tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-288367912024-03-07T14:23:39.646-05:00Digital MusingsNotes from the trenches of instructional technologyFrank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-34920456560681301952011-05-22T19:37:00.015-04:002011-05-23T10:16:10.585-04:00Who'll present the first "Instagram in Education?"Have not posted in a year and a half, after having been on Blogger 5 years. Not enough hours in the day, the week, the month, my life!...my recreational social software activities have migrated from RSS feeds and blogs, to Facebook, then Twitter, and now Instagram. Have not checked my RSS in over a month, and hardly ever read blogs any more. Maybe I'm too tired when I come home to deal with more technology, or the novelty of all those venues has worn off. I check into Facebook once a day, at the most, then for only 5-10 minutes. No way can I follow the 80 FB friends I have (tried hard to keep the number down). I also check into Twitter no more than once or twice a day now for 5-10 minutes, not enough to look at the hundreds of tweets from the 66 I follow. Also kept these number low as I could not keep up with more, given the great URLs to link to, even when I was on Twitter an hour or more a night.<br />
I became intrigued with <a href="http://instagram.com/">Instagram</a> about 6 weeks ago. Here I could take a picture with my iPod Touch (4G) or pull it in from my Photos library, crop and tweak it, upload it, and share it with thousands! Not sure why this hooked me more than Flickr, maybe it was the structure of its "social graph." Simple and fun, the way social software should be.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXjgmLHKDZm1PL8s5JLp_PX2daTD6rnVLHRTVnH30CwmoOdh558vs_en5RUufgvJOjXDgptDCHzK2q9ccfACeYmjiSV8_f9jRdyoCSKmss5Y0I2hhslmfEJ-CI2NJ2faenzj0Jg/s1600/instagram.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="56" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXjgmLHKDZm1PL8s5JLp_PX2daTD6rnVLHRTVnH30CwmoOdh558vs_en5RUufgvJOjXDgptDCHzK2q9ccfACeYmjiSV8_f9jRdyoCSKmss5Y0I2hhslmfEJ-CI2NJ2faenzj0Jg/s320/instagram.png" width="320" /></a></div>For now Istagram works only on iOS: iPod Touch 4G, iPad 2, and iPhone. Its beauty is the simplicity and ease of workflow. It reminds me of the early days of graphics computing using software like Photoshop, Illustrator, GoLive, and even MS Word! Yes, there were years when Word fit on one 800K floppy (with Utilities on another) and using all that software was actually fun, not a new learning curve every time a revision came out. Scanner drivers used to fit on a floppy also. Anyone notice the HP scanner "drivers" now take up more than 120 obese megabytes? It's discouraging how bloated software has become. It's not fun any more.<br />
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Intagram is kind of a reverse Twitter, you post your image, then your comments if you have any. It is totally visually oriented. People can "like" the image, post their own comments, and can follow (subscribe to) others. No groups or privacy, everything is open. You can hashtag an image and moderate comments on your own posts. You can flag inappropriate images (no porn), and the developers have a down-home twitter feed <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/instagram">here</a>.<br />
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Having been to many conventions where presenters talked about using social software such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc. to enhance teaching and learning, I'm waiting for the first presentation on how Instagraph was used!<br />
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If you are interested, here are some sources to get you started, aside from actually using the app, for which there is no substitute.<br />
<a href="http://www.rushtheiceberg.com/?tag=instagram">Teaching with Instagram (very minimal, but one of the few references I have seen)</a><br />
Webstagram web viewer, <a href="http://web.stagram.com/hot/#topfilters">link to popular tags </a><br />
<a href="http://www.huanix.com/2011/03/18/accessing-instagram-in-android-and-a-web-browser-firefox/">Using Instagram in Android, info on other web viewers and API</a><br />
Searching in Google is naturally a way to go deeper. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A New Genre of Art?</b></span></div>One thing one soon notices is that many photographs in Instagram are heavily edited. There is an entire growing cottage industry of iOS apps that allow you to apply various filters to process images on its mobile devices. This begs the question of what kind of art is this? Below are some examples...<br />
From tonydetroit<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEpvgQFOm6uw4lvRYLB_MvWaQ50agZbHDVoarMzgyjaxWb0zO_NZfYV843kbF7ri6GwmwIylnNBnDNf8a7xEvrXPjG7qXhxWlb71omHdKg_5lW5Fgq2Jn_44b1lY5rtAOEAfbxw/s1600/tonydetroit1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEpvgQFOm6uw4lvRYLB_MvWaQ50agZbHDVoarMzgyjaxWb0zO_NZfYV843kbF7ri6GwmwIylnNBnDNf8a7xEvrXPjG7qXhxWlb71omHdKg_5lW5Fgq2Jn_44b1lY5rtAOEAfbxw/s320/tonydetroit1.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GguBfrWZc_kvTb2_do3VUa-pVhpAHLux9fu0LBHB76McvKZic4Oml9JeOrPOhNZ8_gZbK6jom4MHqIthyHsiMz9CmrckfmqBOu7vPeuurfKrhe-1yQAOrUSbAMoV9bg8BeobHw/s1600/tonydetroit2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8GguBfrWZc_kvTb2_do3VUa-pVhpAHLux9fu0LBHB76McvKZic4Oml9JeOrPOhNZ8_gZbK6jom4MHqIthyHsiMz9CmrckfmqBOu7vPeuurfKrhe-1yQAOrUSbAMoV9bg8BeobHw/s320/tonydetroit2.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>From barnel02<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirob8LK45S2ewxvMa6O0XDMj_UcltH87KT21qb4tSrA0PyygbupE_QBlTlwApbmfZXDcHtXsz_HdC8ecZ-v0AdnyYXZ1WIQ7aoW7R2XFpG9dS7UI8S5DF7Ux9Xy5oRu9gXbCDEKg/s1600/barnel02-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirob8LK45S2ewxvMa6O0XDMj_UcltH87KT21qb4tSrA0PyygbupE_QBlTlwApbmfZXDcHtXsz_HdC8ecZ-v0AdnyYXZ1WIQ7aoW7R2XFpG9dS7UI8S5DF7Ux9Xy5oRu9gXbCDEKg/s320/barnel02-1.jpg" width="319" /></a></div>From kareni<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfWnbSyRiHEKaLm8THJMNhnTkaJ9H4_pXJupaqAfri1qyK8kFCluPiLN64-m1gVqo3guuFLrC6RcFPqVlARcZW91N7XtuEEO4e4siBofUgTwzsPvphRuJeu5HLDDViI2aYEeSDw/s1600/kareni1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfWnbSyRiHEKaLm8THJMNhnTkaJ9H4_pXJupaqAfri1qyK8kFCluPiLN64-m1gVqo3guuFLrC6RcFPqVlARcZW91N7XtuEEO4e4siBofUgTwzsPvphRuJeu5HLDDViI2aYEeSDw/s320/kareni1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifx56IbNwBC9WAulA2ngSmgUqZCHxvjIVcKh6RgPdzxFetqSR5ek8_uKwobtWfdsgAasFChCviSNIbj10JNHM17B1QwSm7Gzky7hD-4cXmntXEWogd8qoDu6PncnxRF4PTq2Rfrw/s1600/kareni2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifx56IbNwBC9WAulA2ngSmgUqZCHxvjIVcKh6RgPdzxFetqSR5ek8_uKwobtWfdsgAasFChCviSNIbj10JNHM17B1QwSm7Gzky7hD-4cXmntXEWogd8qoDu6PncnxRF4PTq2Rfrw/s320/kareni2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>from rcoleman<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5evvnqene4fSmOFrA4AUYiU-gkI3e3hPJC-ylybqINsZK7WjH5sL5JxG-b5C6uX5kpYYD1ZgT_nqgJ1y2wbjDNK4i8Mrh0sCVagZe-pz7yH9hAkqakLgjs1DMOwXT1PgRqPWkA/s1600/rcoleman1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb5evvnqene4fSmOFrA4AUYiU-gkI3e3hPJC-ylybqINsZK7WjH5sL5JxG-b5C6uX5kpYYD1ZgT_nqgJ1y2wbjDNK4i8Mrh0sCVagZe-pz7yH9hAkqakLgjs1DMOwXT1PgRqPWkA/s320/rcoleman1.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>And from me<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuFj9ISZ5v3-JMnu0uCNjb4olSg76lvR_DfbZkEgGbyj94GyWtFgE4Yg6_MKwPBb_TnSm74c_FG6rvRmkwg-6iE4UUBvO1EIltfCQtxJJUuNA9JdobKyXXqGaIQJccTdh9FKRzQ/s1600/fulchiero.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuFj9ISZ5v3-JMnu0uCNjb4olSg76lvR_DfbZkEgGbyj94GyWtFgE4Yg6_MKwPBb_TnSm74c_FG6rvRmkwg-6iE4UUBvO1EIltfCQtxJJUuNA9JdobKyXXqGaIQJccTdh9FKRzQ/s320/fulchiero.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Clever manipulation of processes in one app, then exporting, importing into another editing app for more processing, etc.. makes the activity a lot less "canned" and creatively challenging. It's often impossible to determine which app or combination of apps was used to create heavily edited images. These apps take processing to a much deeper and more powerful level than available in current desktop tools like Photoshop. It's the digital equivalent of using a number of hand tools, paints, shellacks, and surfacing compounds to create physical objects.<br />
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The images are meant to be viewed on the iPod's or iPhone's small screens, so I consider them the "miniatures" of the digital imaging world. If you have an iOS device, have some fun with<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF5p2ODXixj0tprHRa-lXApsdRB8R04qxcoGJpYxVmg7_410LHqOLy5pYjExEbwtZliMqYSpbdOwCghyphenhyphenlYQeu2XRtELhGTTAyGWPx7nsJyQJU-Z4hDy7FpGRbR2FXHxtU2vMz4w/s1600/Icon_2x.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQF5p2ODXixj0tprHRa-lXApsdRB8R04qxcoGJpYxVmg7_410LHqOLy5pYjExEbwtZliMqYSpbdOwCghyphenhyphenlYQeu2XRtELhGTTAyGWPx7nsJyQJU-Z4hDy7FpGRbR2FXHxtU2vMz4w/s1600/Icon_2x.png" /></a></div>Maybe you'll be intrigued enough to find a valid, justifiable use for it, with filters or no filters, in teaching or learning. Then you can give the first presentation about Instagram at an educational conference!Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-74710104089264878112009-11-27T11:58:00.048-05:002010-01-15T10:45:33.435-05:00Kindle "Paper" is Too DarkI wanted to like the Kindle DX. In an effort to bond to it, I downloaded two books I really wanted to read, <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Lost City of Z</span>, by David Grann, one of our alum, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">A Most Wanted Man</span>, by one of my favorite authors, John le Carre. However, the experience left me somewhat disappointed, and did not compare to the feelings of reading from real paper. Trying to pinpoint the sources of my discomfort, I realized one is that the "paper" behind the ink seems too dark. I decided to perform some scientific testing of my hypothesis. I warmed up our Epson Exression 10000XL with SilverFast v6.6 scanning software, created a scanner profile with an IT-8 target, calibrated our LaCie monitor with the GretagMacbeth Eye-One Display 2 colorimeter, now the X-Rite i1Display 2 (Who the heck comes up with these product names!). I turned on our SoLux 4700K lamp, which reproduces the full color spectrum of natural daylight. In other words, all the things one should do to work in the area of critical color management.<br />
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I then scanned a few "pages" of the Kindle DX, the <span style="font-weight: bold;">New York Times</span>, and of a newly published hardbound book. The scans included our IT-8 target, whose accuracy was verified. The results were measured in the Lab, or CIE, colorspace, which is designed to approximate human vision. It aspires to perceptual uniformity, and its L component closely matches human perception of lightness. However, to make the results easier to understand, L was converted to K, or grayscale. Here, K=0% means pure white, and K=100% describes pure black. It seems one would want the background of a reading to approach white (K=0%), and the actual printed ink to approach black (K=100%). So, let's see how our calibrated scans measure out. Naturally, the media should be scanned again for verification, and the included images are not the original 400 dpi TIFFs.<br />
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First of all, on the Kindle DX, the white background measures as K=42-44%. This is quite high, as mid-gray is K=50%. The black "ink" on the Kindle measures at K=78-80%. The Kindle's white frame measures an average of K=5%.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAOnGnaTghdWxOMmj3B6T4Y3mGBjo8y6cUIPxip8LX_xNbNw8b49HdbPfRNHK-G8q8fV22R4BfLvNvpL541YZN0akmBSTtovHfpVeeFt0RkS-lX_bG6fIMGE1OOISOoc5cwFrCg/s1600/kindle-blogger2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410266787752119602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuAOnGnaTghdWxOMmj3B6T4Y3mGBjo8y6cUIPxip8LX_xNbNw8b49HdbPfRNHK-G8q8fV22R4BfLvNvpL541YZN0akmBSTtovHfpVeeFt0RkS-lX_bG6fIMGE1OOISOoc5cwFrCg/s400/kindle-blogger2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 547px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 256px;" /></a><br />
The <span style="font-weight: bold;">New York Times</span> front page paper stock measured K=21-23%, darker than I would have guessed, and the ink at K=68-70%. That was brighter than I would have guessed, and appeared almost pure black to me. I did notice a lot of variation in the inner pages, as much as paper up to K=23-25%, with ink at 73-77%. I found the Times to be considerably easier to read than the Kindle, even accounting for its larger page size.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgsbpfm1u6NT_FDlO4OI5dkvjRV09q6mO7qsDXZjKpAB7SE9V_rq9z1MAeVye_3rq9VKNpoyqSQ8vOeRL1eZ3jj4H_1iFRmey7AckBg_ZiOkyGA1L2IWKRJzDvpNYlC0BOh5wgQ/s1600/ny-times-blogger.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408847040838354050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgsbpfm1u6NT_FDlO4OI5dkvjRV09q6mO7qsDXZjKpAB7SE9V_rq9z1MAeVye_3rq9VKNpoyqSQ8vOeRL1eZ3jj4H_1iFRmey7AckBg_ZiOkyGA1L2IWKRJzDvpNYlC0BOh5wgQ/s400/ny-times-blogger.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 256px;" /></a><br />
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I scanned <span style="font-weight: bold;">Blood's A Rover</span>, a recent popular printed fiction book by James Ellroy. I selected a book which did not have pure white pages, as I noticed many recent fiction books are getting away from that. Here, the paper measured K=7%, and the ink at K=75% (there are slight variations, these are averages). This was the easiest of the three media to read, by far.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQRDbgOSzusmgGn-fbbSXy-EjkLnM-RzwHwk6p3djDCl4GMbKkqBHHkGZoKlyNcZb8XZVJYfCpJ2-mTUAegLAeKwoGDF2QE2Au5Gdxx89P8Xcwk9hI2Me_iz9GiDX-bv0jg95OA/s1600/ellroy-book-blogger.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5408847566157043218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheQRDbgOSzusmgGn-fbbSXy-EjkLnM-RzwHwk6p3djDCl4GMbKkqBHHkGZoKlyNcZb8XZVJYfCpJ2-mTUAegLAeKwoGDF2QE2Au5Gdxx89P8Xcwk9hI2Me_iz9GiDX-bv0jg95OA/s400/ellroy-book-blogger.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 254px;" /></a><br />
The interesting discovery is that the Kindle had the darkest "ink," at K=78-80%, of the above scans, but to me was the hardest and least pleasurable media to read. I believe a major factor was the background "paper" color of K=42-44%, which is almost a mid-gray. If this deficiency can be corrected, I believe it will make using it a more pleasurable experience. It may not help that the outer Kindle frame is almost pure white, increasing the apparent grayness of its "paper." I also think a laminated plankette of bamboo, walnut, ebony, leather, etc. would be more pleasurable to hold and look at than a piece of easily smudgeable white plastic. It was also interesting that the Times' and book's ink, which seemed visually black, was only about 75% black.<br />
