ruminators' ilk: 11/01/2004

11.28.2004

Faculty Development News This Week:

PUBLISHING

--Chapter Submissions: Globalized E-Learning

As e-learning is globalized via information and communication technologies (ICTs), consumers of e-learning (purchasers, instructors, and end-users) are more likely to encounter courses intended for another culture. For example, Western cultural groups such as the United States, Canada, and Europe currently produce the majority of e-learning courses; however, the largest, fastest-growing consumer groups live in Eastern countries such as China, Japan, and India. Subsequently, e-learning producers and educators will be challenged with providing courses that

(1) Accommodate the different learning needs of multicultural,
multinational consumers
(2) Promote equitable learning outcomes for targeted learners, and
(3) Promote education and technological literacy which, subsequently,
improves socio-economic opportunities in developing nations

Proposals for chapters must be submitted no later than February 28, 2005.

CONTACT:

Andrea Edmundson, Ph.D.

Director, eWorld Learning

Email: Andrea Edmundson

Voice Mail: 1.520.620.2010

DIVERSITY

--Intercultural Literacy

This blog is rich with resources.

Intercultural Literacy

PEDAGOGY

--Authentic Assessment Toolbox

This site is devoted to showing instructors how to create authentic tasks, rubrics and standards for measuring and improving student learning.

The site has useful templates to assist in course design, too. One example appears below. I found it helpful for a recent qualitative research assignment I designed for English 1108:

Traditional ------------------------------------------- Authentic

Selecting a Response ----------------------------------- Performing a Task

Contrived -------------------------------------------------------------- Real-life

Recall/Recognition ------------------------------ Construction/Application

Teacher-structured ------------------------------------ Student-structured

Indirect Evidence ------------------------------------------- Direct Evidence

Authentic Toolbox Assessment

--The Ten Personae of a Brainstorm Facilitator

Read the introduction to this article:

Facilitating a brainstorming session is a multi-faceted task, requiring a variety of sensitivities. In reality, the skilled brainstorm facilitator is more like 10 people than one, exhibiting a broad spectrum of personalities as needed in order to get the job done. Take a few minutes now to review the following "persona checklist." Note which personas are your strengths and which are your weaknesses. Then rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 to determine which areas you need to work on

The author, Mitchell Ditkoff ,president of IdeaChampions, lists ten:

--Conductor

--Alchemist

--Dancer

--Mad scientist

--Diamond cutter

--Actor

--Environmentalist

--Officer of the law

--Servant

--Stand-up comic.

Intrigued? Read the article:

Ten Personae

--Ten Technologies That Will Change the Way We Learn

According to the author of this article, here are the ten key technologies that will
change the way we learn in the future:

*Search technologies

*Data visualization tools

*Blogs - Direct publishing and content aggregation tools

*Audio and video - increased use of audio and video as communication channels for small publishers

*RSS - content syndication, aggregation, re-use

*P2P - private and public file sharing networks

*Unlimited storage - on the desktop and online

*Unlimited bandwidth - Wifi - WiMax

*Real Time Collaboration Tools

*Collective and Collaborative Filtering - human spontaneous cooperative technology like del.icio.us and FURL.

Read the article:
Ten Technologies That Will Change the Way We Learn

Knowledge Management / Libraries

--Online Computer Library Center (OCLC)Top 1,000 Books

Founded in 1967, OCLC Online Computer Library Center is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world's information and reducing information costs. More than 50,540 libraries in 84 countries and territories around the world use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials.

This list is the top 1000 titles owned or licensed by OCLC member libraries.

Top 1,000 List

I acquired this resource from Marlaine Block,
NeatNewStuff,23 November 2004.

Campus Culture / Community

--The Return of the Civic Square

When I came across this article, I thought of the new mall at IHCC.

The Return of the Civic Square

GAMING IN EDUCATION

--"But the Screen is Too Small..." Sorry, “Digital Immigrants” – Cell Phones – Not Computers – Are The Future Of Education

This article begins with this quote:

“The future is here. It’s just not evenly distributed”. ~William Gibson

"But the Screen is Too Small

This is a 4-page PDF file.

--Web Site: Social Impact Games

Read about this site's purpose:

The site's purpose is to unite projects, information, and people in a single place and to be a catalyst for ideas and innovation in spreading the wider uses of games as a language for more than just entertainment.

Social Impact Games

--Journal: Game Research

What is this journal about?

Game Research attempts to bring together knowledge on computer games from the areas of art, business, and science. Traditionally such cross-communication has been sparse to the detriment of all involved.

On this site we present short introductions to important areas and provide access to a database of links and references to literature. This database is kept up-to-date with the help of users on this site, who are strongly encouraged to submit references. User-added references are immediately added to the database. We do, however, reserve the right to delete irrelevant entries.

Game Research

--List of Tools for Designing and Building Games

This list includes free software, close to free, and fee software.

List of Tools

This is a 2-page PDF file.

--Interactive Pretending

This is an overview of simulation.

Interactive Pretending

This is an 11-page PDF file.

--The Seven Games of Highly Effective People

This article starts out with the following quote:

“How do lions learn to hunt?” – Chris Crawford, Game Designer.

Intrigued? Read the article:

The Seven Games

This is a 4-page PDF file.

--Online Discussion: What Can Education Learn from the Video Game Industry

Thought-provoking article.

What Can Education...Industry?

STUDENTS

--Twitch Speed

This article provides a valuable perspective on how Generation X and Millenials process information, tackle projects, and interact in the work world.

Twitch Speed

--The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government

According to this site, NASA is one of the best federal agencies to work for.

The Best Places to Work in the Federal Government

I acquired this source from LII NEW THIS WEEK, 24 Novenber 2004.

