Cross-Linking Blogs and Wikis

I've established an edublog for the Language Teacher Development Project. At present, it comprises a generic mission statement, and a comment about rate of development.

Two main reasons that I chose a free WordPress-powered edublog were: 1) the availability of a like-named wikispace linked to the edublog, and 2) a suite of captivating WordPress tutorials. The space is free, but you can limit access so that only you or subscribed community members can post.

Since linking the LTD Project Blog to the KEFL Wiki LTD Project Home Page [defunct link to KEFL Wiki removed (2006.11.10)], I've started developing more wikispaces, too - one for each of the courses that I teach. They are really easy to build and rebuild.

Wikispaces, in turn, support linkage to Blogger blogs, linkage which eventually will lead right back to this one.... It works: You can export blog entries to a linked wikispace, or import to the wikispace from a linked blog.

Last, but not least, the LTD Project blog now sports a ticker at the lower right showing recently reworked pages on theltdproject wiki. Removing the spaces in the wiki name fixed the connection!

Topline wiring for access to learning contracts

Originally posted July 7, updated July 10, 2006

Towards the end of the Language Teacher Development Project meeting, June 24, 2006, participants generally endorsed the continued use of the topline mailing list as a primary venue for LTD Project communication. Participants also agreed to draft learning contracts by the 4th of July (or so I thought).

However, since the end of the meeting, I have encountered difficulties in subscribing new members to the mailing list. Though there have been very few posts by participants on list, I did get an off-list inquiry about resource books or articles suitable for learning about computer assisted language learning. I am waiting to hear what the participant's focus (or foci) might be.

I started out by inviting participants, whose addresses I had confirmed prior to the meeting, to subscribe to the topline mailing list (offhand, maybe two in four subscribed). Then, at the end of the meeting, I tried direct subscriptions by the list owner/moderator (me), which didn't seem to work. New subscribees didn't appear in membership lists, so I tried sending invitations again.

However, participants' mail programs may have treated Yahoo! invitations as junk mail. It also seems that the mailing list system reported neither faulty addresses from direct subscriptions, nor bounced invitations to faulty addresses. Perhaps there were no bounces, only non-respondents. How can you tell?

Here we are now. I've reverted to direct email to participants who are not subscribed to topline, and sent, or offered to send, learning contract file forms as email attachments to participants who have yet to sign on to topline as Yahoo! Groups members.

We'll see what we see, hopefully sometime soon.