The participants had an assignment to do for Day 4, which was to create a blog post on their experience at the Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity. All of them did their homework and some of them really impressed the trainers! Please find below the Links to the newly created blogs by the workshop participants:
All questions and concerns related to Blogger were answered and clarified by the facilitators before moving to the next session.
Micro-Blogging
Micro-blogging
was introduced to the participants through a presentation and video.
Twitter was used as example of micro-blogging. Some participants already
had a Twitter account, but most of them did not know the importance and
power of using this tool. An existing Twitter account was shown to the
participants and they were amazed to discover how many things one can do
on Twitter to be up to date with latest news on our subject of
interest.
A
volunteer, who did not have a Twitter account came forward and together
with the other participants, a Twitter account was created. The
facilitators made sure that all participants were moving at the same
pace so that they are not lost in the process. Tips were given to
participants on how to choose their Twitter handle and write their Bio.
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| Trainer giving examples of micro-blogging sites |
When
all participants had an account on Twitter, the main features of
Twitter were explained: Tweets, Following, Followers etc. They were
asked to follow the person sitting next to them and it was also shown
how they can search for individuals/organisations/groups of their
interest. Once each had a follower and was following something,
participants were ready to send a tweet.
 |
| Session on Twitter |
Their
first tweet contained just a text. In the following tweet, they added
the #web2MRU to it and they were explained that on clicking on this hash
tag, they will find all the tweets related to the workshop. While
practising, they also understood the function of the "@" abd they could
reply to a tweet or mention someone in a tweet. The participants also
followed the @CTAflash and @web2fordev.
Other
things covered on twitter were the settings, where they could change
the background and look of their Twitter account, link their Twitter
account with a Blog or Facebook and they could also customise the
privacy settings since some participants did not want their tweets to be
public.
With
some practice, the participants understood the basics of Twitter and
were requested to keep on tweeting for them to get used to it.
Google Maps
Another
very interesting session for Day 4 was Google Maps. A presentation on
Google Maps was delivered by one of the facilitators to explain the
concept of Google Maps.
It
was quite a lengthy session with some exercises. Before starting with
the exercises and giving examples, participants were given some time to
get used to the interface of Google Maps and try to drag the different
places with their mouse. When this was understood, the facilitator went
forward with the practical part.
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| Presentation on Google Maps |
In
the first exercise, participants were shown how the direction from one
place to another one can be obtained on Google Maps, and also the
distance and time taken for the proposed routes by the means selected
(walk, car etc.) is provided.
The
the next exercise which was a very interesting one, participants were
asked to create a map, where there are directions on how to come to the
Web 2.0 Learning Opportunity at the Faculty of agriculture in Reduit. In
this exercise, each participant created a map. After having located the
University of Mauritius on the map, the following were done:
 |
| First exercise on Google Maps |
- Put a placemark on the bus-stop at the University of Mauritius and they also named it and added a description
- Put a placemark at the Venue, which is the Faculty of agriculture and described it, with a text and also added a picture to it
- Using Lines, a trail was made from the Bus-Stop to the venue
- Using shapes, The cafeteria of the university was highlighted, which had a text and video as description
Participants were amazed by what they could do with Google Maps!
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| Second exercise on Google Maps for indicating direction to a venue |
Please find in the Slideshow below pictures of Day 4:
