Amber D. Evans

The Internet: Don't leave us in "a Web of One."

2011-05-16T14:51:00.000-04:00

New (DVD) Portfolio of Professional Samples

2011-04-11T15:57:00.001-04:00

A selection of my newest work is now available online:
Enjoy my 2011 Portfolio of Professional Samples.

Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education | Video on TED.com

2011-04-04T17:27:00.001-04:00

Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education | Video on TED.com

I know I personally prefer to learn this way and I've been suggesting this to my faculty for years: "consider flipping the traditional classroom script -- give students video lectures to watch at home, and do "homework" in the classroom with the teacher available to help."

AERA Goes Mobile! Get it now!

2011-04-01T18:15:00.003-04:00

Read the Story: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2011/03/aera_research_conference_goes.html
Get the iOS App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/2011-aera-annual-meeting/id426729479?mt=8
Or access the Web App: http://m.core-apps.com/aeraam2011

Hopefully an Android-app comes out soon, too!

Google Summer of Code

2011-03-23T09:02:00.002-04:00

Here's another great way to encourage or support Sakai OpenSource development, too!

Google's Summer of Code: http://code.google.com/soc/

Bottom line: Student earns $5000 (and a tee-shirt!) for a successful summer project contributing to one of many open source activities. Read the FAQ at http://www.google-melange.com/document/show/gsoc_program/google/gsoc2011/faqs .

Student application deadline is 8 April.

From the FAQ, Google Summer of Code has several goals:

Create and release open source code for the benefit of all
Inspire young developers to begin participating in open source development
Help open source projects identify and bring in new developers and committers
Provide students the opportunity to do work related to their academic pursuits during the summer (think "flip bits, not burgers")
Give students more exposure to real-world software development scenarios (e.g., distributed development, software licensing questions, mailing-list etiquette)
If you are a student with a "geekier" nature, please consider applying.
If you are a professor and have a student who shows talent for making the stuff behind the stuff work, please encourage that student to consider applying.

Reprisal of the QR Code

2011-02-14T16:27:00.002-05:00

I'm working with my local bicycling club, the Illinois Valley Wheelmn, and Board and finding that I'm helping to bring a mobile smartphone perspective. We have an excellent web site, newsletter, and advertising opportunities. I recently suggested adding in a QR Code to which I received the response: What is that and why would we want it? Below is the best brief answer I could give that was directly relevant. I hope you find my reprisal of the QR Code equally useful.

Long URLs -> Short URLs

Many times, a URL (or URI) is too long to safely or easily include in an email, instant message, or text message. If you're a mobile user like me, you don't like to type in long URLs on a tiny keyboard. Even if you're not a mobile user, you've noticed that sometimes a forwarded email ends up breaking a long URL link. To avoid these problems, you can use a URL shortener. There are many URL shorteners out there. Popular ones include tinyurl.com, bit.ly, and goo.gl, among others. These sites make long URLs into short URLs that point to the same place.

For example:
I wish to share a long Google Map URL such as:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=peoria,+il&aq=&sll=40.722283,-89.591789&sspn=0.199571,0.308647&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Peoria,+Illinois&ll=40.694175,-89.589043&spn=0.199655,0.308647&z=12

I would choose to shorten it. I go to http://goo.gl and paste that long URL into the top box and it returns a short one to me:
http://goo.gl/zwfDJ

Test both of these URLs. Notice that they go to the same place. This will work every time.

Now, our (truly wonderful) IVW web site already has a great, short URL: http://www.ivwheelmn.org/ There is no need for a URL shortener. However, Goo.gl offers an additional bonus feature of their URL shortener: a QR Code generator.

What is a QR Code?

You can read the full Wikipedia entry if you'd like, but essentially a QR Code is a 2-dimensional code able to be scanned by camera phones and barcode readers. (See attached QR Code for the IVW web site.) They've been around for quite some time. If you start to look for them in the corners of magazine pages, advertisements, posters, fliers, etc. you'll notice them. QR codes contain different kinds of information and can be used to start some kind of action, such as going to a particular web site.

Scanning or Capturing a QR Code

Many mobile smartphones have free software you can download and use to "scan" or "capture" a QR Code. Doing that then allows your phone to go directly to the desired web site. It's terribly convenient for mobile users because it removes the barrier of typing in a URL which is prone to mistakes given the small form factor of mobile devices and less-than-ideal keyboards (if any). If you have a smartphone and want to download a free QR Code scanner, I suggest going to your phone's marketplace or App store and searching for "QR Code scanner" and select the most downloaded or highest-rated free software available. I use "ShopSavvy" on my Android phone because it also lets me do live price comparisons between stores and online retailers.

Goo.gl + ".qr"

Overall, using Goo.gl and appending ".qr" to the resulting short URL is slick, easy, and can be done for anything from anywhere. For smartphone users like myself, it's a timesaver and makes me 100% more likely to follow-through to a web site. If the QR Code is digitally displayed on my phone, I just press on the QR code itself; if I see a QR code on a store poster, in a magazine, or in a newspaper, I use my phone's camera to scan it and it automatically directs me to the website on my phone.

Illinois Valley Wheelm'n
http://www.ivwheelmn.org/

Recap

The reason I created a Goo.gl short URL for IVW was so we could use the subsequently generated QR Code: http://goo.gl/zwfDJ.qr in future advertisements, publications, and more. We should always use the full IVW web site URL (http://www.ivwheelmn.org/) when directing others to the IVW web site. Why? Because it's a great web site with a great URL and renders very well on my mobile phone. In general, the only QR Code you (or anyone in our group) really needs for inclusion into newsletters, fliers, mailers, advertisements, etc. are these two (they are the same):

The QR Code: http://goo.gl/YqQuT.qr

Attached is the above QR code saved as a PNG file.

Please let me know if anyone else has any questions. Have a happy Valentine's Day!

A New Way to Lecture (Using Web 2.0 for Student Engagement and Interactivity)

2011-01-27T12:33:00.001-05:00

I stumbled across an online booklet discussing Web 2.0 alternatives to traditional lectures. It's called "A New Way to Lecture: Using Web 2.0 to Create Interactive Lecture With Your Students" and I think it's worth a look.

Open publication - Free publishing

Secrets of the Chumby One: it can be turned into a 3G router -- Engadget

2010-07-07T11:39:00.000-04:00

Secrets of the Chumby One: it can be turned into a 3G router -- Engadget

I want a Chumby if for no other reason than the cool "Wow" factor of having one. I could totally see one of these next to my bed. But I love the hackability of it (and open development possibilities for it). With that said, this Engagdet article points out just the niftiest thing that the Chumby can do; this just may be the secret solution for MiFi in my parents' home! Plus, it doubles as a clock ... something they can really appreciate. :)

The future of things to come ...

2010-04-09T13:56:00.003-04:00

There are times when I'm terrified of what the future brings (i.e., implanted RFIDs such as Mikey Sklar), and then there are times I can hardly wait for it to arrive. For this latter case, it's very impressive to see what Cuidado Grupo Santander, Madrid has established within their bank walls. I can't help but feel a little bit like we're looking at our realization of iRobot, but without all the rebellious creepiness (so far) ...

Come on, Google Docs! Be more like EtherPad!

2009-10-29T13:50:00.005-04:00

Loving the EtherPad cloud computing software. I even have my own pad at http://etherpad.com/amsdiane. I only wish Google had done this first ...

Pros: Free, easy to use, intuitive, easy to add others,
Cons: no deletion, non-public use requires fee/person.

I Love the "Did You Know X.0" Series

2009-10-16T19:26:00.002-04:00

I love these because the only thing that is constant is change. (Don't fear it, embrace it!)

Did You Know (1.0):

Did You Know 2.0:

Did You Know 3.0:

Did You Know 4.0:

BoF Help Files & Documentation

2009-07-09T17:17:00.003-04:00

12 members in attendence. (Rita Povolka (Indiana University) is also a contact who could not be at the conference.)

IU repository including data about docs resides on a server @ IU. The Sakai KB has been exported & formatted as static Help pages as we know it. KB@iu.edu. IU have a DB of their own. Context sensitive help menus can be developed.

The docs come as a weird combo of needs. We really need two types of docs: "how do I?" & "why do I?" Rutgers includes a "what's this" link for select new features.

There exists a need to have a template that is wiki-like that we can create a tool description that still allows for user & community contribution. Warnings, pedagogy, user feedback, analytics, collection & reporting (JIRA?) should be included. Consider the variety of medium. A review and update system to existing content.

Look into the End-User Confluence page & the BoF, too, for more information.

-- I apologize for typos or errors. This was sent from my mobile phone. --
Amber D. Evans

Strategy to Support Users: Custom Docs & Help

2009-07-09T16:05:00.003-04:00

Mathieu Plourde
Univ of Del. Running Sakai & WebCT.

Workflow
Users call center. Ticket created in Remedy & sent to LMS team. Frequent requests sent to Tech Writer to create/update documentation.

Types of Content

Help files
Support Videos
Pedagogy

Help files on another server so only it needs to be reset & not the whole Sakai instance. (Aside: Brilliant!) Areas for full docs, a tech writer on staff, and plethora of videos. Pedagogy area included, too. FAQ also created (VT has the KB at http://answers.vt.edu/).

Karen Campbell (Rutgers)
50,000 users. Very small staff. Users & docs are as self-reliant as possible. Although not pedagogy focused, they are in need of some teaching or tool use for teaching.

