The impossible possible

So a teacher teaches a class of 4th years across the oceans... cool.

Amazing how the World has changed in the last 20 or so years. Computers, Internet, Broadband... 3 things that didn't exist (for the rest of us) 20 years ago, 3 things that are indespensible now, three things that have forever changed the way we work, play and live.

And the treasure of free software!!! Practically everything you need to fire up your computer into a super Working/Entertainment/Communication/(Take your pick...) Machine is yours for free. You don't have to choose between offerings - you go where your friends recommend, try out everything and stick with one, more or all of the above... And with Web 2.0's new found interactivity in the browser, it has come to a point that a free download looks like too much work (talk about spoilt).

So now it is possible to have two teachers, without a budget, coordinating a class between the UK and New Zealand, the teacher in NZ teaching a ICT graphics class, a classroom of 4th years learning avidly on their computers(under the hawk eye of the second teacher of course) in the UK, following along as their teacher talks on skype and demos on skrbl (did I mention - no budget?).

The most amazing part of the whole tale? That it doesn't astound, that we take all this in our stride.
Kid in a candy store? Bah! he's got nothing on us.

Son of video

First there was the skrbl video on YouTube. Released January 22nd 2007 (ah the good old days... sigh!) with commentary in German.
And now many moons later here is (trumpets & drums) another.


This video is by a teacher & shows the skrbl whiteboard in action as a classfull of students discuss Arthur Miller online. The quality is a bit fuzzy but it really shows off skrbl in action. With all those students skrbling simultaneously, the whiteboard is like a live thing. I can imagine how good it must feel to a teacher just watching the online interaction freeflowing action, reaction, collaboration... 'group think' is a good description.

I've blogged about skrbl in the classroom before and I think this is the same teacher.
Thank you sir.

Veni, vidi, ship

This is a very exciting time for us - We just launched the skrbl team edition and this is a big deal because it is our first paid service. Go on try it out, we think you will find its cool new features very useful.

Skrbl is doing fine, and we thank our users for making these numbers possible, essentially since Dion Almaer's little mention in December 2006.

But I would be remiss if I did not add the proper disclaimer - We counted all the users who ever used skrbl. That is people who joined a whiteboard and logged some activity on it. This means some users will have been counted multiple times - especially anonymous guests (for obvious reason) and users with multiple accounts. The whiteboard count represents all whiteboards created, not necessarily whiteboards that are active today.

Those were the numbers in late August, we'll update them again in October. Once again thank you folks for using skrbl, we hope you also try out the team edition and make it a success.

Boggle your mind.

Check out this video, I first saw it here .

Description from You Tube - "An official update to the original "Shift Happens" video from Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, this June 2007 update includes new and updated statistics, thought-provoking questions and a fresh design. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com -- Content by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, design and development by XPLANE. (more)"



Though the presentation focuses on the Education system, my take away is this - When people think & care about the changing World and the potential of technology (and Web 2.0) to make a difference, exciting stuff is bound to follow.
We ain't seen nothing yet, & I can't wait...

vox populi anyone?

The 2012 London Olympics Logo is generating a lot of controversy. Check out some of the reactions, also here & here, apparently the logo also induces eplipsy!!!

The logo is basically a stylized graffiti like rendition of '2012', yet it generates some pretty strong reactions for something so inoccuous...
But why am I talking of the olympic logo in a blog about Ruveka and it's products (skrbl, tweebo & graffiti)... well I connect those dots as you read on(shameless plugger strikes again! :).

Here are the ironies I see in this story
The olympic committee wanted to connect with the 'young, edgy' crowd so they went to a graphic design company.
A design agency, got paid $800,000 to come up with this 'graffiti'. I bet they even had 'focus groups'.
The anti logo movement is currently in hyperdrive, letters to editors, online petitions, the works...
News outlets jumping on the anti logo band wagon are launching individual 'design your own logo' competitions presumably to come up with a logo of the people from the people.

Apparently nobody quite gets it.

If the olympic committee wanted to connect with 'the people', why contract with professional middle men?
Individuals submit logos to newspapers, then what? A vote? How unoriginal.
Here's an idea, put a blank slate in front of 'the people', let us create what we like, let us change what we don't. Watch us vote with our erasers, pencils & brushes. If you have to have professional artists, sure, but consider the artists' work a first draft, and let us at it with our pencils, erasers et al.
The end product will be all the better from our input. In any case it will be something other than just another corporate brand with a short shelf life. It will be something we made, & we will love it all the more for that reason. We will own it, you may the one collecting the royalties, nevertheless, we will own it.

Anyone have Sebastian Coe's email?

Massaging the Medium

Heard of Graffiti from skrbl? A community whiteboard for your community. Basically a blank space you embed in your site, where your users can draw, write & basically create their own content.

This is a big deal, think of it from users' perspective, its an opportunity to talk back, to express an idle thought, or share a random whimsy. This is a community graffiti board, where all users independently create but in the same shared space. It is a new kind of shared community interactivity, and as it extends the medium it changes the game.

Enter the 'Brave new World' where your site does not remain wholly yours, your users take joint ownership. There is atleast that bit of your domain that takes on a life of its own, growing organically, adding color & surprise. Reflecting the wisdom of the masses or the chaotic babble of the multitude but in either case a real thing that you do not fully control.

Try it out, get a graffiti board from skrbl and let the mob rule.
If the medium is the message, massage it a little and see what happens...

Write Here, Write Now.

This is a test of graffiti - skrbl's embeddable whiteboard. Try it out and let us know what you think.