--Online Book: A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning

This book is a free download (58-page PDF file),

A Student's Guide to Liberal Learning

--Online Book: Choosing a College

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:

With all the college guides already loading down the shelves of bookstores, what excuse can there be for publishing yet another one? This guide does not even pretend to compete with, or substitute for, those huge college guides that are chock-full of statistics about hundreds of colleges. Neither does it attempt to match the vignettes of particular colleges and universities found in some other guides. The purpose of this book is to start you out at square one, before you even know what questions to ask, what colleges to read about, or what statistics to look up. Step by step, it builds up your knowledge of what colleges, universities, and engineering schools are all about, how and why they differ—and, most important of all, what those differences mean to you when choosing where to apply. This is a how-to-do-it book, designed to help you find the kind of college that will fit your own particular goals, ability, pocketbook and way of life. It tells you what to look for during a campus visit, how to read a college brochure so as to get what you need to know out of it, regardless of what message the college itself is trying to send, and—at the end of the process—how to evaluate the admissions and financial aid offers that come in, before deciding where you really want to go.

Download the book for free!

Choosing a College

--The Importance of the Humanities

The author of this article discusses the significance of becoming more fully human through the studies one undertakes.

The Importance of the Humanities

This is a 5-page PDF file.

--Finding and Following the Core

The author in this article offers guidance on choosing college classes wisely and lays out a plan to build a traditional core program that offers a lifetime benefit.

Finding and Following the Core

This is an 8-page PDF file.

MOBILE TECHNOLOGY AND LEARNING

--What Can You Learn from a Cell Phone?--Almost Anything!

The subtitle of the article is "How to use the 1.5 billion computers already in our students’ and trainees’ pockets to increase learning, at home and around the world."

What Can You Learn from a Cell Phone?

This is a 9-page PDF file.

SERVICE LEARNING / CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

--The Ladder of Participation

This ladder conveys the stages of citizen power and control.

11.21.2004

Faculty Development News This Week

What a way to start off the week:

I include this album cover for the great photo; I have no idea about the quality of the music.

Photo acquired from Dwayne and Shadow

Conferences

--World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications,
Montreal,Canada June 27-July 2, 2005

This annual conference serves as a multi-disciplinary forum for the discussion and exchange of information on the research, development, and applications on all topics related to multimedia, hypermedia and telecommunications/distance education.

For more information, visit the Web site:

World Conference on Educational Multimedia

Publishing

--Call for Articles: Academic Exchange Quarterly
Focus: Two -Year / Community Colleges

The research and scholarship on community colleges continues to be a growing and developing area. Those individuals who participate in the daily goings on of the community college have rich voices that can add much to the ongoing dialogue. The general goal of this special issue is to provide a rich dialogue of intersecting voices from the community college arena. A secondary aim of this topic will be to assemble scholarly papers that focus on summarizing the beliefs and perspectives of those who often know the community college best, but write about it the least--its practitioners: faculty (both full-time and adjunct), its staff, its administrators, and its students (through empirical study). Contributions are envisioned, which range from original research to editorial perspectives. Heading "Two-Year Colleges" includes community colleges, technical colleges, junior colleges, accredited two-year proprietary schools, and branches of four-year colleges that focus on associate degree education.

Topics Of Interest:

Contemporary Issues in the Community College

Curriculum

Faculty Issues

Hot Topics (E.g., adjunct faculty, baccalaureate degree, developmental education, distance education and the new technologies, nursing shortage, service learning)

Multiple Missions

Leadership

Student diversity (E.g., ESL learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students with disabilities, reverse transfer students)

Teaching and Learning

Papers may be in the form of case studies, reflection papers, empirical research reports, or scholarly theoretical papers.

Who Should Submit:

Higher education faculty and graduate students, whose area of research focus and/or graduate study is the community college. Community college practitioners: faculty, staff, and administrators. Please identify your submission with keyword: COMMUNITY

Submission deadline:

Regular deadline - any time until the end of May 2005. All accepted submissions will be published in the Fall issue.

Short deadline - June or July. All accepted submissions will be published in the Fall issue or in later issues.

Submit early and have an opportunity to be considered for Editors' Choice and/or Monthly Exchange

Visit the Web site:

Academic Exchange Quarterly

Knowledge Management / Libraries

--Unskilled and Unaware of It

Read the abstract for this article:

People tend to hold overly favorable views of their abilities in many social and intellectual domains. The authors suggest that this overestimation occurs, in part, because people who are unskilled in these domains suffer a dual burden: Not only do these people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices, but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it. Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error. Paradoxically, improving the skills of participants, and thus increasing their metacognitive competence, helped them recognize the limitations of their abilities.

Read the article:

Unskilled and Unaware of It, Journal of personality and Social Psychology (December 1999).

I acquired this resource from hebig.org/blog, 5 November 2004.

--The Social Life of Paper

How transcribing on paper helps us think and manage information.

This article is a review of the book The Myth of the Paperless Office (M.I.T Press,2001) ISBN# 0262194643

The Social Life of Paper

This is from The New Yorker,25 March 2002.

Pedagogy

--E-Learner Producers: Microsoft's Director of Learning and Strategy Evangelism

Read these excerpts from Internet Time Group, a blog devoted to the business and implementation of adult education and technology. Jay Cross, the founder of Internet Time Group, has worked for the University of Phoenix.

Excerpts:

Microsoft is a significant player in IT learning, with 1800 partners worldwide, 9.6 million customers served, about a million training events in last 12 months, and 2.7 certifications granted.

Bob Mosher, Director of Learning and Strategy Evangelism, for Microsoft Learning, claims the learner population has changed. Learners are no longer "newbies"; they don’t want courses. Instead, today’s learners are building on foundation knowledge, not starting from scratch. They want to fill in the gaps, not take a course.

E-Learning Producers

I acquired this resource from OLDAILY

--Assessing Learning Outcomes in Online Education

This article promotes assessment involving third-party reviewers, attention to appropriate psychometric measures, and statistical tests of transformed qualitative data, which can lead to pedagogical insight,accurate assessment of traditional versus online learning, and opportunities for curriculum improvement.

Assessing Learning Outcomes in Online Education

This is a 26-page PDFfile.

--The eLearning Edge: Leveraging Interactive Technologies in the Design of
Engaging, Effective Learning Experiences

Read the abstract:

Interactive technologies are sometimes considered a panacea for a wide variety of learning objectives, when in reality they are really most relevant to particular needs. In fact, interactive environments often allow for learning experiences that are difficult to achieve in traditional environments.

