[seul-edu] Resources and environment (was Reservations ..: site tools ..)

["Prevett, Larry" <Prevettl@cochise.cc.az.us>]

| Do you think they [wikis] would allow different groups to work on their 
| own projects, each with a project leader a la sourceforge/open 
| source dev process?

David,

let me start a new thread here and not talk about tools, but
about use of resources and an environment that fosters creativity.

The thing is, there are different parts to any creative process.
First you get an idea, then you research and enrich your idea, then
you represent the idea in some way. Finally, you find a way to
exchange your representation (whether it is a piece of software, a web
page, a piece or art, etc.) for something that allows you to
continue the creative process. This completes the cycle.
(Ok, I realize that in framing things this way, I'm excluding a
large number of other things about the creative process.)

The mailing list is a source of ideas for me. Tools like search engines
and wikis allow me to research and enrich the ideas, I can represent
these ideas as course materials or web pages, etc. Since I am a  
teacher, I teach to complete the cycle.

Programmers might find an application like Sourceforge useful for
many parts of this process, especially the 'exchange' component of 
the creative process. If you are maintaining a web site for education, 
then that site is one way you can 'exchange' things for the purpose 
of continuing your creative activities. That 'exchange' could be for
money, or resources, or anything that allows you to continue on.

The exchange part is tricky, and a real puzzle for many open source
programmers. It's the source of many arguments. It's important to 
protect something that allows you to perpetuate your endeavors. 
I think the proposed education coalition, and the consolidation of 
resources, might be a way for programmers and others to strengthen 
their position for exchanging things, but I'm not exactly
sure how. I don't think a wiki is necessarily the best staging area for 
this 'exchange to perpetuate the process' thing. 

But a wiki is a wonderful tool for the research and enrichment part of
the creative process. You might be able to use it for other things
too, don't know. It does have an 'experimental' aura about it. 

I don't know why I like the SEUL wiki. I think I like the environment 
that Doug and Roger have created. I trust them, and their reports are 
a lifeline. I think they have a great thing going and I really want 
them to succeed. But they don't seem to be to concerned about 
succeeding in a commercial sense, so the 'exchange' part of the process
doesn't appear to be prominent. They just want to have fun while 
doing a good thing, which is a great environment to collaborate in!

lp