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Now, don't get me wrong, I believe the Kindle would be extremely useful and much better than printed paper in some situations, and I also believe there is a bright future for e-book readers. Amazon's e-ink is fine, but one thing they need to do is to come up with a better e-paper.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-87416527755940207612009-07-19T15:55:00.012-04:002009-07-19T17:02:44.291-04:00Open Video, Ogg Theora and Critical Mass<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" src="http://blip.tv/play/goRrgZHfNNRJ%2Em4v" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="308" width="370"></embed><br /><br />A confluence of forces are pushing to the forefront an open, non-proprietary video standard. The critical mass has started emerging at the time of the <a href="http://openvideoconference.org/">OpenVideo Conference</a> in NYC last month. The players:<br />- HTML5 and the new "video" tag, which makes it easier to embed video in a web page.<br />- Firefox 3.5 includes built-in support for the Ogg container, the Theora video codec and Vorbis audio codec, all of which are open source. No additional plug-ins are required to watch videos in these formats.<br />- Wikipedia will soon allow uploads of popular video file formats for server-side encoding to Ogg Theora, and will release a new player.<br />- Content owners such as Al Jazeera, Internet Archives and <a href="http://metavid.org/wiki/">Metavid</a> making hundreds of thousands of videos available in the Ogg Theora format.<br />- A new plug-in for Firefox 3.5, <a href="http://firefogg.org/">Firefogg</a>, that allows encoding to Ogg Theora.<br />The above from <a href="http://www.beet.tv/2009/07/video-on-wikipedia-get-ready-its-about-to-happen.html">beet.tv</a> and <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/video_goes_open_source_on_wikipedia.php">ReadWriteWeb</a><br />More on Ogg Theora from the CEO of Blip.tv, which currently delivers most video as MPEG4 and Flash:<br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/goRrgYymcNRJ%2Em4v" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="308" width="370"></embed><br /><br />The main problem with the Theora codec is that it's not currently as efficient as the more evolved h.264 and VC-1 codecs. Efficiency results in higher quality at lower bit rates. There are efforts currently underway to improve the codec's efficiency, these are still in the <a href="http://www.theora.org/news/">alpha stage</a>.<br /><br />The codec is not included with the standard Apple QuickTime/MPEG4, Adobe Flash, Microsoft Windows Media/Silverlight installations, another obstacle. YouTube, owned by Google, does not consider Ogg Theora currently good enough to replace its h.264 codec, wrapped in both Flash for web viewing and MPEG4 for downloading. Hopefully, when Ogg Theora is mature enough, some of the big corporate players will jump on the bandwagon. However, other big players have already decided that it is "good enough!"<br /><br />It's nice to see an open video standard finally arise on the web, competition can only be good for most of us.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-82267664267348304872009-07-01T09:44:00.026-04:002009-07-14T14:26:45.188-04:00Unexpected time to reflect and reorganize<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">We were without power for two days at the college, through no fault of our own. I had a backlog of comptuer and network related work, and at first I was chagrined. Then I realized it was a good opportunity to step back and take a look. Where have I, and the labs I am involved with, been and where we are going? My brain, notepad, pencil, whiteboard and marker do not need electrical power!</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div><br /></div>Ninety percent of my time is spent "in the trees," figuring out how to solve countless new problems in using technology, and maintaining our computers in the ATL and DCC with software upgrades and "clean-up" operations. The power loss was an unforeseen but welcome opportunity to step back, see the forest, and evaluate the big picture.<br /><br />One of the more challenging recent projects has involved subtitling, with three faculty suddenly needing good solutions and workflows. With over 10 programs out there, and little previous personal experience, it took considerable research and testing to find the best one for our needs. We settled on Annotation Edit, a bit pricey, but it has a generous educational discount, and tech support was very responsive. Spending a bit more at the front end, and buying a good solution, usually saves lots of time and aggravation further down the road, and pays for itself.<div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-N-gvnG96iTNGJ6dqUhW9WLbyHLAIxjvJtSrj-F4K1qwSJLc3uY0NGOIYABBYbdSU60Qu7EQITB29lCzuywkrjKDtJYg9in6dWZjDj6C_XX-tU8TNHB0m9r7Fezd7hXAFPd32g/s1600-h/hg20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB-N-gvnG96iTNGJ6dqUhW9WLbyHLAIxjvJtSrj-F4K1qwSJLc3uY0NGOIYABBYbdSU60Qu7EQITB29lCzuywkrjKDtJYg9in6dWZjDj6C_XX-tU8TNHB0m9r7Fezd7hXAFPd32g/s200/hg20.jpg" /></a>Another interesting recent project involved assisting a faculty member in purchasing an HD camcorder. We settled on the Canon HG-20, this records to either hard drive or memory card. For a loaner we would have chosen memory card only, but this one had a slightly larger chip, and good low light capture was desirable. I taught her student assistant how to use Final Cut Express to digitize and edit about 20 hours of older Digital-8 tapes for research purposes. It was especially rewarding as the student was an extremely fast learner, I usually only had to show her something once, and she got it, and figured out quite a few things on her own. I love fast learners!<br /><br />Upcoming projects this summer include:<br /><br />♥ Researching and piloting a good podcasting solution. Apple's upcoming Snow Leopard Server has both a new built-in Podcast Library and a Blog Server that can be used for podcasting. With our Developer Account we will test the pre-release versions. I will also be investigating the <a href="http://www.opencastproject.org/">Opencast</a> site for new developments in open source podcasting.<br /><br /><div><div><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5353493849180444818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBDOH3GlBDtESM7Rhmc7Vd0CBcDtlHj4Aq1qpldnaFerHP70C_tWirLutxCt6EcS0xGKSkv-KyOPt-2dYbr5UcuwEzC4zSVzEWnwYCv-1KGjLW8UaQuox5YCisjfNGl9IS3Tj8Q/s200/opencast.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" />♥ Configuring two new computers for the ATL, a dual boot Mac for video and audio editing and a Windows machine for graphics.<br /><br />♥ Expanding our lab storage with a new 8 terabyte RAID, this will almost double our storage capacity.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAEdLSt20miFIxebPQ0s4-GTvSTAo6JjZABZ5IdlIB4grBXmlKosbh24ZYX6PEnkKhx2fB0ynr3quU0aSdlT8_bfQfKfM-xijQBpMyI1IaXsCKFCyl5mERLG35BK5CRUEbkV4dg/s1600-h/openvideo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaAEdLSt20miFIxebPQ0s4-GTvSTAo6JjZABZ5IdlIB4grBXmlKosbh24ZYX6PEnkKhx2fB0ynr3quU0aSdlT8_bfQfKfM-xijQBpMyI1IaXsCKFCyl5mERLG35BK5CRUEbkV4dg/s200/openvideo.png" /></a></div><br />♥ I wish I had the opportunity to attend the <a href="http://openvideoconference.org/">Open Video Conference</a>, but will have to settle for watching some of the many interesting on-line videos, and hope to catch up in this rapidly evolving area.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9z6Dpdx7lAKy7svE6a1oGVu_jq-CEMhP247P6dSJj0GPVfiF8eEyseL4Hbo16oxtRUfKiE33BXarL3wVHWp6nYU7AYeFD1IEB4hcHoWLY3NRxtcfu7Fpfu6f0IIt4shPJWPZ1qg/s1600-h/mbox2mini.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9z6Dpdx7lAKy7svE6a1oGVu_jq-CEMhP247P6dSJj0GPVfiF8eEyseL4Hbo16oxtRUfKiE33BXarL3wVHWp6nYU7AYeFD1IEB4hcHoWLY3NRxtcfu7Fpfu6f0IIt4shPJWPZ1qg/s200/mbox2mini.jpg" style="height: 83px; width: 168px;" /></a></div>♥ Getting familiar with the Digi Mbox 2 Mini audio interface and ProTools Le 8, we will be installing these in a new 17 computer Mac lab, along with other video and audio production software: Final Cut Express, QuickTime Player Pro, MPEG2 QT component, Flip4Mac Player Pro, Toast, Audacity, iLife 09, iMovie 06, MPEG Streamclip, Perian and Silverlight.<br /><br />♥ Getting our multicasting, both live and playlists, back up and running. We left this on a back burner, we were all busy with the successful migration to Google Apps for Education.<br /><br />♥ Conduct a security audit of our servers, and ensure they are as hardened as possible against hacking.<br /><br />♥ Evaluating the new OS 3 for the iPod Touch, and preparing for some new iPod enabled courses.<br /><br />♥ Moving support materials from our <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki">old wiki</a> (in MediaWiki), to our <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/conncoll.edu/youpub/">new one</a> (in Google Sites). This is an ongoing project, and will probably take a year to accomplish. For a while, we will be using both to support the use of technology in education. My approach is to move what is needed, it's too much to move everything, and technology can change faster than I can move. One thing about a wiki, it's never done!<br /><br />All in all, it will be a busy summer, and gone before we know it!<br /><br />Once a year I also go through the DCC, storage cabinets, my office, and our storage closet. I organize and dispose of obsolete technology that will not be needed in the future. I am always amazed at the hundreds of items, and thousands of dollars' worth, of software, hardware, printouts, and books that I eliminate. I usually do my clean-up in late August, the power loss enabled me to perform the majority of it now.<br /><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkaDk30HDrvgT0hHsGukChusaJz0hnqNejA8lAR2lhufjpNymEU3_iA-M55YqvbQKfDcVmew4zCnIi0uqRgGLQNFwhPp9gYLYA-D1dbUiPawChqQC5kj6ItCp-HhnZOhvYJXOQA/s1600-h/adze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibkaDk30HDrvgT0hHsGukChusaJz0hnqNejA8lAR2lhufjpNymEU3_iA-M55YqvbQKfDcVmew4zCnIi0uqRgGLQNFwhPp9gYLYA-D1dbUiPawChqQC5kj6ItCp-HhnZOhvYJXOQA/s400/adze.jpg" style="height: 120px; width: 332px;" /></a></div><br />When I was a shipwright at Mystic Seaport, I bought and used woodworking tools that were at least a generation old. These older tools, such adzes and chisels, were much better made than their modern counterparts. When I dispose of computer technology that is obsolete after only a couple of years, I often think of my beautifully crafted adze, which must be over 50 years old, and still works like a charm.</div></div></div></div></div>Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-11354870725502859202009-05-05T10:25:00.008-04:002009-05-06T22:05:20.951-04:00Testing YouTube's Fair Use Policy<object height="325" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HE4H0k8TDgw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HE4H0k8TDgw&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="325" width="400"></embed></object><br />
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Sunday, May 3, was Pete Seeger's 90th birthday. There was a big celebration concert in Madison Square Garden on that day, to praise this amazing man, his amazing wife, and his amazing life. I posted a video to YouTube, as a tribute to him, and as a test of YouTube's interpretation of Fair Use law in the <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html">Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C., Section 107</a><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">The video is of Pete's performance at the Inauguration Concert in January. According to my interpretation, use of the above clip is allowed under Fair Use. The factors to be considered in determining Fair Use, and my analysis, are:</div><br />
<b>(1) The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.</b><br />
No money is being made from posting the video, and it is instructional for the public to hear how Woodie Guthrie's usually unsung lines are finally sung in public. This is also newsworthy.<br />
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<b>(2) The nature of the copyrighted work</b>.<br />
This is an interesting area that I need to research further. It appears that "This Land is Your Land" may <a href="http://blog.librarylaw.com/librarylaw/2004/08/ithis_land_is_y.html">not even be copyrighted any more</a>. However, HBO may claim that this specific performance is. And Bruce Sprinsteen's agent and recording contractors may also.<br />
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<b>(3) The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.</b><br />
This is an easy win. The posted clip is only 5 minutes long, the entire concert was an hour and 54 minutes long. There were other compelling performances.<br />
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<b>(4) The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.</b><br />
Here again, we win. HBO is not currently making the clip available either at cost or for free, so there is no potential market. If HBO does decide to make the concert video available, it has to be re-analyzed.<br />
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Anyhow, it's my little experiment in copyright policy. I'll keep everyone posted regarding any news. If YouTube takes down the video, I will try other hosting services. This post is a draft, if anyone has any ideas on how to improve it, or any feedback at all, I'd like to hear from you.<br />
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Note: I heard from Mike below, he made some good points, and will edit this draft to reflect them.<br />
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Incidentally, there is a movement to help nominate <a href="http://www.nobelprize4pete.org/">Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize.</a>Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-23788369952277417722008-12-07T08:30:00.005-05:002008-12-07T08:53:13.591-05:00Teachers as good ConnectorsInteresting how teaching approaches have gone from "Sage on the Stage" to "Guide on the Side" and now "Connectors." This from a paper by Will Richardson, one of my favorite bloggers, in Edutopia, <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-will-richardson" target="_blank">World Without Walls: Learning Well With Others</a>. Subtitled "How to teach when learning is everywhere."
