etc@bmc
Monday, August 29, 2005
Click and Double-Click: Live from the Information Fair
An episode worth a listen, especially if you need a laugh.
click and double-click
click and double-click
Friday, August 26, 2005
Link hoarding
I've been hoarding links, saving them in my rss aggregator, thinking, "OOh, this sounds neat! I'll read this later and post about it." Well, it's time to admit that though I've now read most of them, I haven't done anything with them. So I thought I'd list them here, with a brief description of why I saved them. Maybe you'll find something useful here.
- Multilingual Blogging--a post about students abroad blogging their experiences in the languages of the countries they're visiting by Barbara Ganley, a professor at Middlebury College
- Also from Barbara, a power point about Blogging in the Classroom. You should really read her blog all the time. She has a lot of insights about using technology, especially blogging and the web, in a small liberal arts environment.
- From CogDogBlog, a post about Living at the Crossroads of IT & ID (Instructional Technology and Instructional Design). It's an overview of his presentation there, with lots of links to resources and some comments on the tools he chose to use.
- Feeddigest, another CogDogBlog post, about mixing different RSS feeds together into one to display on web sites or do with whatever you want.
- Minutes from Drexel's RSS club meeting by Jean-Claude Bradley. I was especially interested in their Edufrag project, using games to teach. I'm going to have to get myself over to one of their meetings.
- From EdTechPost, I saved three different posts on course management systems. I'm always thinking about alternatives to and options within Blackboard. He offers critiques of cms's that are worth thinking about.
- EdTechPost also offers a post about an Open Source 3D Rendering engine. This is an area I don't know much about but would like to explore further.
- From the Educause blogs, a post linking to a discussion of Moodle and Sakai (both open source course management systems). Also, a list of IT journals.
- From KairosNews, a post about how to assess blogs in a writing class.
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Tablet PCs
I've been wanting to play with tablet pcs since I started working at Bryn Mawr, but until recently, they were a little too pricey. Now they are about the same price as a good laptop. As part of the Writing in Quantitative Disciplines grant I participated in, we purchased two over the summer. I recently purchased a third and am thinking of getting a fourth. One of the tablets is currently on loan to a professor who participated in the grant-funded workshop. He is going to try his hand at marking up papers digitally using the tablet. The idea behind doing it this way is that it doesn't change much that one normally does when marking up papers (you can even make the pen red) but the whole process is digital and doesn't involve physical paper being exchanged. We discovered, in the process of making sure everything was set up properly, that the new version of Word allows one to write in the Word document itself without needing a plugin. You can save the file with the markup and can open it in any version of word and see the markup. Even print it out! I'm looking forward to hearing about the results of this trial run.
But tablet pcs can be used for even more. Another professor is using one to screencast her lectures. That is, she'll be recording them and saving them to be put on the web for review later as a video file. She'll be using Windows Journal to write formulas and draw diagrams, all of which will be recorded along with her voice. So students will have a good record of what happened in class.
The Biology department is purchasing a tablet of their own and will likely use a combination of PowerPoint and Journal for their lectures, which they will also record. I'm running a workshop for them today. Check back later for notes (and screencasts!).
In addition to all the great uses above, we are probably going to purchase a few more tablets for use in smart classrooms as a kind of substitute for white boards. The great thing about tablets is the ability to write on almost any file. You can write on a PowerPoint and save the results or write on separate "paper" like you would the chalkboard or whiteboard. You can save the results of that as well. And that is the big benefit. Whereas before, what happened in the classroom faded into a distant memory, now there are easy ways of capturing it. The hope is that this leads to better learning.
But tablet pcs can be used for even more. Another professor is using one to screencast her lectures. That is, she'll be recording them and saving them to be put on the web for review later as a video file. She'll be using Windows Journal to write formulas and draw diagrams, all of which will be recorded along with her voice. So students will have a good record of what happened in class.
The Biology department is purchasing a tablet of their own and will likely use a combination of PowerPoint and Journal for their lectures, which they will also record. I'm running a workshop for them today. Check back later for notes (and screencasts!).
