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Around the Corner

~ …give that you may live, for to withhold is to perish. (Adapted from Kahlil Gibran)

Around the Corner

Monthly Archives: February 2011

Technology in Irving ISD – A Podcast

27 Sunday Feb 2011

Posted by mguhlin in Education, Podcast, Texas

≈ Leave a comment

Dr. Richard Smith and Dr. Carolyn Crawford (both pictured above) interviewed Sam Farsaii (Irving ISD) about Technology in Irving ISD. The interview is particularly poignant given the budget troubles Texas districts, especially Irving ISD, are suffering.

Sam Farsaii, Irving ISD

Listen to Sam Farsaii

Technology in the Irving Independent School District (2/10/2011) Co-hosts Richard A. Smith and Caroline M. Crawford speak with Sam Farsaii, Director of Instructional Technology at Irving Independent School District, located in Irving, Texas regarding the success of Irving ISD teachers in applying technology to instruction in innovative and effective ways. Sam Farsaii, (a master’s degree graduate of UHCL’s Instructional Technology Program) provides a lucid and compelling description of what makes Irving ISD’s technology program, an award winning program, and what makes the district a state leader in education. This podcast was recorded on-site at the 2011 annual conference of the Texas Computer Education Association.

Listen to Sam Farsaii

http://goo.gl/t5WhX

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Organizing a State-wide Wiki and #Moodle @wikispaces

26 Saturday Feb 2011

Posted by mguhlin in Education, Moodle, MoodleConversations, Wikis

≈ 2 Comments

The Wikispaces.com “Manage Wiki” Control Panel

Earlier this month, a colleague approached me and asked, “Miguel, I just got a grant. Since we’re geographically scattered, how can I bring us all together to share our ‘glows and grows’?” Resulting conversation revealed that my colleague saw this grant project as an opportunity to add wikis and Moodle forums to her repertoire. So, working with her, I mapped out the use of a wiki to organize her site, as well as discussed the use of Moodle to host forums.

Although we’d started out using a wiki paid for out of one organization, funding cuts threatened our long-term (3 years) control of the wiki. As a result, I migrated content to a Wikispaces.com wiki due to their announcement to keep Wikispaces ad-free, no-cost for educators.  This was important since this isn’t, specifically, focused on any one organization…and Wikispaces.com took about 24 hours to approve the request for the free Plus Wikispace. (Thanks @wikispaces!).

For the Moodle portion–when considering portability–it would be fairly easy to port the Moodle course to a hosting provider (e.g. Siteground, Rackspace). It’s kind of a shame to have to think about portability of data, but it’s necessary since you don’t want to put your content some place and then have to consider moving it because of a funding cut!

The initial look–which will change completely once a theme/skin is designed in CSS that matches the wiki and Moodle to each other–appears below:
One of the fun things about wikis and Moodle creation is that when you have a team of people, my goal is less to do the work myself, and encourage others to learn. Although I did the initial work on the wiki above, I promptly encouraged my colleague to add her team members to the wiki so they could start making contributions. 
Although my colleague had not worked with wikis before, it was pretty easy for her to get started with editing and adding content. As always, I’m amazed at how quick-n-easy Wikispaces.com is to introduce to folks and let them take off. 

Another plus was that it works just fine with Internet Explorer, as opposed to other commercial wikis which do not…a problem that I discovered when working with a teacher who said, “I AM clicking on the same link and I don’t see the folder.” It turned out there was a whole set of options NOT available because the commercial wiki wasn’t compatible with Internet Explorer. When I switched her to Firefox (banned in her district), we were both able to see the options.

One of the challenges was creating discussion forums for different groups. Although I setup a Moodle instance, I asked my team members to create the Moodle courses that would house the forums. They immediately hit a snag or two. 
The first snag was we’d originally envisioned ONE course housing 3 forums (for Directors, Coordinators, and Principals) but we didn’t want each group to see the other forums. So, as a director, I would login to a course, and ONLY see the Directors Forum. Although we setup different groups with enrollment keys, we realized the solution wouldn’t be as elegant as just setting up a course with social format setting selected (in lieu of Topic).
The result is an open looking forum:
After considering this with the team, we decided it would be easier to switch to 3 social format based courses in Moodle.
However, one remaining question was how to handle the News and Announcements. It occurred to me to use a meta-course, which Moodle describes in this way:

A meta course is a course that is “with” or linked to one or more courses for its studentenrolment (enrollment to some). Adding or subtracting participants in a metacourse can only be done from the courses it is linked to. The linked courses push enrolment information to the metacourse(s) every time cron is run. There are many uses for a metacourse.

My hope for the meta-course was that it would pull enrollments from the 3 child courses (directors, coordinators, principals) but still enable my colleague to send out News & Announcements to ALL members of those groups without making the news public. 
The discussion engendered in the creation of a wiki and Moodle to facilitate conversations and learning proved to be fun for a Friday afternoon, as we explored different ways to get the job done using the tools available to us.
Of course, there are a lot of other Web 2.0 tools available. What would you have done?


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The Best Free Wiki – Now MORE Available for Higher Ed and K-12 @wikispaces #edchat

24 Thursday Feb 2011

Posted by mguhlin in Education, Web2.0, Wikis

≈ Leave a comment

Last week, as the tough budget news was settling in among my colleagues, one of them asked me, “Miguel, what wiki solution could we use that would allow us to keep control over our content?” Without hesitation, I suggested Wikispaces.com. “Hands-down,” I told her, “not only do you get a $50 value at no-cost, ad-free, it’s the easiest, and you’ll be up and running in no time. They’ve given away over 980,000 wikis to educators already!”

If you’re using your wiki exclusively for K-12 education, find out how to upgrade your wiki and get lots of other great information at http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/teachers

If you’re using your wiki exclusively for Higher Education, find out how to upgrade your wiki and get lots of other great information at http://www.wikispaces.com/content/for/highered

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of wiki solutions, from hosted ones to standalones. I still remember my shock when Adam Frey picked up a Skype call and shared with me all he was doing on behalf of educators. One of the easiest, most accessible wiki solutions friendly to educators is Wikispaces.com. Those folks have done quite a bit to introduce no-advertising wikis to educators than any other provider.

Unlike some “education” friendly Web 2.0 services, the Wikispaces.com folks have stayed true to their word…no advertising on their sites for educators. How do I know that? I’ve been a Wikispaces user for years and maintain quite a library of items online there (mguhlin.wikispaces.com).
Earlier today, I received an announcement emphasizing these points about Wikispaces.com:

– Our wikis for education are completely private, have no advertising on them, are fully featured, and never expire. And teachers are welcome to sign up for as many of them as they like.
– The features included in our education wikis usually cost $50 per year — but are completely free when used for K-12 or higher education.
– We have given away over 980,000 free wikis for education so far, and are committed to giving away at least 2,000,000 in total.
The attached announcement will be posted next week on our blog (http://blog.wikispaces.com). I’ve included it as a PDF so you can get a sneak peak.

That’s not to say other wiki solutions aren’t awesome, but you have to pay for those. In tough times like now, Adam’s gift to teachers re-affirms the belief that teachers are still well-respected in the hearts of some special folks.

Thank you, Wikispaces!


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Exploring OpenLibrary.org

23 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by mguhlin in ePub, eReader, Library2.0

≈ Leave a comment

 
http://openlibrary.org

 

Exciting announcement…will it live up to the hype?

The Internet Archive, in conjunction with 150 libraries, has rolled out a new 80,000 e-book lending collection today on OpenLibrary.org. This means that library patrons with an OpenLibrary account can check out any of these e-books.
The hope is that this effort will help libraries make the move to digital book lending. “As readers go digital, so are our libraries,” says Brewster Kahle, founder and Digital Librarian of the Internet Archive. (via ReadWriteWeb)

So, the question for me is, what do you do next? Well, after creating an account, I decided to do a search on Scott Sigler‘s name. He’s a Sci-Fi writer who not only posts some his work online for free, but also makes serial podcasts you can sign up to listen to. I was introduced to his work after encountering that work, and always look for his stuff online.

Here are the results of my search:
Notice those two books on the list? Well worth the investment! When I first read INFECTED, I couldn’t put the book down until I was done. The sequel, Contagious, comes up in the search, too.
I decided to find at a library, and then entered my zip code to pull up nearby libraries. No titles came up at a nearby library, so I clicked on WorldCat. I did find it that way but it required an account in the library.
In short, I probably could have gone to an online ebook seller and just purchased it there. I’m not sure that OpenLibrary is all that great for finding for cost books, and for finding free stuff, well, there’s so many other places.
What am I missing?