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<br />To quote a snippet: "Inherent in the collaborative process is a new way of thinking about teaching and learning. We must find our own teachers, and they must find us. In fact, in my own kids' lives, I believe their best, most memorable, and most effective teachers will be the ones they discover, not the ones they are given. That's no slight against the people in their face-to-face classrooms, who are equally important in a connected world. But it does suggest that we as educators need to reconsider our roles in students' lives, to think of ourselves as connectors first and content experts second."
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<br />Lots more good stuff in the article. Of course, a good teacher is probably a combination of all three: sage, guide and now connector. Will's article also led me to Classroom 2.0, which I joined. This is a social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education. It's a great example of what you can do with Ning.
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<br /><embed allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#ffffff" flashvars="networkUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.classroom20.com%2F&panel=network_large&configXmlUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.ning.com%2Fclassroom20%2Finstances%2Fmain%2Fembeddable%2Fbadge-config.xml%3Ft%3D1228585652" height="242" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" salign="lt" scale="noscale" src="http://static.ning.com/classroom20/widgets/index/swf/badge.swf?v=3.9.1%3A11517" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="206" wmode="transparent" />
<br /><small><a href="http://www.classroom20.com/">Visit <i>Classroom 2.0</i></a></small>
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<br />Yes, one more social network to belong to!
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<br />Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-9944151097118304702008-11-27T21:24:00.006-05:002008-11-28T21:17:58.396-05:00Don't have enough collaboration tools?here are a few more to investigate...<br />
Mindmap from <a href="http://www.mindmeister.com/12213323" target="_blank">Mindmeister</a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRq73oXTrfRRAoamyW6Xim4jpt1IV84XkpoF7dC3lOJql1-sf8oJNs3g7x3Cp7ZeTSllo1JVnmRoQijQTe-GI7FxQ4YzxBgz4q9mXDHrvb9Z4MpYkC0mpv2wBHv-DKy2wELmHwsg/s1600-h/Online_Collaboration_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRq73oXTrfRRAoamyW6Xim4jpt1IV84XkpoF7dC3lOJql1-sf8oJNs3g7x3Cp7ZeTSllo1JVnmRoQijQTe-GI7FxQ4YzxBgz4q9mXDHrvb9Z4MpYkC0mpv2wBHv-DKy2wELmHwsg/s320/Online_Collaboration_2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Above link found in <a href="http://crazeegeekchick.com/blog/27-free-must-have-online-collaboration-tools/" target="_blank">crazygeekchick</a> article on "27 Free Must-have Online Collaboration Tools"Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-79256439899011913622008-10-04T09:31:00.008-04:002008-10-04T09:58:43.233-04:00Social sharing e-books through Stanza<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJnqm_bFwArDOJJy4oR3xDXhdKAlcrEYpS3xWWcYmzM3H_g3ZAEAC2I0ZoAX0yqFukG0IVCir3x1J0MXIpB9ivqXLnYQsDo3UIq_tw-fSqDf70T18BQP-jyhxdY9QTVdJnNM6tNw/s1600-h/stanza.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixm5osHMQq_MvlvsY1-as_xTrWQVeqhIcOY8Mo2_R6M-VYNgePbm9lqL1NWAdAQQkorqnkeZtf21obhrHWEmaSSNNv7sIEx0mZs6SbB9IFQgDzKJMeYgYwH_F9DOwoJDRWP3Dt3A/s320-r/stanza.jpg" /></a></div><br /><a href="http://www.lexcycle.com/" target="_blank">Stanza</a> is a free iPhone "e-reader" app that has been downloaded more than 395,000 times, greater than a recent <a href="http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/iphone-the-inci.html" target="_blank">Citigroup</a> estimate of 380,000 Kindles that it predicts Amazon will sell in 2008.<br /><br />The most exciting thing about Stanza is that you can also download the free Stanza Desktop, create your own digital books in the eBook format, and post them on line to be automatically opened and downloaded by using the "epub" protocol. They can be either posted on a web server, or shared from your own computer, much like iTune's ability to share your library with other iTunes users. A difference is that in this case you can actually download the e-books from a shared library.<br /><br />Stanza does plan to charge $15 for each single-user license when it comes out of beta, but academic discounts are planned.<br /><br />All we need now is an iPod with a larger screen, that 3.5" monitor is still a bit too small for me for any extensive reading.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-62934913797119384602008-09-20T08:28:00.014-04:002008-09-20T19:34:36.030-04:00What Else Can Yoda Teach?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEKNbmG3pFcDAE_2QACpJ4jQrhppWHw5eod6wOZ3n5Nh-VxZID6Hj6nHdJHMrpwv5QWNPaFlvGVnQFCJTOzXfvx-zAjEfKfQCK0p6F3Oit7F78OmgkCeq-OE4P5HHjUnxmuXLSg/s1600-h/star-wars-episode-3-6800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkKvePHw03F8XhAORVZXiOFMkCPEM9kKfdtKuKtxhvwYmycpogy0nE37oCA3cKxPq3wMbNxqp4ouDQ08DXKB0EdK7FVQD1Q7xA7xP9W6rw0rNzytJt-IDtA_DYzzmAn-U2G-VqmQ/s320-r/star-wars-episode-3-6800.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />This is pretty interesting to me: George Lucas has started The George Lucas Educational Foundation.
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<br />To quote, "Our vision is of a new world of learning. A place where kids and parents, teachers and administrators, policy makers and the people they serve, all are empowered to change education for the better. A place where schools have access to the same invaluable technology as businesses and universities -- where innovation is the rule, not the exception. A place where children become lifelong learners and develop the technical, cultural, and interpersonal skills to succeed in the twenty-first century. A place of inspiration, aspiration, and an urgent belief that improving education improves the world we live in."
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<br />Web site at <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/" target="_blank">edutopia</a>
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<br />Lots of information, nice videos, and podcasts. Though mostly targeted towards middle and high school levels, there is a wide variety of content that is also relevant to higher ed.<object width="406" height="294">
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<br />I hope to find the time to dig deeper in edutopia. There is always an entertainment element to education, if you can engage the students in any manner, they will pay more attention and learn more. Lucas may have some tricks up his sleeve in this regard. However, he is not just an entertainment innovator, but also a technology innovator, and is now turning his visions towards education. Lucky us!
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<br />I already stumbled across an interesting article on the typical process of technology adoption in education as a four-step process:
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<br />1. Dabbling.
<br />2. Doing old things in old ways.
<br />3. Doing old things in new ways.
<br />4. Doing new things in new ways.
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<br />Full article <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt" target="_blank">here.</a>Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-61802043649589594252008-09-07T11:39:00.047-04:002008-11-14T13:21:08.886-05:00Is Google Video for business good for education?Last week Google introduced a new video product: Google Video for business, this is part of their Google Apps Premiere Edition.<br /><br /><object width="400" height="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iWzwLGJ0BIo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iWzwLGJ0BIo&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="320"></embed></object><br /><br />Google is also making this available in their Google Apps for Education, but I have reservations regarding the suitability of the product as currently offered.<br /><br />1. The business Premiere Edition is $50/user/year, but Google is making Google Video "for business" free to Education Edition customers until March 8th 2009. After March 8th, 2009, the cost of the video service will be <a href="http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=106620&ctx=sibling" target="_blank">$10 per user per year</a><br /><br />Google should have made it free until the end of the second semester, by June 1 for most institutions. Anyone seriously interested in using this needs to do it for the entire semester, so they better budget that $10/student right up front. It's a bit late for many to start piloting this new video product this semester. Four of the five apps (Sites, Docs, Calendar and Chat) are still in beta, how many simultaneous betas do we want to test?<br /><br />This may be the start of the "drip, drip" in making money from some free Google services. But then they are a business, aren't they! And why should we expect a free service from anyone?<br /><br />2. Google Videos "for business" uploaded to a Google Apps for Education domain can only be viewed <a href="http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=106621&topic=15588" target="_blank">by users at that domain.</a><br /><br />Users are not permitted to share videos with people outside of their Google Apps account. This is a problem if you want to use Google Video for business to overcome the 10 megabyte file size upload limit in Sites.<br />As we all know, 10 megabytes does not get you much video! Individuals outside an institution's Apps for Education domain account can be invited to its Sites wikis as collaborators and viewers, but they will be blocked from viewing embedded videos.<br /><br />3. According to <a href="http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=106620&topic=15588" target="_blank">this link</a>, with the Education Edition the ability to upload videos should be limited to faculty and staff only. Hopefully this can be over-ridden by the administrator, and "should" is only an unfortunate suggestion. We see more and more students creating content on the web, we don't want to cripple this by making video uploading and sharing unavailable. Upload privileges should be controllable in a granular fashion, on a specific Docs or Sites basis.<div><br /></div><div>4. While $10 per user per year may not sound expensive, it "applies to all uploaders and viewers using the service." With say 2,000 students, 350 faculty and 250 staff, this is $26,000/year, not a small sum for many institutions.<br /><br />I have to admit I still have not performed a thorough comparison of the differences as they apply to educational uses, including advantages and disadvantages, between YouTube, Google Video and Google Video for business, but the above limitations are a concern. In addition to the Google products there are of course other video sharing services that may provide a better fit to an institution's needs.<br /><br />There is a naming confusion between the new Google Video for business and the normal Google Video. I can't find the Google page now, but it stated that Google Video for business is not the same as Google Video. Maybe they should use caps in the "for business"?<br /><br />I have another little beef to get off my chest, while I am on the soapbox:<br /><br />Google has been making high-quality downloadable MPEG4-H.264 versions of many of their regular Flash YouTube videos. However, the download link is hidden and has to be activated through a <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/04/download-youtube-videos-as-mp4-files.html" target="_blank">hard-to find but easy to use process</a>. Google should locate the MPEG4 download button, when the download is available, to be clearly visible by default on their YouTube video pages.<br /><br />We prefer to use MPEG4 when possible: Flash is proprietary, MPEG4 is an open standard. Flash does not play on portable devices, MPEG4 does, or can be easily converted to do so (iTunes>Advanced>Convert Selection). Downloaded YouTube vides are in the FLV format and can't be played without special players, or have to be converted, they don't play with Flash Player, MPEG4 can be played with QuickTime or iTunes. Flash files cannot be used in podcasts, MPEG4 can be. There is no reason, however, why the two formats can't peaceably coexist in educational settings, and their feature sets are constantly evolving.<br /><br />If Google is making YouTube videos available as MPEG4s, they need to make them easier to find.</div>Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-8359310347837145062008-09-01T09:34:00.023-04:002008-09-07T12:36:40.906-04:00New Wiki Tool at ConnWe were getting tired of having to teach students MediaWiki's "wikitalk". Not because it's not a great language to replace HTML for beginners. However, we were looking for:<br />1. A visual editor. Some faculty did not want to learn the wiki tags, and most students did not want to allow the time to learn them.<br /><br />In addition, we were also looking for:<br /><br />2. A wiki with more powerful layout features. MediaWiki does not allow this "out of the can". Creative layouts are possible, but require a lot of experimentation with carriage returns.<br />3. More controls over fonts, font sizes and font colors, without getting into span tags and hexadecimal code.<br />4. A hosted solution, so we don't have to worry about server maintenance and security.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7as_Xd-AxW0SRz8oOJQWMYj_wzbs3lXtMcPQzxAISKEHgCadY_dGq28b1MWe2xuM20yoEd1uBJBeJKmdYBvCHE-SgZws5JadEcLauOaWqWpb1w51dvvarjlv5jzXIYfjj-WVPw/s1600-h/google-apps-logo3.