Open Badges 3.3 - Hashing the recipient attribute

The last of three screencasts on the basic requirements for setting-up a server to be a badge issuer. In this screencast I look at hashing the earners email address with the slat value. This hashed value is then used in the recipient attribute of the json file. This screencast is a part of a step-by-step guide built to support the onboarding of the non-technical OBI implementer.

Reflective Activity: Do you feel confident with a server side programming language like PhP or Python? If not, do you have access to programmer resources to assist?

Open Badges 3.2 - Configuring for the json content-type

The second of three screencasts on the basic requirements for setting-up a server to be a badge issuer. In this screencast I look at configuring the web server to support the json content-type. This screencast is a part of a step-by-step guide built to support the onboarding of the non-technical OBI implementer.

Reflective Activity: Do you feel confident with your basic server administration skills? If not, do you have access to server administration resources to assist?

Open Badges 3.1 - Importance of a stable URL

The first of three screencasts on the basic requirements for setting a server to be a badge issuer. In this screencast I provide an overview of the basic server and configuration needs to issue a badge manually, and discuss the importance of a stable URL for the origin, criteria and evidence json attributes. This screencast is a part of a step-by-step guide built to support the onboarding of the non-technical OBI implementer.

Reflective Activity: Manually issuing a badge is not the only approach to accomplish this task? Can you think of one (maybe two) other ways to issue a badge using the OBI?

Inquire, Paraphrase, Acknowledge, Advocate

So I was reading through the information streams created around this years OSCON. And it looks to be an outstanding event... focused on the impact the open movement has had at many levels and in many realms. All good! I am so happy to be a part of it and grateful to be a part of the Open Badges initiative with Mozilla Foundation. A lot of my current activity is with building community in and around the implementation of the Open Badges Infrastructure (OBI). So what really resonated with me are the four traits for a good community as lifted by Tim O'Reilly from David Eaves keynote. The four traits are; Inquire, Paraphrase, Acknowledge, Advocate. But what does all this mean to community building? So I looked up each and what could each community member do to assist in building a strong sustainable and healthy community.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roland/7436172034/

• Inquire - To seek information by asking a question; curious; probing.
  Always be asking questions and seek information to understand each community member and their positions and context.
  
  
• Paraphrase - A restatement of a text or passage in another form or other words, often to clarify meaning; clearness; rewording.
  Confirm that you have understood, add strength to another community members words by showing your understanding as it related to a particular issue within the community. Even restate within a different context as it relates to the community.
  
  
• Acknowledge - to show or express appreciation or gratitude for. to acknowledge a favor. To express thanks or gratitude for. To admit the existence, reality, or truth of.
  Let people know they are welcome in the community by acknowledging their contribution, engagement and presence. Confirm their contributions by tying them back to current and emerging truths within the community and its shared knowledge.
  
  
• Advocate - to support or recommend publicly; plead for or speak in favour of. to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly.
  Speak out for all the good work the community is doing. Choose the topics of interest to you, within the community, and speak passionately of them. Assist in keeping all things moving forward; network, engage, understand, promote, and share. Be positive... advocate.

References:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/
http://dictionary.reference.com/
https://twitter.com/timoreilly/statuses/225622408231534592
http://www.oscon.com/oscon2012/public/schedule/detail/24859

Open Badges Step 2.3: Technical Prerequisites - Server Infrastructure

The last of three screencasts on the technical prerequisites for integrating with the Open Badges Infrastructure. In this screen cast I discuss the server infrastructure required for each of the three roles of; issuer, earner, and displayer. I mostly spend my time describing the server needs of the issuer, where the displayer is quite similar to the issuer, especially if it becomes a fat displayer. And by fat I mean it offers a lot of displayer services related to badges and their earners. Again, the earner requires the least infrastructure, but can require more if we begin down the road of federated backpacks. More on the federated backpack in a later screencast.This screencast is a part of a step-by-step guide built to support the onboarding of the non-technical OBI implementer.

Reflective Activity: If the server infrastructure for the issuer is mostly about storing and managing earner, evidence, criteria and badge information, what information needs to be stored and managed by the displayer? Compare and contrast the server infrastructure needs of the issuer and the displayer.

Open Badges Step 2.2: Technical Prerequisites - Technology Stack(s)

The second of three screencasts on the technical prerequisites for integrating with the Open Badges Infrastructure. In this screen cast I discuss the technology stack(s) required for each of the three roles of; issuer, earner, and displayer. This discussion is more of a logical view of the technologies you need. The idea being we are building on ideas from the non-technical perspective. Getting deeper into the technology will come in later screencasts.This screencast is a part of a step-by-step guide built to support the onboarding of the non-technical OBI implementer.

Reflective Activity: Why does the issuer require the most technology? Can the earner get away with having no technology beyond internet access and a facebook account? Can you think of a reason why a displayer would require more technology than the issuer?

Open Badges Step 2.1: Technical Prerequisites - JavaScript

The first of three screencasts on the technical prerequisites for integrating with the Open Badges Infrastructure. In this screen cast I discuss the basic javascript you need to know to manually issue badges. I also touch upon the prerequisites if you move beyond manually issuing badges and integrate with an LMS or other server application. This screencast is a part of a step-by-step guide built to support the onboarding of the non-technical OBI implementer.