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Updated Audio Book List

23 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by mguhlin in Education, TechTips

≈ Leave a comment

Thanks to an email today, I recalled I had a list of free audio books available somewhere in the blog. You can find it online here.

I hope you find it useful!


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MyNotes – Layoffs begin at Texas Education Agency

23 Wednesday Feb 2011

Posted by mguhlin in Education, Politics, Texas, TexasEducationAgency

≈ Leave a comment



Although I’ve written about the Texas Education Agency many a time, I am shocked at the job losses they are suffering. The majority of TEA staffers I’ve worked with have ALWAYS been underpaid, highly committed to doing an  excellent job of providing service to school districts and the kids served. 
I mourn the loss of jobs, livelihood, and suffer with you as you lose what you have because politicians failed to plan ahead. On a positive, you no longer need suffer in enforced silence. I hope you vote and send a strong message back to state legislators.


Quotes:

Layoffs begin at Texas Education Agency | Postcards

    • Layoffs begin at Texas Education Agency
      • By Andrew Kaspar | Tuesday, February 22, 2011, 01:33 PM
        • mood as “very somber”
          • Texas Education Agency
            • where the bulk of 1,054 TEA employees work.
              • By Wednesday, that number will be fewer as the first agency layoffs were issued today.
                • Debbie Ratcliffe, the agency’s spokeswoman, declined to give specifics on the number of state employees or positions that were eliminated, saying the agency was informing employees individually and preferred that they not find out from the media
                  • Education Commissioner Robert Scott released a brief statement acknowledging the beginning of a process that could reduce the agency’s staff by hundreds.
                    • TEA has cut about $153 million from its budget since the reduction orders were issued, Ratcliffe said, but today’s layoffs were the first significant hit for agency personnel since a difficult budget cycle in 2003, when TEA eliminated 200 positions. She said the personnel reductions were not so much part of Perry’s belt-tightening request for the fiscal year ending Sept. 1, but rather were “more in anticipation of what’s to come.”


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                      @SugarSync Reflections

                      23 Wednesday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, TechTips

                      ≈ Leave a comment

                      Now that I’ve been using SugarSync for a few days, I have some reflections to share. Nothing earth-shattering but….

                      1. The File Manager just gets in the way. On UbuntuLinux, it doesn’t work. On Windows and Mac, I don’t want to run a program to access my files, I just want to get to them. Yes, a la Dropbox.
                      2. Magic Briefcase doesn’t work all that great. 
                      3. There’s all these arcane things you have to do to get access to SugarSync folder controls to unlink them or whatever.
                      Advice? Simplify your user interface, SugarSync. You’ve got a nice thing going but all the file manager garbage just gets in the way of my productivity…and that’s bad.
                      What do I like?
                      1. Lots of space available, especially when friends sign up.
                      2. Your monthly packages are competitive
                      3. I love the passworded folders access via the Web. Nice touch.
                      4. Android works just fine, although I wish I could delete files from there.
                      5. Nice bird icon.


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                      Advertising Bug Strikes – Exploring a Blog Platform @wfryer

                      23 Wednesday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Blogging, TechTips

                      ≈ 1 Comment

                      b2evolution.net screenshots

                      Although I just launched advertising on Around the Corner–which has made zero dollars, BTW–I still feel Wes Fryer’s pain (Why I Upgraded My Edublogs Account) when he shares the following about the Edublogs platform:

                      Maybe this is something that EduBlogs has been doing for awhile on their free accounts, I’m not sure. I was prepared to put up with banner ads on a free account, but I absolutely couldn’t stand to have words hyperlinked on my students’ posts by the advertising scheme EduBlogs is running. Teaching my students to intentionally and judiciously hyperlink is one of the important skills I hope to help them develop this term. Having auto-inserted advertising links on their words struck me tonight as an affront. I know some of the readers of my blog are EduBlog fans, and I’m very appreciative of all the advocacy work EduBlogs does for the cause of educational blogging. I’m glad they’re finding a way to monetize their business model. I really object to this kind of in-line, in-post hyperlinked advertising, however… and on the basis of my aversion to that kind of advertising don’t plan to use a free EduBlogs site again for a class I teach.

                      I can’t blame Edublogs for choosing this model since they are up front about it, but I do have advice for educators who may want to use blogs in their environment without advertising issues. For a class or workshop, I highly recommend b2Evolution blog platform. One blog installation allows you to host an almost unlimited amount of blogs–certainly enough for the size of classes Wes facilitates–and assign different rights to each. Furthermore, all blog content feeds through both individual blogs–with their own URL–and a central blog. And, you can get RSS feeds for each. Check out their demo

                      Building a blog panoply over time shouldn’t be hard…use b2Evolution instead of being nickle-n-dimed to death by business folks. After all, it’s their job to make money, your’s to find how to save it.
                      Of course, this does require your own server, or a hosted server solution. If you have to pay money, better to pay for that. And, I know Wes has his own blog hosted somewhere.
                      Installation instructions….

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                      Dealing with Poor Performance

                      23 Wednesday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Leadership, Transparency

                      ≈ 1 Comment

                      Source: http://www.officialtherefromhere.com/blog/wp-content/
                      uploads/2011/01/business-success-mentor-coaching.jpg

                      A colleague–no one I work with, so no speculation on that point–in another school district shared the following scenario with me:

                      A workshop facilitator just isn’t measuring up, even though he’s come a long way and has been coached/mentored to improve. I’m considering “firing” him but I’m just not sure how to approach it. What would you do?

                      Before I offer advice, I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on these two approaches below, and maybe share what you think? Are these approaches totally wrong?
                      OVERVIEW

                      Most folks are conscientious and committed to doing a quality job in an area they feel strong about. I’d review the evaluations with your facilitator and ask him for his take on them. Share frankly that continued poor performance may suggest that 1) In spite of his commitment to the job, he may not be connecting well with participants and/or 2) He needs to reflect on how he’s facilitating sessions and see what he needs to improve on. Share your rubric of what constitutes a quality workshop performance.
                      Here’s Approach A: (Short time frame)
                      1) Observe his class.
                      2) Debrief afterwards and offer suggestions for improvement. This will be a “crucial conversation.” Focus on improving performance and that this is “external” to who they are. After all, I’d make a lousy car mechanic. Someone would have to mentor me and help me learn, but I’d have to be open to the idea. If the attitude to learn and receive feedback isn’t there, then you can move directly to terminate if you have sufficient documentation of poor performance.
                      3) You have to give him time to improve, and then gauge progress.
                      Approach B: (long time frame)
                      You could start out doing this as a whole group activity, too.

                      Stage 1 – Refining Our Work
                      “Folks, although we’re mostly doing pretty well on session presentations, and I know each of us has our own strengths that we build on, I want to ensure that we have a uniform delivery and common expectations. To help clarify that, let’s review this rubric that shows what I think is important. Notice that there are 3 indicator boxes that are blank…let’s work together to identify OUR top 3 priorities and what that looks like (descriptors) so we can fill in the holes in this rubric.”

                      Stage 2 – Workshop Evaluations
                      “I’ve re-designed our workshop evaluation form so we can get feedback tied directly to our rubric and agreed upon expectations. For example, our goal is to achieve a 4 out of 5 points per evaluation item, and get positive comments we can share on our web site and with supervisors. Over your next few sessions, I’m going to ask you to visit each other’s sessions and complete an anonymous evaluation. I’ll take those and then we can discuss our areas needing improvement as a group, as well as celebrate our areas of strength.”

                      Stage 3 – Intervention
                      “Mr. Rodriguez, thank you for coming in. In reviewing workshop evaluations for the last few sessions (at least 3), I can’t help but notice that the feedback has not been as positive as we would like to see. What can I do to help you better meet the needs of your workshop participants so that they feel comfortable giving your workshop higher marks?” 

                      Stage 4 – Termination
                      “Mr. Rodriguez, I appreciate your hard work. Unfortunately, the workshop evaluations for your sessions continue to be less than what we all agreed upon as our target level of performance. I regret that I will have to end your service with us as a workshop facilitator. Thank you for your efforts; I wish you well.”


