A couple of interesting articles were posted on [Read/WriteWeb](http://www.readwriteweb.com) on Friday. In the first, Richard MacManus [discusses ](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/e-learning_20_all_you_need_to_know.php)the support platforms (including [Elgg](http://elgg.org/) which we use at my [institution](http://oremi.swan.ac.uk)). In the second Josh Catone [discusses](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/web_20_backpack_web_apps_for_students.php) the range of Web2.0 tools that are available to students as a sort of portable, always connected “backpack”. Although the first article provides a useful overview of some of the key ideas and platforms being used in “e-learning 2.

[Roumen Strobl](http://blogs.sun.com/roumen/) is a Netbeans “evangelist” who works for Sun in Prague. He produces the [Netbeans Podcast](http://blogs.sun.com/roumen/category/Podcasts) and numerous screencast demos of the [Netbeans IDE](http://www.netbeans.org). In this very [useful article](http://blogs.sun.com/roumen/entry/recording_high_quality_demos_screencasts) he explains how he creates screencasts (like [this one](http://blogs.sun.com/roumen/entry/why_netbeans)) and it’s well worth reading to find out how a professional does it! Powered by [ScribeFire](http://scribefire.com/).

If you want to share URLs with your students, tag your del.icio.us bookmarks with a module code. If you publish the link to the tag, your students will get up-to-date access to your links and it’s easy for you to add more. I find it much more more flexible and convenient than the External links feature in Blackboard! You can even create an RSS feed for your links! Here’s one I made earlier: del.

In my previous article in this series, I described how I use the All Items mode in Google Reader to efficiently wade through a large number of articles from my subscribed-to RSS feeds. In this article I show you how I mark, bookmark and occasionally blog about interesting items that I find in my daily news. The underlying justification for this process is an attempt to supplement my memory with minimum effort!

This is Part 2 in a planned series of essays on living life online. Part 1 is here. The whole series is tagged mylifeonline for ease of access. Reading the News I read the news today, oh boy – John Lennon In the previous article I showed you my Firefox start up page. In this article I’m going to drill down into my iGoogle portal concentrating on a typical news reading session.

Just announced on the [Efficient Academic Google group](http://groups.google.com/group/The-Efficient-Academic/browse_thread/thread/87d95a64a0c4b8b3/1a89504865a94f33?#1a89504865a94f33) is this “Link Blog” on the [101 Best Teaching Resources](http://101teachingresources.blogspot.com/). An interesting source of ideas and worth keeping an RSS feed on. Powered by [ScribeFire](http://scribefire.com/).

Richard McManus of the Read/WriteWeb blog has published an article on [Firefox browser add-ins](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/firefox_add-ons_all_you_need_to_know.php) which includes the top ten list, links to reviews of the “officially” recommended add-ins and some discussion of what will be coming in Firefox 3. Comments give lists and links to other add-ins. My personal list of addons that I use every day: - [ScribeFire](http://scribefire.com/) addin for blogging. - The [del.icio.us](http://del.icio.us/help/firefox/extension) addin for tagging web pages. - The [del.

Introduction Over the last year or so I have been dipping my toes more and more into the on-line world and experiencing first-hand the Web 2.0 phenomenon. I thought it was time I formally started to report my experiences and reflect on how I am using Web 2.0 technologies. So this is part 1 in a planned series of essays on living life online. Hopefully there’ll be something that others, particularly colleagues at Swansea University, will be able to pick up.

Announced on the W3C news site yesterday (13th June) and just today spotted while trawling my RSS feeds, is the news that Sir Tim Berners-Lee (TBL) has been appointed as a member of the Order of Merit by H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II. Sir Tim, as you know, invented the World Wide Web, which made this blog possible, and so changed the world as we know it ;-). He’s definitely a hero of mine.

I’ve been trying to attend the JISC innovating e-learning conference 2007 but what with final year assessment and external examination boards coming up, it’s been difficult to participate, even as a lurker! However, one thing that occurs to me is that sticking the letter e in front of a real-world concept does not give it magical powers! So we have e-learning, e-portfolios, e-assessment, e-etc, but what are they really? Aren’t they just the real-world concepts supported by technology?

Came across a recommendation of another Web-based To Do List application while going through my RSS feeds this morning. This application was recommended by Lachlan Hardy on Read/Write Web blog and so I signed up. One feature that immediately sets it apart is that it can link to gmail via a Firefox plug-in, so if you come across an email that needs action you can tag it inside gmail and it is added to your to do list.

I have subscribed to this Blog in Oremi (Swansea University’s implementation of Elgg) so this entry should appear both in my RSS aggregator (called Resources in Oremi) and also as a Blog entry inside my Oremi space. I have similarly added by del.icio.us bookmarks to the same feature, so if I bookmark this item, it should also appear as a Blog entry inside Oremi. I have been less than impressed by Oremi’s blogging and wiki features so far.