Elizabeth Pyatt's TLT Blog: Comments

Comment on "Scheduling and the August Blog Project"

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:08:51 -0500

I have to admit, I've been using the similar feature in WordPress. It is a godsend when time gets tight!

Comment on "Elizabeth is Tweeting"

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 13:55:31 -0500

Welcome! Good to see you checking in. Also I went back and reread the discussion we had on your discipline specific post and agree more than ever. Not sure if it is a coincidence ... maybe people are paying attention!

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "LDSC08 - I do like Live Question"

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:28:51 -0500

I loved it as well. I am going to be talking to our new friends at Berkman about how we can adopt this for use at PSU. I was also thinking about how this is just the opposite of using clickers in the classroom ... it is a real bottom up approach that puts power into the hands of students.

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "Ah the Twitter Debate"

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 08:07:50 -0500

I haven't read Mary's post yet, but found this one very interesting. Let me first say that it is very cool that I get to read your thoughts on your blog and I do appreciate that you take the time to share them. These spaces are little windows into thinking that are otherwise tough to open ... I read through your list of potential microblog posts and really liked some of them. I won't try to explain why I find Twitter (or blogging) valuable to me -- I think I've bored enough people with that. I will say that I am a very selfish twitter user ... I show up when I have a quiet spot in my day and chime in when I want to. A lot of times I'll scroll back through the day and do replies five or six at a time. My days are so fractured as it is -- sit down and read a quick 20 emails, jump up and go talk to someone, head to a meeting across campus, back for 40 more emails, write 10 tweets, reply to knocks on the door, pray to god I can muster the strength to post something half intelligent on my blog, answer email, etc that none of this stuff seems distracting. It is just another brick in the wall for me.

I agree with your "I'm not sure who is watching ..." thoughts. Either am I. I filter my writing so much. For all the talk of pure openness, I work hard to make sure my stuff falls within the acceptable limits of our environment. I don't have an anonymous Twitter account to say what I want -- I am colecamplese everywhere -- so I write knowing full well people are reading. Not sure how that makes me feel, but it is what is.

At any rate, I enjoyed the post and I really enjoyed the "fake tweets" you shared in your other post. They gave me a little more insight into your day. That to me is kinda cool. I saw another one of our staff recently join Twitter and it actually made me smile to see her words drift into my Twitter stream. And, BTW, we do have an ETS Twitter account -- etstalk.

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "Partnering Dreamweaver with Drupal for Accessibility"

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:36:42 -0500

Your Drawback no. 2 resonates with me. Dreamweaver is really a professional-grade web development tool. I generally become befuddled when using the app.

I think it should be the job of the webmaster to make sure the wysiwyg interfaces on the website create appropriate html. I think it can be done, but generally isn't.

- Brad Kozlek

Comment on "Squeezing in Blogging"

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:12:31 -0500

I haven't read the article, but blogging does offer me a mental break in otherwise insane days. When I need to write I have an easy and available place to do it with my blog. I am most excited about it when I can look back on the past and pull content out as a reflective process -- using to essentially look at what I was doing a year ago, two years ago, etc.

And yeah, don't start blogging if you want to get rich -- especially if you plan to be edublogger.

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "Does Course Content Matter for Instructional Design?"

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:49:56 -0500

Ah - now we're getting into the interesting area of instructor style as well as your theory of learning.

I have to admit I've gotten better at incorporating active learning into the classroom, but I still notice a time lag between learning the low-level content versus being able to analyze it coherently.

For instance, in my last class, I would teach syllable analysis in one week and that week's assignment would ask students to analyze syllable types based on data from an exotic language textbook. Results were sketchy in terms of analysis. I don't think the students had the experience or skill base to make to make a coherent analysis.

On the other hand, I did a "capstone" assignment of having students report a pronunciation quirk during Thanksgiving break and the did quite well - by then they'd been hearing this stuff for weeks. Learning to time the boring memorization (and there are times when memorization MUST happen) or some procedural skill with higher-order learning skills is something I'm still learning.

Again, there may be courses where this is not as much of an issue.

- ELIZABETH J PYATT

Comment on "Does Course Content Matter for Instructional Design?"