FAQ provides basic help. Tool groupings help them decide which communication tools to use. Within Help, there are giant buttons they cannot miss; there is a tools overview page. Additional instructional tips are provided alongside.

Updates are done throughout the year w/all fixes often, but an overhaul happens w/each upgrade. Docs Coordinator (her) proofs docs & manages check in/out. Long-term goals include more videos, examples, & pedagogical content. Example sites is a challenge but desired. It would be nice to have ways to track use and helpfulness (analytics); it really is necessary, but currently missing.

Finding the student resources for employment isn't too hard b/c every student can have a site of their own and they have same or similar knowledge of creation tasks.

Indiana University
Portal page of OnCourse shows a Getting Started, Training for Faculty & Students, Enhancement Process ... And Help.

The Help tool is a little different than normal Sakai help. The pages are in XML and can be collated in any order or collection, but for consistency it appears as any other static page. 500 pages are OnCourse related in the repository & undergoes updates easily & effectively.

-- I apologize for typos or errors. This was sent from my mobile phone. --
Amber D. Evans

Motivating Non-Sci. Students Using Sakai-based Strategies.

2009-07-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

Lafuze & Newbrough
The science of the brain and addiction can be very difficult to understand due to the complex concepts & language. Her goal was to share the science concepts of brains & addictions, but in a way that would be non-threatening. This course has been taught online for the lst 10 years averaging between 30-50 students per course.

Placement of the mainly used tools is placed within the site info area. (This is similar to VT practice where we encourage faculty to use that space to provide a "roadmap" to students, letting them know what tools & when they wil be used.) She provides a link from that main page to a recorded message directed at the students, introducing them to the content, context, and the important people of the course.

She has "the Holodeck" which is the Forums tool, but creatively designed in a way to allow students to interact with historical people (e.g., Marie Curie). (Aside: Man, this instructor completely rocks! She has a Star Trek "What is the Holodeck" video, complete w/short clips from the classic 60's series & everything!) Within the Forums, she invites her students to engage with each other & discussions within based on topics. Guests also partake bringing knowledge of chemistry & chemistry & biology

-- I apologize for typos or errors. This was sent from my mobile phone. -- Amber D. Evans

Thur. Keynote TWSIA Winner

2009-07-09T09:21:00.002-04:00

TWSIA Winner: Andrea
Using constructivism, she provided guided instruction through their learning of forensic science across great distances. Providing them with defined temporary roles allowed them to experience different situations & the requisite decision-making skills both individually & as a team. The necessary interactions also allowed students the flexibility to choose how they would communicate, as long as it was within Interact (Sakai). This allowed her to "peek" in and observe their process and progress.

An Evalution Rubric was used to assess both the student work & the quality of the course. The "surprise" by many of the stuents themselves was how willing & enthusiastic they each were to share their specific knowledge & skills w/group members, creating a true community within.

TWSIA Winner: Edith Sheffer
Edith's live, face-to-face course focused on interactions, having her students workly closely & intensely with European history & Sakai providing the platform.

Capitalizing on the wiki, students kept and created wiki pages for their own "historical avatar." each student drew an identity at random; to whom they were born and where. All were born in 1900, but life circumstances were different. Students then had to construct a childhood. Based on the history lectures in class, they had to discuss their avatar's life choices.

This open platform inspired authorship, imagination, curiosity, and understanding. Students averaged 1121 words per post = 4.5 pages every week for 9 weeks ON THEIR OWN. They went beyond basic research. They became attached to their avatar, too. They built a life that required introspection, reflection, & evaluation to create lasting learning.

-- I apologize for typos or errors. This was sent from my mobile phone. --
Amber D. Evans

Eval. Testing Tools @ UI: Process & Results

2009-07-08T16:35:00.003-04:00

This short 30-minute session highlighted the UI experience of trying to select an assessment tool replacement. There is a shared Google doc w/all the data comparison between types and functions between Mneme & Samigo held @ http://tinyurl.com/n249w8 & PDF @ http://tinyurl.com/nzthgn. Save yourself some time & check it out if you're also shoping around.

-- I apologize for typos or errors. This was sent from my mobile phone. --
Amber D. Evans

Sakai Boston '09 opens w/Vijay Kumar

2009-07-08T10:03:00.002-04:00

A nice perk of the early registration to the 10th annual Sakai confrence in Boston this year was the inclusion of the book, Opening up Education. Keynote speaker for the conference, Vijay Kumar, opened his speech with reminders of the growth of and the emerging embracement of open education initatives not only in higher ed, but also in K-12. This is developing a new breed of educators and learners. Addressing and communicating with these potential audiences requires us to consider the Value Potential (think Rogers' benefits consideration) and their Readiness (how can these impact education & how can we align education priorities with the open ed initiative)?

Kumar showed slides voicing speaking users' experience with the use of open ed, Proessor Richard Hall commented on the high quality of OCW material; Kunte Adejumo, a student, complimented the ease of accesibility and supplemental learning opportunity. Carnegie Mellon's OLI has led & provided a framework for others to quickly build open learning online courses. Consider the implications of this kind of technology & education adoption for countries like India ...

The open vision included elements of focusing on Blended Learning & Boundary-less Education. Focus on LIFELONG learning, not just "schooling." Consider remote control of hardware & experience as seen in MIT's iLabs, Queensland, DUT (China), and others in the iLabs Consortium. Access to expensive labs & materials would dramatically alter economic-based education and create a larger community. It allows faculty to establish their own understanding of what should be taught (as relevant a priori to their course) and what is taught. An instructor can point students to OCW and know her students will have the requisite knowledge needed before she gets too far underway. (Side note: One of the "coolest" tools in all of this was the Spoken Lecture Browser. Check it out.)

Issues & Barriers to Adoption
Where does one find content? Once content is found, is it truly relevant and/or appropriate? How does one order and make sense of the materials & knowledge within the provided OCW? Standards can certainly help, but the most profound changes come elsewhere. Vijay makes the case for addressing the Organizational Cultural factors: Scarcity vs. Abundance, Sense-making (digital disorder & pedagogy), Accountability & Accreditation.

Kumar closes with the quote from Charles M. Vest, "We are seeing the emergence of a meta-university ..." and "If we don't see you in the future, we'll see you in the pasture."

-- I apologize for typos or errors. This was sent from my mobile phone. --
Amber D. Evans

Need to generate or create a Word Cloud?

2009-02-22T13:30:00.004-05:00

A quick Google search for "word cloud generator" or "create word cloud" will produce varying results of free online word or tag cloud makers. I personally think the best of these is Wordle.net. Wordle allows you to quickly create a visual representation of keywords and their frequency. The below is one I generated from my own Curriculum Vitae or CV [PDF]:

Color me crazy - 10 best online color tools - Download Squad

2008-12-23T16:19:00.000-05:00

Color me crazy - 10 best online color tools - Download Squad

If you're tackling some graphic design project or maybe even your wall decor, getting color hints from ready made color templates from professional designers can be useful. The article covers 10 of the better sites to help you out on your design challenge. Included in the article are links to ColorCombos, COLOURlovers, ColorExplorer, Kuler, ColorJack, Sessions.edu, Color Palette Generator, Color Hunter, Color Scheme Generator, and Stripe Generator.

Clipboard Utility - Snippets Organizer - Email Signatures

2008-12-23T11:51:00.000-05:00

Clipboard Utility - Snippets Organizer - Email Signatures

A quick way to reduce your overall typing and reply time. Should be very useful for those who have to repeatedly answer similar questions (like Help Desk staff, or Secretaries).

Re-Post: 24 Killer Portable Apps For Your USB Flash Drive

2008-12-23T10:50:00.004-05:00

Article: http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/02/24-killer-portable-apps-for-your-usb-flash-drive/

This article by Lee Mathews covers the gamut of useful little applications to take with you. Some of the topics and applications suggested are from the categories: Encryption, Web and Internet, Peer-to-Peer, Maintenance and Support, Multimedia, Document Handlers, File Management, and Portable Launchers.

Re-Post: Dealzmodo Hack: Make Your Old USB Stick Into a Digital Multitool

2008-12-05T14:09:00.000-05:00

Cool idea to revive the use of (old) USB drives: http://gizmodo.com/5101651/dealzmodo-hack-make-your-old-usb-stick-into-a-digital-multitool?skyline=true&s=i

With 8GB flash drives available for under $20 and 32GB drives edging into the mainstream, nobody can blame you for shelving old USB sticks. But there are a surprising number of uses for those rickety, sub-gigabyte keychains.
There are nearly endless ways to bring a USB stick out of retirement, and they're not just gimmicks: virtually all USB sticks, 32MB USB 1.1 dinosaurs included, can be repurposed into anything from a lifesaving troubleshooting tool to an entire portable OS. Here are your best options ...

Re-Post: Cash-strapped teacher sells ads on tests

2008-12-03T15:05:00.000-05:00

I really hope I don't start seeing this in the university setting. Is it clever? Oh, yes. I can only think about the metacognitive effects something like this could have. I wonder if online tests have been doing this already?

Full article: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/03/teacher.ads.on.tests/index.html
By Jason Hanna

(CNN) -- In tests for teacher Tom Farber's high school class, students can demonstrate their mastery of calculus and find out where to get braces or even a haircut.

Calculus teacher Tom Farber is selling ad space on tests to defray printing costs.

Squeezed by classroom budget cuts, the Rancho Bernardo High School teacher is selling ads on his exams to cover the costs of printing them.