Reflective Activity: If you are going to integrate badge issuing with your learning management system (LMS) or other server application, do you need more than just JavaScript?

WebGL Interview 2

My learning in the open journey in building learning resources for the Mozilla Ignite initiative continues. 8 days back I had the amazing opportunity to speak with Mozillians Benoit Jacob, Ben Moskowitz and Bobby Richter, the conversation created the following pocast. This podcast was a discussion about some of the ideas forming from the Ignite challenge and we discussed what would be required to implement these ideas using WebGL within the superfast-superwide GENI network. The purpose of this podcast was to further identifying technologies and approaches so we can create focused learning labs, and set up experiments that others can follow and use as learning resources.

WebGL Interview 1

My learning in the open journey in building learning resources for the Mozilla Ignite initiative continues. 10 days back I had the amazing opportunity to speak with Mozillians Ben Moskowitz and Bobby Richter, the conversation created the following pocast. This podcast was a blue-sky discussion about using WebGL within the superfast-superwide GENI network. The purpose of this podcast was to start identifying technologies and approaches so we can create focused learning labs, and set up experiments that others can follow and use as learning resources.

Open Badges Step 1: Claim your first badge

In this screencast I look at some of the technical resources available for introducing someone to the open badges infrastructure (OBI). The screencast is a part of the Introduction to Open Badges Step by Step guide. The main theme of this screencast is to claim a couple of badges and to look at a number of badge issuers.

Reflective Activity: Once you have earned, claimed and displayed a few badges take some time to reflect upon the three main roles of open badges; the issuer, the earner and the displayer.

Open Badges Step 0.4: P2Pu Open badges 101

In this screencast I look at Peer 2 Peer Universities Open badges 101 course. The screencast is a part of the Introduction to Open Badges Step by Step guide. The main theme of this screencast is to encourage people to familiarize themselves with and complete the course.

Reflective Activity: How could Peer 2 Peer University issue badges. Should they give badges for completing individual challenges or for complete courses? What other badges within peer based learning could P2Pu issue?

The followers have spoken

Well it looks like my poll asking for assistance on which half-finished blog post I should complete next has provided me adequate results. Other than the injection of posts regarding open badges and ignite learning labs I will spend my next while completing the following posts, in this order;

1. Traditionalists, Reformers and Outliers - 54% voters
2. Computer Science taught as an Art - 45% voters
3. Digital Me (Mozilla + Life-Long Learning) - 36% voters
4. Using smart phones within a connectivist approach - 36% voters

What fun!!!

Help me complete my half-finished blog posts

After reading a couple of posts on Boris Mann's blog, in particular; "The Posts That You Don't Write". I got thinking about all the half written blog posts I have. My blogging style is to write down ideas for blog posts as unpublished blog posts. As the ideas pop into my head I create the post, add notes and references, loop around, and often finish them off. This can take months, sometimes over a year... most of the time they get finished (or deleted). Currently, I have over 20 blog posts like this, some are almost finished some are not. So I wondered, what would happen if I put this out to vote.

 Which of these half-finished blog posts should I complete?
 

The WebGL ecosystem

After a couple of recent discussions and some further reading; two diagrams have provided some great insight into WebGL as it relates to the web and other related technologies... These two digrams and related posts are as follows;

http://electronicdesign.com/article/embedded/html5-and-webgl-fit-interactive-embedded-applications

http://phillihp.com/2011/01/27/waiting-on-webgl-html5/

Mozilla Ignite + WebGL: Introduction

Over the last two weeks I have invested considerable time reading about, talking with people, and watching the occasional youtube video on WebGL. I've been doing this to create some learning resources for the Mozilla Ignite challenge. I won't be creating the technical resources myself; I will be facilitating the discussions and thinking around the WebGL technology and how Mozilla can best support the ignite candidates to onboard themselves. In otherwords, what aspects of OpenGL ES, WebGL (and related libraries) does a software developer need to understand to implement their ignite challenge idea. And what learning resources can Mozilla create to assist these developers.

A concept map can go a long way toward developing an understanding of any subject domain. This simple concept map is my first stab at WebGL and will be added to as I deepen my understanding.

An introductory concept map for WebGL. What is WebGL?

To start learning about WebGL there are many resources and tutorials to assist with learning. These resources can be found with internet searches and will take you to many step-by-step guides and youtube videos. I strongly suggest you spend time searching for, and completing WebGL tutorials if you are wanting to deepen your understanding of the coding to WebGL. An excellent YouTube video that covered an introduction to WebGL with a whole lot of coding examples is from Erik Möller...

Learning in the Open

Learning in the open; Koh Lanta, Thailand.

People who follow this blog know I am a strong believer in open education, self-directed life-long learning, and the creation of open educational resources. I also believe this can be successfully done outside of traditional learning approaches and institutions. I also believe a familiarity and understanding of your metacognitive abilities combined with agility and pragmatism you can successfully learn all you need out in the open with only attending an online course or traditional institution when it best suits your learning needs. I believe this so much that I dedicate this blog to the subject of self-directed life-long learning. I am also in the process of writing a book on Agile Learner Design, a book about understanding your metacognitive abilities and how to create your own personalized curriculum and courses. All in support of your own learning.