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                      Press Release – ESSAY CONTEST – Learning from Life Stories

                      22 Tuesday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Education, PressRelease, Writing

                      ≈ Leave a comment

                      The follow was sent to me as a press release…deadline for essay contest is March 31st, find out more at www.legacyproject.org
                      The grand prize? An m90z ThinkCentre and lots of Orchard Educational Software ($800)! The school of the winning student gets $25K of Orchard Educational Software (hmm), and runner-ups (25 of them) get MP3 players with software ($400 value). Definitely worth taking a look at!

                      ESSAY CONTEST: STUDENTS LEARN BY LISTENING TO LIFE STORIES
                      The Legacy Project is running its 11th annual Listen to a Life Essay Contest. The biggest reward for students — like last year’s Grand Prize winner 10-year-old Vann Barnette — is what they learn about themselves, their family, and even history when they listen to the life stories of a grandparent or grandfriend. The national contest, run in partnership with Generations United in Washington, DC, receives thousands of entries from across the country. Barnette won last year’s Grand Prize of a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer for himself and $25,000 of Orchard educational software for his school. This year’s contest is open to students 8-18 years of age.

                      Barnette, a grade 4 student at Strawberry Hill Elementary School in Anamosa, IA, learned about a pivotal moment in his maternal grandfather’s life when he interviewed Gerald Udell, 74. He starts his essay by writing, “My Grandpa has done a lot of things such as getting a PhD and testifying in front of members of congress. Despite these accomplishments, the proudest moment of his life is when he made an old man cry.”

                      He goes on to tell the story of his grandfather’s experience in the South when he enlisted in the army. His buddy was directed to a “Blacks Only” area. Barnette’s grandfather was directed to the “Whites Only” area, but wanted to sit with his friend and stood up for his convictions.

                      “It wasn’t long before a white policeman was standing in the doorway,” writes Barnette. “But Grandpa said if there is no law against him sitting in the ‘Black’ section, he wished to stay with his friend.”

                      The story concludes with a touching exchange with an elderly Black man who witnessed what the young soldier had done.
                      “Vann’s essay was well-written and had an emotional quality that captured the attention of the judges,” says Legacy Project Chair Susan Bosak. “We received so many stories — lighthearted stories about advice from grandmothers to their granddaughters about boys, heart-wrenching stories about experiences during the Holocaust and the Communist Revolution in China, and heartwarming stories about the enduring love of grandparents caring for an ailing spouse. So many lives, so many stories.”
                      To enter the Listen to a Life Contest, young people 8-18 years interview a grandparent or grandfriend 50 years or older about the older person’s hopes and goals through their life, how they achieved their goals and overcame obstacles, or key life experiences. The young person then writes a 300-word essay based on the interview.

                      The Grand Prize is a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer with $800 of educational software from Orchard Software. The school of the winning young person also receives $25,000 of Orchard educational software. Twenty runner-up prizes include $400 of Orchard software and an MP3 player.

                      Entrants in the contest span from Los Angeles to New York. The oldest person interviewed last year was 101 years old, while the youngest entrants were 8 years old.
                      Many young entrants commented how surprised they were by what they learned. Says 13-year-old Kyle Macdowell from Arlington, TX, “I see my grandma a lot, but not until this contest did I really realize who she is. I never knew about her background or what struggles she has had.”
                      And many teachers commented how positive the experience was for families. Says Lori Halbison a teacher in Higley, AZ, “I can’t tell you how many thank you’s I received from parents just because they learned more about the grandparent interviewed and it was valuable for the whole family.”
                      Mary Ann Richter, a teacher with Hamilton City Schools in Ohio, says, “Students set out to learn from the past by interviewing a senior in their community. The results were fantastic, informative stories. It was a great learning experience for senior and student.”
                      This year’s Listen to a Life Essay Contest runs to March 31. 

                      For complete contest details, previous winning essays, and free online activity ideas, visit www.legacyproject.org.


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                      Educational Blogging – Listening to @murcha @lindayollis

                      22 Tuesday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Blogging, Education, Writing

                      ≈ 1 Comment

                      Linda Yollis’ 
                      http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-compose-quality-comment.html

                      How neat! I had the chance to participate in a late (for me) night Elluminate session from Linda Yollis to Australian and New Zealand teachers on Educational Blogging, sharing her experience blogging with students. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the slides so I had to use my imagination as Linda shared her experiences…and I had to leave early since it was getting a bit late for me!