This paper considers when eLearning might be most appropriate as part of a blended solution and which specific interaction types might be most suitable for different objectives.

Keywords: eLearning, learning, interactive, interaction, games, simulations, collaboration, constructivist, education, learning theory, training.

The E-Learning Edge

This is a 10-page PDF file.

--IdeaFisher: Creativity and Mind-Mapping Blog

Although this is a commercial site for IdeaFishing, a corporation in Vancouver, Washington, it still has valuable links and information regarding creativity, problem-solving and mind-mapping. There are free downloads, too.

Creativity and Mind-Mapping Blog

--How Weblogging Helps You Think Like a genius

Another reason to blog!

This is from the blog Dewayne and Shadoow

How Weblogging Helps You Think Like a genius

--Philosophical Toy World

Here is the introduction to this site:

The ideas expressed here have no wish to be well balanced, or even sane. They are a call to reinvest moving images with the marvelous , not through other worldly flights of imagery but through seeing the very production of the moving image in a new light. They are a cry for a multiplicity of "cinemas", past, present and future.

Like philosophical toys themselves, these texts and images are designed to be playful and provoke thought. Inspired in part by the education rebus books of the 19th century described by Walter Benjamin, in which wherever possible, nouns are represented by small illustrative pictures or icons. He notes that the word rebus can be traced back not to res (thing) but to rêver (to dream). Here conceptual constellations, will project you on a journey crisscrossing a host of parallel cinemas.

One marvel from the site:

Philosophical Toy World

Online Culture

--Being Analog

The author of this article, Jay Cross, considers digital vs. analog, especially in relation to education and learning.

Tempting quote:

Real life is analog. Situations are continuums, not just the extremes. There's a whole world between the poles.

Being Analog

--12 Variables for Understanding Online Communities

This article attempts to discuss some of the qualities that define virtual communities. Applicable to online course communities.

12 Variables

This is from Mindjack, 24 November 2003.

--Alpha Bitches Online: The Dog Genome for the Next Generation

This is an audio lecture by the intellectually provocative Donna Haraway, professor at UCLA.

The lecture was presented at the IV European Feminist Research Conference "Body Gender Subjectivity. Crossing borders of disciplines and institutions" that took place in Bologna, Italy, September 28 - October 1, 2000.

Alpha Bitches Online

Tools

--Sxip

Read the overview for this open source platform:

Sxip Overview

The Sxip Network is a simple, secure and open platform for true digital identity. Sites that implement Sxip support are able to easily provide features like single sign-on and automatic form fill.

Sxip users gain control over their online identity, conveniently and safely navigating Sxip-enabled sites.

Website developers implementing Sxip benefit by being able to share a platform built on open standards and supported by open source tools.

Sxip

--Video Postcard

This utility allows anyone with a camcorder, on a Windows machine can send a video recording in "seconds". If you do not have a camcorder, you can send an audio-only postcard.

Video Postcard

--User Interface Test Resources

Enter a URL to see how well a site meets user interface specifications.

User Interface

--Learner's Library

The Learner's Library is a simple and intuitive search tool that locates relevant material from a comprehensive list of current full-text academic journals and news sources and automatically generates the citations needed for their use in a term paper, article or coursepack.

Learner's Library

--Word Press

WordPress is a blogging platform.

Wordpress's motto: Code is poetry. Valid XHTML and CSS.

WordPress

--NotifyList

NotifyList is a free, one-way mailing list platform.

NofifyList

--DiaryLand

DiaryLand is a platform where you can create your own online diary. You can even lock it!

DiaryLand

--SquidFingers

This site provides free background patterns for Web sites and blogs. If you do decide to use one, however, a If you do decide use one, a credit link back to Squidfinger's site would be appreciated.

Here is an sample of one of Squidfinger's background patterns:

SquidFingers

--Google Scholar

Google's just launched 'Google Scholar', a new search engine looking up within scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research.

In beta.

Google Scholar

Students

--Learning: Generation Does Matter

This article discusses how age demographics should be considered when designing course material.

Learning: Generation Does Matter

--Has Growing Up Digital...Affected Skill Sets?

Although this article is geared toward educating and training military personnel, it is applicable to any educational setting for Generation X students.

Has Growing Up Digital...Affected Skill Sets?

Blog Grab Bag

--Gender_Cyber_Archive

This site is a compilation of essays and audio lectures (ram format) on feminism, technology, and patriarchy.

Gender-Cyber_Archive

I acquired this resource from CultureCat, 14 November 2004.

--The Enforcer: Interview of Michael Koubi, Shin Bet Security/ Intelligence Agent

Michael Koubi worked for Shin Bet, Israel's security service, for 21 years and was its chief interrogator from 1987 to 1993. He interrogated hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including renowned militants such as Sheikh Yassin, the former leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, who was killed in an Israeli attack this year. He claims that intelligence gained in interrogation has been crucial to protecting Israel from terrorism. He tells Michael Bond, the interviewer, that, given enough time, he could make almost anyone talk.

Interesting article for insight into intelligence community.

The Enforcer

This is from New Scientist, 19 November 2004.

--9Interviews

These nine mini-videos spoof the MLA interview process / ritual. Enjoy!

9interviews

--Substitute Punctuation for the Internet

These are "passive-aggressive communication expressions."

zefrank.com

--Nintendo Game Controller

This game controller will assit you in fighting neighborhood zombies--better known as Resident Evil. It even sounds like a real chain-saw.

Nice, huh?

I acquired this resource from BoingBoing, 14 November 2004.

Until next week!

Blog editor

Image Credits
--"Album Cover," http://www.shadowcentral.net/, 13 September 2004
--"Alpha Bitch," 180 x 103 pixels - 2k
whywork.us/.../categ_ id/3/parent_ids/0
--"Being Analog," http://www.linezine.com/5.2/articles/jcba.htm
--"Circular Fish," http://www.turbulence.org/Works/illusions/index.html#
--Google Scholar Logo," http://google-blog.dirson.com/post.new/0200/
--"Image #136," http://squidfingers.com/patterns/
--Nintendo Chain-Saw Controller,"
--Substitute Punctuation for the Internet," zefrank.com/
--"Today's Learners,"http://metatime.blogspot.com/2004/10/elearning-producer-2004.html

11.14.2004

Faculty Development News This Week:

祝賀，同事！ (translated from traditional Mandarin, "Hello, colleagues!").

