Tapped In Newsletter: April 2005

...On the Tapis
April 2005
Issue 89

In This Issue

[1] Spotlight Shines on Tapped In Volunteers
[2] Create CONNECTIONS at Festival 2005 Groups Poster Session!
[3] Tapped In Technology Tip
[4] News Nuggets
[5] Tips and Comments from the Experts
[6] About ...On the Tapis

Quote of the Month - "If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

[1] Spotlight Shines on Tapped In Volunteers

April is National Volunteer Recognition Month. Although we appreciate our Tapped In volunteers every month, April is a great time to drop in and say thanks to the helpdesk volunteers and the people who present and facilitate the calendar events. If you would like to become a member of the Tapped In Team, you may log in to Tapped In and visit HelpDesk Central, the group room for helpdesk volunteers. To visit the group room log in, click on the SEARCH tab in the top right of your screen, click on the subtab PLACES, enter HELPDESK CENTRAL and press the Find It button. When you get a match you will see a passageway or door icon that will take you directly to the HelpDesk Central room. As a guest to the group room you will not be able to add, edit or post information, but, once you check out the features available and see the support given to the volunteers, perhaps you will join the group and become one of the very special Tapped In volunteers that we'll be thanking, not only next April, but all year long!

[2] Create CONNECTIONS at Festival 2005 Groups Poster Session!

Are you the leader of a Tapped In Special Interest Group? Do you want to let other Tapped In members learn more about what your group has to offer? Then the Festival 2005 Group Poster Session is the event for you! The Group Poster Session is an asynchronous opportunity for you to display the resources and information that is in your group room by opening your group room to guests and all Tapped In members (see Tech Tip below). Passageways to all participating group rooms will be created in the Tapped In Groups Lobby that will host the poster session. Festival participants will be encouraged to join the poster session groups and post comments to the Groups Lobby discussion board. The Groups Lobby will have volunteer greeters available throughout the day to answer questions about how to join a group and how to visit the group rooms. If you are interested in more information on showcasing your group and/or are willing to volunteer for one or two hours during the festival, please contact BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org

The theme of Tapped In Festival 2005 is Creating Connections Through Collaboration. We are still looking for partners to sponsor door prizes and awards during the July 20, 12 hour Festival. Pam Berger, leader of the monthly WebTools calendar events, has already generously donated a one year subscription to InfoSearcher. If you know of an organization or group that would like to COLLABORATE, contact BJ Berquist, Festival Chair, at bjb@tappedin.org There are still a few openings in the Festival schedule. Contact BJ if you would like to provide a Festival event. Watch future newsletters for more Festival information.

[3] Tapped In Technology Tip

Inviting other groups to your TI or K-12 Student Group Room
Inviting other groups to your group room is a relatively new feature. To allow another group to enter your group room, enter your group room and click on SETTINGS at the bottom of the blue menu. Then go to MEMBER MANAGEMENT and scroll down to Visitors. You can choose any group of which you are a member, or you can choose All Users. If you select All Users, you enable any guest or Tapped In member to enter your TI group room and look, but not touch, all of the resources available. If you select All Users to visit a K-12 Student Group, any Tapped In member can enter your student group room (to look, but not touch), but guests will still not be able to enter the Student Campus. This feature is especially useful if you want a guest speaker to join your TI group for a presentation, or if you want to do an online demonstration of your K-12 Student Group for other Tapped In members.

[4] News Nuggets

E-learning Practice and Research Blog by Roger Goodson:
Tapped In member Dr. Roger Goodson, Professor of Business & Management, School of Business & Management, Notre Dame de Namur University has created a Weblog aimed at discovering current information regarding the 'state of the art' of e-learning in terms of actual practice and research in higher education at the institutional, college/school/department and individual classroom levels. Dr. Goodson invites you to view his Blog and add comments.
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Thanks to alert Tapped In member and K-3+ Resources discussion leader Sue Roseman for letting us know that Tapped In was picked by Blue Web'n as a 4 starred Hot Pick on April 1.
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Congratulations to Venny Su for having his paper, "An Open Source Platform for Educators (paper ID 71)" accepted as a poster paper at the 5th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies and the special Conference held in conjunction with ICALT, the IEEE 3rd International Workshop on Technology for Education in Developing Countries (TEDC).
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Tapped In members Michael Hutchison (social-studies-owner@tappedin.org) and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach (science-owner@tappedin.org) have been moderating Social Studies and Science Teacher mailing lists for Classroom Connect. Because Classroom Connect has decided to discontinue the lists, they have been moved to the Tapped In server.

To subscribe to the Social Studies List click here.
To subscribe to the Science List click here.
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Do you have a News Nugget about yourself or another member of the Tapped In Community? Send your News Nugget to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org.

[5] Tips and Comments from the Experts

Is your German rusting like a bucket of old nails left out in the rain? Would you like to stretch your 嚏洫 once a month with the guidance of a non-native German speaker in an informal setting? Then come to Tapped In Reception on Friday, April 22 to let Maggi Doty know and if there is enough interest she will set up a monthly session to practice chatting, a group room for resources and threaded discussions and round up some native speakers to spice up the party. Suggestions welcome!
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The following is snipped from a discussion between Lesley Farmer and Betty Price at the conclusion of a recent Targeting Librarians event.

BettyPr: My first experience with this online learning has really been enjoyable and informative.
BettyPr: Thanks so much for the addresses and ideas.
LesleyF: good, Betty. I conduct a session each month on the third Wed. 4:30-6pm PST.
BettyPr: I think I'll spread the word about this site and the chats after school.
LesleyF: oh, good, Betty. Repeat business builds up a community of practice and is mutually supportive.
LesleyF: you're more apt to act upon the info you receive and participate in.
BettyPr: Yes, we all need to share our wealth of knowledge.
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If you're thinking about becoming a helpdesk volunteer, consider these kind words from Tapped in member Nelma T Valente in Brazil, "Friends, I would like [to] be using Tapped In always. Your help is very important for me. I need [to] go ahead always and the help that Tapped In offer for me is being very important for my studies and for my life. Thank you. Congratulations!!! Nelma"
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If you have a comment or experience to share with the Tapped In community, please submit the information to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org or post to the How You Use TI link.

[6] About ...On the Tapis

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