In addition to all the great uses above, we are probably going to purchase a few more tablets for use in smart classrooms as a kind of substitute for white boards. The great thing about tablets is the ability to write on almost any file. You can write on a PowerPoint and save the results or write on separate "paper" like you would the chalkboard or whiteboard. You can save the results of that as well. And that is the big benefit. Whereas before, what happened in the classroom faded into a distant memory, now there are easy ways of capturing it. The hope is that this leads to better learning.
Monday, August 22, 2005
Top Ten list of things to do to get ready for school
There's many more--and of course, this is strictly from my perspective, feel free to add more in the comments:
10. Write those syllabi and put them online. You can put them in Blackboard or on a course web site. Students love being able to access them 24/7. Papers easily get lost.
9. Organize your Blackboard site or course web site. How you do this is up to you, of course. One thing we hear from students time and time again is that information is hard to find. Put your documents into weekly folders or by topic. Change the colors of the site; put your own personal stamp on it.
8. Try something new. We have a lot of ways to incorporate new technology into your classroom. Have your students keep a blog (in Blackboard, or on the new blog site). Have them create a multimedia presentation with the help of the New Media Lab equipment.
7. Learn something new yourself. Ask for a workshop. Or stop by the ETC to chat about something new you'd like to try.
6. Investigate your multimedia options in the LLC.
5. Find out what's new in the library and consider taking time out of one of your classes for a lesson with one of the librarians on searching the library resources.
4. Think about what your incoming students are like. They were born in 1987. They have always know computers, cellphones, online gaming, email and the internet. It's likely they had good access to computers throughout high school and possibly as far back as elementary school. Consider spending some time in the first weeks of class talking about what this means in terms of the class you're teaching.
3. Make sure your own computer is ready. Do you have all the software you need? Is it virus and spyware free? Maybe you need to organize your computer files (I know I do.). If you need help, contact the help desk (7440).
2. Passwords. Do you have them all? Do you need to change them? Again, the help desk is at your service. Or check the computing and ETC sites for information.
1. Try to relax!! Yeah, I know, it's hard, but things somehow always work out in the end.
Remember, we're always here to help, so call or email!
10. Write those syllabi and put them online. You can put them in Blackboard or on a course web site. Students love being able to access them 24/7. Papers easily get lost.
9. Organize your Blackboard site or course web site. How you do this is up to you, of course. One thing we hear from students time and time again is that information is hard to find. Put your documents into weekly folders or by topic. Change the colors of the site; put your own personal stamp on it.
8. Try something new. We have a lot of ways to incorporate new technology into your classroom. Have your students keep a blog (in Blackboard, or on the new blog site). Have them create a multimedia presentation with the help of the New Media Lab equipment.
7. Learn something new yourself. Ask for a workshop. Or stop by the ETC to chat about something new you'd like to try.
6. Investigate your multimedia options in the LLC.
5. Find out what's new in the library and consider taking time out of one of your classes for a lesson with one of the librarians on searching the library resources.
4. Think about what your incoming students are like. They were born in 1987. They have always know computers, cellphones, online gaming, email and the internet. It's likely they had good access to computers throughout high school and possibly as far back as elementary school. Consider spending some time in the first weeks of class talking about what this means in terms of the class you're teaching.
3. Make sure your own computer is ready. Do you have all the software you need? Is it virus and spyware free? Maybe you need to organize your computer files (I know I do.). If you need help, contact the help desk (7440).
2. Passwords. Do you have them all? Do you need to change them? Again, the help desk is at your service. Or check the computing and ETC sites for information.
1. Try to relax!! Yeah, I know, it's hard, but things somehow always work out in the end.
Remember, we're always here to help, so call or email!
Thursday, August 18, 2005
What's New
If you listened to our last podcast, you got a taste of what's going on around here in the ETC. We also have made note of the projects we worked on. I've also put up a sampling of the SMDI projects, some of which are still undergoing some polishing, but a few are complete and being actively used.
The New Media Lab is undergoing an overhaul tomorrow. We're getting two new Macs and two new PCs. We'll also have updated software for image editing, scanning, video editing and more. The place will be cleaned up and ready to go by the time classes begin.