Chinese translation courtesy of Free2Professional Translation.

I wanted to begin the week with something colorful, so here you are. What is this? Answer* at bottom of screen.

Conferences

--21st Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning

3 to 5 August 2005
Madison, Wisconsin, Wisconsin

Website: www.uwex.edu/disted/conference

Contact name: Kimary Peterson
E-mail: distel_AT_education.wisc.edu (to e-mail the conference organizers, please replace _AT_ with @)

The Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning is recognized internationally as one of the premier events on distance education. The conference addresses the needs of educators, trainers, managers, and designers from throughout the country.

Organized by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Deadline for abstracts/proposals: 24 January 2005

Conference Information

Writing and Publishing

--Call for Chapters: Online Learning Social Dynamics

The guiding objective of the proposed book entitled Online Learning Social Dynamics is to blend current research and experience in the social dynamics of online learning to promote best practices and improved online education. Drawing on the latest research and reflecting on experiences in light of relevant theories and findings, this text will showcase the role of social dynamics in the delivery of effective online instruction. This book will bring together case studies, applied research, and best practices in a research-driven yet accessible text which should appeal to instructors, designers, and researchers. Such social dynamics are not presented as the pedagogical ends of the instructor's role, but as the foundation, or means through which more intentional learning activities may be constructed in the online classroom. We welcome your participation in this project.

The book is scheduled to be published by Idea Group Publishing (an imprint of Idea Group Inc.) in late 2005 or early 2006.

Call for Chapters

Tools

--Impatica

Impatica for PowerPoint makes it easy to add narrated business presentations to your web site or e-mail marketing programs.

Now you can deliver fully narrated and animated PowerPoint presentations to essentially any Internet device without plug-ins and even at normal modem speeds.

Impatica for PowerPoint simply converts the PowerPoint file into a compressed format that is optimized for streaming over the Internet. The Impatica file is typically 95% smaller than the PowerPoint HTML files.

Impatica for PowerPoint supports most of the features of PowerPoint, including text, graphics, transitions, animation effects and, of course, narration. See our User's Guide for additional details. Free trial download available.

Impatica

--SoftChalk

SoftChalk is an instructional design utility that creates interactive Web pages that can be delivered via CD-ROM, the Internet, an institution's / organization's intranet, or an LMS, such as D2L. Free trial download available.

SoftChalk

--Sxip.org

Sxip Network is a simple, secure and open platform for true digital identity. Sites that implement Sxip support are able to easily provide features like single sign-on and automatic form fill.

Swip.org

--JotSpot

This is a new wiki platform: JotSpot makes simple web applications simple to build by combining wikis and web applications in an easy-to-use hosted service for workgroups. In Beta.

Take the online introduction tour.

JotSpot

--Mozilla's Firefox Web Browser

The wait is over. Get Firefox 1.0, the faster, better web browser. Now available in fourteen languages, for Windows, MacOS X and Linux.

Firefox Web Browser

--Google Cheat Sheet

This is a reference guide to the most popular special operations for Google, including Boolean and adjacency operators, definitions, mathematical calculators, date search, and more.

Google Cheat Sheet

Libraries / Knowledge Management

--RedLightGreen

RedLightGreen helps you locate the most important books and other research materials in your area of interest, and find out whether what you need is available at your favorite library. Sign in, and you can format and send citations any way you want: MLA, APA, Chicago, Turabian. Just click - and it's done.

This is neat!

RedLightGreen

--Online Content for Low-Income and Underserved Americans

The purposes for this study:

To describe who the underserved Americans are in relation to Internet content, the barriers they face, and what they want in the online world;

To analyze the online content currently available in the context of what low-income and underserved Americans want, emphasizing what exists, chief gaps, and promising building blocks; and

To provide a roadmap for action -- identifying ways in which the public and private sectors working in concert with underserved communities can ensure rich and relevant online content for Americans at risk of being left behind.

Online Content

--A New Kind of Library: Prelinger Library, San Francisco

The Prelinger Library is an appropriation-friendly library. What do I mean by that?

Read all about it:

Why We Created This Library

Though libraries live on (and are among the least-corrupted democratic institutions), the freedom to browse and be surprised is becoming rarer. Much of the material in our collection is difficult to find in most libraries. Now that many libraries have economized on space and converted print collections to microfilm and digital formats, it's become harder to wander with creative curiosity and let the shelves lead you toward new information and ideas. Key research libraries are often closed to unaffiliated users, and many libraries keep most material in closed stacks, disabling the rewarding pleasures of browsing.

We are also interested in exploring how libraries with specialized, unique, and arcane collections such as ours can be liberated from protected academic environments and made available to people working outside of those environments.

Most important of all, people wishing to copy library holdings for research and transformative use often face difficulties in making legitimate copies. Since the act of quoting and recontextualizing existing words and images is indistinguishable from making new ones, we think it's important for libraries to build appropriation access into their charters, and we're trying to take a big first step in this direction.

We plan at first to open our library to others when we are there, and develop a model of service based on what we learn of other people's needs. It will be an appropriation-friendly setting. Scanners, digital cameras, and CD/DVD burners will be available so that visitors can make digital copies of items of interest and take them home. There will be no charge for using the collections, though we are exploring charging for commercial reuse of the materials so as to recover some of our expenses.

Prelinger Library

The library is located at 301 8th Street, Room 215 in San Francisco.

This resource acquired from BoingBoing, October Archive, 2004.

Learning Spaces

--Navy Knowledge Online

This is the official online learning portal of the United States Navy.

Visit the site for resources and also to see distance education pedagogy in action.

Navy Knowledge Online

Recommended.

--In Sync: Environmental Behavior Research and the Design of Learning Spaces

This book addresses the subject of learning space design.

There's more to classroom design than simply considering what technology to put into the classroom. Designers and clients, whether in education or the corporate world, will each enjoy the way existing environmental/behavior research can be applied to the thoughtful consideration of these archetypes, either standing alone or used in combinations to create rich, interactive learning spaces.