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik7as_Xd-AxW0SRz8oOJQWMYj_wzbs3lXtMcPQzxAISKEHgCadY_dGq28b1MWe2xuM20yoEd1uBJBeJKmdYBvCHE-SgZws5JadEcLauOaWqWpb1w51dvvarjlv5jzXIYfjj-WVPw/s400/google-apps-logo3.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241052968275925298" /></a>After considerable research, we narrowed the choices down to what I consider to be the "Big Three" that meet the above criteria: PBwiki, Wikispaces and Google Sites. We ended up choosing Sites. This can be used either within a single Google account, or as part of <a href="http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/index.html" target="_blank">Google's Apps for Education</a> <br /><br />We chose the latter solution, as it allows integration with Google Docs, easily linking Sites wikis to "the cloud." The single account only allows a 100 MB limit on total capacity of a wiki's uploads, we anticipated this to be too limiting. The free Ed solution has an overall institution limit (10 GB I believe), with no limits on single wikis.<br /><br />The other two wiki solutions, PBwiki and Wikispaces, are both excellent, and full of features, so it was a tough choice. I'll post more why we chose Sites for our own situation at a later time.<br /><br />Student creation of media and web-based assets, as part of course assignments, is becoming more commonplace here, so I started a wiki of the landscape to serve as a guide: <a href="http://sites.google.com/a/conncoll.edu/youpub/" target="_blank">YouPub</a>. This is obviously rough customized for our college's needs, and unfinished at this time. I think I got most of the headings right.<br /><br />Don't get me wrong, MediaWiki is a fantastic tool. We will keep our server going and available to anyone that needs it. The 20 or so wikis on it will still be accessible and editable to its authors. MediaWiki served us well for two years, but was not the right fit for our current situation. One disadvantage of Sites is that single file uploads are limited to 10 MB. In these days of large video files, it is a challenge we will need to overcome. This will entail a combination of linking to hosted videos on other services and servers and more efficient compression of Sites videos.<br /><br />Another challenge will be expandability. Once we reach our institutional file upload limit, how to expand? However, we needed to move on at the beginning of this semester, and decided Sites was the best solution to pilot.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-76357908765921726922008-03-30T10:07:00.028-04:002008-12-09T21:22:35.217-05:00Anywhere-Anytime Computing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrvfy04NcGxNAJ7M9WZ4p-a3xrE8vGNaTedUp9ELWAlocrCTTyQ9OZ0NDMoIEFwc4gHqHH9Zgnnew5uxmvMeVWu-KDgggme-MNaOCrdfMeQdhE0sZ36ijIEdd6dOvQaa-TgtaTw/s1600-h/iphone.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkrvfy04NcGxNAJ7M9WZ4p-a3xrE8vGNaTedUp9ELWAlocrCTTyQ9OZ0NDMoIEFwc4gHqHH9Zgnnew5uxmvMeVWu-KDgggme-MNaOCrdfMeQdhE0sZ36ijIEdd6dOvQaa-TgtaTw/s200/iphone.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183546825247241474" /></a>The above is just another term for Mobile Computing or "Just in Time Computing". Portable communication devices such as the iPhone, and other smart phones offer advanced capabilities beyond a typical mobile phone, with computer-like functionality and can include small keyboards, video and still cameras and voice recorders. They also offer both Wi-Fi and cell phone web connectivity.<br /><br />With upcoming major developments in the iPhone SDK, iPhone 2, and Google's Android, a critical mass in usability will soon be reached. Students' content viewing and listening opportunities have already been greatly expanded with the use of portable devices as the iPod. In a parallel manner, their opportunities for content creation (text, images and video) and immediate sharing, via the web, will soon be expanded with the introduction of these new portable communication devices.<br /><br />Two recent cases of student-created content, a SATA and a TRIP, would have benefited greatly from “anywhere-anytime” connectivity: The <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/SATA-Peru-2007/" target="_blank">SATA Peru Wiki</a> and the more recent <a href="http://triptorussia2008.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> TRIP to Russia 2008 blog</a><br /><br />The above students, in foreign countries, had extremely limited and infrequent access to networked computers. Considerable more content would have been created with better connectivity. Uploading of images was very difficult. In the SATA Peru wiki, students were often attempting to move 3+ MB images from a digital camera to a computer, and then upload them on a slow connection, at the few times they had access. This was even after emailing them to please follow posted directions on how to reduce file sizes in Picasa and iPhoto. Eventually, the faculty member ended up emailing most of the images to an assistant here, who would then post them.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzb_oqS2-iMsxBsF9J9fECSLTTX9heikF2GmYVolN83ueJRhvs4KqPsC-BgZyyPSyjJKA8pEGWdS43I9tdanuKF-w51q5J7MDYjCVJ3z5gDCaw-hRDWXCGasJaXSnRKYl72hWCsg/s1600-h/nokia-n82-ofc.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzb_oqS2-iMsxBsF9J9fECSLTTX9heikF2GmYVolN83ueJRhvs4KqPsC-BgZyyPSyjJKA8pEGWdS43I9tdanuKF-w51q5J7MDYjCVJ3z5gDCaw-hRDWXCGasJaXSnRKYl72hWCsg/s200/nokia-n82-ofc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183545545346987250" /></a>With a smart phone, capturing images and possibly video, uploading to a collaborative web site, and writing would be easy, anytime day or night. We need to evaluate potential benefits for SATA and TRIP experiences. Other student-generated work can benefit from “anywhere-anytime” connectivity, these pedagogical situations need to be researched and identified. Technical requirements also need to be identified, along with equipment and services that meet them. It will probably be wise to evaluate first-hand different options. Finally, pilot projects need to be implemented.<br /><br />Initial cost estimates: Equipment $2,000 (4 smart phones, 2 for staff and faculty testing and familiarization, 2 for distribution). Service, TBD, currently estimated at $1,200-2,000/year per phone. This should come down in time.<br /><br />Here are some interesting links I ran across, as I start my research in this area:<br /><br /><a href="http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2008/chapters/mobile-broadband/" target="_blank">The 2008 Horizon Report on Mobile Broadband</a>, which suggests a 2-3 year "time-to-adoption." I think appropriate technologies will be here by year's end for early adopters to implement successful projects.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.beet.tv/2008/02/nokia-n95-loom.html" target="_blank">Camera phones used in videojournalism</a>, this has applications in education<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMXjfEtu7bGgIM54RdBEgGYP3MTWXs9Beje1H5mPn6geUbgE-UEmEVd6l_C6v-2tR8dle4QEEQUaWeKThlAtoAC7bTNElHPDoKa9G6lagj2ENJdA2Yb6UfcLEbsymnBdtMu1pGg/s1600-h/nokiakeyboard.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkMXjfEtu7bGgIM54RdBEgGYP3MTWXs9Beje1H5mPn6geUbgE-UEmEVd6l_C6v-2tR8dle4QEEQUaWeKThlAtoAC7bTNElHPDoKa9G6lagj2ENJdA2Yb6UfcLEbsymnBdtMu1pGg/s200/nokiakeyboard.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183544372820915426" /></a><a href="http://reutersmojo.com/2007/10/22/the-mobile-journalism-toolkit-contents/" target="_blank">Reuters Mobile Journalism Toolkit</a>, which includes a small real bluetooth keyboard, this makes typing considerably easier.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thetravelinsider.info/2002/0308.htm" target="_blank">International Cell Phone Service</a>, a good overview from Travel InsiderFrank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-20778574436072323632008-03-08T09:05:00.026-05:002008-12-09T21:22:35.783-05:00SXSW is getting BIG<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE01hbNB8vhdbkc0Sb7U8xwxW8VsFGqxoAWg0QNxwEgbgE8nWe78ziH1_WoTzZ52K_mKzzqhiLNMfkaf7wd4i8VJs4XOYkxQwv7wNMNN6tFaOgMXr_N5wwuifsp6QUjdRii_YrQg/s1600-h/sxsw.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE01hbNB8vhdbkc0Sb7U8xwxW8VsFGqxoAWg0QNxwEgbgE8nWe78ziH1_WoTzZ52K_mKzzqhiLNMfkaf7wd4i8VJs4XOYkxQwv7wNMNN6tFaOgMXr_N5wwuifsp6QUjdRii_YrQg/s400/sxsw.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175372060291661906" /></a> My brother Ralph, who has lived in Austin for about 8 years while working on DSPs for ARM, kept telling me about this hip little film and music festival called SXSW. Kept trying to get me to fill out a travel request so the college could pay for me to get out there! I did not feel it appropriate, though I could stay for free with him, with no lodging costs. I kept an eye on the <a href="http://sxsw.com/" target="_blank">SXSW web site</a> from year to year, noticing the annual increase of bands, indie films and other media events. My brother, who is a techie who also loves music, must have really enjoyed seeing this annual growth.<br /><br />It appears that SXSW has gotten real big this year, reaching national prominence, with a lot of <a href="http://www.centernetworks.com/tag/sxsw" target="_blank">buzz on the web 2.0</a>, as its interactive program achieved critical mass. Even Twitter has upgraded their servers and "tuned performance" in preparation for this event.<br /><br />There must be some "great stuff" at SXSW, here is a clip borrowed from <a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/sxsw_lessons_learned_at_37signals.php" target="_blank">Read-Write-Web</a> regarding "Lessons Learned at 37 Signals", one of my favorite companies.<br /><br /><b>Lesson 5: Question Your Work Regularly</b><br />At 37 Signals they are always asking questions to make sure they are doing the right things. Internally, this list of questions includes:<br /><br />- why are we doing this?<br /><br />- what problem are we solving?<br /><br />- is this actually useful?<br /><br />- are we adding value?<br /><br />- will this change behavior?<br /><br />- is there an easier way?<br /><br />- what's the opportunity cost?<br /><br />- is it really worth it?<br /><br />Many of the above questions are relevant in our instructional technology work at the college level.<br /><br />I already made plans to go to NERCOMP for a work day, and then to Fort Myers Beach area for my vacation. Next year, I'll have to look hard at going to Austin instead for both!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_mi_jDdYWsU7wI4onfbslbUWnLACEcs8w88k9oBU0s_MF6522hSi7dz6CkoPsIME42kQfpMqHluTsuc9dChwS9QxWgmQO7TsdhavkNiJ5QnOVWyqnG_n1KRMOIGWPS4Px23SoA/s1600-h/sxsw2.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw_mi_jDdYWsU7wI4onfbslbUWnLACEcs8w88k9oBU0s_MF6522hSi7dz6CkoPsIME42kQfpMqHluTsuc9dChwS9QxWgmQO7TsdhavkNiJ5QnOVWyqnG_n1KRMOIGWPS4Px23SoA/s400/sxsw2.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175380005981159522" /></a>Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-87161154529151787722007-12-24T09:18:00.000-05:002007-12-24T10:00:06.605-05:00OLPC's designer, Yves Behar, speaks<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2FScribeMedia%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F558766&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" width="400" height="255" allowfullscreen="true" id="showplayer"><param name="movie" value="http://blip.tv/scripts/flash/showplayer.swf?enablejs=true&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2FScribeMedia%2Eblip%2Etv%2Frss&file=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Frss%2Fflash%2F558766&showplayerpath=http%3A%2F%2Fblip%2Etv%2Fscripts%2Fflash%2Fshowplayer%2Eswf" /><param name="quality" value="best" /></object><br /><br />The above, from <a href="http://www.scribemedia.org/2007/12/20/olpc/" target="_blank">Scribemedia</a>, briefly explains some of the thinking that went into the One Laptop Per Child computer. Though designed for children in developing countries, it got me thinking whether it would have any practical or pedagogical uses for students in higher education in developed countries. I think it's time to buy one! Well, got to have two to test the OLPC networking...Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-75034471813651192722007-11-06T12:19:00.001-05:002008-12-09T21:22:36.812-05:00OLPC starts mass production<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHLxH7lCpURF_OJJN_drTDD8MbgwSp2JJUDGJ7FHk8bsOFtkoIv_e7LJ2G8rS2I0GtjGIHs1nUOmIQ12pYlg4KA6vcSFcbInl1PeU_t3HBOLqXhygaJ540tXoQ3ZPGENNwezVoA/s1600-h/StartOfMP.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDHLxH7lCpURF_OJJN_drTDD8MbgwSp2JJUDGJ7FHk8bsOFtkoIv_e7LJ2G8rS2I0GtjGIHs1nUOmIQ12pYlg4KA6vcSFcbInl1PeU_t3HBOLqXhygaJ540tXoQ3ZPGENNwezVoA/s400/StartOfMP.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129778435751438066" /></a>Picture of the first XO-1 coming off the assembly line. Above image from the <a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Home" target="_blank">One Laptop Per Child Wiki</a>. There are some great photos in the Khairat Chronicle page, taken by Carla Gomez Monroy. Here are a few...isn't a child's smile one of the greatest things in the world!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05eow3Qy1D9ReEp5UC4BsUMLY8XNV0Tm9G2tLPvkkuto2FwSCKAG4HiGXCUNCgWsFfmAcWNK0G8zeFNoX-0rf3qds4G90UXcJspmjRqHby0eYGRJRSpKhI2qWxtvt88wIxJY_GA/s1600-h/olpc3.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj05eow3Qy1D9ReEp5UC4BsUMLY8XNV0Tm9G2tLPvkkuto2FwSCKAG4HiGXCUNCgWsFfmAcWNK0G8zeFNoX-0rf3qds4G90UXcJspmjRqHby0eYGRJRSpKhI2qWxtvt88wIxJY_GA/s400/olpc3.