Some of the classrooms have gotten an upgrade and you'll be hearing more about that from our Multimedia Department soon. In the meantime, check their web site to see what equipment is in your classroom.
We've also got the blog software up and running. We're still creating new templates and tweaking the look and feel. We'll have some documentation up soon.
I'm working on the workshop schedule for the semester. As always, if there's a workshop you'd like to participate in, please let me know.
Are there new things you'd like to see? Let us know. Can't find documentation on something you're trying to use? Let us know that too. We try our best to cover all the bases, but if we don't know you need or want something, we can't help you. So help us help you and email us (lblanken@brynmawr.edu) or call (6578).
The New Media Lab is undergoing an overhaul tomorrow. We're getting two new Macs and two new PCs. We'll also have updated software for image editing, scanning, video editing and more. The place will be cleaned up and ready to go by the time classes begin.
Some of the classrooms have gotten an upgrade and you'll be hearing more about that from our Multimedia Department soon. In the meantime, check their web site to see what equipment is in your classroom.
We've also got the blog software up and running. We're still creating new templates and tweaking the look and feel. We'll have some documentation up soon.
I'm working on the workshop schedule for the semester. As always, if there's a workshop you'd like to participate in, please let me know.
Are there new things you'd like to see? Let us know. Can't find documentation on something you're trying to use? Let us know that too. We try our best to cover all the bases, but if we don't know you need or want something, we can't help you. So help us help you and email us (lblanken@brynmawr.edu) or call (6578).
Monday, August 15, 2005
Book Review: Everything Bad is Good for You
Over the weekend, I finished Steven Johnson's Everything Bad is Good for You (tripod, amazon). He is the author of several popular books about neuroscience, technology, and society. He is a neuroscientist by training, but he is interested in the way various aspects of society affect the way we think and function within our connected and increasingly complex world.
Everything Bad takes on the idea put forth by many in politics and parents' groups that tv, film, video games, and the internet are dumbing down our society. He argues just the opposite, that these things actually are making us smarter. The basic argument is that most of this popular culture has gotten increasingly complex. Take tv, for example. He argues that a show like "The Sopranos" is much more complex than "Hill Street Blues," one of the most complex shows of a similar kind. He uses several charts to show the plotlines and character connections in both shows. In "The Sopranos," there are about 15 different plotlines to track, often over the course of more than one episode, compared to about 5 in "Hill Street Blues." Also, there are many more characters, connected in many more different ways, in "The Sopranos" as opposed to "Hill Street Blues." Keeping up with all of those plotlines and characters takes mental work. Further, he suggests, that we like this kind of work and that is why shows like "The Sopranos" are popular.
Johnson makes the same kind of argument for video games, comparing early games like Pac-Man, whose patterns can be explained in a page and easily memorized by a 12-year old (yes, I did this myself) to games like Zelda or Grand Theft Auto which have volumes written about them to explain how to solve the puzzle. The complexity of these games also comes from the fact that the rules are not laid out neatly from the beginning. Players are dropped into a world and must "poke around" on things to figure out how they work. This is true in tv, too. Have you ever watched a "West Wing" episode? Often, at the beginning, you'll see several characters having a hushed conversation about something you know nothing about. You have to figure it out over the course of the episode. In other words, you have to think.
As for the internet, Johnson discusses the way people take in information now in a way that isn't always linear and that people can interact with that information or create their own content. You can't talk back to your 6:30 news broadcast, but you can talk back to a news blog. You can create your own news blog--or any other kind of blog. Again, people are more actively involved with their information retrieval in a way that they just couldn't be 20 years ago.
What does all this mean for educators? I think it means that we have to recognized that many students will be expecting this kind of environment in their education. They want to be, not just entertained, but engaged with their educational environment. They may not want their information presented in a linear way. They may want to be able to poke it, prod it and interact with it. For me, this book was a breath of fresh air. I have always felt that I've thought in non-linear ways and that I like the challenge of puzzles and games. I think our current students do, too. And they want those puzzles to be hard, hard enough to challenge them and make them think in different ways--just the way video games and complex tv shows do.