In Sync

Blogging

--Weblogs as a Bridging Genre

Read the abstract for this article:

Weblogs (blogs) frequently modified web pages in which dated entries are listed in reverse chronological sequences are the latest genre of Internet communication to attain widespread popularity, yet their characteristics have not been systematically described. This paper presents the results of a quantitative content analysis of 203 randomly-selected weblogs, comparing the empirically observable features of the corpus with popular claims about the nature of weblogs, and finding them to differ in a number of respects. Notably, blog authors, journalists and scholars alike exaggerate the extent to which blogs are interlinked, interactive, and oriented towards external events, and underestimate the importance of blogs as individualistic, intimate forms of self-expression. Based on the profile generated by the empirical analysis, we consider the likely antecedents of the blog genre, situate it with respect to the dominant forms of digital communication on the Internet today, and suggest possible developments of the use of weblogs over time in response to changes in user behavior, technology, and the broader ecology of Internet genres.

Weblogs as Bridging Genre

This is a 33-page PDF file.

--Who Blogs?

In this article, Women and Children Last: The Discursive Construction of Weblogs, the authors investigate who blogs age-wise, gender-wise, and why.

Women and Children Last

Pedagogy

--A Multimedia Model for Undergraduate Education

Read the abstract for this article:

In the search for greater productivity in undergraduate education, increasing enrollments have typically forced a continuing tradeoff between quality and cost. Large lectures (with 300-500 students) have become standard for introductory courses in many institutions. Educational technology has long been touted as an important tool for increasing productivity. However, its most common applications in undergraduate education (such as videotaped lectures) have been disappointing in terms of the quality of education they provide; and more innovative, computer-based applications have been deemed costly. Educators at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new interactive, multimedia model called the Studio that replaces the traditional lecture/recitation/lab format with a single Studio classroom of 48-64 students. Student performance and satisfaction are high, and total cost is lower than in the traditional model 7-be Studio is the core of an ambitious set of interactive, collaborative, multimedia, and distance learning techniques at Rensselaer which are attracting widespread interest among educators nationally and internationally.

A Multimedia Model for Undergraduate Education

This is a 15-page PDF file.

--Interactive Distance Learning: The Virtual Studio Classroom

This paper describes an innovative series of distance learning courses developed by the Anderson Center for the National Technological University. The focus is on interactive learning.

Interactive Distance Learning

This is a 7-page PDF file.

--Next Generation Studio

Next Generation Studio courses integrate the power and flexibility of asynchronous learning with the known benefits of studio teaching. Web sites become virtual studio classrooms that engage students in interactive learning, team work and communication beyond the confines of scheduled classes.

Read the article:

Next Generation Studio

This is a 6-page PDF file.

--Tomorrow's Professor

Although this is a repeat entry from last year, I am including it again in this edition because it is an excellent resource.

Read the promotional literature for this list administered by Richard M. Reis, Stanford University:

Welcome to Tomorrows-ProfessorSM Mailing List with postings twice weekly, usually on Monday and Thursday mornings, Pacific Standard Time. The Mailing List seeks to foster a diverse, world-wide teaching and learning ecology among its over 17,000 subscribers at over 500 institutions and organizations in over 108 countries around the world. To date there have been over 500 postings under the following categories:

Tomorrow's Academy
Tomorrow's Graduate Students and Postdocs
Tomorrow's Academic Careers
Tomorrow's Teaching and Learning
Tomorrow's Research

Subscription is free.

Tomorrow's Professor

--Online Presentation: Distributed-Learning Communities as a Model for Online Education

The presenter, Chris Dede, is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The presentation runs approximately one hour and fifteen minutes.

Online Presentation:Distributed Learning

--Online Presentation: Improving Learning and Reducing Costs: New Models of Online Learning

The presenter, Carol Twidd, is with the Center for Academic Transformation,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

The presentation runs approximately one hour and three minutes.

--Next Generation Studio: A New Model for Interactive Learning

Next Generation Studio

This is a 6-page PDF file.

Blog Grab Bag

--Best Buy for Whom?

This article from The Wall Street Journal, 8 November 2004, Analyzing Customers, Best Buy Decides Not All Are Welcome,discusses how business strategists for Best Buy Corporation separate consumers / customers into angels and devils This article provides an interesting insight into corporate culture.

So, which are you? Angel or devil?

Analyzing Customers

I acquired this resource from BoingBoing, 9 November 2004.

--Graffiti, Minneapolis-Style

This is an online gallery of Minneapolis street art. The gallery displays the art work in other cities, too.

Graffiti, Minneapolis-Style

--No, It's Not Anti-Semitic

This article by Judith Butler, University of California, Berkeley, in The London Review of Books, 23 August 2003, discusses how legitimate criticism of Israel's social-political policies is not the same as anti-semitism--although it can be, as sometimes people couch anti-semitism views with political rhetoric.

No, It's Not Anti-Semitic

--Beauty in Maps or Красивый в картах (in Russian)

These two sites, Moscow Metro and Old Russian Tram Maps, provide old maps of Russian trams and transportation networks.

Moscow Metro
Old Russian Tram Maps

Russian translation courtesy of Free2Professional Translation.

--How Much is that Worth Today?

This site compares the purchasing power of money in the United States (or colonies) from 1665 to any other year including the present. To determine the value of an amount of money in one year compared to another, enter the values in the appropriate places below. For example, you may want to know: How much money would you need today to have the same "purchasing power" of $500 in year 1970? If you entered these values in the correct places, you will find that the answer is $2,290.12.

This site is offered by Economic History Services.

Economic History Services

I acquired this resource from Marlaine Block, NeatNew, 12 November 2004.

--Evolutionz

EVOLUTIONz allows a user to construct, compare, observe, and explore dynamic artificial ecosystems through a 3D interface. The inhabitants of these ecosystems are artificial animals, each controlled by a neural net, which compete for limited resources and evolve over time. The program is meant as a fun tool for investigating learning and open-ended evolution.