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129780999846913810" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3qt1DNpQk-lF92DhnxXMzXBTKNmdkI77ZNk9vagjUzl6MjBFvfBFTlf4KuxzjO4hPv5bqH9vfeSmuqLy2aCeEtft_RdorRU7AQ7HWobA9PeVa_ptKoaFRIS843-1qBlJyGlVkQ/s1600-h/olpc2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn3qt1DNpQk-lF92DhnxXMzXBTKNmdkI77ZNk9vagjUzl6MjBFvfBFTlf4KuxzjO4hPv5bqH9vfeSmuqLy2aCeEtft_RdorRU7AQ7HWobA9PeVa_ptKoaFRIS843-1qBlJyGlVkQ/s400/olpc2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5129780643364628226" /></a>Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-61837953759843033602007-10-09T20:33:00.000-04:002008-12-09T21:22:37.478-05:00Blue Snowflakes before winterNow isn't this the cutest little mic you have ever seen? It's the <a href="http://www.bluemic.com/" target="_blank">Blue</a> Snowflake. Portable, USB plug-and-play, so they say, for Macs and PCs. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxFABwKfBagZY4VDeDL7VfhLzAur6sIW_0CRmTGOhtOkwt0zW0BLpM6rBcbk_8U4t19xaf8yZokTO26Wr2XeAKpaLNoZloCwIVLb2hqKvUImnMtWa204VWdJDKM0n-Pk75WZJGg/s1600-h/blue_snowflake.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMxFABwKfBagZY4VDeDL7VfhLzAur6sIW_0CRmTGOhtOkwt0zW0BLpM6rBcbk_8U4t19xaf8yZokTO26Wr2XeAKpaLNoZloCwIVLb2hqKvUImnMtWa204VWdJDKM0n-Pk75WZJGg/s320/blue_snowflake.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5119503252795090818" /></a><br />Hopefully it will sound as nice as it looks. Available for less than $100 in a month or so. Blue's Snowball also looked nice, but it took a while to work out the bugs. Hopefully by now they have the digital experience needed to get it right the first time. This is just in time for a high-tech stocking stuffer!<br /><br /><a href="http://emusician.com/mics/personal_studio_usb_mics/" target="_blank">Electronic Musician</a> had a pretty thorough review of six USB mics last April. All the mics rated well, they "characterized the Blue Snowball as having the brightest reproduction of the bunch. It has excellent clarity, and its dual capsules, two polar patterns, and pad setting are a plus. The rear coloration in omni mode was a minor annoyance." This indicates how there is no perfect mic, you really need a "kit", depending on what you are recording. Or determine your recording setup before you buy your mic.<br /><br />If you have any mics you don't need any more, I can provide them with a good home.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-44188355362770230052007-09-20T20:41:00.000-04:002008-12-09T21:22:38.003-05:00How not to plan a successful wiki<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQdjfuPIM9DPWkP_6IYZttXvrqbBDap3oEltvR4hbSHoQ9W-PdjllqNq-MpUiEeYzvfS3h30Fn23W-h4ykVtL9r9xiemxAKttrgPvAbjnaB1r6j5HH6WRjbvLvZF8KdiDoEn_7Aw/s1600-h/IMG_1556s2.JPG.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQdjfuPIM9DPWkP_6IYZttXvrqbBDap3oEltvR4hbSHoQ9W-PdjllqNq-MpUiEeYzvfS3h30Fn23W-h4ykVtL9r9xiemxAKttrgPvAbjnaB1r6j5HH6WRjbvLvZF8KdiDoEn_7Aw/s320/IMG_1556s2.JPG.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112460545811736386" /></a>One of our professors, Manuel Lizarralde, was recently in the DCC scanning hundreds of pages of books to PDF so he could "travel light" on his trip to Peru, for a semester-away with a group of students. I had not heard of this before, and thought it was a great opportunity for the students. On the Sunday before his Thursday departure I got the idea of providing him with a digital camera and an iPod with mic, for the use of the students to capture their experiences.<br /><br /><br />I offered the idea on Monday, and he gladly accepted it. Later that night I thought of starting a wiki for their experiences and use. I ran this by Manuel on Tuesday, with a quick demo, and he agreed to try it. Manuel was too busy to learn wikitalk though, and had emailed a student, Leia Crosby, to try and contact me for some basic instruction. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCknAGxFtyppl1Hq4HEvyUMIY_t0oXNrzUC5bklgjGMoRY-qldZip35nbcNSjzyedSrl89PCzOf3VM_TUDdpMG6SPW7_MJ1OyghnYlEHsjEbqd0pddpXDOTzP7P9Jk0rXmzQWC2w/s1600-h/satawiki4.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCknAGxFtyppl1Hq4HEvyUMIY_t0oXNrzUC5bklgjGMoRY-qldZip35nbcNSjzyedSrl89PCzOf3VM_TUDdpMG6SPW7_MJ1OyghnYlEHsjEbqd0pddpXDOTzP7P9Jk0rXmzQWC2w/s400/satawiki4.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112455975966533426" /></a>I put the wiki together on Wednesday morning, and late afternoon Leia called me by cell phone, rushing between trip preparation tasks. We agreed to meet later that evening. Short on time, I spent about 35 minutes teaching her basic wikitalk. The next morning the students left the college about 7:30 am for the trip to Peru, and I came up with a logo for the wiki.<br /><br />I was not sure what to expect, but I think it has turned out pretty nice so far. Here is the <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/SATA-Peru-2007/" target="_blank">SATA (Study Away Teach Away) Peru wiki.</a><br /><br />Many of the pictures are Manuel's, but some are the students'. Almost all the entries are from the students (Manuel signs his), with Leia teaching the others basic wikitalk. Due to slow network connections from Peru, Manuel emails the images to his stateside wife, Anne, who posts them to the wiki, and usually also inserts them in the students' writings. These are totally theirs, and not edited, but they seem a little too busy for page layouts, so Anne helps out here. Below are the students, in front of their current location in Cusco.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBO1NrG-Xd08EGIeLFo5AFJDKrXF7uKCRmAfQEreLEX8Q1MdYEZyAQO9WoY19QX_wuInWf3sN24u2qBK3b0sXzDadWr5W4VdlfIMatI5ob8KJlXIiPrdGUgwi-yjV9eKcKwug4FQ/s1600-h/IMG_7102s2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBO1NrG-Xd08EGIeLFo5AFJDKrXF7uKCRmAfQEreLEX8Q1MdYEZyAQO9WoY19QX_wuInWf3sN24u2qBK3b0sXzDadWr5W4VdlfIMatI5ob8KJlXIiPrdGUgwi-yjV9eKcKwug4FQ/s400/IMG_7102s2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112460902294021970" /></a><br />We are not quite sure where this is going, but it's an exciting project. Usually we plan things in great detail to ensure success, in this case there was no opportunity. The lack of planning actually seems a positive attribute this time, as no limitations were placed on the wiki's direction and purpose, which can evolve and grow with any changing needs over time. I do wish I had a full hour to teach Leia wikitalk though!Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-26393802192486841192007-08-14T19:06:00.000-04:002008-12-09T21:22:38.137-05:00Wiki-related videosI know my posts are too long. With today's short-attention-span sound bytes they are possibly as relevant as a Jane Austen novel. WHAT, a 140-character limit in a web app, who the heck would ever use it! Bound to fail.<br /><br />I write for myself, but to satisfy those wanting, or should I say NEEDING, a short post here it is.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijOkstVrIsLJJYLJWUpar9RIDNoYHJn6DW7IM_JbTiiee8oGELQpgMRPcaz-IBxJ8cyTS4-jorS3-QvtJrwZWjnyQG740q0v5Y45yLnaCCGspVddrqWbRl9QT901gI3CP8UdqVg/s1600-h/wikiangela.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiijOkstVrIsLJJYLJWUpar9RIDNoYHJn6DW7IM_JbTiiee8oGELQpgMRPcaz-IBxJ8cyTS4-jorS3-QvtJrwZWjnyQG740q0v5Y45yLnaCCGspVddrqWbRl9QT901gI3CP8UdqVg/s320/wikiangela.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098698912792736290" /></a>Found a nice site today of <a href="http://wikiangela.com/wiki/Wiki-related_videos" target="_blank"> Wiki-related videos</a>, maintained by <a href="http://wikiangela.com/" target="_blank">WikiAngela</a>, at right, the co-founder of <a href="http://www.wikia.com/wiki/About_Wikia" target="_blank">Wikia</a>, which "is supporting the creation and development of over 3000 wiki communities in more than 70 languages. Part of the free culture movement, Wikia content is released under a free content license and operates on the Open Source MediaWiki software."<br /><br />There are all kinds of interesting links in the above URLs. We also use MediaWiki ourselves, and though we only have less than 10 wikis at this time, it's nice to know we are in such good company.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-70604829047787431882007-08-12T14:51:00.000-04:002008-12-09T21:22:38.905-05:00The institutional layer cakeI was thinking a few days ago that the most rewarding part of my position, to me, is assisting students learning. They are, after all, the customers, without which we would not have a job. And our youth provide us with the hope and opportunity that someday the world will be a better place to live in. My second most rewarding activity, in general, is to assist faculty in using appropriate technology to meet teaching goals. I now saw two "layers" to my job:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwS2cqCibUpG_0CceTiTpTbP7OeCbY8a4oXjKv1txPrJGRbHTSkP7jJwC04HqPNqtoc0Pen8W5n7Fys0ulWcplOEvgAGlDnlg62OpNGRXcF7eNReXrVMicoq4w32aBQ8BXgqivYQ/s1600-h/layer-cake1b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwS2cqCibUpG_0CceTiTpTbP7OeCbY8a4oXjKv1txPrJGRbHTSkP7jJwC04HqPNqtoc0Pen8W5n7Fys0ulWcplOEvgAGlDnlg62OpNGRXcF7eNReXrVMicoq4w32aBQ8BXgqivYQ/s400/layer-cake1b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097889470371230114" /></a><br />Then, I must admit, I got a bit carried away. I started thinking of the other layers, or major aspects, of my job and came up with the idea of a "layer cake" of major forces that affect me. This provided a more interesting visual than a stack of bricks or a pie chart, and I cooked up a rudimentary cake after an hour in Illustrator:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVqaemWaxuXMIpqw1LexI2tWW9ldH8W18ykzcF6s1ubnguGfMR5cb_rTxhjwAC-oqxFV1DNx6e_Fl1mI_29xjwaj3ObS9C-V0crkfYw6AxB3WKFbR-wObnqg_FtXgCs-Cd6U8V6Q/s1600-h/layer-cake3b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVqaemWaxuXMIpqw1LexI2tWW9ldH8W18ykzcF6s1ubnguGfMR5cb_rTxhjwAC-oqxFV1DNx6e_Fl1mI_29xjwaj3ObS9C-V0crkfYw6AxB3WKFbR-wObnqg_FtXgCs-Cd6U8V6Q/s400/layer-cake3b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097896733160927714" /></a><br />Each layer is a major factor affecting my position. The "Icing on the cake" consists of all the little perks one might like: an office with a nice view, monthly ice cream socials, a convenient parking spot, etc.<br /><br />While I was putting my cake together, I thought of adding a "Rating" scale next to each variable (from 0 for poor to 5 for great), as a prototype for an interactive Flash project. Then, as each slider is moved back and forth in its scale, the total average at the bottom would dynamically update. If one wanted to leave a scale out of the average, "Don't count" can be selected.<br /><br />I'm not sure how useful this tool would be, for someone searching for a position in this line of work, to use to compare different job situations. One way to improve it may be to include a "weight" function for each attribute, say from 0 to 10. Then, if the referenced feature, say "Salary and Benefits," was considered very important, it would be assigned a 9 or 10, and this would be appropriately factored in the total average. Each scale descriptor could also be left blank, for use as a general evaluation tool, allowing one to enter their own major job factors.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvj6f7JaEY8ygSs4KR5XBZNh7iPxPaA1Rqg0I-nteekGAuxTPI7s8Ub8SktuRZKYH9qQBNWLjhbx3Y_alRohhv_TsnromgYUXhVChMaja0KB38x58ajnfYO7bE-MWUaS29BNxgpA/s1600-h/topper.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvj6f7JaEY8ygSs4KR5XBZNh7iPxPaA1Rqg0I-nteekGAuxTPI7s8Ub8SktuRZKYH9qQBNWLjhbx3Y_alRohhv_TsnromgYUXhVChMaja0KB38x58ajnfYO7bE-MWUaS29BNxgpA/s200/topper.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5097904996678005266" /></a> When I created my illustration late at night, I put a <a href="http://us.weddingstar.com/search?category=cake_toppers" target="_blank">wedding cake topper</a> on top of the above cake! I thought if all the layers "tasted great" it was a prediction of a successful match between employer and employee. <br /><br />In the cold reality of this morning, I took the topper off. It was just a bit too cute. But one can decorate their own cake. I'm sure a smart alek will ask if you can have your cake and eat it too. The answer is yes, for what good is a cake if you can't eat it.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-29825893745961021232007-08-02T20:47:00.001-04:002008-12-09T21:22:39.547-05:00Wikimania, FLOSSE, and Cell Phones<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCt66-c_HQUFG1UMCpOVsoaHWMuVZh3_M0sJyWqt9aCMB5wJm9VjToqfYvWtNIQKdg2a7q2xRXkXrcOr_0CPBAm7jEUPXIwqJ-TI1sto_RzXvqCv6XuYK9WZo2bfrQKko0RKEB0A/s1600-h/wikimania.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCt66-c_HQUFG1UMCpOVsoaHWMuVZh3_M0sJyWqt9aCMB5wJm9VjToqfYvWtNIQKdg2a7q2xRXkXrcOr_0CPBAm7jEUPXIwqJ-TI1sto_RzXvqCv6XuYK9WZo2bfrQKko0RKEB0A/s400/wikimania.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093708474327396706" /></a>As we start new wikis for the Fall semester in our installation of MediaWiki, I spent more time learning about the open-source software. First, I created a better support structure in case I was not around. I had many pages of printouts on how to start and customize a wiki and condensed them into a wiki page on <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki/index.php/Creating_a_new_wiki" target="_blank">how to start a new wiki</a> in our own install.<br /><br />I have to refine these a bit more, and have a team member use them to start a wiki. I always receive useful feedback when others follow my initial directions, which are then improved.<br /><br />I still have to come up with a better way of automating daily backups. Right now, I'm using MySQL Administrator to copy the databases, but I'm not happy with the backup procedure of the apache documents folder. We also make a mirror of the entire drive each week with NetRestore, which can be restored to a spare computer in about 10 minutes.