcome to "23 Things"!

This is the home of the Monash University Department of Marketing "23 Things" project. Together we will work through these 23 activities, and learn about Web 2.0 tools and technologies.

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) will be to complete 23 online activities, all self-directed. While we will provide you with an objective for each task, it will be up to you, the independent participant, to find your way through the Web 2.0 maze. Of course you should work with others who have succeeded if you need any assistance, but you are likely to learn a lot more if you "muddle through" each task, and discover solutions yourself.

As a reward, if you complete all 23 tasks successfully over the next nine weeks, and you document your journey on your own blog (which you will set up as one of the first tasks!), you will be rewarded with your very own iPod - so that you can continue to enjoy many of your new Web 2.0 experiences while on the move! And we'll make sure that it's a RED iPod, so that a portion of the purchase price supports the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa.

The idea for this program was developed by Helene Blowers, based at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Most of the activities that you will complete here come from the original program established in 2007.

So, if you want to particpate, then go and get your list of 23 Things, and begin discovering the wide world of Web 2.0!