Evolutionz

--Digital Biology Project: Biota.org

The mission of Biota.org is to promote and assist in the engineering of complete, biologically-inspired, synthetic ecosystems and organisms. This involves the creation and deployment of digital tools and environments for simulation, research, and learning about living systems both natural and artificial. These tools could range from simple genetic algorithms all the way up to full multi-user virtual environments. Biota.org will seek to nourish a community of interest and to bring the experience of interacting with digital biota to a large audience through the medium of the Internet. Cyberbiology is Artificial Life made visible through Cyberspace.

Digital Biology Project

--Retirement Reality Check

Allstate Insurance Company's Retirement Reality Check survey is an annual review of American's attitudes toward, and savings for, retirement. The 2004 survey shows that, while Americans generally are optimistic about retirement, they recognize specific areas in which they are falling short financially. In the Allstate survey, the generations were defined as: Silent Generation, born before 1946; Baby Boomers, born 1946-1964; and Generation X, born 1965-1978.

Retirement Reality Check

This is a 17-page PDF file.

Until next week!

Blog editor

Sweet dolphin smile.

*Answer to question: Reef fish color tiles! What? Yes, these are close-up photos of reef fish skin.

Image Credits
--"Best Buy Logo," 215 x 161 pixels - 14k
www.cnnfn.com/.../ best_buy/best_buy.03.jpg
--"In Sync Cover,"http://www.scup.org/pubs/books/is_ebrdls.html
"Moscow Metro,"http://www.wtr.ru/moscow/eng/metro/metro.html
--"Firefox Logo,765 x 735 pixels - 309k
piercedotzler.com/ mozilla/firefox.png
--"Reef Fish Color Tiles," http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20041106/bob8.asp
--"Smiling Dolphin," 310 x 235 pixels - 18k
www.dolphinsdiscovery.com/
--"Tomorrow's Professor Logo," http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/index.shtml
--"Tram Map,Москва, 1910", Общий план сети электрических трамваев в г. Москве (575 Kб),http://tram.ruz.net/maps/

11.07.2004

Faculty Development News This Week:

Horse artists at work!

This photograph is titled "Horses in the Snow." The photograher is Jason Kottke.

Conferences

--Learning Through Discovery: The Power of Inquiry in the Construction of Knowledge

When: November 19-20, 2004

Where: Sheraton Bloomington Hotel, Bloomington, Minnesota.

There's still time to register for The Collaboration's conference on Learning Through Discovery! Registration forms and the complete conference brochure are online at www.collab.org.

Plenary speakers are Michael Dickmann, Professor of Educational Leadership and Doctoral Studies at Cardinal Stritch University, and John Barrell, Professor, Emeritus at Montclair State University and Consultant for The American Museum of Natural History. Plus, a presentation on the brain by the Science Museum of Minnesota.

The conference will also feature pre-conference workshops and other sessions on:
Accessing the learning power of the brain
Service learning collaborations
Engaging students through content-based projects
Team-based learning
Experiential learning about diversity
and MORE.

Also, join us for our Faculty Development Coordinators' Breakfast session, our Multicultural Workshop, and networking opportunities throughout the conference. In addition, our reception features author signings, prize drawings, and live music.

If you've got registrations in the works, please drop us an email to let us know to assist in our planning. We look forward to seeing you at the conference!

The Collaboration
2356 University Avenue West, Suite 230
Saint Paul, MN 55114
Phone: 651-646-6166
Fax: 651-646-3162
collab@collab.org
www.collab.org

This resource acquired courtesy of Dr. Cheryl Frank.

Grants

--Hewlitt Packard Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative

This grant initiative is designed to support the innovative use of mobile technology in K-16 education, and to help identify K-12 public schools and two- and four-year colleges and universities that HP might support with future grants. Based on the outcomes of the projects funded through this initiative in 2005, HP will offer some grant recipients additional, higher-value grants in 2006.

For more information:

HP Technology for Teaching Grant

Service Learning / Civic Education

--You are invited to a Service Learning Brown Bag Lunch

When: Wednesday, November 10 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm

Where: Conference Room A, College Center

Topics: Student Reflection: Journals and / or Essays, and International Service Learning Opportunities

If you are unable to attend but would like additional information on these topics, please contact:
Trent Anderson, IHCC Service Learning Coordinator, tanderson@inverhills.edu 651-554-3730

This resource provided courtesy of Trent Anderson. Thanks, Trent!

--FreeCycle

This might be a worthwhile campus project. Read on.

The worldwide (!) Freecycle Network is made up of many individual groups across the globe. It's a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. Each local group is run by a local volunteer moderator (them's good people). Membership is free. To sign up, find your city by clicking on the region on the right. It will generate a automatic e-mail which, when sent, will sign you up for your local group and send you an response with instructions on how it works. Or, go directly to the webpage for your city's group by clicking on your city's link on the left. Have fun and keep on Freecyclin'!

The Freecycle Network is nonprofit organization whose mission includes keeping good stuff out of landfills and helping strengthen local gifting & recycling communities.

The Freecycle Network was founded in May 2003 to promote waste reduction in Tucson, Arizona and, in doing so, help save desert landscape from being taken over by landfills. It has since grown a bit to encompass nearly 30 countries and hundreds of thousands of "freecyclers" across the globe. Freecycle provides individuals and non-profits an electronic forum to "recycle" unwanted items. One person's trash can truly be another's treasure!

FreeCycle

Organizational Development

--The Art of Scenario Thinking for Nonprofits

Read this introduction:

Scenario thinking is a tool for motivating people to challenge the status quo, or get better at doing so, by asking "What if?" Asking "What if?" in a disciplined way allows you to rehearse the possibilities of tomorrow, and then to take action today empowered by those provocations and insights. What if we are about to experience a revolutionary change that will bring new challenges for nonprofits? Or enter a risk-averse world of few gains, yet few losses? What if we experience a renaissance of social innovation? And, importantly, what if the future brings new and unforeseen opportunities or challenges for your organization? Will you be ready to act?

The Art of Scenario Thinking

This is a 115-page PDF document.

Digital Culture

--Cities Without Borders

This thought-provoking article discusses how economic production is centralizing away from national economies to an emerging network of "global cities." Because these global cities have closer ties to each other than to their surrounding regions or national economies, they mark a fundamental change in the nature of production and in social institutions, including colleges and universities.

