Category: Web/Tech

Retooling

First Published on: Oct 31, 2011

Time to retool. I just installed a new iMac in my lab with a new color laser printer. How things have changed from my TRS-80 RadioShack computer and “dumb” terminal days!

Almost ready to migrate my personal MacBook Pro to Mac OS X Lion. So much to learn…

I am fortunate this year to have an unusually talented group of bright, young, fun, and eager-to-learn student assistants. Just had my office dual-operating-system Mac Laptop (OS X 10.6 and Windows 7) reinstalled with Carroll software. Have been playing with an iPad and a Kindle. Gearing up for teaching the Research Seminar next semester (hope I get a few students!), and most importantly, just sharpened a new box of pencils and added to them extended erasers! Some needed school supplies never change!

Time to revisit. I see that Jane Hart is about to announce the final polling results of her Top-Tools-for-Learning  List. Always worth revisiting, so I examined each of the 100 tools listed and will be directing my research assistants to a subset of them before I “cast my vote.” For me, the critical questions are:

  1. Will mastering this tool increase the likelihood that I will become a more effective teacher?
  2. Which of these tools will enhance my research and my research communication capabilities?
  3. Which of these tools do I want all my students to know how to use? (Which are best for freshmen versus seniors?)
  4. Which of these tools will be around in the next four years?
  5. Which of these tools best serves me in my nonacademic role as a partner at Schneider Consulting?
  6. Among subsets of tool types, which best serve my needs?
  7. How much learning time do I or my students need to invest to use these tools?
  8. Are these tools portable across the browsers I most frequently use?
  9. Are these tools portable across the hardware I most frequently use and am about to explore?
  10. How much of the attractiveness of these tools to me is due to their “wow factor” and the fun they engender?

Stay tuned.

David in Carroll Land: Liz, Amy, and DumbleDave Explore ExamTime

David

Examtime is a relatively new (beta) version piece of software which has interesting potential for students and teachers. Here is a relatively recent Lifehacker review.

by dsimpson

Here is an example of a fun “quiz” I made. I included multiple choice, True/False, and multiple response check-list formats. It was easy to upload images. I’d like to see the capability to include html code, videos, and hypertext links.
by dsimpson

Here is a silly example of flash cards:
by dsimpson
Here is some feedback I received from two of my research assistants, Liz and Amy:
Amy

Liz
ExamTime is an education tool used to make mind maps, quizzes, and notecards. The application also allows you to take notes and build schedules for studying. ExamTime is a great place to for students and educators to collaborate and share information. The application is currently in a beta version and is a free tool.

To explore the features of ExamTime I made a mind map, notecards, and a quiz. Of the three, the most time was spent on the mind map, which was the most extensive of the three. I found the ability to personalize the mind map very appealing. ExamTime allows you to make the map as linear or randomized as you wish. Other features include, the ability to add notes or pictures within the mind map and to customize the shapes and colors to make the map visually appealing. This tool is an exceptional addition to classrooms, educators, and students of all ages. For example, 100 level language students could use ExamTime flashcards to study vocabulary, make a mind map for verb-conjugation practice and quizzes for cultural integration.

Things I especially liked. On the surface, the application is very simple, but has many features. I particularly like the ability to create quizzes to share with friends for studying together. I also love that after creating a mind map, with a simple click you can transfer the information into notes. Additionally, you can add videos, links, photos, and slideshows to a note. Not only does this application have a significant number of options for studying, it is very user friendly and allows members to organize a large pool of information quickly and easily.

Things in Need of Improvement. When making an extensive mind map, there is a set amount of space available, so running out of room can be a concern with this application. Another struggle is perfectly matching the color and shapes of nodes so the final product looks polished and professional. Additionally, hypertext links cannot be added to the information which can limit some types of information sharing.

What are your experiences with Examtime? How does it compare with other similar software?

OMG: Twittering (Reconsidered)

Several years ago I pontificated the value of my using Twitter. At that time I  came to the conclusion that Twitter  was not a useful tool for me. Much of my current thinking
has benefitted from my reading or rereading several books (listed
below), my having participated in Carroll Technology Fellows group discussions,
and my developing with six student research assistants a new course ("Pioneering Virtual European Immersion
Experiences"). I also have found value in revisiting some resources I discovered such as this classic tutorial by the consummate visionary, teacher, and proselytizer, Jane Hart.

 

        Books that have shaped my thinking:

  1. Michelle Pakansky-Brock's Best Pracices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies. She writes well and thoughtfully, recognizes the limits of technology tools and offers a well-reasoned set of criteria for deciding which tools to integrate into the classroom. She is definitely someone I find value in "following"—so I do!

Susan Manning and Kevin E. Johnson's The Technology Toolbelt for Teaching. This book provides a useful decision matrix for choosing among and using the "right" technology teaching tool. As a result of having studies this book, I now have a better understanding of some situations where Twitter can be helpful to me in my teaching and scholarship.

  1. Deltina Hay's A Survival Guide to Social Media and Web 2.0 Optimization. This book, though not written by a a teacher or for teachers,  provides a very pragmatic guide to maximizing the benefits of Web 2.0 tools. I found the CD of links particulary instructive.
  2. Paul McFedries' twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets. Though somewhat outdated, this book successfully provided me with helpful, lucid details on mastering features of Twitter of which I was totally unaware.

Now if I can only divine my message to Pope Benedict XVI to 140 characters or less.