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:11:42 -0500

EP ... your point is well made and taken. I agree there are very notable differences in why you'd use a chalkboard in a class as opposed to an overhead projector (or any other tool for that matter). I had this exact discussion with a group of students just two weeks ago -- we were discussing how long it took for the chalkboard to catch on and how it changed the classroom experience for the teacher and students ... chalkboards make you slow down as you write and require you to be much more of a master teacher than does PowerPoint. Teachers had a hard time with it -- when to use it, what to use it for, etc. It changed a lot about classroom dynamics -- for really the first time teachers put their backs to students (as an example). Technology is disruptive and as Dave points out we do need to asses its value with a very critical eye.

My only point is that we tend to hold new tools in a much more skeptical hand than we do the ones we take for granted ... and that may seem obvious as we are attempting to understand the value and usage of the new stuff, but unless we listen to our guts and go for it (maybe only in small doses) we are missing opportunities. I am all for critically questioning the tools Dave mentions, but I am also all for working with faculty to see how they actually work in practice. We learn more through the failures most times than via the successes ... it is very cool that we do have faculty partners who are willing to walk out on that tightrope with us.

I also agree that learning objectives should be the critical decider ... I will also contend that some faculty bring a very different perspective on how to meet those objectives though. Some are interested in students only learning the facts, while others want to take a much more open discussion based approach ... and I know that the way we write those objectives should dictate that -- we use words like "discuss" to indicate the need to gain a deeper appreciation for the content, but not all faculty get that. Some see objectives and instantly want different things from terms we understand to indicate levels or domain depth. The only approach I know how to go with is working with the faculty so I understand their needs in delivering the content ... so at the end of the day (for me) it is the need to understand how they want to approach the learning and offer the right tool for a combination of their desired outcomes and those of the objectives. Did that make any sense at all?

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "Does Course Content Matter for Instructional Design?"

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:44:37 -0500

Interesting comments from Cole. First, I'm a believer in "and" thinking and not "or" thinking - http://www.personal.psu.edu/ejp10/blogs/thinking/2007/12/bothand-vs-eitheror-thinking.html

When I teach, I use multiple tools - last semester I used blogs and ANGEL (to host lecture notes in a password protected area), but another semester I might add dropboxes. It all depends on the course.

I think my point may be a traditional instructional design point that when you design instruction, you do have to take learning objectives into account and pick the right tools.

It's interesting that you mention that we "don't worry" if a course management system should be used, but it wasn't always that way. When ANGEL first came to Penn State, the instructional designers spent a lot of time exploring the tool and working out best practices to share with faculty. And many faculty asked us why they should bother with ANGEL.

Now ANGEL is taken for granted (and maybe we sometimes forget why). I think blogs, podcasts and wikis will also be part of the "normal" toolset, but like all tools (even the chalkboard), you have to consider the pluses and the minuses...for your learning objectives.

I'm pretty sure both chalkboards and ANGEL are used differently across different disciplines - and I don't expect the new tools to be any different. Figuring this all out is what excites me.

- ELIZABETH J PYATT

Comment on "Does Course Content Matter for Instructional Design?"

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:42:19 -0500

Shouldn't we critically question blogs, wikis, podcasts and other emerging tools because they are really no different than any of the other tools we rely on?

- DAVID R STONG

Comment on "Does Course Content Matter for Instructional Design?"

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:27:17 -0500

It is a great question ... my only comment is related to higher educations' investment in course management systems. We don't seem to worry if they are the right tool to use, we just use them -- sometimes, even for what they are good at. All of these tools are just that -- tools in a toolbox. At PSU we are lucky to have a fully stocked workbench to select from. Why do we feel the need to critically question blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other emerging tools when they are really no different than any of the other tools we rely on? Why not post content to a blog, an audio clip as a podcast, and send students into the learning management system to take a quiz?

It is a great post and a great line of thinking ... I am just struggling with what makes us view this "new stuff" as being an "or" statement ... as designers we need to select with an "and" attitude. Unless of course I am completely off base. Again, I am digging the line of thinking here, just trying to push the conversation forward (that is one of the things blogs are great at, right ;-) )

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "The Organization is still in the URL"

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 20:39:24 -0500

I thought we fixed that by going to:

http://digitalcommons.psu.edu

Most of our new services that are University-wide are trying to embrace a more direct, non (traditional) University approach to namespaces ... another few that come to mind:

http://podcasts.psu.edu
http://itunes.psu.edu
http://blogs.psu.edu
http://meeting.psu.edu

The Studio 204 of yesterday is now Digital Commons ... maybe the issue isn't a URL but our own inability to communicate. You work in the ETS space and next door to the people who make these resources go. I am embarrassed ... what do we need to do better to help jump this gap? I am honestly all ears on this one!