This article is in the recent issue of MindJack Release, 5 November 2004.

Cities Without Borders

--Open Source Currency

This article is subtitled "Or, how mobile phones can break the money monopoly."

Open Source Currency

This resource, referenced in Mindjack Release, is from The Feature, 13 October 2004.

--The Future of Work (ISBN 1-59139-125-3)

Author Thomas W. Malone, Harvard Business School, suggests that we may be moving from "command-and-control to coordinate-and-cultivate" work force. Reason: telecommunications will facilitate decentralized coordination. "Cultivation" means cultural modes of production and reproduction will predominate over economic ones.

The Future of Work

This resource referenced in MindJack Release.

--Out of Control (online book)

Out of Control is a summary of what we know about self-sustaining systems, both living ones such as a tropical wetland, or an artificial one, such as a computer simulation of our planet. The last chapter of the book, "The Nine Laws of God," is a distillation of the nine common principles that all life-like systems share. The major themes of the book are:

As we make our machines and institutions more complex, we have to make them more biological in order to manage them.

The most potent force in technology will be artificial evolution. We are already evolving software and drugs instead of engineering them.

Organic life is the ultimate technology, and all technology will improve towards biology.

The main thing computers are good for is creating little worlds so that we can try out the Great Questions. Online communities let us ask the question "what is a democracy; what do you need for it?" by trying to wire a democracy up, and re-wire it if it doesn't work. Virtual reality lets us ask "what is reality?" by trying to synthesize it. And computers give us room to ask "what is life?" by providing a universe in which to create computer viruses and artificial creatures of increasing complexity. Philosophers sitting in academies used to ask the Great Questions; now they are asked by experimentalists creating worlds.

As we shape technology, it shapes us. We are connecting everything to everything, and so our entire culture is migrating to a "network culture" and a new network economics.

In order to harvest the power of organic machines, we have to instill in them guidelines and self-governance, and relinquish some of our total control.

Read the book online:

Out of Control

Design

--Open, Collaborative Design

ThinkCycle is an academic, non-profit initiative engaged in supporting distributed collaboration towards design challenges facing underserved communities and the environment. ThinkCycle seeks to create a culture of open source design innovation, with ongoing collaboration among individuals, communities and organizations around the world.

Open, Collaborative Design

Why the cow? She is the ambassador for the next site:

--One Minute Site

Spend one minute and improve your Web site design.

One Minute Site

Pedagogy

--Best Practices: Online Education

Read the "Introduction":

These Best Practices have been developed by the eight regional accrediting commissions in response to the emergence of technologically mediated instruction offered at a distance as an important component of higher education. Expressing in detail what currently constitutes best practice in distance education they seek to address concerns that regional accreditation standards are not relevant to the new distributed learning environments, especially when those environments are experienced by off-campus students. The Best Practices, however, are not not new evaluative criteria. Rather they explicate how the well-established essentials of institutional quality found in regional accreditation standards are applicable to the emergent forms of learning; much of the detail of their content would find application any learning environment.

Best Practices

Tools

--*Evite

This utility coordinates the schedules of people who are not only dispersed widely but who often don't know each other. Its simplest function is to invite a group of people to a meeting, with the option of having "invitees" share the emerging list of who is coming.

Evite

--*E-Groups

Do you need to manage an ad hoc or emergent group? Well, head to this site, E-Groups, which offers an easy way to send out mailings to a list of people and coordinate their replies. It also offers calendars for groups, automated reminders for groups, and other community-minded features.

E-Groups

--*Universal Currency Converter

This is a goodie for all travelers.

Universal Currency Converter

--*Free Clipping Service

Although biased toward business and technology, this is a free clipping service that E-mails you headlines or summaries of whatever subjects you ask for.

Individual.com

--*Bibliofind

This is a resource for out-of-print books. The company is in partnership with Amazon.com.

Bibliofind

*These resources acquired courtesy of Kevin Kelly WholeEarth.com, Winter 2000.

--Anim-FX Flash Intros and Banner Builder

Anim-FX is a multiline Flash introduction and Banner builder. With Anim-FX you can create animated text effects, such as introductions, splash screens and banners for your website. It is a very compact tool, based on a wide range of animation templates.

Benefits of Anim-FX:

1) Up to 5 lines of animated text.
2) Unlimited number of characters
3) 53 great templates
4) Background and text animations
5) User-friendly interface.
6) Easy to update

Anim-FX

--Multiply

What is Multiply? Read on:

Multiply is a new social software concept that has been publicly available on the Internet since April 2004. Multiply combines personal weblog-style knowledge management (Blogger.com), online community concepts (Yahoo! Groups), friend network software (Orkut.com), personal messaging (E-mail) and discussion boards (such as newsgroups). This interesting combination that lets you easily manage your publications, web-based discussions, and community subscriptions.

Multiply

This resource acquired from Goiaba
Knowledge Base, 27 October 2004.

Blogging

--Survival Guide to Homelessness

Read the "introduction" to this blog:

I spent nearly five years, from mid-1996 to the beginning of 2001, homeless, or as I liked to call it with a distributed household. I had storage, shelter, mailbox, telephone, shower, bathroom facilities, cooking equipment, and transportation, even access to television, radio, computer equipment, and ac power. I had the essence of a home. It was simply more geographically scattered than is traditional in our culture.

I'm not the first to do what I did, to live homeless well. I'm not the first to find advantage in homelessness. It is a well kept secret that homelessness can be freedom and comfort can attend it. The secret is well kept because revealing that you are homeless in this society is dangerous. There is stigma. There are even laws prohibiting it. Imagine that. There are laws against being homeless. Let me say that one more time. There are laws against being homeless.

Survival Guide to Homelessness

Diversity

--Jingu: Shinto Shrine

The Jingu is rebuilt every 20 years. This ceremony is called the Shikinensenngu. All the shrines in the Jingu, including the Goshoden, are rebuilt. In other words, the gods can live comfortably in newly built shrines at a cycle of 20 years. This ceremony is the house-moving of the gods.