"It raises money for the teachers and it's amusing for the kids, so it seems like a win-win," said Luke Shaw, 18, a student at the suburban San Diego, California, school.
Parents and administrators also praise Farber, 47, for his creative classroom funding, but he doesn't want it to become the norm.
"My intention is, [selling ads] is a stopgap measure," said Farber. "I don't want to be doing this year after year."

RePost: Straight Talk About Grad School

2008-12-03T14:50:00.001-05:00

Ah, it's like a 12-step program that I'm all too familiar with: http://www.imaginaryplanet.net/weblogs/idiotprogrammer/?p=83398154

Timothy Burke on Beyond the Five Paragraph Essay

Burke wrote a great essay, Should I go to Grad School? In a word, no. He writes:

Graduate school is not about learning. If you learn things, it’s only because you’ve already internalized the habit of learning, only because you make the effort on your own and in concert with fellow graduate students. You learn because that’s what you do now, that’s your life. Don’t go into it expecting to extend the kinds of heathily collaborative relationships you’ve had to date with your teachers and don’t go into it expecting to extend the kinds of educational nurturing you’ve had to date. Graduate school is not education. It is socialization. It is about learning to behave, about mastering a rhetorical and discursive etiquette as mind-blowingly arcane as table manners at a state dinner in 19th Century Western Europe. Graduate school is cotillion for eggheads. For all these reasons, graduate school is not something you want to experiment with. Think heroin–this is your brain, this is your brain on graduate school. Think Al Pacino in “Godfather 3″–just when you think you are out, you will l be sucked back in again. Academia, especially in the humanities and the social sciences, is a total culture. It colonizes most aspects of your life. You are never not an academic–the little mental tape recorder is on all the time, or it had better be if you want to be good at this life. Anything is grist for my mill as a teacher and a scholar, and that is as it should be. Graduate school is, if anything, even more totalizing than this. It gets into your pores.

Zunavision - like PIP, but it's Video-in-Video

2008-11-18T09:45:00.000-05:00

This is very cool: http://zunavision.stanford.edu/index.php

You can now place a video that will play inside another video. Oh, yeah. That is cool.

TagCrowd, OpenCast, Sakai & more ...

2008-11-12T14:28:00.001-05:00

Seen during Kate Ellis' presentation at the Sakai Regional Meeting (Conference) #VTSakai08, she used and mentioned a couple of really cool things. Here's just a few of these:

The TagCrowd tagline is, "Create your own tag cloud from any text to visualize word frequency." Very cool! TagCrowd: http://tagcrowd.com/
OpenCast: The Opencast community is a collaboration of higher education institutions working together to explore, define, and document podcasting^? best practices and technologies. Through blogs and email lists, the community offers guidance and information to help others choose the best approach for delivering rich media online. OpenCast: http://www.opencastproject.org/
TweetScan: Download your own personal Twitter archive! You can download a portable web page and CSV file with your message archive including replies. Our database goes back to December 2007 and is the most comprehensive available. This can be free or whatever price you set. Use your message download to: Archive past exchanges, Publish links and quotes, Follow up on past projects, Access offline, View and reconnect with contacts. TweetScan: https://www.tweetscan.com/data.php

Sakai-specific

IU has a Sakai Mod called, "Enter Student View". Very useful and wanted!

SL, ActiveWorlds? Old School ... New Age is Project Wonderland!

2008-10-20T13:25:00.001-04:00

Project Wonderland: Toolkit for Building 3D Virtual Worlds
Experimental Technology sponsored by this community and Sun Microsystems Laboratories
https://lg3d-wonderland.dev.java.net/index.html

Project Wonderland is a 100% Java and open source toolkit for creating collaborative 3D virtual worlds. Within those worlds, users can communicate with high-fidelity, immersive audio, share live desktop applications and documents and conduct real business. Wonderland is completely extensible; developers and graphic artists can extend its functionality to create entire new worlds and new features in existing worlds.

Safari Books Online: Beginning Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax: From Novice to Professional

2008-10-20T10:34:00.000-04:00

VT Safari Books Online

Beginning Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax: From Novice to Professional

Overview

Until recently, building interactive web-based mapping applications has been a cumbersome affair. This changed when Google released its powerful Maps API. Beginning Google Maps Applications with PHP and Ajax was written to help you take advantage of this technology in your own endeavorswhether you're an enthusiast playing for fun or a professional building for profit. This book covers version 2 of the API, including Google's new Geocoding service.

Authors Jeffrey Sambells, Cameron Turner, and Michael Purvis get rolling with examples that require hardly any code at all, but you'll quickly become acquainted with many facets of the Maps API. They demonstrate powerful methods for simultaneously plotting large data sets, creating your own map overlays, and harvesting and geocoding sets of addresses. You'll see how to set up alternative tile sets and where to access imagery to use for them. The authors even show you how to build your own geocoder from scratch, for those high-volume batch jobs.

As well as providing hands-on examples of real mapping projects, this book supplies a complete reference for the Maps API, along with the relevant aspects of JavaScript, CSS, PHP, and SQL. Visit the authors' website for additional tips and advice.

Real-Life Grad Classes in Second Life

2008-08-05T13:51:00.002-04:00

This came across the radar in SL. This would be of great interest if you are interested in using SL for teaching or learning purposes.

The Dept. of Educational Technology at BOISE STATE UNIVERSITY will offer a 15 week, 3 credit, graduate course on "Social Network Learning in Virtual Worlds " starting August 25, 2008.

Syllabus: http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dfzrcdcd_18238v9rhfw&hl=en_GB

*****************
COURSE INFORMATION

EDTECH 597: Social Network Learning in Virtual Worlds

3 credits

Course fees: $1,044 regardless of location
Instructor: Ann Jeffery (MissAnnie Ducatillon) & Salli DiBartolo (Sunshine Sparrow)
Internet course, requires weekly attendance at live synchronous session on PDT 1-3

Register at http://edtech.boisestate.edu or contact Jerry Foster at jfoster@boisestate.edu, 208-426-1966 to assist you with registration.

Description: Social Networking is a growing field of expertise, and has much to offer virtual world teachers wishing to explore new ways of communicating and collaborating both in-world and out-of-world. This graduate level course will explore collaborative and emergent pedagogies related to the use of social networks in virtual world teaching. Participants will gain hands-on experience with a variety social networking tools, create a community-based resource, and have an opportunity to become part of the emerging network of virtual world educators.

System requirements: http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php

It is recommended that participants have at least 10-20 hours of prior participation in Second Life before the course begins.

Prerequisite skills include:
* Use of camera controls
* Ability to fly, walk, and teleport
* Knowledge of communication tools (IM and chat)
* Basic building skills (create prims, add textures and content)
* Basic inventory management (can find items, wear clothing, make a notecard)

For more information, contact Ann Jeffery at annjeffery@u.boisestate.edu

Good talking point: Can New Media be Taught in Schools? (Should it?)

2008-08-04T16:22:00.002-04:00

Read it "Can New Media Be Taught in Schools?" at http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/can_new_media_be_taught_in_schools.php

Erik Bushey shared a Google Reader item with me from the ReadWriteWeb site. It poses the question should students be taught and tested new media (aka, Web 2.0) software and skills? If nothing else, this is a good topic and discussion starter for faculty and teachers from all walks of life. What do you think?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

What Doesn't Google do? "Knol" opened Wednesday

2008-07-25T10:43:00.002-04:00

ZDNet reports, "Google opens Knol website, a wiki with bylines"

In response to the wide-open and "the author who has more time wins" model of current wikis (i.e., Wikipedia), we've seen different models come out trying to address fairness and accuracy. Citizendium is one of them, and Google has just opened Knol to the public as of Wednesday of this week.

Essentially, the topic page has an author who can grant access to other contributors. In a way, I like the idea because it's definitely more "authoritative," but I also dislike it because it's still a gatekeeper and entryway issue. What if it becomes a political issue ... and the gatekeeper doesn't want to allow access (or debate) on the page? Does turning the authority over to an author really any better than turning it over to someone with too much time on their hands?

Although I'm a huge fan of wikis, I think it is safe to say that wikis do not inately mean fairness or balance. It means collaboration, but either by proxy or through force.

Read ZDNet's article at http://news.zdnet.com/2424-9595_22-212067.html

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Virtual Worlds: 20 Tools for 3D Creation

2008-07-10T19:40:00.001-04:00

Virtual Worlds: 20 Tools for 3D Creation

Earlier this week Google launched Lively, a new social network where anyone can create an avatar and virtual room that can be embedded anywhere on the Web. 3D services such as Lively are popping up more and more online thanks to the popularity of virtual worlds like Second Life, Meez, and more.

Exclusive: Meez Finally Launches Virtual World

2008-06-18T15:26:00.001-04:00

Exclusive: Meez Finally Launches Virtual World

http://mashable.com/2008/06/18/meez-virtal-worl/

I'm not surprised. Second Life couldn't have the market share all of the time ... and it's nice to know that it's going to be more than hands typing on an invisible keyboard ...

"Meez users have been requesting a virtual world in which their custom avatars can roam around and become more social with each other for some time, and now they finally have what they’ve always wanted. Meez Nation is the brand new virtual world made just for Meez avatars. [...] Unlike most other virtual worlds that have grown out of an avatar-creation and sharing site, Meez has layered in a good deal of functionality, activity and interaction for the avatars. For instance, there’s chat capabilities in every virtual room, and similar to an IM chat client that converts the characters “;” and “)” into Meez avatars will act out certain commands that you type into the chat window. Type in “rofl” and your Meez avatar will roll on the floor laughing."