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "Disclosing Setbacks: A Serious Commitmment to Transparency"

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:43:42 -0500

I agree it's more honorable to be forthright. Of course, it does expose you to a certain...

Well, for example, the Facebook groups created in our honor:
Penn State ANGEL Course Management System
Im glad angel went down during finals week....
People Against the Evil Angel
PSU FIX ANGEL ALREADY DAMMIT!
Angel Blows -- "I'm through with Angel's tyranny over my GPA simply because people with 6 digit incomes and double digit IQs are diagnosing how to reboot the system." We thought that was the most precious one.

- Mary

Comment on "OK Maybe an Open Blog can Work"

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:44:28 -0500

You may be stubborn, but very open minded.

I agree we need to be very up front with people about public v private and use the opportunity to share concerns, ideas, thoughts, etc on what it all means to identity. I think it is one of the most overlooked issues with all this blogging stuff -- that everything someone puts into the public domain helps craft their overall identity. It is so much more than blogs -- del.icio.us, Flickr, FasceBook, and everything else plays a huge role in it ... but the blog seems to have the potential to be the glue that puts the pieces together.

It is great to see the wheels turning on these issues.

- Cole

Comment on "Are Blogs Notebooks?"

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:54:38 -0500

It is a good metaphor ... I would add that it is easier to organize, search, and edit than a traditional notebook. Categories/tags make organization very simple, while the powerful searching feature lets you find stuff very fast, and editing is a click away.

Now, if we can just get the 75% or so of our student who have mobile computers to bring them to class we have something.

Good thinking, EP!

- Cole

Comment on "Blogging Update from Linguistics Course"

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:41:38 -0500

Wonderful post. I have found very similar things while using blogs for my classes. I asked them one semester and they actually reported that they were motivated to create stronger response b/c they were able to read the thoughts of others in such an open way. Honestly this discovery is what has driven me to be so interested in the "liberating nature" of the platform.

I enjoyed reading your thoughts. This post even has a feel of a real blog powered ePortfolio -- very selective and eflective of the overall process.

- Cole

Comment on "A Social Network Diagram...Straight from Facebook"

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 14:07:23 -0500

It is fascinating to visualize the network this way. I have now added this app as well.

Aside: Did you play with Spirograph when you were a kid?

- Mary

Comment on "Why Johnny Won't Blog in Class"

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 21:33:35 -0500

I appreciate your ideas in this post, especially as I am about to interview and gather info for my next faculty profile concentrating on blogging within courses.

I am probably expected to think otherwise, but I think no matter what era/technological (blogging or not-blogging) culture you've landed in, if you're assigned something you're not interested in, you won't be motivated, and vice versa.

My senior year in college, I'd already completed all my English major credits, but audited Contemporary Literature because I was very interested. My professor was talking to me about an upcoming exam and I had to remind her I was just auditing. She said something like, "Wow, you're a really good auditor," because I'd done all the readings in depth and participated a lot in class.

Anyhow, blogging is another medium available to us, and a powerful one because of the ability to syndicate and to comment. It also invites a certain brief, distilled, cogent, get-to-the-point format as far as the craft of writing. You may have observed how I've taken to it like a fish to water (admittedly, I don't always stay on-point). Still, it's not about the implement/technology necessarily in my opinion; it's how you use it! (As they say.)

- Mary

Comment on "Blog Tags and/or Categories"

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:01:59 -0500

Great pointer! I struggle with that same issue -- but not now! Thanks!

- Cole

Comment on "A Case for Private Blogs"

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:11:37 -0500

I like this thinking and while I also like the openness of most blogs, what you are describing is something that I think is a critical piece to the learning landscape -- a personal content management system. I have a post brewing in my own "private space" that I will release soon along these lines.

Here is my three sentence perspective on the whole thing ... If I am a student interested in producing a public ePortfolio, the first thing I should do is create a protected blog. In that space I should capture everything -- class notes, thoughts, assignments, media elements I create, and anything else in the digital domain. Once I am engaged in the creation, management, and storage aspect I would then move to a process of selecting and reflecting on the best pieces that I would expose on my public blog (ePortfolio).

The protected space is my personal repository and the public space is a thoughtful repository of learning artifacts. Just my two cents.

Good post!

- Cole