Everything Bad isn't the perfect book, but I think it is a much-needed commentary on our popular culture. The argument gets repetitive at times, but I might have felt that way because I agreed with it almost immediately. For someone going in with an opposing view, they may not feel that way. Definitely worth a read.
Everything Bad takes on the idea put forth by many in politics and parents' groups that tv, film, video games, and the internet are dumbing down our society. He argues just the opposite, that these things actually are making us smarter. The basic argument is that most of this popular culture has gotten increasingly complex. Take tv, for example. He argues that a show like "The Sopranos" is much more complex than "Hill Street Blues," one of the most complex shows of a similar kind. He uses several charts to show the plotlines and character connections in both shows. In "The Sopranos," there are about 15 different plotlines to track, often over the course of more than one episode, compared to about 5 in "Hill Street Blues." Also, there are many more characters, connected in many more different ways, in "The Sopranos" as opposed to "Hill Street Blues." Keeping up with all of those plotlines and characters takes mental work. Further, he suggests, that we like this kind of work and that is why shows like "The Sopranos" are popular.
Johnson makes the same kind of argument for video games, comparing early games like Pac-Man, whose patterns can be explained in a page and easily memorized by a 12-year old (yes, I did this myself) to games like Zelda or Grand Theft Auto which have volumes written about them to explain how to solve the puzzle. The complexity of these games also comes from the fact that the rules are not laid out neatly from the beginning. Players are dropped into a world and must "poke around" on things to figure out how they work. This is true in tv, too. Have you ever watched a "West Wing" episode? Often, at the beginning, you'll see several characters having a hushed conversation about something you know nothing about. You have to figure it out over the course of the episode. In other words, you have to think.
As for the internet, Johnson discusses the way people take in information now in a way that isn't always linear and that people can interact with that information or create their own content. You can't talk back to your 6:30 news broadcast, but you can talk back to a news blog. You can create your own news blog--or any other kind of blog. Again, people are more actively involved with their information retrieval in a way that they just couldn't be 20 years ago.
What does all this mean for educators? I think it means that we have to recognized that many students will be expecting this kind of environment in their education. They want to be, not just entertained, but engaged with their educational environment. They may not want their information presented in a linear way. They may want to be able to poke it, prod it and interact with it. For me, this book was a breath of fresh air. I have always felt that I've thought in non-linear ways and that I like the challenge of puzzles and games. I think our current students do, too. And they want those puzzles to be hard, hard enough to challenge them and make them think in different ways--just the way video games and complex tv shows do.
Everything Bad isn't the perfect book, but I think it is a much-needed commentary on our popular culture. The argument gets repetitive at times, but I might have felt that way because I agreed with it almost immediately. For someone going in with an opposing view, they may not feel that way. Definitely worth a read.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
iMawr
Liz has created a podcast for Bryn Mawr. The inaugural episode is good. Go here to read all about it and hear it.
Friday, August 12, 2005
End of Summer
I can feel it. The summer students finished their projects. I'm getting lots of questions about Blackboard, podcasting, and screencasting. Even the air has a chill in it (okay, maybe not). We were hoping to get our own podcast in today, but we were busy tying up all the loose ends of the summer.
We've scheduled two Blackboard workshops. We're in the process of planning workshops for the fall and spring. We need your input.
You know how you had to write those "What I did this summer" essays in grade school. Well, we wrote one of those. Unfortunately, we had to leave some things out. But here it is anyway.
Let us know what you did this summer.
We've scheduled two Blackboard workshops. We're in the process of planning workshops for the fall and spring. We need your input.
You know how you had to write those "What I did this summer" essays in grade school. Well, we wrote one of those. Unfortunately, we had to leave some things out. But here it is anyway.
Let us know what you did this summer.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Odeo
Sounds like "Rodeo." We've been talking about podcasts around here for a while. Odeo is a podcast directory that is quite expansive. Here are all the podcasts under the education tag. The interesting thing about the podcasts in Odeo is that you can subscribe to a podcast and it shows up in your iTunes directory (which has added a podcast directory of its own). That makes it very easy to load up your iPod with good podcasts to listen to. Besides the education podcasts, what might you listen to? How about some foreign language ones? Here's one in French. And Japanese. How about some science? What about art?