One area of learning and OER development I am currently involved is with the Mozilla Ignite Challenge. With this project I leverage my 25 years in technology and software architecture, combined it with my teaching, instructional design, and open education experience and create some OER to assist Mozilla Ignite candidates learn about some of the technologies available in (and supported by) this challenge.

What is Learning in the Open?
Learning in the open is based on four principles and one model;

Progressive Inquiry

1. the principle of open learning - the learner is self-directed, independent, and self-guided.
2. the principle of metacognition - the learner is aware of their own learning style, and how to best develop their own skills and knowledge.
3. the principle of open - where everything they do while learning is done in the open, with transparency, reflection and frequent publishing of their knowledge gathering.
4. the principle of collaboration - engage your peers and learning cohort with frequency and without hesitancy.
5. progressive inquiry - provides the discipline and model to follow when working towards discovery and understanding.

How does this apply to the Mozilla Ignite Challenge?
By learning in the open, engaging others in my learning and publishing the artifacts of my leaning, I create a road-map for others to follow who want to learn the same. Over the next five weeks I will gather information in a variety of ways, publish frequently and coalesce the information into a single rich media artifact for peoples learning consumption. I will start with WebGL and finish with WebRTC. Feel free to follow along;

• http://criticaltechnology.blogspot.ca/search/label/ignite
• http://delicious.com/prawstho/ignite

Open Badges Step 0.3: A first look at open badges JSON

In this screencast I take a first look at the json message for issuing a badge. Given the open badges dependency on messaging this is the first look at the messages required to implement open badges. Keep in mind that as the OBI matures and the partner network increases, there will be a growing number of software applications that will implement this messaging. In the near future the technical understanding of the messaging will be the domain of the software developers. Understanding the messaging and its attributes will assist greatly in your open badges implementations. This screencast is a part of the Introduction to Open Badges Step by Step guide. The main theme of this screencast is a review of three blog posts which look into manually issuing a badge;

1. a technical look at some existing learning resources
2. an investigation into the criteria and evidence attributes
3. a completed manual badge implementation

Reflective activity: Think about how you would create the criteria for a badge, and how someone would provide evidence to be awarded the badge.

Open Badges Step 0.2: Do a whole lot more reading

In this screencast I look at some of the technical resources available for introducing someone to the open badges infrastructure (OBI). The screencast is a part of the Introduction to Open Badges Step by Step guide. The main theme of this screencast is a review of my technical look at the available resources.

Reflective Activity: take some time to read all of the above sites referred to in this screencasts related post and answer the question, "Which FAQ would you read to answer technical questions and which would a read for more general questions? Where could you access the source code for the open badges project?".

Open Badges Step 0.1: Do a whole lot of reading

In this screencast I look at the resources available for introducing someone to the open badges infrastructure (OBI). The screencast is a part of the Introduction to Open Badges Step by Step guide. The main theme of this screencast is a review of the post by Sunny Lee of the Open Badges team.

Reflective Activity: take some time to read all of the above sites referred to in this screencasts related post and answer the question, "How are the roles of Issuer, Earner and Displayer related, how are they dependent upon each other, and what role do they each play within the Open Badges Infrastructure?".

Screencasting guildelines

I've always though the strength of screencasts was in their storytelling qualities. And a few searches on the keywords "screencast + storytelling" do take you to some sites and articles supporting storytelling using technology, in particular, using screencasting. In one paper titled, "Does screencast teaching software applications need narration for effective learning?" found that "the findings provide evidence that screencast with narration can be used for online self-paced learning that is not only effective but also efficient."

When I combine my belief in screencasting with my experience in creating Open Educational Resources (OER) I look to a larger picture where the preparation and artifacts created in the lead up to recording a screencast are also important artifacts for learning and reuse. And when you also consider the reuse possibilities and the localization needs that may occur, creating treatments for the screencasts and storing the raw multimedia files also become important.

For my current project work with Mozilla I have decided to create an Open Resources Wiki within the larger Mozilla Wiki. This open resources wiki will store guidelines, resources and artifacts for creating open resources. I believe these resources could be very useful as Mozilla deepens its commitment to digital literacy and webmaking. I believe that the resources I create will have the ability to be reused and localized and I need to be mindful of this possibility as I create new learning resources.

Preparing multimedia resources of reuse and localization takes additional work, but it is work that makes a better initial product. This occurs because greater thought needs to go into the resource before it is created. My recent set of screencasts have focused on the onboarding of open badges implementers where I have created screencast treatments and stored the related media in RAW format encouraging reuse and easing localization efforts.

• The step by step guide I am creating resources; https://wiki.mozilla.org/Badges/StepxStep
• The scaffolding and treatment guidelines for screancasts; https://wiki.mozilla.org/User:Prawsthorne/Scaffolding/Webinars
• The actual treatment for step 0 of the resource; https://wiki.mozilla.org/Education/OpenResources/Badges/0-Reading