jlearn2.0

Virtual CAJE 32 continues to be an interesting experiment. The three primary arenas are the CAJE 32 blog on WordPress, the CAJE 32 wiki on wikispaces, and cajenet, the CAJE 32 social network on Ning, an online social networking platform.

The blog and the wiki are open to the public. The blog includes postings from the CAJE executive director, CAJE president, and co-conference chair. In addition, two participants from the Schusterman College Program were invited to share their conference experiences on the blog.

The wiki was created as a central clearinghouse for conference materials. It includes the program book, program highlights and updates, press releases, CAJE’s Jewish Education News, a printable map of the conference campus, and session handouts. It is anticipated that additional presentation materials will be added to the site after the conference concludes. A parallel wiki, CAJEd In, was created to encourage participants to experiment with the medium and to provide an additional area for the public sharing of ideas and resources.

The social network, cajenet, is available to members only. Registrants are provided with space to post on their own internal blogs, add photographs and videos, and create discussion forums and groups. cajenet is an integrated, interactive environment that took on a life if its own. It is particularly interesting to see that membership in the network appears to represent a variety of ages and technology experience. It is also intriguing to see how individuals personalize their spaces given limitations in Ning’s design.

The tools are just that – tools. They were chosen based on CAJE’s perceived needs for the conference and to play with sample templates for future design. It’s people who create content and foster interactions to make the experience meaningful.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 10:19 pm and is filed under CAJE, CAJE 32. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.