But what looks even more promising is that Odeo will eventually allow you to use their site to create your own podcasts. It's already quite simple to create a podcast, but Odeo will make it easier! You can even use your phone to create one. The publishing features aren't available but I've asked for a sneak peek, so I'll keep you informed. In the meantime, I'd recommend investigating some of the many podcasts listed in their directory.
podcasting
But what looks even more promising is that Odeo will eventually allow you to use their site to create your own podcasts. It's already quite simple to create a podcast, but Odeo will make it easier! You can even use your phone to create one. The publishing features aren't available but I've asked for a sneak peek, so I'll keep you informed. In the meantime, I'd recommend investigating some of the many podcasts listed in their directory.
podcasting
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Opening the Conversation
I had an interesting thing happen today. The ETC blog was picked up by a Bryn Mawr student's blog and she commented on how behind the curve BMC seemed to be technologically. It was, I thought, a thoughtful observation about the tension between what students want and see in their everyday lives in terms of technology vs. what they get from their educational institution. What I liked about the whole exchange was that it proved my theory about social software. Social software, like this blog, opens up the conversation. It allows those connections to be made. Because of this connection, I'm now thinking about ways for students' opinions about technology to be heard.
I'm also thinking about how to create a community for such discussions. Should we use a blog? A discussion board?
My hope is that people will use the new blog site (when it's up). But if my experience with the blog world is any indication, this community will emerge from many places. It will be partly in the blog site, but it will be connected to other sites. It will include current students, alums, staff, maybe faculty. That is my hope.
I'm also thinking about how to create a community for such discussions. Should we use a blog? A discussion board?
My hope is that people will use the new blog site (when it's up). But if my experience with the blog world is any indication, this community will emerge from many places. It will be partly in the blog site, but it will be connected to other sites. It will include current students, alums, staff, maybe faculty. That is my hope.
NEED AUGUST WEB HELP?
To all who work for Bryn Mawr College:
The fall semester is almost upon us
To welcome back students and classes that promise
hours and hours pursuing more knowledge;
but how best to organize and manage
each program, department, and syllabus?
During the mad shopping week rush,
Will your website be ready to meet the challenge?
Never fear! The Bryn Mawr Geek Squad can help!
Six brainy mawrters who’ve spent their summer
In Guild, building web projects they’re dealt.
With their job near done, they’re broke. It’s a bummer.
But hire them soon to update your site. You'll
see them heat up HTML and make CSS purr.
The fall semester is almost upon us
To welcome back students and classes that promise
hours and hours pursuing more knowledge;
but how best to organize and manage
each program, department, and syllabus?
During the mad shopping week rush,
Will your website be ready to meet the challenge?
Never fear! The Bryn Mawr Geek Squad can help!
Six brainy mawrters who’ve spent their summer
In Guild, building web projects they’re dealt.
With their job near done, they’re broke. It’s a bummer.
But hire them soon to update your site. You'll
see them heat up HTML and make CSS purr.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Technology Emerges
First, thanks to Emily for posting a couple of things while I was away. Sounds like it was an exciting time to be in Guild.
My colleagues and I are preparing for a meeting tomorrow to present what we think is up and coming in education and technology. Of course, this is something we're thinking about all the time, but it's quite instructive to be forced to pause and collect the information.
Here are some of the things we've come up with, with a few links and thoughts:
For example, this morning, I was talking about the way people were piecing together lightweight web applications--blogs, wikis, image galleries--to create course sites, rather than using course management systems like Blackboard and WebCT. I was suggesting a portal-like app to tie everything together, allowing faculty to check off boxes for the applications they wanted to include. It needs to be simple to use and must be an automated process in terms of generating shells or it should be easy to import students. It should also allow one to make the content public or not. Maybe your syllabus would be visible just like a web site while the rest of the content is password protected.
Blackboard is kind of an all or nothing proposition. It's overkill for what most people want to do and yet constrictive in odd ways. Blackboard has not really been particularly innovative in the last couple of years while the web is marching forward at breakneck speed. Sakai, an open-source course management system, shows promise.
