Recently in ETS Category

Today I sat down and put together a quick XML file that has my ETS, PSU, and a few other subscriptions in it ... the idea is that you can download this XML file and upload it into Google Reader. I imagine it'll work in other feed readers, but since I use Google Reader it is all I tested it in.

You'll have to right click on the link to the feed and download it before you can upload it ... in other words, don't just click the link, save the document locally first. So grab the XML file and watch the video below to learn how to do it.

After attending Chris Brady's talk yesterday and watching/listening to some of the reactions I was reminded of the ETS mission and how it fits into some of the things he was talking about. First and foremost, I have a great deal of respect for Chris -- he is by far the most student-centered Dean I have ever been around. I'm not saying others are less interested in student activities, but Chris' position as Dean of the Honors College provides him with affordances other Deans do not have. I am thinking about the fact that his College is structured in a radically different way than the other Colleges ... this fact allows him to spend more time thinking about and working with his students.

What struck me was how passionate he was about the total educational experience. I love to see people who share a passion for impacting teaching and learning -- it is what drives most of us to come to work at a place like PSU (at least I hope). I was also struck by how much he downplays the amount of innovation he and his colleagues explore and implement. He said he is measured in his use of technology and focuses on things that have the greatest long-term success. It is one of the reasons I was instantly drawn to work with him even before he got to campus. We've done several things with SHC since he arrived ... we built their first blog space, got him started with podcasting, helped with technology integration issues, and most recently started the SHC Scholar portfolio project. These are things that have played a role in the evolving nature of his perspective on how to engage with his students. The latest effort is one that many on campus feel could be transformative for the long haul.

It is always fun to work with him as he spins through ideas. He isn't afraid to try stuff and he is looks very critically at projects to make sure they are paying dividends.

Again, his talk made me reflect a bit on what our mission and paths are ... essentially trying to think about how we fit into the University. Are we, on a day to day basis, impacting the University? Are we following our own paths to reach the goals of our unit, the University, and serving our key audiences? I have a tendency to say we are, but one thing that might be good to do when one has doubts is to reflect on their work while using the mission and paths below as a measuring stick. How does it add up for you?

Mission and Paths

Education Technology Services is a unit of Teaching and Learning with Technology within Information Technology Services at the Pennsylvania State University. Our primary mission is to provide leadership and support in the appropriate use of technology for teaching, learning, and research. We work to achieve our mission by:

• Creating opportunities to engage faculty to further their use of technology for teaching and learning
• Supporting technology innovation and adoption to support to teaching and learning
• Participating in research opportunities to better educate faculty, staff, and students in the use of emerging technologies as they relate to teaching and learning
• Enhancing curricula through the use of instructional design
• Managing University-wide technology implementations that are designed to support teaching, learning, and research
• Hosting both physical and virtual events that are designed to bring members of the teaching and learning community together to engage in meaningful activities

Rationale for Visiting Game Centers and Businesses

1. Learn from others - mistakes and successes.

2. Collect ideas for growth and maturation of our lab and program.

3. Benchmark us against others.

4. Build connections and networks with others

5. Gauge student reactions/student usage

6. Gauge faculty reactions/faculty usage

7. Best practices for utilizing these spaces for applied research/experiments

Potential Game Centers to Visit

1. New Mexico State University Learning Games Lab - http://www.learninggameslab.org

2. Fullsail Gaming - http://www.fullsail.com

3. Georgia University Gaming Lab - http://campustechnology.com/articles/58965/

4. CMU's Education Technology Center - http://www.etc.cmu.edu/

5. Syracuse Library Game Lab - http://gamelab.syr.edu/

Yesterday I was lucky to be included in a lunch bringing about 2 dozen librarians together to talk about the past and to look to the future of the relationship between PSU Libraries and ITS. ETS has been doing some work with the PSU Librarians -- the most notable is the release of the Library FaceBook Application (BTW, it was installed by over 900 people in the first two days it was available). I have found that working with the people in the Library that we have so much in common -- namely the interest in social tools, aggregation, RSS, taxonomy, and so much more. We sort of think the same way. Something I would never have guessed a year or so ago.

So we all sat down at the Nittany Lion Inn and talked about opportunities for joint research, work, and opportunity. Lots of good stuff emerged and it was a great conversation.

As we are getting closer to really diving head first into the Serious Games space here at ETS, I am attempting to keep up with the numner of schools and organization shifting high energy into Second Life. Brett Bixler maintains an excellent blog and community for us where he typically keeps all this stuff together. Today I came across The Chronicle: Wired Campus Blog: San Jose State Library Celebrates Opening in Virtual World and thought it was worth a link.

I have been asked to take part in a day long series of briefings to the Penn State Outreach Advisory Board focusing on the PSU World Campus. Their Board looks to be a smart group of people who have been selected based on their ability to help our Outreach organization make big decisions. I haven't been involved in Advisory Board style meetings since I left the College of IST about 18 months ago -- that used to be a regular activity for me.

At any rate, I have been asked to start the series of presentations this morning to lay out some of hte challenges and opportunities we face as it relates to teaching and learning with technology. I'll be doing my usual Web 2.0 thing, but with a slightly different slant this time -- I want them to be excited and interested in how emerging technologies are becoming more a part of everyday life and learning. We shall see ... I have attached the PDF of my slides.

I had a good time talking with this group. I always enjoy spending time with smart people with good questions.

Jeff Swain, ANGEL New Product Specialist, alerted me to the ANGEL v7.1 Town Hall meeting to be held on May 2nd here at Penn State University Park. Join Jeff for what will be a great opportunity to learn about the new ANGEL.

The Town Hall will provide support staff and others who work with ANGEL a chance to preview the new ANGEL interface either in person at University Park (101 Ag. Administration Building) or via Adobe Connect. This is an open discussion forum where in depth exploration of all the new tools and features will take place. Time will be available at the end of the seminar for questions and answers.

It has now been several months since we first started using Twitter on a regular basis around our organization. Campus-wide adoption is strong and I am guessing it will grow even more after the level of conversation that went on around it at the TLT Symposium. I have said many times that Twitter has made me even more aware of how vibrant the educational technology community is here at PSU. It has been nice discovering the work so many people are doing.

Within ETS, the use is still high, but I've noticed it changing and evolving more and more recently. I am seeing people use it to communicate with each other more directly ... sort of reminds of the Web 2.0 way to shout over the cube walls. Sort of funny that the shouting either happens with people next door, across campus, or across the Continent. Very cool. Take for example the image below ... I am yelling at Brad who is across the hall, Hannah is yelling at Allan who is across campus, and D'Arcy is yelling to Brad who is across the Continent. Kinda cool.

With all the Twitter love that is going on, Obvious Corp just announced Twitter is spinning out to be its own company. The speed of the web ...

Back in early December 2006 I presented the strategic plan to the staff in ETS. I have linked the slides of this presentation here for those of you interested. Without the words that go with them it is a little less insightful, but I hope you find them interesting and helpful. I link them as a PDF ... go on and download the file.