Jingu

--Corridor: A Graphic Novel of India (author: Sarnath Banergee)

In the heart of Lutyens' Delhi sits Jehangir Rangoonwalla, enlightened dispenser of tea, wisdom, and second-hand books. Among his customers are Brighu, a postmodern Ibn Batuta looking for obscure collectibles and a love life; Digital Dutta who lives mostly in his head, torn between Karl Marx and an H1-B visa; and the newly-married Shintu, looking for the ultimate aphrodisiac in the seedy by-lanes of old Delhi. Played out in the corridors of Connaught Place and Calcutta, the story captures the alienation and fragmented reality of urban life through an imaginative alchemy of text and image. (Editorial Review from Amazon.com, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0143031384/downandoutint-20/103-2135069-8423023)

I acquired this resource from BoingBoing 5 November 2004.

--The Hindu: India's Online National Newspaper (in English)

India's national newspaper online.

The Hindu

Blog Grab Bag

--Thinking Machine4

Thinking Machine 4 explores the invisible, elusive nature of thought. Play chess against a transparent intelligence, its evolving thought process visible on the board before you.

The artwork is an artificial intelligence program, ready to play chess with the viewer. If the viewer confronts the program, the computer's thought process is sketched on screen as it plays. A map is created from the traces of literally thousands of possible futures as the program tries to decide its best move. Those traces become a key to the invisible lines of force in the game as well as a window into the spirit of a thinking machine.

Below, see the machine's thoughts, endgame. The machine foresees that white's pawn will become a queen, and dominate the board as the black king flees.

Thinking Machine4

--Toll-Free Number to Congressional Switchboard

Here is the number: 800-839-5276.

--Weight Room for the Brain: IntelliGym

IntelliGym, a game created by the Israeli company Applied Cognitive Engineering Inc., assists athletes with mental concentration. The company's research supervisor, Daniel Gopher, first tested the theory with a study on Israeli pilot cadets in the 1980s.

Here is an excerpt from the promotional literature:

The ACE IntelliGymTM is a groundbreaking training system for enhancing basketball player game intelligence. This innovative software-based training tool dramatically improves real-time decision-making and increases execution quality. Featuring a computer-game facade, ACE IntelliGymTM trains the skills that control complex basketball related tasks. These skills include: continuous decision making, shot selection, recognizing opponent's moves, game creativity, and peripheral vision. All are cognitive skills, which are proven to be dramatically improved when trained properly. In this respect, training these skills is similar to training muscles. ACE specializes in the development of "fitness equipment" for these "muscles" in the brain.

Weight Room for the Brain

--Create Your Own Met Gallery

The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art offers online patrons the ability to create a personal gallery from a selection of online art work. Free;however, registration is required.

Create Your Own Met Gallery

--Audio Tour of Post-War & Contemporary Art

This is an audio tour of art work that will be auctioned at Christie's, 10 November 2004, 7:00 PM (EST),20 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, New York.

See art work most of us never get an opportunity to see, such as this work by Jaspar Johns,Untitled, Oil on canvas with painted frame. Estimate: $3,500,000-$4,500,000.

Start the bidding, anyone?

Post-War Art

--Hello Kitty Online Game World

Hello Kitty World allows thousands of players to live and participate in Hello Kitty's online world. You will be able to roam the streets of Kitty Kingdom, XO Federation, and Melody-land. Enjoy the beautiful landscape and architecture of Puroland or Badtzcity, and participate in numerous puzzles, story lines, or adventures lead by the worldwide community of Hello Kitty World subscribers.

Here is one HelloKitty enthusiast, Cameron Diaz:

Hello Kitty Online Game World

This resource courtesy of PlasticBag.org

--Frag Dolls

Enter the realm of Frag Dolls, a group of girl gamers out to have a little fun.

FragDolls

--National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty

The mission of the Law Center is to prevent and end homelessness by serving as the legal arm of the nationwide movement to end homelessness. To achieve its mission, the Law Center pursues three main strategies: impact litigation, policy advocacy, and public education. To amplify the work of its small staff, the Law Center relies on interns, volunteers, and the pro bono assistance of the private bar.

National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty

--Squat.Net

Squat.net is an international internet magazine with main focus on squatted houses, car sites, and other free spaces.

Squat.net

--Eboy: Pixel Art

Where does the inspiration for this art form come from?

From Pop culture ... shopping, supermarkets, TV, toy commercials, LEGO, computer games, the news, magazines.

Eboy

--All-Species Foundation

The All Species Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the complete inventory of all species of life on Earth within the next 25 years - a human generation.

All-Species Foundation

Until next week!

Blog Editor

Woman with a Veil, Pierre Bonnard (ca. 1917) , recently auctioned at Christie's.

Photo Credits

--"ACE logo," http://www.ace4sports.com/product.html
--Cameron Diaz," 182 x 250 pixels - 12k
www.etincelle.co.uk/ news.htm
--"Cities Without Borders," http://www.mindjack.com/feature/cities.shtml
"Corridor," http://boingboing.net/
--"Cow,"http://www.changethis.com/7.OneMinuteSite#
--"End Game,"http://turbulence.org/spotlight/thinking/gallery.html
"Hello Kitty," 800 x 600 pixels - 51k
www.publispain.com/ hellokitty/wall8.htm
--"Hewlitt-Packard," http://grants.hp.com/us/programs/tech_teaching/index.html
--"The Hindu" Logo,http://www.hinduonnet.com/
--"Horse Trails in the Snow," http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregeans/1039747/

--Jaspar Johns, "Untitled,http://www.christies.com/promos/nov04/1431/promo_gallery.asp?page=7
--"Lifesavers," http://www.eboy.com/browse/basic_plicas/plicas-candybar
--"Service Learning Logo,"
426 x 371 pixels - 108kms.students.estrellamountain.edu/ servicelearn...
build3.gif454 x 550 pixels - 69kwww.learningindeed.org/ map3.html
logo.jpg300 x 211 pixels - 19kdepartment.rwu.edu/ ~cad/images/logo.jpg
--"Woman with a Veil," http://www.artsjournal.com/man/

ruminators' ilk

11.28.2004

11.21.2004

11.14.2004

11.07.2004

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