Wherever course management systems go, there will always be people who will venture off on their own in order to have more control over their course environment.
Another thing we were discussing is adding a social element to driving directions. That's especially important in a metropolitan area where you may want to avoid traffic, stoplights, or a bad neighborhood. For example, whenever I go to Mapquest or Google Maps or Rand McNally for directions to spots in the city, I almost always get a route that takes me down Lancaster Avenue. Yes, Lancaster is a direct route, but it's littered with stoplights and takes you through some ugly parts of town. And all of these tools don't allow you to say that you want to take the highway even if it's less direct. What if people could put in their favorite routes or rate others' routes so that when you input your address and destination, you would see similar routes and could choose from those or create your own route.
One of the difficulties of determining what will emerge in terms of technology and education is you never know what technology will be adopted by education. When Palms came out, lots of educational institutions jumped on them, but Palm development has stagnated somewhat. The web used to be a fairly static place, but is increasingly dynamic and it has become easier to create dynamic web sites without training. However, education primarily still thinks in static terms when it comes to the web. That's changing, but slowly.
Where do you see technology and education going? Where would you like for it to go?
educational technology, education
My colleagues and I are preparing for a meeting tomorrow to present what we think is up and coming in education and technology. Of course, this is something we're thinking about all the time, but it's quite instructive to be forced to pause and collect the information.
Here are some of the things we've come up with, with a few links and thoughts:
- Social Software. I think this will continue to grow in new and surprising ways.
- Web 2.0. A catch-phrase really for where the web is going and the way it's become a platform similar to a desktop and may even replace the desktop.
- Multimedia. True multimedia. It's becoming easier and easier to create video, audio, images and text and publish it all to the web. Increasingly, students and faculty will create their own multimedia content.
- Portable computing. Cell phones, pdas, iPods. These are all taking over.
- Gaming. Using games to teach. This is really taking off. There's a whole issue of Innovate dedicated to it.
- GIS/GPS applications. Interactive mapping. Connect map data to historical data, statistical data, video, images.
- Podcasting, screencasting. Related to Multimedia, but more like broadcasting.
- Interactive video classes. I'm sitting in one right now.
For example, this morning, I was talking about the way people were piecing together lightweight web applications--blogs, wikis, image galleries--to create course sites, rather than using course management systems like Blackboard and WebCT. I was suggesting a portal-like app to tie everything together, allowing faculty to check off boxes for the applications they wanted to include. It needs to be simple to use and must be an automated process in terms of generating shells or it should be easy to import students. It should also allow one to make the content public or not. Maybe your syllabus would be visible just like a web site while the rest of the content is password protected.
Blackboard is kind of an all or nothing proposition. It's overkill for what most people want to do and yet constrictive in odd ways. Blackboard has not really been particularly innovative in the last couple of years while the web is marching forward at breakneck speed. Sakai, an open-source course management system, shows promise.
Wherever course management systems go, there will always be people who will venture off on their own in order to have more control over their course environment.
Another thing we were discussing is adding a social element to driving directions. That's especially important in a metropolitan area where you may want to avoid traffic, stoplights, or a bad neighborhood. For example, whenever I go to Mapquest or Google Maps or Rand McNally for directions to spots in the city, I almost always get a route that takes me down Lancaster Avenue. Yes, Lancaster is a direct route, but it's littered with stoplights and takes you through some ugly parts of town. And all of these tools don't allow you to say that you want to take the highway even if it's less direct. What if people could put in their favorite routes or rate others' routes so that when you input your address and destination, you would see similar routes and could choose from those or create your own route.
One of the difficulties of determining what will emerge in terms of technology and education is you never know what technology will be adopted by education. When Palms came out, lots of educational institutions jumped on them, but Palm development has stagnated somewhat. The web used to be a fairly static place, but is increasingly dynamic and it has become easier to create dynamic web sites without training. However, education primarily still thinks in static terms when it comes to the web. That's changing, but slowly.
Where do you see technology and education going? Where would you like for it to go?
educational technology, education