<br /><br />One of our CS students is attempting to implement <a href="http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Enable_TeX" target="_blank">math equation support</a>, but no success yet. This seems a difficult and less-than intuitive process, without clear instructions. If we do succeed, we'd like to document the steps to help anyone else. I had spent a fruitless day attempting to "make" textvc myself, and decided it was an ineffective use of my time to go any further. I had reached my level of incompetency, the student had the misfortune to stumble in my office to return a cable for a friend, and the rest is history...<br /><br />I was wondering where the upcoming <a href="http://wikimania2007.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page" target="_blank">Wikimania</a> was this year, and Google gave me the FLOSSE Posse link. The conference is in Taipei, a little farther for me than the one in Boston last year. I now wish I had attended it.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkcFjXs6xSIG_5CYi3rw9KM89wKRacpBC4bCkpUMh2-NZlCwAVuWRUpdiGabOCnGzXI9821ofJyhAHGMU6ctqP7s787nsVcDe8BJUT6ArReLPAxuAdapqTaVEyjCQiH3fF6VEWw/s1600-h/flosse.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqkcFjXs6xSIG_5CYi3rw9KM89wKRacpBC4bCkpUMh2-NZlCwAVuWRUpdiGabOCnGzXI9821ofJyhAHGMU6ctqP7s787nsVcDe8BJUT6ArReLPAxuAdapqTaVEyjCQiH3fF6VEWw/s400/flosse.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093706335433683282" /></a><a href="http://flosse.dicole.org" target="_blank">FLOSSE Posse</a> is a group blog from members of Free and Open Source Software Association (VOPE), carrying out reportage of FLOSS and Open Content in Education, there is some good info on the site.<br /><br />One nugget was a reference to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_building" target="_blank">Knowledge Building</a>, an activity which wikis seem to support very well. To summarize Wikipedia's entry:<br /><br />"Knowledge building refers to the process of creating new cognitive artifacts as a result of common goals, group discussions, and synthesis of ideas. These pursuits should advance the current understanding of individuals within a group, at a level beyond their initial level of knowledge, and should be directed towards advancing the understanding of what is known about that topic or idea. <br /><br />The teacher becomes a guide rather than a director and allows students to take over a significant portion of the responsibility for their own learning including planning, execution and evaluation.<br /><br />One of the hallmarks of knowledge building is a sense of we superseding the sense of I, a feeling that the group is operating collectively and not just as an assemblage of individuals."<br /><br />Another eye-opening idea I found in FLOSSE Posse is that networked communication, and the Internet, may come to third world countries via <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4706437.stm" target="_blank">cell phones</a>, and not the computer . Over 97% of Tanzanians have access to a mobile phone, though only one in 10 houses has electricity. These cell phones are becoming agents of social change, and are narrowing the "digital divide" more so than computers. This bodes well for technology like the iPhone, which enables one to do more than possible with a standard phone, and is closer to a computer. The cost of these technologies have to dramatically drop to make them affordable in third-world countries (and even in industrialized nations!). Google is now <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUSN0224207320070802" target="_blank">spending hundreds of millions</a> on it cell phone project, there seems to be a bright future in this area.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2z_CbhlWdQatua0FPWUrFws5TaJCndk97LfxGhvBXEtToebl4KzOkPXRmZnDp8rAGOX5Zg3v6ERKg1s5KVU2WfF6Hw88rmc_YEyMNzf9g-NrqLgRK0vl12FH3CaGk868rQpSHw/s1600-h/keyvis_home_03.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2z_CbhlWdQatua0FPWUrFws5TaJCndk97LfxGhvBXEtToebl4KzOkPXRmZnDp8rAGOX5Zg3v6ERKg1s5KVU2WfF6Hw88rmc_YEyMNzf9g-NrqLgRK0vl12FH3CaGk868rQpSHw/s400/keyvis_home_03.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5094073653921739122" /></a><br />There is an on-line community and a wiki at <a href="http://www.shareideas.org/index.php/Main_Page" target="_blank">Shareideas</a> on the use of mobile communications for social and environmental benefits.<br /><br />The last good link I will mention found at the FLOSSE Posse was to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources" target="_blank">Open Educational Resources</a>, educational materials and resources offered freely and openly for anyone to use and under some licenses re-mix, improve and redistribute.<br /><br />We live in an exciting time when it comes to rapidly developing networking and collaborative technologies. It's even more rewarding to use these, and see them used, to improve the way people live, communicate, and learn.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-47864082114585537112007-07-02T13:24:00.001-04:002008-12-09T21:22:40.528-05:00TSI: Videoconference with Library of Congress<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGd4RarVek7vxL8Bxflipx-YJrOCdrS5qRUUm3JgHoyuhQSkyxGJPeC0Lsv4GywpmjRcjwv9BydVTBZ-sQl4f67OCrmNQLD8jFbZMCXLVoFNRamRAb7c2_qCCWbM3P3Xx6WRiMQ/s1600-h/readingroom500.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGd4RarVek7vxL8Bxflipx-YJrOCdrS5qRUUm3JgHoyuhQSkyxGJPeC0Lsv4GywpmjRcjwv9BydVTBZ-sQl4f67OCrmNQLD8jFbZMCXLVoFNRamRAb7c2_qCCWbM3P3Xx6WRiMQ/s200/readingroom500.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077838627349115586" /></a>I think this is one TSI section that went perfectly. A couple of years ago I met Judith Graves, the Digital Project Coordinator at the Library of Congerss (LOC), at an Internet2 Spring Member Meeting. I was fascinated to learn how many resources the Library of Congress has, how many have been and are being digitized, and the variety of programs they sponsor. In addition to this, the Library of Congress also supports many <a href="http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/" target="_blank">Virtual Programs & Services</a>, one of them being live videoconferences with experts at the LOC (Link in above page). Judith had given a nice presentation at the I2 meeting on both the on-line and free videoconferencing resources at the LOC, which she coordinated.<br /><br />I faithfully saved Judith's card, and was waiting for the right opportunity to videoconference with the Library. The Tempel Summer Institute seemed an ideal venue. Most of the faculty had never participated in a videoconference, and it was a good opportunity to showcase new technologies, how we use Internet2, and the resources of the LOC and its experts. Our videoconferencing now runs on the Connecticut Education Network when connecting in-state, then switches to I2 when connecting out of state. Our own campus I2 subnet is also extremely efficient, thanks to the dedication of our network administrators. I don't want to jinx anything by stating all three networks, which have to work together, have been extremely reliable, and have never failed us when needed, so please forget I said it!<br /><br />We have a portable videoconferencing unit in the DCC which can be moved to any classroom in Blaustein, though only three have I2 connectivity for now. However, 18 months ago we also installed a better videoconferencing system in the Dilley Room, shown below, a classroom in Shain Library. Coincidentally, the equipment was funded by a grant procured by Prof. Bridget Baird, who was also one of the participants in this year's TSI.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAFIAxkKmuvJtJ79DPws_yEvrX34ZB8ImwDQG1u88OyFNfOwSAB9CA8vpx_cdyBAMeYgLgT7Ly9loY84lFvqetfofX74WRkCKT46KsK7UNQYLlld2hYj_cDU7gI8-wg_bKkweig/s1600-h/dilley3b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAFIAxkKmuvJtJ79DPws_yEvrX34ZB8ImwDQG1u88OyFNfOwSAB9CA8vpx_cdyBAMeYgLgT7Ly9loY84lFvqetfofX74WRkCKT46KsK7UNQYLlld2hYj_cDU7gI8-wg_bKkweig/s400/dilley3b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5082663717146164130" /></a><br />This is our only "professional level" facility, with two cameras and two large plasma monitors, so we decided to use it with the LOC. The room is small, but well-laid out for 16 participants sitting around three sides of a large table, with clear sight lines to both the far-end monitor and any data projection used at either end. In the above photo, the 6-foot screen displays the computer at either end, and the far end participants are viewed in the center plasma display. This 42" monitor is considerably bigger than apparent, the photo is distorted by a wide-angle lens. The left-hand wall-mounted 50" monitor is used when the teacher is at our college, and simultaneously teaching students both at our end and at the far end. In these cases, our instructor sits or stands to the left of the projection screen, facing our class. We then use the large monitor on the right to display the far end class, this is easily viewed by the instructor.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9fgmoFBGECjZYdygvGRJmtlaa4IcElvki1aLH3ubjxURvCJUQ9Td90iQ71TXd2j8ewMj5kqvvT4snWWhoMcPFuUSX2uAd6AX0iNAwdh7hK5R6tsVb1Us1YqTFnelDeqQtanB4Q/s1600-h/dilley2b.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9fgmoFBGECjZYdygvGRJmtlaa4IcElvki1aLH3ubjxURvCJUQ9Td90iQ71TXd2j8ewMj5kqvvT4snWWhoMcPFuUSX2uAd6AX0iNAwdh7hK5R6tsVb1Us1YqTFnelDeqQtanB4Q/s200/dilley2b.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077861257531798274" /></a> Our primary camera is mounted such that the far end can clearly see all of our 16 participants, without panning, as shown in this image. The Dilley Room was not originally designed to videoconference, and it took a lot of experimentation and effort to get equipment locations and sight lines worked out. We ended up actually mocking up working camera and monitor locations, as a few degrees and inches either way made a difference. <br /><br />About 8 weeks before the videoconference (VC) date we preferred I contacted Judith by email, and filled out the on-line form requesting a videoconference. Judith was flexible enough to develop a custom program for us: a half-hour demonstration of a few of the many Library of Congress assets and services that may be relevant and useful to us, and a half-hour of Q&A with our faculty. A month before the videoconference I ran a one-hour connectivity test with the LOC's technician, Donald Blake. I always run at least one test before a videoconference. If I have never connected to the other end-point, the test is for the duration of the future videoconference. The test went without a hitch. We often leave our VC units on all the time, so I asked Donald to dial in for a short period a day or two before the conference, to check connectivity. Judith also had asked me to send some information along on the TSI faculty's interests and courses, to gear the presentation to their fields.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJOw10DKyQj9mr4UPi7mQGrGMCGwiO-WP5uuVbF292MO5PL90kiTIS6igSsT09YHfO995XJf2r0G9YCXnj9CjW6xwYe0ECasg7LIPC2v4cuiPpo3-quRIuYcchzWMe7J250ASLg/s1600-h/legacyth.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlJOw10DKyQj9mr4UPi7mQGrGMCGwiO-WP5uuVbF292MO5PL90kiTIS6igSsT09YHfO995XJf2r0G9YCXnj9CjW6xwYe0ECasg7LIPC2v4cuiPpo3-quRIuYcchzWMe7J250ASLg/s320/legacyth.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5078215347520582418" /></a>The videoconference itself went great. Along with Judith, Laura Gottesman (Digital Reference Specialist) and Sheridan Harvey (Women's Studies Specialist) participated from the Library of Congress. They all had taken time to research a bit of information on Connecticut College, New London, and some of the faculty's interests. This information was interwoven throughout their presentation, between general LOC facts and resources, and lent a personal note to the videoconference. The half hour of presentation and half hour of Q&A were not consecutive, but also interspersed, allowing for a more informal and friendly atmosphere. The LOC staff came across as pleasant, with good communication skills, and worked very well together.<br /><br />We had a very good network connection so there was very little latency, or delay, in both of our audiovisual signals. This resulted in a more natural experience than in many videoconferences, where there are awkward slight pauses at the end of each sentence. You never know if they far end is done speaking, or if they are going to start talking again as soon as you start to say something! This leads to an experience that is not quite as transparent as "being there", which is always one of my goals in producing a videoconference.<br /><br />Thanks to Judith and her colleagues, our network folks, Internet2, and the Connecticut Education Network, our videoconference with the Library of Congress was thoroughly enjoyed by our faculty, and was one of the highlights of the week.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-5264410097204408882007-06-26T22:40:00.001-04:002008-12-09T21:22:41.576-05:00TSI: Internet2<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2T6Zu2n5gZ_E9HQ40VU1Tz4CcTaxCDMzTHtTFiCKWPCmXzua8Xz0CRpsETjPfApAN1JYiAif2_jV70SXMFUrQoEpm4VWx-zV9LOEtuo-oErtmK6NYBzOvFWAkG2fR8WWBEYagA/s1600-h/I2logo2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2T6Zu2n5gZ_E9HQ40VU1Tz4CcTaxCDMzTHtTFiCKWPCmXzua8Xz0CRpsETjPfApAN1JYiAif2_jV70SXMFUrQoEpm4VWx-zV9LOEtuo-oErtmK6NYBzOvFWAkG2fR8WWBEYagA/s200/I2logo2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077455932878140050" /></a>Two tasks I was assigned during TSI were a 20-minute presentation on Internet2, which we have been connected to for almost two years, and organizing a videoconference with the Library of Congress (LOC). I had prepared for my I2 overview in a section in our <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki/index.php/Internet2" target="_blank"> wiki</a>. Every major topic in this wiki realistically needs a frequent update, however, we often can't get to it unless necessary. Then it's an opportunity to entirely review and update the page topic, cut out obsolete information and links, add new information and links, and organize the page better. We keep an eye out for the specific use at hand, but also try to develop information adequate for a general overview. With technology changing and evolving every week, a wiki is a good tool for constantly updating and reorganizing information.