June 2007 Archives

[Someone sent this to me... it's actually a pretty good edit...and I can't deny that Psyduck will always have a place in my heart.]

Another interesting note: someone got this from my blog, edited it and sent it through IM, and in under 3 minutes, I made this post to my blog. I told the person who sent it to me that if I had to do this the old way, I wouldn't have bothered. Blog project = lower barriers to publishing. Most of my time spent making a new post has to do with the content instead of the technology or formatting. That's the way it should be.

This quicktour of the iPhone (about 20 minutes) really digs into the applications: phone, mail, photos, maps, browser, etc... I'm blown away by the level of integration, intuition, and customization. Examples:

• The screen shows call-waiting calls and asks if you want to merge them with your existing call
• Look up directions from A to B -- and see the traffic conditions on various routes
• Watch a YouTube video and tap the screen to send it to friends
• Scan back and forth through a voicemail message using a play slider
• Airplane mode so you can use the iPhone while in flight

Yeah, I'm impressed.

The theme for the 2007 Symposium was "Social Computing and the Culture of Teaching and Learning". I liked it because we had a focus on Web 2.0 technologies and how they were being used around campus. I was pretty impressed by faculty who had experience with podcasting, the rapid growth of our community sites, the research into educational uses of blogs, educational uses of social bookmarking tools, and so many other topics that were related to our theme. Kudos to all of our presenters. I'm re-discovering the intelligence of our participants as I post the media files to the Symposium site.

However, we had equally impressive sessions about educational technologies that were not necessarily about Web 2.0 -- or the Web at all. For example, faculty/physicians from the Hershey Medical Center did a presentation on their use of computerized medical mannequins that they use to teach medical students. I don't want people who are doing that kind of work to feel like they shouldn't submit a presentation.

And now we're launching the Digital Commons initiative and I'm personally excited about the potential for mobile platforms like Apple's iPhone and Helio's Ocean ("don't call it a phone") to impact digital expression (e.g. mobile blogging, true anytime/anywhere learning) and create a culture of ubiquitous participation.

So next year's theme needs to be broader. But I also want to ground all of this so participants know how to tackle these technologies and apply them to their own teaching and research. Something along these lines may work:

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This one is wordy and it doesn't flow, but it's direct and inclusive:

• Enabling Higher Order Learning through Collaborative Tools, Simulations, Digital Expression, and Mobile Platforms

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This one flows better, but someone might think that they they need to include all three if they want to present. [Hey, if someone tells me how they're using chalk or masks or post-its in really innovative ways, I'll give them a spotlight]:

• Social, Mobile, and Engaging: New Technologies to Enhance Your Course

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This has the flow, but is it a bit too "cute"? I like the emphasis on giving faculty a lot of options and helping to guide them through the decision-making process. I had another theme idea: "Your Course, Your Way", but faculty are teaching their way now and the idea of technological enhancement (where appropriate) is lost

• Collaborative, Creative, and Captivating: Choosing the Right Tools for Your Course

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Anyway, if you have feedback, I'd like to hear it. Not just about the phrasing, but about the ideas behind the themes.

If you happened to listen to ETS Talk #27 (past the 35 minute mark or so), you know that I'm the official "Vista Fanboy" of our podcast.

Not really, but I like exploring operating systems to see how they are set up and what you can do with them and I needed a new computer anyway. As a correction, my new machine is 3.5GHz, but NOT dual-core. And I got my 2GB of memory installed -- which did speed things up considerably. My "Vista Experience" score went from 2.0 to 2.8 (on a scale of 1 to 5.9). Yeah, 5.9 is the actual upper limit of the Vista Experience scale. I don't get it.

We're considering the use of CiviCRM to manage our contacts, so I made this screencast (not too bad...24 MB after compression). Since it contains actual contact information, I locked it down to Penn State users.

I have to say that the people at the New Media Consortium know how to put on an interesting conference. Of course some of it has to do with the people who attend: lots of education technologists, artists, musicians, journalists, etc... A nice mix of creativity and technology -- which explains why Apple and Adobe are received very well here. I don't think that I've seen a Windows laptop once.

A few elements that I like:
- They had an activity during the first night's reception where you pick tags that represent yourself (with some suggestions or you can write your own). I picked "podcaster", "education technologist", and "gamer". Then you talk to other people and find five that match at least one of your tags. They sign your card and when you have five signatures, you turn in your card. At the end of the reception, they draw names for prizes (Creative Suite, Final Cut, etc...)
- During the poster session today, they passed out stickers that you placed on the posters that you liked. I assume the person with the most stickers gets some kind of recognition.
- They gave everyone a little embroidered NMC sticker for their name badges. It's really nice looking and unusual.
- They're doing interviews throughout the day. We did too during the Symposium, but now as an attendee, I understood what it felt like on the other side. It gives a certain impression that something newsworthy is happening.

OMG...I just saw the first of the new iPhone ads on TV! Woot!

Anyway, time to clean up my interviews with Sara Robbins and Alan Levine.