Second Life Blogs & News

2008-06-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

Here are a few Second Life Blogs and News sites:

When and If Virtual Worlds Collide

2008-06-14T15:41:00.000-04:00

http://www.massively.com/2008/06/14/the-daily-grind-should-mmogs-and-virtual-worlds-be-separate/

The Daily Grind: Should MMOGs and virtual worlds be separate?
Friday held the Social Gaming Summit, a meeting of the luminaries of the various virtual worlds -- Gaia Online, Neopets, and IMVU to name a very few -- in San Francisco. This blogger was on hand for several of the panels, and came away with a deeper understanding of where the demarcation between massively multiplayer online game and virtual world was drawn. On the virtual world side, developers are beginning to incorporate more and more elements of what would normally be considered MMO-only features, like quests and leveling up ...

Op-Ed Columnist - The Alpha Geeks - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

2008-06-04T09:42:00.001-04:00

Op-Ed Columnist - The Alpha Geeks - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
[Permalink]

The future historians of the nerd ascendancy will likely note that the great empowerment phase began in the 1980s with the rise of Microsoft and the digital economy.

Presentation Zen

2008-04-22T12:13:00.000-04:00

Presentation Zen

Garr Reynold's blog on issues related to professional presentation design.

Great stuff about creativity, design, pacing, and using visual techniques to enhance narratives. The gist of it all: use pictures to visualize what you are saying. (Forget the text!)

Techdirt: Patent Office Rejects Blackboard E-Learning Patent One Month After It Wins Lawsuit

2008-04-01T11:24:00.000-04:00

Techdirt: Patent Office Rejects Blackboard E-Learning Patent One Month After It Wins Lawsuit

You may or may not know, but Blackboard has not been playing nicely with others in the sandbox. In recent news, Blackboard won a legal lawsuit against Desire2Learn (D2L) based on patents submitted--but not yet approved--to the USPTO patent office.

Now, Blackboard's patent has been reviewed and the Patent Office rejected said patent.

Where does this leave D2L and everyone else who may be developing, design, or creating e-learning software? In a sandbox filled with one castle defended by overly eager lawyers ready to sue anyone who tries to build a competing castle. I think it's safe to say that at this point, Blackboard is hoping to defeat their competition by collecting all the sand and using it to bury them under legal fees and time expenditures.

Evil Blackboard!

It's really too bad that I actually like what the software does for us (as teachers and students). It makes it all a bit conflicting ...

How to Stop Checking Email on the Evenings and Weekends

2008-03-27T11:17:00.001-04:00

How to Stop Checking Email on the Evenings and Weekends
http://lifehacker.com/357666/how-to-stop-checking-email-on-the-evenings-and-weekends

I need to start doing this. Maybe my boss would be willing to do this, or at least address point #4 (Hint, hint.)

And I'm going to incorporate the good autoresponders to support my new action: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/02/21/the-best-and-worst-autoresponders-of-2007/

What Would Your "Last Lecture" Be?

2008-03-21T17:42:00.001-04:00

Although Randy Pausch's is dying, his "Last Lecture" is about living life. I feel that I can speak to what he says. I think I do well and live much like he suggests. Like he, I may complain a little more than I ought to, but then again, I'm really quite happy about how things go and turn out. I was a happy kid, I almost died at 20 years of age, and yet that miraculously worked out for the better; and for the record, I think today I'm probably an even happier adult.

His message is a good one no matter who you are or what you've done. And I think it's important to note that it's never too late to 1) try, and 2) to inspire others.

ReadTheWords.com

2008-03-18T09:18:00.000-04:00

The reality of getting my textbooks (and all books in general) into an audio option is getting closer and closer all of the time. ReadTheWords.com is offering up a service that lets you upload text and listen to it, now or later. Here's what Mashable.com had to say about it:

ReadTheWords - Free Service That Reads Your Text Aloud
March 18, 2008 — 03:13 AM PDT — by Stan Schroeder —

ReadTheWords is a free online service that will read any text you enter aloud. There are many ways to do this, but this site distinguishes itself with several interesting options.

To be able to use the site properly, you must register, which will give you a profile page where you can save the spoken word documents you’ve created.

Here’s what else they offer:

Text Sources:

* Upload MS Word
* Upload Adobe PDF
* Upload HTML File
* Write Text Content
* Cut & Paste Text
* Website Address
* RSS Feed

Options & Features:

* Choose 1 of 15 Readers
* We Cover English, Spanish and French
* Control Reader’s Speed
* Superfast Conversion Speed
* Less than 1 minute to generate over 1 hrs worth of Reading.

Results:

* Listen to your Reading Online
* Download mp3 to your Ipod
* Post Your Reading in Website or Blog
* Turn Your Reading into a Podcast

Unfortunately, I don’t see many options for the visually impaired users (for example, simple navigation via hotkeys) which would be logical given what the site is about. Furthermore, the site is experiencing some technical problems, which will probably get much worse if it reaches Digg front page (and it’s in the queue). Still, it’s a nice idea which might get really useful with a little polishing. How they’re going to monetize the site, well, that’s another matter, but I’m guessing that ads which are read to you leave a bigger impact than visual ones, so they might be onto something here.

Zotero: The Next-Generation Research Tool

2008-03-14T10:14:00.000-04:00

Zotero: The Next-Generation Research Tool

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources. It lives right where you do your work — in the web browser itself.

A kind of "free and flexible" EndNote option.

Office Playground - Stuff for your Desk!

2008-03-12T21:35:00.000-04:00

Kinetic Motion

This is just cool stuff for your office or desk. I like a lot of the things on this site, especially the Kinetic Motion toys.

Using Twitter For Serious Stuff - Great Idea or Utter Insanity?

2008-03-11T10:22:00.000-04:00

Using Twitter For Serious Stuff - Great Idea or Utter Insanity?

A great commentary on exactly what Twitter is not. The takeaway message: "Twitter is great when the message is not important."

This means it can be very useful for the simple things, such as status updates (e.g., "The S.F. 49ers just won!") or the FYI messages that could be useful to a specific group (e.g., "The copier on the second floor in GLC is broken.") It's not meant to be meaningful or organized. It's meant to be the forum for the "oh, that's nice to know, but wasn't critical" dialog.

Opera Show Tutorial

2008-03-07T11:35:00.000-05:00

Opera Show Tutorial

Check this out! PowerPoint-like web presentations as HTML. Opera describes it as:

Turn your browser into an advanced presentation tool using Opera Show, an impressive feature of the Opera browser. Learn to master Opera Show and save work and hassle when giving presentations from your computer!
Compared to other popular presentation tools (such as Microsoft PowerPoint), Opera Show has several advantages:
It is a standard feature of a small and fast Web browser
It uses HTML as the document format, which makes the files lightweight compared to proprietary formats used by other tools
It makes publishing your presentation on the Web a breeze
Compared to other presentation tools, Opera is inexpensive
It will not annoy your audience with tacky animations

Opera with Voice

2008-03-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

Opera with Voice

As you may or may not know, I have some interest in Accessibility Standards (i.e., ADA 508, universal design, usability, etc.) as well as general assistive technologies. One thing I've recently stumbled across (thank you Dr. Michael Evans) is the Opera browser with Voice.

It obeys voice commands, and reads aloud web page text quite well. Not only that, but it can be used to command Opera Show presentations.

Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook

2008-03-06T16:18:00.001-05:00

Of extreme interest today is the fact that Google has finally come out with MS Outlook syncronization--for FREE. It only supports you main Google Calendar, but it will sync one way or two ways if you want it to.

Other useful tidbits:

Microsoft Outlook Tip: Access Google Calendar Directly From Outlook
Very useful if you're looking to integrate the Google Calendar directly into the Outlook suite. It's not a sync, but it's an additional page or item in your list.

OggSync
A yearly pay-for service (~$30) will literally do all of the syncronization between MS Outlook 2003 and 2007 and any/all of your Google Calendars as you like. The setup is easy, and the service is worth shelling out the measly $30 for, although the free version will sync up to 3 days back and 3 days ahead. You can choose to sync one-way (either Google-->Outlook or Outlook-->Google) or two-ways. You can also select how often it will happen. There are only two drawbacks: Outlook will need to be open and running OggSync to complete the sync tasks, and if your Google Account password happens to have an ampersand (&) in it, the OggSync login screen in the configuration screens WILL FAIL. (Be sure that your Google Account password does not have an ampersand (&) in it and everything will go smoothly.) Truly a great product for those of us who have to coordinate multiple calendaring accounts and devices.

FixMyMovie - Upload, Fix, and Share Your Movies Instantly

2008-03-06T15:40:00.001-05:00

Fix Your Grainy, Dark, Low Resolution Videos for Free--High-Tech Video Enhancement Service for Cameraphones, Digital Cameras, and Webcams

If cell phone videos suck because they are dark and grainy, FixMyMovie aims to solve that problem; however, FixMyMovie cannot solve poor directorship--that's still your problem.

In truth, this site and service completely blows me away. It's one of many "new" applications coming out that allow a person to do instant video editing from the comfort of a cell phone, laptop, or any place s/he has a live internet connection (i.e., "internet anywhere = anytime, anywhere applications").

Another software-and-website combination (that I've mentioned before) is Worth1000.com. They offer A.viary.com which is a similar approach and service focusing on Adobe Photoshop-like image and photo editing. Check these both out. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Audiosurf: Surf your own music in Gameplay

2008-03-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

Audiosurf (http://www.audio-surf.com) is a wicked game that lays down 3D "wipeout" type of tracks generated from the music you locally own.

