Educators to Follow on Mastodon for Innovative Teaching Insights

I have been using Mastodon for almost six years. I continue to be amazed at the quality of discourse and the diverse community of educators and folks interested in education in the Fediverse. If you are a person who is accustomed to algorithm driven centralized social networks then Mastodon is going to seem a bit unusual at first. If you are WordPress user you can connect your blog to Mastodon with the ActivityPub plugin. You don’t need a blog to connect to Mastodon. You just need to create an account on anyone of dozens of Mastodon instances that exist around the world. One you are connected to an instance you can find other users and connect to them whether they are on your particular server instance or not.

Mastodon communications are driven by hashtags which many of you are already familiar with. Some of my favorites are #education #edtech #technology #opensource #linux #libraries #writers #writing #oer #nerd #stem #steam #AI #Python #humor #puns #jokes

A toot on Mastodon is typically five hundred characters long. Like other microblogging platforms you may have used before brevity is prized but there’s more than enough space to get your information across and then you use hashtags to let your audience know what your toot is about.

Here’s a list of twenty-one educators currently using Mastodon.

Eric Sheninger – @esheninger@mastodon.social
Sandy Kendell – @SandyKendell@mastodon.education
Wesley Fryer – @wfryer@mastodon.cloud
Martin Dougiamas – @martin@openedtech.social
Alice Barr – @alicebarr@techhub.social
Miguel Guhlin – @mguhlin@mastodon.education
EdTech Group – @edtech@chirp.social
Clint LaLonde – @clintlalonde@mastodon.oeru.org
Doug Holton – https://mastodon.social/@dougholton
Anna Millis – @amills@mastodon.oeru.org
Open at Virginia Tech – @openatvt@fosstodon.org
SPARC – @sparc@mastodon.social
Project Gutenberg – @gutenberg_org@mastodon.social
Smithsonian Magazine – @Smithsonianmag@flipboard.com
Steven Beschloss – @StevenBeschloss@mastodon.social
Bill Fitzgerald = @funnymonkey@freeradical.zone
WikiEducation – @WikiEducation@wikis.world
CreativeCommons – @creativecommons@mastodon.social
Edutopia – @edutopia@mastodon.education
Cognitively Accessible Math – @geonz@mathstodon.xyz
NPR – @npr@mastodon.social

In conclusion, Mastodon offers a refreshing alternative to traditional, algorithm-driven social networks. Its decentralized nature and vibrant community provide an enriching environment for educators and those passionate about education. Whether you’re sharing your thoughts, discovering new ideas through hashtags, or connecting your WordPress blog with the ActivityPub plugin, Mastodon opens up a world of possibilities. Embrace the change and dive into meaningful conversations on this unique platform. Happy tooting!

#Edtech #AI #Education #humor #jokes #libraries #Linux #nerd #OER #opensource #puns #Python #steam #STEM #technology #writers #writing

The signature verification system is still very much work in progress, but the source code is available at https://github.com/stefanbohacek/fediverse-signatures.

If anyone would be interested in trying this out on their site, feel free to reach out!

#fediverse #mastodon #fedidev #mastodev #opensource

It’s clear that #opensource as a model is going through some business model challenges, particularly for application-level software like #wordpress.

I’m somewhat conflicted about how Automattic is going about it, though. Should very capitalist large resellers be forced to contribute? Is this a model that can work? Are there better models?

https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/2/24260158/automattic-demand-wp-engine-revenue-wordpress-battle

#AI is thwarting the study of human #language.
https://www.404media.co/project-analyzing-human-language-usage-shuts-down-because-generative-ai-has-polluted-the-data/
( #paywalled)

"The creator of an #OpenSource project that scraped the internet to determine the ever-changing popularity of different words in human language usage says that they are sunsetting the project because generative AI spam has poisoned the internet…'Now the web at large is full of #slop generated by #LLMs, written by no one to communicate nothing. Including this slop in the data skews the word frequencies.'”

We are searching for open-source software **developers** for Mbin. Do you like PHP and the fediverse? Please join our project: https://github.com/MbinOrg/mbin. And join our matrix via, [this invite link](https://matrix.to/#/#mbin:melroy.org). Thank you!

Please boost for more reach!

#mbin #lemmy #fediverse #developer #opensource #software #engineer #softwareengineer #php #reddit #activitypub #federated

Free Software (like #LibreOffice) is about far more than just zero-cost. It’s about the freedom to use, share and modify the software that we all rely on. Make sure that the European Commission doesn't cut funding for Free Software: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2024/09/13/bring-back-free-software-funding-give-your-feedback-to-the-european-commission/ @fsfe #foss #opensource
Kann #Wordpress ein Social-Network werden?
Der @decentered Podcast hat mit @pfefferle über seine Arbeit am #ActivityPub-Plugin gesprochen und ich habe noch einmal mehr über das #SocialWeb und Wordpress gelernt.

Überhaupt ist das ein interessanter Podcast für alle, die sich für das #fediverse interessieren.

https://wedistribute.org/podcast/wordpress-matthias-pfefferle/

#opensource #podcast

I’ll be in New York next month, from September 16-30th.

So first of all I’d be delighted to meet fellow nerds in the #opensource #fediverse #indieweb community if anyone wants to meet up 👋

Secondly, although I’ve booked a place already: If anyone’s got a spare bed or couch for me, kindly reach out! Would gladly cover some of the rent/food for the duration.

Staying in NYC for two weeks is 2x more expensive than the flight there from Norway, lol…

#newyork #nyc #meetup #couch #bed

#Introductions (more of a re-intro, ~5 yrs Mastodon veteran on the original instance)

I’m Andy, a techie, developer advocate, educator and public speaker based in the UK. Follow me for rambling about, among other things…

- #MicroPython
- #APIs
- #MQTT
- #OpenSource
- #VideoGames (Xbox/Switch/Steam Deck/indie)
- #LEGO
- #BoardGames
- #DrWho
- Marvel
- Online communities
- Home automation
- Gadgets / blinky things / making

Links etc -> https://andypiper.me

New major release! #LibreOffice 24.8 is the private, free office suite which includes:

✅ Handy "Quick find" deck in the Sidebar
✅ New spreadsheet functions, including XLOOKUP
✅ Better presentation templates

...plus many other new features, fixes and compatibility improvements. Find out more and download it: https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2024/08/22/libreoffice-248/ #foss #opensource #news