 

Internet Detritus and Wabi-sabi

A few years ago a Carroll trustee remarked to me that he wondered how much Internet detritus has accumulated (unused email accounts, abandoned web pages, forgotten electronic projects). Jim's musing about this lost virtual space recently returned to me while I was attending a Carroll Technology Fellows' meeting. We were being introduced to wikispaces and it dawned on me that I not only had an account there, but I also had abandoned accounts on four other wiki hosts which I had explored intermittently since 2007: pbwiki, wetpaint,
twiki, and jotspot. That embarrassing realization in turn led me to revisit Woods and Thoeny's (2007) Wiki's for Dummies, revisit all my prior accounts, and think about whether an "old" (e.g. 2007) largely abandoned teaching technology tool deserved any place in my technology teaching tool kit today.

Ward Cunningham invented the wiki (essentially a collection of web pages) as the simplest possible online data base that anyone could edit. Simple it is. Myriad wiki tools exist. Here is ONE way to choose among them.

I presently am using wikispaces because it is free to educators and is easy to use.  Presently, I have (re)found it valuable as a project manager of a
colloborative research project I am working on with six undergraduates where we have a
need for an easily accessible, editable shared repository on the web. Abundant well-written
tutorials exist for guiding the novice user.

Woods and Thoeny liken wikis to electronic, linkable index cards and enjoin the reader to embrace the attitude of "Wabi-sabi"—the beauty of unfinished content—as one enters the world of wiki collaboration. I personally find that attitude motivating in the same sense as the Zeigarnik effect or the lines of  Robert Frost "…miles to go before I sleep."  Though I have not seen wikis "conquer" problems as some wiki evangelists predicted, I presently benefit from the tool facilitating collaboration. Perhaps the logo on this t-shirt expresses it best:

 

 

 

 

Reaching Out Globally—Virtually

Help me out. It is official. My 6 very talented undergraduate  research assistants and I have successfully "won" a university-wide competition with our proposal to create a pilot Cross Cultural Experience (CCE) at Carroll University with a focus on an in-the-classroom emersion experience. Each student will be awarded a new Ipad and will receive two-credit hours for pioneering this course development project.

"Dr. David Simpson, Professor of Psychology,
along with students Phoumany Phouybanhdyt, Ryan Waters, Catrina Duncan,
Amy Peterson, Elizabeth Firkus, and Maxine Venturelli,  proposed
a pilot that focuses on a single culture/nation for approximately 2 weeks.
By the end of the semester students will be able to compare and
contrast several cultures to the United States. The goal of the
classroom experience is to give the students the
ability to have an immersion-like experience through the different uses
of technology incorporated within the course through class discussion
and student reflection. Students will have the ability to interact
globally through the use of various 21st
century technology learning tools."
We have already created a wikispace and will no doubt be using among other tools Skype and VoiceThread. This is a wonderful opportunity for me to cascade into the larger Carroll community several teaching tools I have been invesigating since 2007.
What a joy to work with, develop, and learn with such student talent. This is going to be fun.
We welcome ideas, contacts, and interested virtual observers as we learn together.
Thanks in advance to Drs. Lynne Bernier and Terri Johnson for creating this educational opportunity and special heart-felt thanks (or is that Hart-felt thanks) for my wise, generous, indefatigable virtual mentorship by Jane Hart for sharing her social media wisdom and insights across the years.

 

Appy Daze Is Here Again! Making Lemonade from a Rotten Apple

This summer I was overconfident about my multi-tasking capabilities. Stupid. Careless (oopsie). Hypocritical. "Save regularly, backup often," I repeatedly tell my students. Practice what you preach, Dr. Simpson. Somehow I managed to make my faithful MacBook Pro inaccessible and inoperable. In addition I created considerable havoc and access confusion on its backup hard drive. Duh. Ouch.

I tried to no avail offering sacrifices to the computer gods and appealing to their intervention.

After many days and considerable expense experimenting with trial versions of data repair and data recovery software I called a well-known tech support recommended by Robin.

 

 

 

In retrospect, perhaps I shouldn't have kicked her off the couch before I asked Dogbert  for help.

I believe that I have recovered all the apps and succesfully transferred them to my new MacBook Pro. Of course within a month after I purchased my replacement laptop a new MacBook Pro was released and the new Mountain Lion operating system became available (for which many of my apps need to be upgraded).

Over the rest of the semester I hope to revisit each of the 200 apps I have (re)installed. Why do I have so many?  How many of them do I regularly use? Which are critical to my success as a teacher, as a learner, and as a consultant? Which are more than "Mac Gems" or POPULAR  technology tools? Which has demonstrated their value acoss the years? Which can be retired before I retire? Stay tuned.

 

What corporates can learn from the Top 10 Tools for Learning 2012 | Learning in the Social Workplace

Few can rival the vision of Jane Hart. As I move in and out of the academic and business worlds I treasure her inspiration and wisdom.

What corporates can learn from the Top 10 Tools for Learning 2012 | Learning in the Social Workplace.

The Top 100 Tools for Learning 2012 list is revealed | Learning in the Social Workplace

The Top 100 Tools for Learning 2012 list is revealed | Learning in the Social Workplace.

Jane Hart continues her valuable service by sharing this list sorted in a number of interesting ways. Which of these tools have you found most useful? Which would you like to see more used in the classroom or to learn more about?