This means that each level or track of gameplay is unique and original ... and reflective of you and your likes. This is another great example of how users can interface and affect and personalize the gameplay. This is really the future of gaming--could it be the future of some online learning environments, too?

video collaboration, e-meeting and web conferencing on the Internet

2008-03-01T17:12:00.001-05:00

video collaboration, e-meeting and web conferen cing on the Internet

Google bought this company back in April of 2007. I wonder if/when it will be going somewhere ...

Create an ETD Using Adobe Acrobat

2008-02-29T19:40:00.001-05:00

Create an ETD Using Adobe Acrobat

Attention all Grad Students! This is a VERY USEFUL site!

Point all those weary and tired graduate students to this page when they are ready to convert their document into the acceptable ETD format. It's a heck of a lot easier to do it this way than to do it in MS Word 2007--trust me, I'd know.

Wired Campus: Will New Messaging Service Catch On With Professors? - Chronicle.com

2008-02-29T13:05:00.000-05:00

Wired Campus: Will New Messaging Service Catch On With Professors? - Chronicle.com

Anyone who feels overloaded with information from e-mail, blogs, and Web sites probably won't want to read this. But some professors, librarians, and administrators have begun using Twitter, a service that can blast very short notes (up to 140 characters) to select users' cellphones or computer screens.

The practice is often called microblogging because people use it to send out pithy updates about their daily lives. No need to wait until you are back at your computer to let friends know that you loved the latest Paul Thomas Anderson film or that you thought of a new idea for an academic article while waiting in line at the grocery store. Twitter lets you send a text message from your cellphone to a set list of contacts, called followers, who can set the system to receive messages via their cellphones, their instant-message software, or a Web-based program. More ...

Wired Campus: Project Aims to Build Online Classroom With Latest Web 2.0 Features - Chronicle.com

2008-02-25T20:27:00.001-05:00

Wired Campus: Project Aims to Build Online Classroom With Latest Web 2.0 Features - Chronicle.com

The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Wired Campus noted that Howard Rheingold has won a grant in the Digital Media and Learning Competition to put all of the social-collaborative community tools (aka, Web 2.0) together in the classroom.

As Howard Rheingold commented back, "For those interested in a more complete description of the project, which includes the toolset, curricula (syllabi and teaching notes), resource repository (started here), video documentation and instructional material (in the vein of the first several entries), and the community of practitioners: the text of the award application."

Sneak Peek: Yahoo Buzz

2008-02-25T08:38:00.000-05:00

Sneak Peek: Yahoo Buzz

In competition againt Digg.com, Yahoo is launching it's own voteable stories page(s) of popular stories based upon reader votes, searches, emails, and more at Y! Buzz. See the image below for some screenshots of the Y! buzz beta.

Trendalyzer's Other "Like" Tools

2008-02-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

RSOE EDIS - Emergency and Disaster Havaria Information Service - AlertMap: http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index.php?lang=eng

Rich Internet Applications for Language Learning: http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/ria/
RIAs are web pages with multimedia interactivity embedded into them. CLEAR's RIA can be created with no programming at all.

Interactive Map: http://www.cer.jhu.edu/index.cfm?pageID=351
The Interactive Map Tool is loosely based on a map metaphor, but isn’t bound to just creating maps. It allows the user to create a hierarchical structure of informational pages that can be nested. Nested pages can include anything from plain images to video and audio files, all with accompanying description text. The sites created in the Interactive Map Tool helps students understand the connections between concepts and spatial context in a way unlike any other. The Interactive Map Tool is loosely based on a map metaphor, but isn’t bound to just creating maps. It allows the user to create a hierarchical structure of informational pages that can be nested. Nested pages can include anything from plain images to video and audio files, all with accompanying description text. The sites created in the Interactive Map Tool helps students understand the connections between concepts and spatial context in a way unlike any other.

MIIM Project: http://maps.umn.edu/
Open Source Web Mapping in K-16 Education. MIIM is a web-based application that introduces K-12 and post-secondary students to principles of geography and GIS. MIIM makes use of several open-source projects, including Mapbender, MapServer, and PostgreSQL.

Tracing the Visitor's Eye: http://www.girardin.org/fabien/tracing/
So far the investigation of spatio-temporal patterns of people mainly rendered a quantitative understanding of the city. In our study, we intend to leverage implicit spatio-temporal data (i.e. latitude, longitude and timestamp) with the richness of people-generated information. Our approach is to consider that uploading, tagging and disclosing the location of a photo can be interpreted as an act of communication rather than a pure implicit history of physical presence. For this purpose, we retrieved from Flickr, large amounts of photo taken by thousands of users in the world’s most photographed cities. Based on the time, explicit location and people’s description of their photos, we design geovisualizations. They reveal patterns of tourists and citizens consuming a city, such as the flow of people between city attractions (see figures below), the monuments areas of influence or what is happening with day/night and working/weekend periodicity.

Simple small business software, collaboration, CRM: 37signals

2008-02-08T13:41:00.001-05:00

Simple small business software, collaboration, CRM: 37signals

I want this. All of 37signals products, really. Basecamp for project management and collaboration; Highrise for client relations management; Backpack to organize and store it all in; Campfire to chat it all up with others (did I mention it's iPhone compatible?); and throw in Ta-da List and Whiteboard (collaborative writing) and I'd die happy. It's everything Google, but prettier and likely a bit more functional (since it's mostly a for-pay service).

Sweet, though.

2008-02-03T14:14:00.000-05:00

The above word cloud provides a summary of what "The voices of tenure-track faculty: Their transitional experiences" poster is about. Based upon the qualitative phenomenological research study that five other researchers and I did for our Qualitative Research I course to "explore the transitional experience of newly-hired tenure-track faculty at a research one institution. Newly hired tenure-track faculty is defined as faculty participating in any stage of the tenure process prior to being granted tenure." We investigated tenure preparation pertaining to politics and culture, daily responsibilities, supportive relationships, unexpected barriers to progress, as well as the overall gist of the tenure experience. The themes and findings that emerged provided us with suggestions as to how the tenure process might be revamped for overall improvement. The full poster presentation is below and describes what resources were used to produce it.

SOESA Poster Presentation: "The voices of tenure-track faculty: Their transitional experiences."

Reference:
Evans, A. D., Adams, I. S., Richmond, J. A., Spruill, N. R. (2008, February). The voices of tenure-track faculty: Their transitional experiences. Poster presentation at the 3^rd Annual School of Education Student Association Research Conference, Blacksburg, VA.

This is a poster that I created for the 2008 School of Education Student Association (SOESA) 3rd annual conference in Blacksburg, VA. Research for developing this poster consisted of researching and referring to the following sites for information about presenting quality poster presentations:

Advice on designing scientific posters.
Colin Purrington. Department of Biology, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania.
http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrin1/posteradvice.htm
Creating effective poster presentations.
George Hess, Kathryn Tosney, Leon Liegel.
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters
PhD Poster Gallery.
http://phdposters.com/gallery.php

My Word Cloud - How my CV defines ME

2008-02-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

Web 2.0 technologies never cease to amaze me. We talk a lot about how visuals are more effective, but many of us do not take the time to create the visuals. What I love about the new slew of Web 2.0 tools is that they make the visualization process so easy. You can still read my CV for the full description of me and my skills, but you can also understand who--and what--I am, thanks to Wordle.net:

academhack » Blog Archive » Twitter for Academia

2008-02-01T11:18:00.000-05:00

academhack » Blog Archive » Twitter for Academia

A blog post about how one instructor uses twitter in academia, followed by many useful comments which are worth reading for further exploration.

Bonkian youTubian Researchian Update

2008-01-30T10:39:00.000-05:00

Curt J. Bonk is a Professor of the Indiana University System in Bloomington, IN 47401

For those of you who might be interested, he has some (very) preliminary research going on with the use of how and why YouTube is used as it is. The following is his latest update sent to me via the Facebook group: Bonkian YouTubiam Researchian:

Curt Bonk sent a message to the members of Bonkian YouTubian Researchian.

Subject: Some tentative YouTube Survey results and need just a few more respondents to get to our goal

Hello members of this YouTubian research group. Thanks for helping with the big survey! We are at 861 respondents now and hoping to get to 1,000. 139 more to go. We have given away three 80 gig video iPods on January 1st. We will give away another iPod and an iPhone on February 28th or when we get to 1,000 respondents; whichever come sooner. If you have yet to complete the YouTube research survey, please do. And feel free to share with others through email or posts in your Facebook account or to your Facebook friends. Here is the link: http://www.surveyshare.com/video/

Some quick overview results from a reivew of a few of the surveys (these are highly incomplete--more comprehensive results to come in a month or so. The statements below are based on a quick scan of 5-6 of the surveys of the 60 different YouTube videos we are evaluating. Caution on debating, generalizing, or sharing. Wait for that.):
1. So far...Most people prefer short 1-4 minute YouTube videos. Some though like them to be under 1 minute and still others 4-7 minutes long.
2. It seems that most watch YouTube videos for comedy (i.e., fun) or information. Humor is highly important.
3. Motivation to watch YouTube videos comes from capitvating or engaging content, informational and educational content, and interesting topics.
4. Most think that YouTube videos are somewhat important in education and training today but will be highly important in a few years.
5. Most had not posted a comment after viewing a YouTube video.
6. About 1 in 5 (of a small sample) had created a YouTube video.
7. Why would someone create a YouTube video? Some of the top answers have included to experiment with technology, participating in the education of the people of this planet, interested in the potentiial of online video, contributing to the global world, personal or professional research, and sharing knowledge and ideas.
8. It appears that most people do NOT subscribe to YouTube channels.
9. Most people watch YouTube videos between 6 and 12 pm at night.
10. Based on this quick scan of a few results, it seems that most people watch fewer than 1 YouTube video per week.
11. Most had shared a YouTube video link with others.
12. Based on this quick scan, it seems it is rare for someone to flag a YouTube video as inappropriate.

