dl archive proposal

Archiving dl messages | Jerry Talandis Jr. | January 31st, 2003

Hello CPers,

This is Jerry, from Japan. I'm currently trying to nail down my Distance Education (DE) assignment, and I could use your help.

My focus is developing a set of criteria for archiving the majordomo discussion list (DL) messages. In case you didn't know, all these messages that we type are stored on a big computer at Aston. I don't know when this list was started, but I know for sure there are literally thousands of messages on there. Steve Mann described a few months ago how one can go about accessing them. I went about downloading all the messages from September 2002 and ended up with a Word file 222 pages long!!!! As you can see, organizing the DL messages into some format that can be accessible and useful to active CPs is a daunting task. My aim is to get the ball rolling on this project by looking at what's involved.

Of course, the size of the project depends on what the main overall goals/intensions are. One idea that's out there is to sift through the messages and pull out some interesting and useful discussion threads and display them on an Aston webpage, laid out in a forum discussion-style format. As you may have noticed, there are certain discussions that seem to come up at regular intervals (such as the topic of "study skills" when new CPs join the program). Perhaps it would be nice to have some of the more interesting/insightful discussion threads posted on the net. New CPs could learn a lot from them, and seeing old messages again could spark new trains of thought, discussion, and interaction among more experienced students. The basic idea would be to recapture and bring to light all those hidden gems of insight stored away on that big computer for the benefit of all.

My question: would anyone have a problem with an idea such as this? Why or why not? I imagine some people may be not feel good for one reason or another about having their old messages dug up and put up in public.   Seems to me that author's permission should be sought before any messages were made public.

Next question: Do any of you have any memory of really good discussions that you either observed or participated in? What were they about, and how were they helpful? Perhaps I could dig them out... For me, the one that comes to mind was that study skills discussion that took place in the spring of 2001, just after I started. Francesca started it, and I remember how helpful it was to me at the time. I still have it stored on my Yahoo account. Any other "greatest hits" out there?

Peace,

Jerry

Jerry's project | Steve Mann | January 31st, 2003

Hi all,

I'd just like to add a line to Jerry's plea. The experimental DL group has produced some interesting discussion and ideas. We already have one excellent assignment which looks at participants views of tutorial support.

Jerry's efforts will also prove useful to the LSU, especially if a few of you can provide Jerry with a couple of 'memorable exchanges'.

Best

Steve

Reply to Jerry | Francesca Michalski | January 31st, 2003

Hi Jerry,

It's been a long time since there's been a really good discussion going on the list, and it's hard for me to remember topics of previous ones. However, I do remember people doing IIC who got into discussing conflict in the classroom and whether the teacher should express personal opinions or not. Now I'm doing IIC, I'd like to be able to excess these discussions, as they are relevant to my assignment. I think your work could be of real value to all participants. I'm off on a week's holiday next week, but if I can remember any other debates, I'll tell you.

Francesca

Re: Jerry's project | Catherine Buehler | January 31st, 2003

There was a good discussion about SPRE in March 2001 that I found really helpful having just started the FND. In June 2001 I followed a discussion on GE which was interesting- quite awesome for non-GE participants, actually!

I have archived all the messages since I joined the discussion group, but admit to not having divided them into categories yet- the advantage of that, however, is that I have a chronological record and can see what was discussed at a particular time.

Have a good weekend.

Catherine Buehler in snowy Switzerland

Re: Jerry's project | Raymond Sheehan | February 1st, 2003

I agree with Catherine about GE discussions: the erudition, the vast variety of interpretations of clause/structure... Great stuff! I wonder if it would feasible to organize the threads according to modules (and why do some modules never get discussed, or do they?). And then have extra threads for extra-modular concerns such as study skills? In any case, the value of such a project would be huge. Perhaps the main thing, though, would be to 'narrow the focus' and the range of the task, with your evaluation commenting on further useful work to be done in that area by future CPs????

Raymond Sheehan
UAE

Re: Archiving DL messages | Sue Wharton | February 2nd, 2003

Hi Jerry,

If it's of any use to you, I do have a file of all the messages that were part of the SPRE discussion that Catherine referred to... I kept it because it arose in response to a query of mine and extracts of it ended up, with various permissions granted, in a paper by Julian and myself.

Let me know if you'd like it.

Cheers

Sue

Re: Jerry's project | Jerry Talandis Jr. | February 2nd, 2003

Hi Raymond,

Thanks for your message.

I LOVE your idea about organizing discussion threads according to modules. That would make it a lot easier to find stuff. It would be good for new and current CPs alike. It would be nice, for example, to read some past discussion on a module you are thinking of taking, or will take in the future. You can also add to the archived discussion of modules you've finished. Hopefully, by posting some old favorites in each module, we could have the effect of "priming the pump," providing a starting off point for further inquiry.

As for my focus, the idea is to just get this project started. I could do some work to get things going, such as setting up an organizational plan and collecting some data to fill it out. Even if I just got a few areas done, I would learn enough to be able to evaluate things and provide a potential roadmap for the future.

If you have any old discussions stored up on your hard drive, please forward them to me. I may be able to use them.

Franscesca,

Thanks for your response! That's just the sort of thing I'm looking for. I want to collect samples of great discussions from the past. Having people alert me to what was relevant for them would save me TONS of work. It's a lot better than just me making the distinction of what is useful or not.

Can you (or anyone else reading this) remember when that IIC discussion took place? Better yet, did anyone save it on his or her computer? If you did, could you email it to me?

Thanks!

Jerry

Re: Reply to Jerry (IIC Discussion) | James Hobbs | February 3rd, 2003

Hi Jerry,

Can't remember exactly when the IIC discussion was, but I did my assignment on that topic, and I've still got all the list messages somewhere if you (or Francesca) want them. In fact I've got about three years worth of messages on file (about 1,000 messages). Not because I'm especially organized, but just because I'm too lazy to sort out what to keep and what to throw away. I could just email you the whole lot in a file if you wanted. Might be a fairly long download, though. Some of the more computer savvy folk out there might have a better idea.

James

 

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