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zWip4zK8DvZe1Yfj11S-SAKZm6nfCe7Oo2Np1HFwCq8QiUmhw1DHoF1aVcKLA1FWyzZaNYJvpBWJs9l6HK5rLEvfJPGoRjWe-v0TiDMIvSzbBN7tH70ANj4T64CahsAPCGz81Q/s1600-h/wiki.png"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zWip4zK8DvZe1Yfj11S-SAKZm6nfCe7Oo2Np1HFwCq8QiUmhw1DHoF1aVcKLA1FWyzZaNYJvpBWJs9l6HK5rLEvfJPGoRjWe-v0TiDMIvSzbBN7tH70ANj4T64CahsAPCGz81Q/s400/wiki.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077436601230340706" /></a>There are hundreds or thousands of links available on the web for every conceivable computer and information based technology, especially for Web 2.0 and Social Software. I have decided it's better in our wiki to just briefly explain the technology, and link to a few major examples, than to try and develop a comprehensive "encyclopedia of links" or detailed descriptions. Too much information usually results in eyes glazing over, at best, and total inattention at worst. Thus, when we target a general wiki page to an academinc audience, we judiciously try to find a few best representative examples of the relevant technology, and simplify explanations as much as possible. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGcNRMvA6OeElH-HhoJapWgvg0KW1h5FbgwGQR0OqH2yT-zoER15LKqw8C9RETSmnumJzPupW6PFkfJf-l3hJZCrzwyF7PxzNlf9ewZLZp_QOWW9_WrsDhWq-beBG-aix9RBJTg/s1600-h/openculture2.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGcNRMvA6OeElH-HhoJapWgvg0KW1h5FbgwGQR0OqH2yT-zoER15LKqw8C9RETSmnumJzPupW6PFkfJf-l3hJZCrzwyF7PxzNlf9ewZLZp_QOWW9_WrsDhWq-beBG-aix9RBJTg/s200/openculture2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077447351533482610" /></a>We do crucially need those handy "encyclopedias of links" but other folks, like <a href="http://www.oculture.com/" target="_blank">openculture</a>, do such a comprehensive and timely job, it would be foolish to try to duplicate their efforts.<br /><br />For some wiki topics, we are migrating towards a "two-tiered" approach for presenting information explaining different technologies. The distilled concepts and examples at the top, and any further details, links and examples at lower levels. This has not yet evolved into a visually distinct layout. The beginnings of this might be in our TSI Internet2 wiki page, linked to from above. I wrote up new basic fundamentals, uploaded some images, and then copied and pasted information from the older page sections, now shown below the three horizontal ruled lines. The entire page is a bit of a mess now, but the portion above the three lines is fine, and ready for a presentation. I do have to go back and clean up underneath this. It just shows how a wiki is often a constant, never-ending work in progress!<br /><br />It took me 3 hours to revise our I2 page, and prepare it, and myself, for the 20 minute presentation that was scheduled. Unfortunately, the session on copyright, preceding mine, ran over by 20 minutes, there was no time for my I2 presentation, and it could not be rescheduled. Luckily, I had already shown and demonstrated our 47"-LCD I2 Cart during the faculty's earlier tour of the DCC. I had shown our contantly streaming I2 outbound MPEG2 VBrick video stream. The source is a multi-caddy DVD player. I had demonstrated incoming MEPG2 video stream reception over I2, and easily connected our H.323 Polycom videoconferencing unit to a videoconferencing classroom at Trinity College. So, at least some of the practical applications of I2 were demonstrated, though we did not have a chance to go over its history and a more comprehensive overall view.<br /><br />But, I'll be ready for next time!Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-75177946085720168282007-06-22T12:47:00.001-04:002008-12-09T21:22:42.247-05:00TSI: Podcasting<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpa5AIvjyTLXPZZDrg-VAoL7CGvA0tiR4xVsJxRlJsR-yJTzh5Rb53sS6PF_50-j9VC6yos7FonLobbr-CrDuZXiB5QqviUTbqBPkPPkJ4ZFPbRmEi0I6d8BQGtDpCb-kFFXAskw/s1600-h/headset.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpa5AIvjyTLXPZZDrg-VAoL7CGvA0tiR4xVsJxRlJsR-yJTzh5Rb53sS6PF_50-j9VC6yos7FonLobbr-CrDuZXiB5QqviUTbqBPkPPkJ4ZFPbRmEi0I6d8BQGtDpCb-kFFXAskw/s200/headset.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076366175121093170" /></a> We had the challenge of having faculty record, compress and create an audio podcast in about 70 minutes. Most of them had no previous audio recording experience. One thing I have realized is that, when comes to instruction time required, you can only be as fast as your "slowest student", unless you decide to leave them behind. This we don't like to do, of course. I mean "slow" in relation to production speed, not intelligence, of course.<br /><br /> We decided to use the Plantronics DSP500 Headsets for microphones. These work well with both Macs and PCs, and are recognized by both platforms without having to install any drivers. We have three at the library circulation desk, where students can check them out for recording real-time voiceovers in their iMovie, Final Cut Express, and GarageBand projects, one in the DCC, and nine in Marisa's Foreign Language Lab, as they work well with Wimba.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HSuJmf9XrZxekbJCmwGOp9QLI7aXFCaybLLYjZxAM0eOMVq18JBbJy7hunc2TMhTLIieyymN_Wa2e3mOMhIHnSP9DDLoXN-NIro0xZaWjHBvtwxTJ97fSGj8kGQaOz3gqI7T0w/s1600-h/Audacity.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_HSuJmf9XrZxekbJCmwGOp9QLI7aXFCaybLLYjZxAM0eOMVq18JBbJy7hunc2TMhTLIieyymN_Wa2e3mOMhIHnSP9DDLoXN-NIro0xZaWjHBvtwxTJ97fSGj8kGQaOz3gqI7T0w/s320/Audacity.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076369250317677122" /></a>Originally I was going to use QuickTime Player Pro (QTPP) for recording, as all the computers in our teaching labs have it. QTPP can also be used to trim the audio and compress it before uploading to a podcast. Then I thought we would use QTPP just to record, and import the file in iTunes for compression, as iTunes has a great free compression engine, and can compress to mp3 or mp4. It was an opportunity to teach faculty how to use it. At the last minute, however, I decided to use <a href="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank"> Audacity</a> for recording, editing, and compressing. Keeping production in only one program meant a simpler, faster workflow. In addition, Audacity introduces the concept of audio as a visual waveforms, and allows for much more editing power than does QTPP.<br /><br />More and more individuals want to create using their own computers lately, as opposed to going to a specialized lab. Audacity has the advantage that it is free, works almost the same on Windows and Macs, and is a fairly powerful, but easy to learn, entry-level audio editor. This makes instruction and support much easier. I had used Audacity only once, months earlier. It took me about 10 hours to learn enough about the program to teach its basics, install it on 12 computers, and write up some usage directions.<br /><br />In addition to installing Audacity and the LAME library as an admin, some configuration has to be performed at the local user level. I have had previous experiences with long periods of time devoted just to configure software and hardware before any work is done. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_xfbe0cnBGTfx78L9lpjKCmAP9x-3ACcTFPpTE8GTvg6OXxWYEdgzhC6TcMtTUK8bExf3BTbP5H-MkwKrse_ng8LDqOJEBJOL7B5ZrrxqwR4RwDOnZgFSM_FdkJ1h4XUNTws9w/s1600-h/lame.gif"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP_xfbe0cnBGTfx78L9lpjKCmAP9x-3ACcTFPpTE8GTvg6OXxWYEdgzhC6TcMtTUK8bExf3BTbP5H-MkwKrse_ng8LDqOJEBJOL7B5ZrrxqwR4RwDOnZgFSM_FdkJ1h4XUNTws9w/s200/lame.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5076373167327851090" /></a>Thus, I decided to pre-configure everything required for each individual user account the day before instruction. I asked the faculty to leave themselves logged into their workstations while away at lunch. This gave me enough time to connect the Plantronics headset, have the computer recognize it for the first time, and set the Control Panel Audio Preferences to use it as both the recording and playback device. I also selected the Plantronics as the recording device in the Audacity preferences, and linked the program to the LAME library. This only has to be done once for each user account. I thought we might run out of time at the end, so I preselected a compression setting of 32 kbps in Audacity. I also opened iTunes and QTPP for the first time, as there is a little extra time and effort involved with the original initialization. Having all the computers pre-configured saved a lot of time the next day during the actual teaching, everything was plug and play, and just worked!<br /><br />Of course, we had accidentally logged off one computer at lunchtime the day before, and I had forgotten to configure it. So, we did have to futz a bit with one after instruction started. A small glitch, but it would have been hell if we had to configure 10 of them!<br /><br />I divided the Podcasting instruction into four distinct parts: 1. Quick Tech Overview, 2. Recording and Editing, 3. Compression and Export, and 4. Uploading to the Podcast Server. I find it useful to prepare my lesson plans in our <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki/index.php/Podcasting_Presentation" target="_blank"> wiki</a>. This allows me to "build it as I go" and make fast changes from any computer. It enables other people to see it and comment on it before instruction. I also project it while teaching, to help keep me on track, and allow any stragglers and confused people an opportunity to catch up.<br /><br />I had previously drawn the <a href="http://video.conncoll.edu/tempel/podcasting3.pdf" target="_blank"> Podcasting Workflow</a> on a large whiteboard at the head of the classroom, and quickly went through in in about 5 minutes.<br /><br />All in all, the rest of the instruction went pretty smoothly. However, I again suffered a bit in my time management, and did not have time to explain how to amplify a weak waveform. This was not in the instructions, but, while teaching, I realized I should mention it. It was not a major omission, though, as we had already gone over how to record a "healthy" waveform.<br /><br />At 11:55 am, with 5 minutes to go, everyone had an mp3 sitting in their computer. I had previoulsy prepared an empty podcast for every faculty member on our <a href="http://video.conncoll.edu/weblog/" target="_blank"> Podcast Server</a>. I had already developed instructions on <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki/index.php/Uploading_to_your_Podcast" target="_blank"> uploading</a> for a student trip to Brazil. This final portion of the class went nice and smooth, and by 12:05 everyone was listening to their podcast in iTunes. Success!<br /><br />Tech note: While we used Audacity to compress to mp3 for instruction, our usual workflow up to now has been to compress to mp4 with iTunes. This takes a bit longer and involves more steps. Audacity can only compress to mp3. We will reassess our compression recommendations, but mp3 and mp4 files can coexist fine in the same podcast. We will still continue to use other audio editing programs, such as Pro Tools LE, GarageBand, and Soundtrack Pro, when more powerful features are needed.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-60506787421259093492007-06-20T15:08:00.001-04:002008-12-09T21:22:42.804-05:00TSI: iPodsThe iPod class was an optional afternoon class, and 4 faculty signed up. This was promoted as a beginner's class. Some faculty already had iPods, and justifiably did not attend. I wanted complete kits for all 4 participants, but only had two, so I borrowed from my team members and from our "new pool". To the left, below, is our complete "iPod Kit".<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURj9X-Qixl7BXMUlaTWqFf6EpXzzOXWikx-JtZpqZenFYm6P-cb3WSdMdzcASt-WbQQRXaiTy4JQN05DHF4NqwDOj3kJ5u6Y5RzRzk6_66cwVYyapEoM07mgTV7g_WRnOCh6jNA/s1600-h/podcastkitB.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURj9X-Qixl7BXMUlaTWqFf6EpXzzOXWikx-JtZpqZenFYm6P-cb3WSdMdzcASt-WbQQRXaiTy4JQN05DHF4NqwDOj3kJ5u6Y5RzRzk6_66cwVYyapEoM07mgTV7g_WRnOCh6jNA/s400/podcastkitB.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075930523703357922" /></a><br />It includes: 30 GB iPod, iPod case, iPod-to-USB cable, earbuds, AC adapter, Belkin TuneTalk mic, Belkin mic-to-USB cable, written list of kit contents (to help ensure everything is returned), and printed instructions from our wiki, on <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki/index.php/Recording_Voice_Memos_and_Audio" target="_blank"> Recording Voice Memos and Audio</a> <br /><br />I had prepared the one-hour program beforehand and outlined it in our team <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki/index.php/IPods" target="_blank"> wiki</a>. This was displayed on the classroom's LCD projector, alternating between it and iTunes, when appropriate. I had distributed a set of full headphones with each iPod Kit, I prefer them to earbuds for the purpose of instruction. Each faculty member had an iPod Kit, the headphones, and a computer with the latest copy of iTunes.