I will stop there but I wanted to share so as to give you feedback for taking the survey. Again thanks for that. This is highly tenative. Remember to send people to this link to participate: http://www.surveyshare.com/video/

Once again, thanks so much! I hope to have a more complete picture of the results soon. The above numbers are just based on a review of a few of the survey results (remember that there are 60 different YouTube videos we are sending people to and and associated surveys...so these points are just general statements from reviewing just a couple of them. Please do not quote or use or share too widely. Caution on use! Wait for an update. Thanks so much.)

Memo to Myself: Follow-up on These

2008-01-29T14:32:00.000-05:00

Professors on YouTube, Take 2: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2704/professors-on-youtube-take-2

A Professor's Tips on Using Twitter in the Classroom: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2699/a-professors-tips-for-using-twitter-in-the-classroom

Sceneweaver Makes 3D Easy to Share: http://mashable.com/2008/01/28/scenecaster-sceneweaver/

Technorati Founder Launches Web Hot or Not. It's Geek Love.: http://mashable.com/2008/01/27/web-hot-or-not/

Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

2008-01-28T11:40:00.000-05:00

Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do

Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, talks about our new wave of overprotected kids -- and spells out 5 (and really, he's got 6) dangerous things you should let your kids do. Allowing kids the freedom to explore, he says, will make them stronger and smarter and actually safer.
This talk comes from TED University 2007, a pre-conference program where TEDsters share ideas.

Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University

2008-01-28T10:51:00.000-05:00

Open Learning Initiative at Carnegie Mellon University

Providing access to "free learning" is not a *new* idea, but it looks as thought it is pretty well crafted there at CMU. These aren't just how-to short courses on the web, either. These are full, for-credit courses (or no-credit courses if you'd rather) available to anyone interested in learning the provided topics: Engineering Statics, Statistics, Causal Reasoning, and more ...

Blogging Across the Curriculum

2008-01-28T10:28:00.000-05:00

Blogging Across the Curriculum

I think I can say this is one of my new favorite Web 2.0 sites. It's not that the site is Web 2.0, but rather it gets back to the fundamentals underlying web 2.0--the writing! Of course, the writing (the message, the content) is what is important!

Short on time? Then check out the "How to Blog --> Writing for Weblogs" page. Those short articles are worth the read and will help when designing and implementing the blogging assignment.

Amber D. Evans' CV (Curriculum Vitae)

2008-01-26T22:45:00.001-05:00

My Curriculum Vitae (or CV).

How does one keep track of all that they do?

I use a smattering of methods, but they're all digital and they're all online. Mostly, I use Google Applications such as Google Calendar and Google Documents to keep track of when and descriptions of what, respectively. This process turns out to be quite easy as I schedule items on a daily basis and then document these activities on a weekly basis. It not only saves me a lot of time in the end whenever I need to update my CV or provide my dept. with an annual progress report, but it also gives me a chance to reflect upon what I have been up to (and to see what trends or areas are of interest to me).

In research, I've found that it is too easy to get into the details of a particular (proverbial) tree and I soon lose sight of the (proverbial) forest. With my brain so actively engaged in my studies and research, I sincerely cannot remember what I had for breakfast just an hour ago. If left to my recollection--oh, dear! Imagine trying to remember whatever it was that I did two, six, or nine months ago! Using daily appointments (in the Calendar) to track activities, meetings, people, or events, these can then be translated into detailed notes and descriptions during my 30-minute weekly session. I'm not left struggling to figure out what I did or who I met with, nor am I stuck trying to figure out how I got to where I am now.

The best part is that it is all fresh in my mind, making it easy to write short (reflective and descriptive) summaries. Eventually, these may or may not go into my final CV, but if nothing else it is recorded as a transaction of what I'm doing with my time ... what I'm doing with my life ... and gives me a chance to actively reflect upon whether or not it's going where I'd like for it to go.

2008-Horizon-Report.pdf (application/pdf Object)

2008-01-25T09:52:00.000-05:00

The Horizon Report 2008 edition has been released! It is available for download and the Horizon Project wiki is also online. Soon the report will be coming to FDI to be distributed among all faculty enrolled in the spring/summer tracks.

The Horizon Report is a collaboration between the New Media Consortium (NMC) and the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative. As stated in the Horizon Report itself, "[t]he project uses qualitative research methods to identify the technologies selected for inclusion in each report, beginning with a survey of the work of other organizations and a review of the literature with an eye to spotting interesting emerging technologies" (2008, p. 8). It covers the key emerging technologies, the critical challenges we will face, significant trends (on the rise and in the past), and an analysis of the past five years of trends found in the recent evolution of emerging technologies.

50 Great Widgets For Your Blog

2008-01-25T01:07:00.000-05:00

50 Great Widgets For Your Blog

I've checked out most of them ... and about 10 to 15 of them are pretty great. The rest are ... er ... well, it depends on what you want to to do with your blog and how many other accounts you want to set up.

MIT Sketching -- Now Technology Helps Teach!

2008-01-24T17:09:00.000-05:00

This has got to be one of the coolest, most useful teaching tools I've seen in quite a while. It is not only a method of teaching, notetaking, and/or concept designing, but it does it in a way that is natural to that way we often describe or try to do things. Consider this, have you ever tried to explain an idea or device and ultimately just grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil and drew it?

That's what this MIT professor has done. As my Mechanical Engineering boyfriend pointed out, I'm sure there are all kinds of settings that have to be set (gravity, friction, etc.) before it can be used as demonstrated, but as a relatively simple start to exploring statics (think buildings) and dynamics (think spinning wheels), it's a pretty cool way to go. The best part is that you wouldn't necessarily have to set up the room with actual carts spinning down ramps. (Which can be really time consuming and a bit chaotic!)

Le Boyfriend, has also suggested for further interest into virtual prototyping software, you'll want to check out Working Model 2D and/or Adams.

Immersive Worlds & Learning - A place to start with the research.

2008-01-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

Below are a few resources you may find useful to introduce you to the area of research & development of immersive worlds and learning. Keep in mind that these folks are very much
in the socio-cultural/critical theory realm ...

1. Constance Steinkuehler, U of Wisconsin:
http://website.education.wisc.edu/steinkuehler/

2. Jay Lemke, U of Mich: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/

3. I3W: Investigating Interactive Immersive Worlds:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jaylemke/projects/i3w-home.htm

How to Describe Web 2.0 to Administrators

2008-01-14T09:42:00.000-05:00

http://www.mtl-peters.net/blog/?p=181

"Web 2.0 is sometimes called the “Read Write Web”. I call it the “Read, Write, Speak, Listen Web”. It is an Internet that is no longer about passive viewing and linking . This new Interactive Internet is transforming the manner in which people all over the world are interacting, communicating and collaborating. In the last two to three years, we have witnessed an explosion of new information and knowledge available to anyone with an Internet connection. As educators, we cannot ignore the fact that our students are consumers, distributors, remixers, and creators of content from and to the Internet. They need models and guidance from trusted adults as they interact with others and with information. Reasons why educators should include web 2.0 tools and environments (i.e. blogs, wikis, forums, learning management systems, voicethread, podcasts) as part of classroom practices include: relevance to real world practices, access to authentic audiences, opportunities to learn and practice appropriate online conduct, global citizenship skills, information literacy skills of evaluation and authentication, skills in anchoring and filtering information, and opportunities to collaborate, as well as experience learning gains."

Jeff Felix: The Study on Blogging Educators is Complete!

2008-01-14T09:36:00.000-05:00

Jeff Felix: The Study on Blogging Educators is Complete!

Obamas MySpace Conundrum - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

2008-01-11T14:57:00.000-05:00

Obamas MySpace Conundrum - The Caucus - Politics - New York Times Blog

Here's a perfect example of old meets new in the world of politics and Web 2.0. Can Obama's Campaign just take over a volunteer supporter's MySpace page?

When and how is it right to do so? Indeed, there's still a lot of water to be navigated in this sea.

Faceresearch.org is Interesting and Interactive!

2008-01-11T13:05:00.000-05:00

Face Research: http://www.faceresearch.org/

Per the website:

FaceResearch.org allows you to participate in short online psychology experiments looking at the traits people find attractive in faces and voices. Register to participate in experiments if this is your first time at FaceResearch.org or login if you have been here before.

Make your own average faces with our new interactive demos!

In addition to participating in facial attractiveness experiments, you can also complete lifestyle and personality questionnaires about characteristics that may be associated with face and voice preferences and see how you compare to others. We post all our study results after we have finished collecting data.

You can also learn about our computer-graphic technology and read about some of the findings of our previous studies.

Take part in an online questionnaire about Drinking Water and Soft Drinks by Moira Cruickshank, a student who is learning to program online experiments with us.

Article Accepted for BJET!

2008-01-10T22:17:00.000-05:00

Lusk, D. L., Evans, A. D., Jeffrey, T. R., Palmer, K. R., Wikstrom, C. S., & Doolittle, P. E. (in press). Multimedia learning and individual differences: mediating the effects of working memory capacity with segmentation. British Journal of Educational Technology.

