Getting Started with Moodle – Posting #1

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Jacqueline Boivin

This posting is meant to be the first in a series, as I learn how to work with Moodle.

Moodle is a free open-source content management system (CMS) or also known as an LMS or Learning Management System.

I am interested in setting up and learning Moodle to use in a corporate setting, but Moodle is also used widely in academic settings, and by independent educators.

I work at a company where the software product is made up of various modules. One of those modules, which is electronic health records (EHRs), is quite complex in nature for a novice user to learn. So, in order for the trainers who work at this company to become experts themselves, they need a general place to view training videos and be able to discuss ideas in open forums. With an LMS, I feel this can be accomplished easier, and what is great about Moodle is that you can learn it for free!

These postings aren’t meant to re-create the existing Moodle documentation, as they have their own extensive documentation which can be found here: https://docs.moodle.org/

Instead, I plan to describe my personal experience in getting up & running with this program.

If you are like me, and you don’t want to install Moodle on your own web server, then you can turn to the various free hosting services that are available out there in cyberspace.

This site compares some of them: https://orwinconsulting.com/free-moodle-hosting-companies

I chose NineHub.com mainly because I had already tried Key To School in the past, and was having trouble reactivating my learning site. So the first step for me was to register with NineHub.com and create my learning site, which you will see in the next posting.

Grapefruit Seed Extract – is it really healthy?

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Jacqueline Boivin

Grapefruit seed extract (GSE) is derived from the seeds, pulp and membranes of grapefruits. It can be self-made by grinding the seeds and pulp and mixing with glycerine (1). Commercial versions are made via an industrial chemical process and preservatives are added (3).

The extract is believed to have natural antimicrobial, antiviral and anti-fungal properties (1). It is also promoted as a treatment for candidiasis and even as a general domestic surface cleaner (4).

However, several studies have found that the antimicrobial properties of commercially prepared GSE are due to added preservatives such as benzethonium chloride, triclosan and methyl parabene (2, 3).

Furthermore, no antimicrobial activity has been detected in the self-made extracts (3).

Therefore it is likely that GSE does not have any naturally occurring antimicrobial properties of its own.

Additionally, Todd Caldecott, has stated concerns in his article from the Spring 2005 issue of “Medical Herbalism,” about the long-term safety of ingesting the preservatives found in commercial varieties of GSE (2). According to Caldecott, one of the compounds, benzethonium chloride, which is commonly used as a disinfectant in cosmetic products, has been found to be a potentially harmful compound, and is not approved for internal use in the United States (2).

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapefruit_seed_extract
“Medical Herbalism: A Journal for the Clinical Practitioner”; Grapefruit Seed Extract; Todd Caldecott; Spring 2005
https://www.terressentials.com/truthaboutgse.html “Terressentials: The Truth About Grapefruit Seed Extract”
“Total Health, Volume 24 (1)”; Natural Antibiotics: Grapefruit Seed Extract; Tina Wellman.

Find me on Twitter: @jacbird and @masitblog

An Overview of the Nature Network

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Jacqueline Boivin

Lately, I’ve been feeling really excited about the concept of Science 2.0. I feel that science is at its best when it is discussed and shared with everyone. Because after all, what is science, without a discussion of ideas?

The Nature Network is social networking for scientists, and has a similar look and feel to MySpace. I like the layout of this site, as it is very intuitive to use, and has some useful features such as “most popular tags,” “most commented blog posts” and “recently active people.”

Below, I give an overview of how to get started, and what you will find in some areas of the site.

Simply go to the homepage https://network.nature.com/ and sign up to become a member using the orange Sign Up link a the far right.

Create your profile and add information about your background and current projects.

The site explains that once you are signed up, you can:

post comments in discussion forums
list your events
join groups
create your profile and personal network
create your own blog

Home Page:

The Home Page is also great, as you can see:

Most commented blog posts (increase your popularity within the community)
Most active forums (view and join)
Recently active people

Network:

To add people to your network, simply click on the People link and use the search box at the far right, or look at user profiles under the headings “Recently active users,” “Newest members,” or “Similar people”
The profiles shown under “Similar people” are based on the tags you entered, and helps you to find like-minded people
You can click on the Network link to see who’s in your network and who has you in their network
One suggestion I have for this site is to add a “who’s viewed me” link so you can see who has viewed your profile

Hubs:

You can also join a Hub:

As explained on the site, a hub is an area of the world with a thriving scientific community (so far, NY, Boston, London)
Special sites are set up for these hubs, which helps to support local collaborations

Forums:

If you click on the Forums link, you will find some useful headings: popular topics, featured topics, popular tags, and popular forums

Overall, I really like the look and feel of this site. It is very user-friendly and should help to aid communication among scientists and members of the general public who are interested in science. I see this as a very positive thing!

Science 2.0: the new wave of science

Posted on May 18, 2009 by Jacqueline Boivin

So by now, we have all heard of Web 2.0, right? In case you haven’t, Wiktionary defines it as “The second generation of the World Wide Web, especially the movement away from static web pages to dynamic and shareable content and social networking” https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Web_2.0 For instance, the tools of Web 2.0 include sites like

Facebook, MySpace, Wikipedia, Twitter, Flickr, and social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Reddit, Delicious and Fark etc. And now, the idea of Science 2.0 has come into being because of the tools of Web 2.0. Science 2.0 can be defined as a second generation of science, where researchers use wikis, blogs and other Web 2.0 technologies as a potentially transformative way of doing science (see the Scientific American link below).

Science 2.0 Aspects:

online collaboration
tagging of scientific data to create searchable databases
FaceBook-like social networking sites for researchers (can use to find like-minded collaborators)
open notebook science – posting your live notebook with raw results on the web

What are the benefits?

Basically, I think Science 2.0 is a great idea! It just seems that science is better and more fun when it is being discussed with a group of people. I don’t know about you, but when I was studying science at school, I always found it to be more rewarding when problems and ideas were discussed with a group of friends. Also, the tools of Web 2.0 will allow for better cross-discipline collaboration and less isolation among smaller labs.

What are some challenges?

After reading various articles on Science 2.0, there seems to be some fear about “getting scooped” (i.e. if you make your ideas readily available on the web, then perhaps someone else could try to get credit for them. Or, someone could build on your ideas and discover something, that you yourself would have found out given just a little more time). There’s also some concern about not receiving formal credit for contributing your ideas to wikis and blogs etc. I understand this fear of getting “scooped”, no one would want the credit for their hard work to go to someone else. At the same time, if someone makes a leaping discovery based on your work, isn’t it only fair that they should at least get some credit? And as for not getting formal credit for contributing to blogs etc. Well, aren’t you in science because you love it? Aren’t you happy to be discussing it with your peers? All this fuss about not receiving credit because you contributed something to a blog post seems a little petty to me. Blogs and wikis are not intended as a replacement for online journals, so you would still have those for your career advancement.

Science 2.0 Examples:

MIT’s openwetware project – https://openwetware.org/wiki/Main_Page
Nature Magazine’s “Nature Network” – https://network.nature.com/
Oceans 2.0 project – https://neptunecanada.ca/news/index.dot?id=11287
open-access journals (i.e. Public Library of Science) – https://www.plos.org/

Website Resources:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=science-2-point-0-great-new-tool-or-great-risk https://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/01/08/f-tech-research.html https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/03/the-internet-is/ https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-03/uom-mog030608.php

Find me on Twitter: jacbird

Masit Communications Science Blog Mixed up with the Arts

Vancouver Technical Writer

Category Archives: Latest Work