<br /><br />Unfortunately, my time management again suffered a bit. I had alloted an hour for instruction, and we had to leave the classroom for another use after the hour. I had placed an audio CD at each computer, and wanted to put the faculty through the process of importing a track in iTunes, and then moving it to their iPod. We ran out of time for this, so I just spoke about how it is done. We did have time to record a voice memo with the Belkin mic, and move it from the iPod to iTunes, which is probably more important. <br /><br />I also did not have time to explain the differences between Mac and PC formatting, how to use the iPod hard drive as a storage device (though this is fairly self-explanatory), and explain a bit better what I consider to be the "heart" of iTunes, its compression engine controlled in the Preferences. <br /><br />However, the faculty felt the class was very useful. None had any experience with iPods before, we covered most of the important features and procedures, and 95% of the program. The podcasting aspects were to be covered at a later class, attended by all faculty, so they were not addressed.<br /><br /><B>EQUIPMENT NOTES</B><br /><br />We had previously tested three iPod mics: the Belkin, the MicroMemo, and the Griffin iTalk, and found the Belkin to provide the best quality. This was determined not only by listening tests, but also by comparing the recorded audio waveforms. The Belkin recorded at a slightly higher volume than the MicroMemo, this is important as often the speaker is further from the mic than the optimal 1-3 feet. The Griffin recorded at the same sensitivity as the Belkin, but had a higher internal noise level, see below (click to enlarge).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAEZuPO1mr-nVzItkapeSNLopumaFVjzQYA-eUHs1_b461ouFfHO7tejF63asMNFmoioOUpk939AOoiIOg5HhgHmRsVehfBPXa3RDg2CebcdL2lgNCcN4xD7XC-VmgzS5Qp-eIg/s1600-h/griffin-belkin.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcAEZuPO1mr-nVzItkapeSNLopumaFVjzQYA-eUHs1_b461ouFfHO7tejF63asMNFmoioOUpk939AOoiIOg5HhgHmRsVehfBPXa3RDg2CebcdL2lgNCcN4xD7XC-VmgzS5Qp-eIg/s400/griffin-belkin.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075961451762856450" /></a><br />These tests were conducted when each model first came out. They probably need to be conducted again, as manufacturers often tweak their products over time. Any of the three models will provide adequate quality for plain voice recording if you are a few feet from the mic.<br /><br />The Belkin has a useful additional feature: a built-in USB port and included USB cable. This can provide power to the mic and iPod, to extend the recording time beyone the usual 3 hours or so, and can be connected to either a computer or AC adapter. This cable can also be used to synchronize the iPod to a computer.<br /><br />I found some nice plastic boxes at AC Moore, seen in the first image. You get two, a larger one and a smaller one, for $2.99. The larger one is just the right size for our iPod Kit, and the smaller one is a good size for our Samson AL1/AM1 Wireless Mic Kit. This is shown at the right in the above image. The wireless receiver connects to the Belkin Tune-Talk, which is connected to the iPod, and the mic/transmitter can be clipped to the speaker. Then, no matter where in the room the speaker is, a good signal is recorded to the iPod.<br /><br />We usually set up the levels in the wireless transmiter/receiver beforehand for faculty, with a small included plastic screwdriver. We do need to write up and include some simple usage instructions in our kits.<br /><br />Often faculty come in and ask for a portable speaker to use with their iPods, to play back audio selections to their class. We were very happy with the JBL On Stage, which has a nifty remote that controls the iPod as an optional accessory. However, the JBL needs to be plugged into an AC outlet, and we wanted a truly portable but inexpensive system. After much research, we settled on the $100 Altec Lansing inMotion, shown below. It is battery powered, and comes with all the different iPod adapters, but we usually just stick our iPods in it without one. The volume is only moderately loud, but is adequate for a class of 30 or 40 students. I don't think any of the small portable systems provide actual "hi-fi" quality, but they are fine for non-critical audio and music sharing.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6DiP3lDwa1_zmD6D9R01sj17dNeIx8b4BjThBRKnG1Onrf6KN7sfh8-NFnNT0sIrWVAs2UEzsc3hUmMENi6SQrYvXyXpixNm4Agfmux-INf6GwuBGt2bIYgjugr0Y7X_wkQPwQ/s1600-h/speakersB.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim6DiP3lDwa1_zmD6D9R01sj17dNeIx8b4BjThBRKnG1Onrf6KN7sfh8-NFnNT0sIrWVAs2UEzsc3hUmMENi6SQrYvXyXpixNm4Agfmux-INf6GwuBGt2bIYgjugr0Y7X_wkQPwQ/s400/speakersB.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075957848285295090" /></a><br /><br />There must be 70 different protective cases available for the iPod, we like the Marware and Body Glove products in the $20-30 range, but there are other good manufacturers. These models are changing all the time. For those on a tight budget, there are several $10 "soft sleeve" products available.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28836791.post-37141142500358199892007-06-19T16:19:00.001-04:002008-12-09T21:22:43.591-05:00TSI: Blogs and WikisIn the past, we were able to get through both the wiki and blogging instructions in one hour for each, which is what we scheduled for this workshop. This assumes no experience with either technology on the part of faculty attendees, which has proven to be a common situation so far. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPccHvI_0oLwFhdOBLY6IdTeY0jqQHJJ-YspB3EDT-MdtL4nq-1xCQuSmQc4LwtQVZ7sWuPOD8I0PgRVlwr6XCR-ahoFP4AHMtGy_movodG8zWM7k63k8qH2F-DK3wu9CN0tfBA/s1600-h/blogger.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPccHvI_0oLwFhdOBLY6IdTeY0jqQHJJ-YspB3EDT-MdtL4nq-1xCQuSmQc4LwtQVZ7sWuPOD8I0PgRVlwr6XCR-ahoFP4AHMtGy_movodG8zWM7k63k8qH2F-DK3wu9CN0tfBA/s400/blogger.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075605205700489634" /></a>For blogging, we decided to use Blogger. We have not used blogging much at Connecticut College for direct course support, and have not finalized a "priority features" list. I think this is best developed through actual experience, which we will soon have. We have studied and evaluated major features of the more popular blogging tools, and have anticipated some potential requirements. But you can never be certain what features are needed, and important, until you get into real-life situations. We will be conducting a more thorough evalutation of major blogging solutions this summer.<br /><br />In our opinion, Blogger was a good tool to start with. It is very reliable, and has low maintenance and instruction overhead. Blogger blogs can be archived to the desktop, as they are just web pages, and then uploaded to a local web server to indefinitely preserve someone's work. <a href="http://drexel-coas-elearning.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> Jean-Claude Bradley</a> has successfully used Blogger for a long time for course support. Thus, while there are other good blogging tools available, we felt comfortable starting with this one. Blogger is also constantly adding new features, they are now testing direct video uploads in<a href="http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"> Blogger in draft</a>. You automatically get the advantages of these without having to upgrade local servers. <br /><br />The past two times we taught Blogger, the first 10 minutes were wasted waiting for everyone to log in for their first time. So, for "homework" we asked participants to create a Google account the day before the blogging class, if they did not have one or a Gmail account. This was a big help in moving things along. The previous times we taught Blogger, an hour was enough to cover the basics of starting a blog, creating one Post, and uploading an image to the sidebar and to a post.<br /><br />However, the one hour was accomplished without any "sidebars" and with a minimum of answering questions. This time around, we decided to allow for these, and one hour was not enough. There were many justifiable concerns in controlling reading, posting and commenting permissions. We still have to study all the available options for this in Blogger. An hour and a half is a more reasonable expectation of the time needed to cover Blogger, especially if uploading of images and basic Templates instruction is included. Our overall schedule allowed for some flexibility, and we were able to shuffle it to allow for this.<br /><br />Shortly before the end of my Blogger instruction, the demo computer froze up, as I probably had too many web pages (both in IE and Firefox) and applications open. I'm usually very careful to either reboot or log in and out before teaching, but this time I forgot! Prof. Stephen Loomis came in for 10 minutes, and gave some good examples of how to use blogs while I recovered the computer. In the meantime our team was also in process of changing our teaching schedule WHILE I was teaching, as I was obviously running into the time allotted for wiki instruction.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzAF2-_ui-ybdXxebwZ1djx98EUom_kbyXLIdG8jUBYWtPneYRWYwB1OGzu6FGyDsZmdnc9G1DTs117Dfzjlywhod10smY9p0QXTGOgzkfAUzSc9MiNlvXAg_4r9_72Y5KY6CDg/s1600-h/NoisesOff.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDzAF2-_ui-ybdXxebwZ1djx98EUom_kbyXLIdG8jUBYWtPneYRWYwB1OGzu6FGyDsZmdnc9G1DTs117Dfzjlywhod10smY9p0QXTGOgzkfAUzSc9MiNlvXAg_4r9_72Y5KY6CDg/s200/NoisesOff.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5077490511659840178" /></a>So I felt a bit disorganized at the end, and was unable to provide a nice and neat conclusion. There was now an empty 25 minute period after my presentation and before lunch (not enough time for wiki instruction!), and Marisa gratefully (and gracefully) jumped in and gave a polished presentation on Wimba, which was to be given later. Things looked like a bit of a mess from backstage, probably only to me, and later the experience reminded me of a non-sexual IT version of<a href="http://www.curtainup.com/noisesoff.html" target="_blank"> Noises Off</a>, which I had seen and laughed at years earlier. However, my team ad-libbed with talent and gusto, and I understand the faculty thought the morning went pretty well! <br /><br />That night, I wrote up a "Blogging Wrap-up" in <a href="http://nutmeg.conncoll.edu/wiki2/" target="_blank">WIKI 2</a>, our dedicated instruction wiki, which is customized to the instruction task at hand. Some of the faculty had asked where and how to find blogs, so we created a few links and hints. In my experience, it's best not to initially provide too much information when teaching technology, it's just overwhelming to average faculty. One or two, or just a few, good examples are all that are usually needed. We always stress to please contact us for more information and support. I spent a few minutes the next day going over the wrap-up, and felt much better after that! <br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrkI5-2mtD5FAHkDDdaFjONyrO0Umg2SlPgz6eIxA7IipsJiXqseh1HvRTgalvEPDla9K5-GaOtwEfJJ9F2M18i6Axf0MR-G-YyktRu5v_Lti_9JcTr2Ctn6TKH7SEfaGKZX55A/s1600-h/wiki2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMrkI5-2mtD5FAHkDDdaFjONyrO0Umg2SlPgz6eIxA7IipsJiXqseh1HvRTgalvEPDla9K5-GaOtwEfJJ9F2M18i6Axf0MR-G-YyktRu5v_Lti_9JcTr2Ctn6TKH7SEfaGKZX55A/s400/wiki2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5075596181974200706" /></a> We decided to use MediaWiki as our course support wiki software for the coming school year. Here again, there are other wiki packages, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_software" target="_blank">literally hundreds </a> of them now! But we already have 5 or 6 wikis in MediaWiki, and believe it adequate for the anticipated tasks. <br /><br />I think our main concerns are MediaWiki's ability to authenticate against our LDAP, which we have not yet implemented, its scalabiliy (how well will it support hundreds of wikis?), and ability to set granular permissions. That is, to have different read/write privileges for each page if necessary. Inter-wiki linking would be a useful feature to have. There also is no easy GUI admin functionality, as in a commercial package like Confluence. So, while using MediaWiki, we will be evaluating other wiki solutions in the coming year.<br /><br />For wiki instruction, we created an account for each faculty member and teaching staff, and a link to their empty page, in WIKI2. This allowed everyone to go to a different page, with edit privileges, for the purpose of instruction. This consisted of stepping faculty through the wikitalk examples in "Wiki Help" in the sidebar, leaving out Commenting, Messaging, and Table of Contents. We had faculty upload an image that we pre-installed on their computer, and had them embed it in a wiki page.<br /><br />The wiki instruction took about an hour and a half. We spent some time teaching faculty how to change the font color using <span> tags. Not everyone got this, and in the future I think it's better to leave any html out of instruction. The purpose of the wiki is to make it easy for anyone, novice or experienced, to author and edit web pages, not to provide the ultimate control you get with html and css. We had kept wikitalk simple in the past, and will probably return to this approach.<br /><br />Aside from that, the wiki instruction went pretty smooth. One of the faculty had asked for a Glossary of Web 2.0 and Social Software acronyms and definitions. We though this would be a good wiki excercise they could work on themselves. We started a Glossary page, but did not have the time to develop it as an instruction tool for faculty, and ended up starting to fill it out ourselves.<br /><br />Several faculty asked for wikis for future courses, and we will be able to copy and paste any information already entered in WIKI2 to their new wiki. Our lesson learned was not to try to cover an overview of Web 2.0 and Social Software, Blogging instruction, and Wiki instruction, all in the same morning, if you also want to allow time for questions and discussions.Frank Fulchierohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12026652638417088085noreply@blogger.com0