An article having to do with multimedia learning (about segmentation and working memory capacity) that I am second author on has been accepted for the British Journal of Educational Technology! Not only that, but it was accepted without revisions!

How absolutely fantastic is that? It is beyond fantastic!

Crazy Egg – visualize your visitors

2008-01-09T16:03:00.000-05:00

Crazy Egg – visualize your visitors

This is quite possibly one of the coolest ways to "see" your website as your users actually see and use your website. VERY USEFUL tool for anyone having to do some kind of web design/development!

Cover It Live -- Blogging Extraordinaire

2008-01-09T09:50:00.000-05:00

Cover it Live: http://www.coveritlive.com/

At first, I was skeptical and confused. First off, how do you make a "live blog" more live than updating information as you go? Second, on a technical level how would a "live blog" be done?

The Cover It Live Demo explains it and shows off its strengths very well. I cannot help but think this is like Wimba, or Centra, or many other live-capture-record sessions often used for synchronous distance education programs. Only, this appears easy-to-use and doesn't require any kind of special software or hardware. A smaller-scale joe-blow version of interactive virtual environments.

I'm going to try it out and when I do I'll let you know what I think of it.

Big Think - We Are What You Think

2008-01-09T09:12:00.000-05:00

Big Think - We Are What You Think

The Internet + Big Bandwidth = We all have a voice that can be heard, but what do we SAY? We have soundbites, snips, superficial blurbs of information floating around, but does any of it get to the heart of the matter anymore?

We can do more; we can think bigger than the current media journalists and existing YouTube mud pie. We can ask (and respond to) the big questions that are out there. Here's a site offering a chance to join a global community to share, challenge, to listen, and to learn from these interactions. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that this could lead the "intellectual YouTube" movement towards mass collaborative multimedia projects across the world.

What will you say? What do you think?

Also read Big Think: YouTube for Smartie Pants?

20 Tools For Creating Your Own Games

2008-01-04T15:20:00.000-05:00

20 Tools For Creating Your Own Games

This is AWESOME! Forget Second Life! Make your own RPG or Flash-based game without any knowledge of programming necessary. I think I'm going to try to add this as an FDI workshop to the Spring/Summer roster.

The best part? The storyboarding and writing (because everyone knows that good games come from good writing).

How fun!

Second Life Technologist Moves to Academe - Chronicle.com

2008-01-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

Second Life Technologist Moves to Academe - Chronicle.com

This may or may not be indicative of some real changes for academia and Second Life. I suspect that SL will keep moving increasingly towards commercialism ... but does that actually affect SL Educators in any way?

Memo to Myself: Thoughts for Good Parenting & Symbolic Interactionalism

2007-12-06T15:57:00.000-05:00

The Megan Meiers story broke loose. apophenia provided a synopsis of the situation:

For those who are not familiar with the Megan Meier story, let me create a brief overview of what has been commonly covered in the press. Megan (13, St. Louis) had a MySpace profile when a cute boy "Josh" (16) begins courting her. All is well until Josh breaks up with her online by sending cruel messages about how she hurts her friends, is fat and a slut, and "the world would be a better place without you." Shortly after reading this, Megan commits suicide. Josh turns out to be a fake profile created by Lori Drew, the mother of one of Megan's former friends. Police investigate, no charges are filed.

Then apparently, Lori Drew (aka, "Josh Evans") wrote a blog entry in an attempt to explain (and to justify) her actions. Yeah, I'm not sure about any of this. By no means am I an authority on these social matters. I'm simply an individual living in interaction within the larger social institution. I suppose that makes me as qualified as the next senseless blogger to comment on this case.

The "Megan Had It Coming: I'm Lori Drew" blog is an interesting caricature of what is wrong with people in the world today. It is also home to (surprisingly) few gems of wisdom. These two statements (in my mind) includes both of what is written by a blogger and by the commentators. I have to wonder, is it really Lori Drew? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, being the Symbolic Interactionist that I am, I cannot separate myself from my perspective of "reality," but I can certainly agree that there are different perspectives at work in this situation. I don't care much about the story itself (who is "right" or "wrong"). I'm interested in the dialog that is going on between said blogger and 2500+ commentators.

It's exactly as apophenia posted earlier:

Mediated environment throw these forces for a loop. I can say anything I want here and you can't punch me. At least not while you're sitting on your computer reading this. And I have a reasonable expectation that your potential anger will dissipate before you see me again. Furthermore, this fear of bodily harm is very ephemeral - we are much worse about evaluating whether or not an act will result in _future_ bodily harm than determining if it will result in immediate harm. The lack of immediate harm is key here.

The bigger issue has to do with social consequences. I have no way of determining if you're nodding along or scrunching your face in disgust and violent disagreement. I have to imagine your reaction as I write this (and I'm imagining the nods). I have no way of adjusting the next paragraph according to your implicit responses while reading this paragraph, both because I can't see you and because you're reading this in a time-shifted manner. Furthermore, unless you explicitly provide feedback (like comments), I have no real understanding that you're out there let alone what you thought of my post. The lack of social feedback sucks, but the lack of immediate social consequences can be far more dangerous.

We're allowed (and even encouraged) to spout off, assuming others will agree with us. And if they don't, well ... who cares, right? Only, that's not really true. I think we do care, or at least to some extent we need to care and to be cared about. How else do we integrate into the social fabric?

On a more personal level (for the sake of all mankind and humanity), upon reading the blog post and a smattering of comments, I find myself feeling rather disappointed. To be short, it would be nice if there were less "haters" and I could find more enlightened reflections in the 2500+ comments. There's a lot of "talk," but not a lot of meaningful thought behind most of the words. The blogger and commentators are mostly emotional gunslingers, hurling their judgmental viewpoints at blind eyes. Without a common ground between them, no one is hitting the intended mark, and certainly no problems are being solved. It reads as though whoever can say it louder, wins! I also have to say that so much of the posted dialog is amazingly narcissistic.

I hope the whole tragedy is a bit like the phoenix; once it's all blown up, a rebirth anew begins. Yet, I'm afraid that we do not live in times like that anymore. For today, is vengeance the new virtue?

I hope not.

Even if other people have learned nothing from the discourse, I feel that I was gently reminded of some certain key principles for conducting myself. A few simple truths that resonate with me: a) it's not about being "right" or "wrong," b) knowing when to say when, c) how to say, "I'm sorry," d) silence is golden, and in the end e) time heals many things.

There was one comment that caught my attention. I'm keeping this one for myself as reference for when I have children of my own one day. The only one response that I thought was worth repeating:

December 3, 2007 12:57 PM
Smart Senior said...

When I read this story, I was struck by how similar it sounded to something that happened to me four years ago. I had a "friend" bully me and spread very hurtful rumors about me around the school I attended. She was also my neighbor which made it worse.

My mother did exactly what you did AT FIRST. She tried to talk to the parents of my ex friend, she talked to the school, she even discussed the situation with the local police to see if anything could be done.

However, through the whole situation, she reminded me of two things that made a huge difference. First, that this situation would pass. As painful as it was, it was a passing thing.

Second, she taught me that the school I went to and the town we lived in were only a tiny part of a big world. While it felt like my whole world was falling apart, she constantly helped me see that this was just one short chapter in my life.

She and my dad also did something that I think you would have been wise to do. We turned off the computer. They didn't care if "everyone" was online. They cared about what I read and how it affected me and so while they couldn't stop others from saying nasty things, they could stop me from being damaged by those words.

My parents helped me see that I would never be able to control what other people thought or said about me but I could control what I thought about myself. And that, at the end of the day, is the most important thing that matters.

They also knew that if my friends were only my friends because they could IM me, then they weren't great friends to have in the first place. My popularity was less of a concern to them than my WELL BEING.

Many months after my ex friend started bullying me, she stopped. I think the fact that I didn't give in and let her words affect me made a huge difference. I also got to see who my "real" friends were. The people who didn't let her words affect our friendship were my real friends and still continue to be to this day.

It's true that you didn't cause Megan to commit suicide. However, you did a terrible thing by not being an adult. Your daughter looked to you to see how to handle this situation and instead of taking the high road, you did exactly what you accused Megan of doing to your daughter. She was only 13 yet you're an adult!

I hope any parents who reads this know that kids want their parents to take a stand but not they way a teenager would take a stand. They don't want parents who are going to sink to their level but show them how to rise above the pettiness that so often comes with the teen years.

I'm a happy senior in high school with friends and a bright future. I also feel very secure in the knowledge that I'm a good person (with or without others thinking so) and I can handle anything that comes my way.

I pray for you and especially your daughter. While you may feel like you did the "right" thing, you have an opportunity now to admit that what you did might not have been the best thing to do. Showing your daughter that parents do the best they can but sometimes make terrible mistakes is a lesson she can grow from.

I do want to say this much. Joel M. Charon (2007) seemed to nail it on the head when he noted that as humans today, we are increasingly aware of social interactions. They "are important keys to understanding what is going on around us" (p. 141). It is true that we are more aware of successes and failures, more aware of injustice and justice, more aware of social dealings and associations. "And in our increasingly complex society, social interaction is no longer simple and isolated, but usually it goes in directions that are neither predictable nor even intentional" (p. 141). I read that in Charon's book and I think about Lori Drew and Megan Meiers ... and it's unfortunately clear that his point has been made.

References

Charon, J.M. (2007). Symbolic interactionism: An introduction, an interpretation, an integration. Pearson, NJ: Upper Saddle River.

