Help is on the way

aharding September 25th, 2008

Via my del.icio.us feed, I found this site, that has links to all kinds of help specific to classroom/teaching technology.  It looks quite thorough.

Google Labs Creates Quote Tool for the Election

Laura Blankenship September 24th, 2008

Via Liberal Education Today, a cool new tool that lets you see what candidates have said about various issues.  Take it for spin.

Printer problem? Hire a cat

Laura Blankenship September 15th, 2008

A funny video to brighten your day.  It’s unclear whether the cat’s attempts solved the problem or made them worse.

Fall NML Schedule

Laura Blankenship September 11th, 2008

The New Media Lab will be staffed during the following hours:

Sun-Th. 1-5 and 7-10

Fri. 1-5

The equipment and software may be used at any other time outside of these hours.  Should you require assistance, please make an appointment by emailing nml@brynmawr.edu.

The New iMovie

anyamemens September 6th, 2008

I have been working on the new iMovie and have learned that you can no longer create chapters while in iMovie.  You have to open up your project in Garage Band after your movie has been exported.  Check out this blog post (from the Blog, Unlocking iMovie ‘08) on how to use Garage Band to make chapters : Garage Band Chapter Making.

Loads of Blackboard tips

Laura Blankenship September 4th, 2008

While we have our own wiki with plenty of step-by-step instructions, we may not be covering everything you want to know.  Here is a list of 100 Blackboard tips, some for students, but most for instructors.  They’ve been collected from colleges around the country and cover everything from how to set things up in Blackboard to how to use the wiki tool effectively.

So you made it through the first day

Laura Blankenship September 2nd, 2008

It’s over now, the first day.  I’m sure there were things that went great and things that did not go so great.  Here in the ETC, we’re sorting out how to work our newly refreshed computers in the New Media Lab, helping people with Blackboard, fixing things with video, and trying to put the last finishing touches on summer projects.  My favorite thing that’s happened so far has been the many emails I’ve received asking how to do something that are followed almost immediately with another email that says “Never mind, I figured it out.” It’s true that many things about using certain applications are not obvious or maybe it’s a new application to you, but it’s also true that, unlike in times past, you probably won’t hurt anything by trying out a few options.  I remember too well the days of pressing the wrong button sending your paper into the trash forever.  I can also remember the days of the “sad mac” and the “blue screen of death” when it was likely you’d never turn your computer again, much less retrieve any data stored on it.  These days, with the ability to store data on a server that’s backed up instead of a hard drive, means that even if your computer does die, you won’t lose your files.

Maybe technology has gotten a bit more complicated, which makes it more likely that you will need to call for help or search Google for the answer, but it’s certainly more stable in many areas.  I can’t even remember the last time I’ve lost a file or had a computer crash so badly, nothing was recoverable.  I even dropped my computer down the stairs and it was fine!  But technology also changes more rapidly than it did in the past.  Small updates to most software happens almost weekly.  New web applications come out every day.  People browse the web on iPhones and iPods.  Wifi is almost everywhere.  So, in that sense, technology might seem unstable.  One day, you’re using an application and the next thing you know, it’s obsolete or has changed so dramatically as to be barely recognizable.  I personally like change.  I like that applications get better (as most do when they change).  I like seeing new capabilities, new ways to do my work, or keep up with my kids, read the news, or even be entertained.  If you’re not like that, it’s okay.  I’ll try to serve as a guide, to provide insight into the new, directions for navigating the change.  But don’t be afraid to try some things yourself.  Really, you can’t break anything.  And if you find something cool, please share!

Notes for Tri-Co Symposium Social Software Panel

Laura Blankenship July 17th, 2008

Why use social software?

For me as a writing instructor:

Anne Dalke

  • Learning community
  • Public intellectuals
  • Anne’s forum/blog (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/2349)
  • From Anne’s article in Bryn Mawr Now:
  • “There’s a sharp contrast between the traditional way of producing academic writing and the current way a number of us here go about inviting students to publish their writing on the Web,” said Dalke. “Our mode tells students, from the get-go, that they are participating in larger debates on the topics they are studying.”
  • Christina/Apathy’s Blog: (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/blog/381)

Blogging within Blackboard: the Plant Blog

Software environment and details matter. Take advantage of technology to create the environment you want.

  • Serendip–expansive site with lots of possibilities, hard to create a separate space, may feel artificial
  • Standalone site or offsite–separate space, flexibility to configure as needed, public (or private), possibly no support
  • Blackboard/CMS–contained and separate space, familiar, easy to use, not public

Video of Information Management Workshop

Laura Blankenship March 26th, 2008

We successfully recorded the Information Management Workshop.  It ended up in two parts.

 Part 1

Part 2 

We covered using Google Reader and RSS Feeds generally, EndNote Web, del.icio.us, and Zotero.

UN Puts Data on the Web

Laura Blankenship March 13th, 2008

A whole collection of valuable information from the United Nations is now available through a very easy to navigate web site.  You can search or browse records, filter, and download data to explore or analyze in more detail.  Looks like a very useful tool for a great many disciplines.

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