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Linked from Pocket: What is an algorithm?

Algorithms need to have their steps in the right order. Think about an algorithm for getting dressed in the morning.

 

 

 

 

from Pocket http://ift.tt/29Yr0OA
via IFTTT

This week is about algorithms, and although I confess to knowing the term, I didn’t feel I understood it well enough to really appreciate this week’s readings, so I was hunting online for a very simple explanation of what an algorithm is. In my head, I was thinking some sort of command that tells a computer to do something – a bit like the IF statement we are all using to populate our blogs.

This really simple little explanation from the BBC bitesized education program was exactly what I needed, very simple and clear to understand. It’s probably a bit too simplistic but since I’m studying education and not informatics, I figured this was ok. It hit the nail on the head though, as someone who has worked as an instructional designer, the BBC explanation made so much sense.

explanation of an algorithm

An algorithm isn’t quite an IF statement, it’s the process of instructions before you write your statement or code. So a bit like before I create any kind of eLearning (or classroom learning plan), I write out exactly what needs to happen when and what the learner should do.

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Tweet! IFTTT tools that we would recommend

I wondered if we each had a tool that we were brave enough to recommend to the rest of the class? We are all using twitter to its death but is there something else which you feel has worked particularly well with minimum fuss? Pinterest perhaps?

My take homes are that there are some tools which don’t quite manage and need a little bit of jiggery-pokery in the code to make it work visually – Instagram, for example, posts the images at 600px width. However with my theme, the column for content is only 550px wide so the images bleed into the text on the right-hand-side column,  so I change the width to 500px. Also pocket doesn’t always post the pic but instead of leaving it blank, adds an image not found – image which I find annoying.

I found today that youtube, which is native in wordpress (if you post the link it will embed),   doesn’t work when added through ITFFF, so again a little tweak in the code fixes that.

I am obsessive about my blog being easy to read and not look messy though so maybe it’s just me but I do believe as we are posting our blogs publically on the web, we are all responsible for adhering to WWW rules of accessibility where we can and so should be making an effort to ensure any internet user who wishes to enjoy our blog content can and is not restricted because they are not able bodied.

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Linked from Pocket: What Is an Online Community?

An online community is a community that forms on the internet. A community is a group of people interacting, sharing, and working toward a common goal. Whereas neighbors may converse in their yards, in an online community, members interact via social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. via Pocket http://ift.tt/2lBRWFn
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Tweet! Battling with IFTTT again so I can try some alternative tools

Another hour trying to trouble-shoot IFTTT. It is frustrating but I keep trying to remind myself that we are using it out of context and so seeing all its flaws laid out for us.

In the real world you wouldn’t keep firing different tools at it to see what happens, you have a specific purpose in mind and probably only 3 or 4 tools you want to use.