Classroom 2.0

2007-12-03T11:51:00.000-05:00

Classroom 2.0

Okay, I really like this use of Ning (open-source social software). This site is pretty darn useful for all Web 2.0 teaching in K-12. I'd like to adapt this for 12+ use.

Includes lots of info about blogging, social networking, concept-mapping, slideshare, and more.

21Classes – Free Classroom and Education Blogs - Home

2007-12-03T11:47:00.000-05:00

21Classes – Free Classroom and Education Blogs - Home

Another opportunity to create an off-site Blogosphere for you and your classroom. Man, these things are nearly a dime-a-dozen out there nowadays.

Used with reflective writing within a community of practice, blog posts could be a possible assessment item.

For Professors, 'Friending' Can Be Fraught - Chronicle.com

2007-12-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

For Professors, 'Friending' Can Be Fraught - Chronicle.com

Use Facebook/MySpace. Don't use Facebook/MySpace. Connect with students any way you can. Don't invade their space. Watch out for power inequalities. Make them feel comfortable and at ease. Which is it? Can one do all of the above at the same time?

For faculty (and once as adjunct-faculty), Facebook and MySpace can be tricky. This article isn't ground-breaking, but points out that balance is best. The question is, "How does one balance these things?"

I'm at the point where I'd suggest that faculty who want to use social networking as part of school or for their courses should consider Ning. In a specific, for-class social network, everyone knows what can go into that space, and doesn't have to worry about embarrassing or awkward crossovers between their "professional" and "personal" lives.

Sony Buys Into Virtual Movie Theaters; Invests in Gaia

2007-12-03T08:47:00.000-05:00

Sony Buys Into Virtual Movie Theaters; Invests in Gaia

Interesting, but not too surprising to hear about this. Gaia is a bit like Second Life, but for those who are more into the anime genre. In any case, the idea of virtual world movie theatres is a different and more social approach to the solidatary iPod world we live in today. I'm curious to see how it comes along.

Education World ® Professional Development Center: Log On to a Blog

2007-11-29T09:19:00.000-05:00

Education World ® Professional Development Center: Log On to a Blog

Another great resource for teachers looking into how to assess blogging.

Ryan Bretag says, "Blogging, It Isn't About the Writing"

2007-11-29T08:47:00.000-05:00

Blogging: It Isn't About the Writing

This was a great blog post that goes into the how and why of blogs for students (and for one's self). It gives you everything you need to know to start, how to model the process to your students, and what you expect of them (self-reflection and critical reading and analysis).

This should be a "must-read" for all instructors wanting to include blogging.

CSI Notices Twitter

2007-11-28T09:15:00.000-05:00

CSI is a pretty cutting-edge show, and Twitter came up on the series. Interesting commentary both of the investigators have regarding privacy vs. openness. Check it out and decide for yourself.

Are You a Righty- or a Lefty-Brain Thinker?

2007-11-24T15:24:00.000-05:00

I don't know if this is true or not, but it's a fun little thing to try out. Here is a little test to see if you are a right-brain or left-brain thinker. Here is what you do.

What is your immediate reaction to whether the person is moving counter-clockwise or clockwise in the picture?

If your first reaction was counter-clockwise, you are a left-brain thinker. If your first reaction was clockwise, you are a right-brain thinker.

FYI: I’m a right-brain thinker, apparently. That actually surprised me, but then I thought about how I approach a lot of problems and it suddenly seemed very plausible.

I went ahead and stared at it for another 30 seconds--BINGO!--I got it moving in the other direction. It really reminded me of those autostereograms that were so popular back in the 90's; you really have to relax your mind and visual to allow for that switch to take place.

Many thanks to Ryan Bretag for the link to this little mind bender.

SECOND LIFE TOOLBOX: 50 Resources for Second Life

2007-11-19T09:27:00.000-05:00

SECOND LIFE TOOLBOX: 50 Resources for Second Life

Here you go! A place that lists the places and faces of SecondLife who will help you do and build whatever it is that you want.

Skipping the Boring Parts of Faculty Lectures - Chronicle.com

2007-11-17T11:39:00.000-05:00

Skipping the Boring Parts of Faculty Lectures - Chronicle.com

This may change the approach to recording and listening to lectures, don't you think? I've always thought that 20-minute or less lecturettes were more effectual anyway. Now, it's just 1 minute and 43 seconds that people want.

Hmmm ... Does it make you ponder about how everything is "on-demand" and only "just in time"? Is there still depth in this kind of availability and reference? (I would assume there would have to be.)

What do you think?

R U a Right Clicka' or an iBook Flippa'?

2007-11-17T10:36:00.000-05:00

This has to be one of the best (music) videos I've seen in a long time that does a great job of highlighting and poking fun of both sides.

PC and Mac fans, R U a Right Clicka' or an iBook Flippa'?

Enjoy!

Help Revive Newsmap!

2007-11-15T23:12:00.000-05:00

UPDATE: Newsmap is back and as good as new! Hooray!

- - -

http://newsmap.blogspot.com/

A catastrophe happened! I went to check the news at my favorite news site: Newsmap and discovered that it was no longer there! Nooooooooooo!

I visited the blog listed in it's stead and learned that something Google has done has disabled Newsmap from being the fantastic resource that it was.

Please, if you're familiar with Newsmap, contact Google or show support for its continuation. I'd hate the easy-to-see-and-use world news of our lives go away.

Eduventures Press Release - Eduventures Research Finds Aspects of College Continuing Education Web Sites Hindering Recruitment Efforts

2007-11-14T19:53:00.000-05:00

Eduventures Press Release - Eduventures Research Finds Aspects of College Continuing Education Web Sites Hindering Recruitment Efforts

This is useful for all of you out there who take my Dreamweaver courses. Here is what one of our potential audiences is looking for: "How much does it cost?"

Twittering just got a little C-R-E-E-P-Y

2007-11-14T17:18:00.000-05:00

Okay. Today I was innocently googling for a lost blog that I used to share with some female cyclist friends. When I googled the terms I was looking for, I got two top hits that linked to her blogs and a truckload of my own Twitterings right beneath. I scanned the page and was thinking, Huh! I'm surprised but it's fine and dandy--WAIT A MINUTE! I came across one of dubious nature at the w3top.org site. Using MY Twitter information, they have created a FAKE Twitter-Date hook-up site for ... me? ... based out of the Netherlands? Say WHAT?!?

According to them, I'm also seeking a: woman. Uh-uh ... No, I don't think so!

Like I said, Twittering just got a little creepy, if only because other people use my public information for things of dubious and unauthorized use. My next question is, "How do I make them stop?"

Virginia Tech Teaching Dossier Workshop - Dec. 3, 3:00 - 5:00pm (Randolph 212)

2007-11-12T11:23:00.000-05:00

Dear Virginia Tech Faculty Members,

The Academy of Teaching Excellence is sponsoring a Teaching Dossier Workshop to aid faculty members in the preparation of teaching dossiers for the various teaching awards (Wine Award, Alumni Award, Certificate of Teaching Excellence).

The Workshop will be held on Monday December 3 at 3:00-5:00 pm in Randolph 212. Bud Brown (Math) is organizing the workshop at which award-winning faculty presenters will discuss the following features of the dossier:

The Nomination Letter
Letters of Recommendation
Distinctive Contributions/Achievements
Additional Documentation
Student Evaluations
Teaching Philosophy

Anyone interested in preparing a teaching dossier is invited to attend.

Patricia Amateis
Chemistry
Chair, Academy of Teaching Excellence

Airset (Your Whole Life. Organized.)

2007-11-09T15:31:00.000-05:00

AirSet is social networking for the busy and techno-savvy family and school.

http://www.airset.com/AirSet.jsp#app.Home_p.home

I'm impressed that it sychronizes with both Palm Desktop/PDAs and MS Outlook. I may switch to it if I could get my friends and family on board. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Vicki Davis does another great job of hashing out the pros and cons of AirSet.

Vyew.com - FREE Anytime Collaboration and Live Conferencing™

2007-11-09T15:12:00.000-05:00

Vyew.com - FREE Anytime Collaboration and Live Conferencing™

I love this place. My roommate turned me onto this Live Conferencing site. I love it.

At work, we have Echo 360, and that is a sweet little product, but we have a Flash server, etc. At home, I can use Vyew and be happy with the work that came out of the online meeting.

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: BestoftheWeb: My Most Useful Tools

2007-11-09T14:06:00.000-05:00

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: BestoftheWeb: My Most Useful Tools

What are all the cool kids doing with Web 2.0? Want to know what they are using and how they are using it? Vicki Davis shares a few of her favorites with us and they are worth their weight in gold!

Social Networks Let Scholars Remix Their Articles - Chronicle.com

2007-11-09T13:49:00.000-05:00

Social Networks Let Scholars Remix Their Articles - Chronicle.com

Pronetos is (yet another) social networking site, but this one is aimed at university researchers and instructors.. The phrase, "it's kinda' like Facebook, but for academic scholars" is an appropriate description.

So far, the list of subjects and disciplines is pretty good, and if your specific area of study isn't already listed there, you can sign-up to add it.

Discovery News : Discovery Channel : Joystick Takes Cues by Voice

2007-11-07T15:29:00.000-05:00

Discovery News : Discovery Channel: Joystick Takes Cues by Voice

Carpal tunnel may be a thing of the past when mouse and joystick control is facilitated through vocalizations.

It also gives us a good excuse to rehash some of the funnier times of Victor Borge and his audible punctuation. I suspect listening to verbal mousecontrol won't sound too different! Enjoy the show!