                      Show Links
                      • View her blog online.
                      • How to Compose a Quality Comment
                      • Watch video on how to compose a quality comment (Youtube video)
                      • PDF document
                      • Five Steps to Starting a Class Blog 
                      Here are some of my notes (all errors are mine!):
                      1. The classroom blog is an online learning community.
                      2. Make the blog a centerpiece of our classroom, bringing all members of the community together.
                      3. In 24 years, I’ve never seen anything as powerful as classroom blogging.
                      4. This is the 3rd class I’ve blogged with.
                      5. I teach in a suburb of Los Angeles and have 23 students in my regular education classroom.
                      6. I have 3 special education kids, a few gifted kids and everyone in the middle.
                      7. A bit about my equipment…in 2005, I wrote a grant and bought Alphasmart computers. These are great for typing.
                      8. I have a laptop and two very old eMacs, and access to a computer lab every other week for 45 minutes.
                      9. When I started blogging, I had no idea what it was. I saw Gmail, saw that it had blogging platform…thought it would be more like a newsletter style blog.
                      10. As I look at myself now, I have changed my approach starting with a reporting style and now I take a teaching approach. Lots of digital images, vocabulary and try to get students and parents involved.
                      11. If you look, this our very first comment that….
                      12. What makes for a good comment? We kinda started with a brainstorming session.
                      13. As a class, we looked at blog comments and decided as a class what to reject or keep. They had pretty high standards…I pointed out to them we’re all learning, trying to become better writers. We’re going to shoot high with our comments, we can’t reject our readers…it’s a process.
                      14. I started devoting 15-30 minutes per day with blogging. At first, it was really hard for me. I was raised with a lot of worksheets and paper-n-pencil. I was of the mindset that these were computer lessons I was teaching…but no, these are language arts skills. Once I got my head around that, I would share new posts and discuss that…we would post comments together. Anyone who commented, we would add their name to the bottom of the comment.
                      15. When you’re first starting out, consider getting kids to comment…we do a lot of choral reading with a sentence or a comment.
                      16. After those directed lessons about commenting, it was really time to evaluate.
                      17. I got this idea from Sue Waters…evaluate them on a 1 or 2 scale…those of you who gave it a 1, what was it missing for you? If someone said it was a 2, what was it that bumped it up for you? Lot of discussion among students justifying why or why not.
                      18. How can I help my child become a better writer? ask parents. I tell parents that blog is perfect for that. Sit down together and compose a comment together. I recommend the parent type the comment but leave the errors in…encourage children to find the errors so that they can take charge. 
                      19. Showing enthusiasm for your child’s work is meaningful…parents are the key. 
                      Lots more great stuff shared but I had to sign off. Thanks to Linda, Anne, Lois for great conversation!

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                      Podcast Episode #2 – Diagnostic Tests with #Kaplan @kaptestnews #sat #psat #testprep #edchat

                      22 Tuesday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Education, Kaplan, Podcast, Review

                      ≈ Leave a comment

                      Note: In Episode 1: Introduction to Kaplan, 17 year old Aida shared her perspective on a rigorous online course she’s taking to prepare her for the SAT she is to take in March. In this episode (#2), she shares her perceptions of the Diagnostic Tests, her results, and the value of online course feedback about those results. Find out more about Kaplan via Twitter at @kaptestnews

                      Listen to Episode 2 – Aida on Kaplan’s Live Online Course Diagnostic Tests
                      I had a bit of trouble getting enthused about Diagnostic Tests, until I saw the valuable information that resulted from the 3 hour and 45 minute SAT pre-assessment Aida completed. As you can see below, the information offers online students like Aida insights, and critical feedback she needs to improve:

                      Above, you can see the graphs reflecting Aida’s initial progress on the assessment. Online students are actually able to drill down and see more about their performance in a particular subject, then explore even further….

                      By clicking on Section Details, students actually see the correct answers:

                      What’s really powerful about Aida’s experience, though, is how the online course nurtures her learning in a friendly, safe, quasi-competitive environment. As I listened to Aida, I could tell she’d establish ties with other students in the online course…and as she points out those students could be anywhere around the world!!

                      Listen to the rest of the series:
                      1. Episode 1 – Overview and First Impressions from a Teenage SAT Prep Student
                      2. Episode 2 – Getting Started with Diagnostic Tests
                      3. Episode 3 – Finding Out What the Classes are Like
                      4. Episode 4 – Practice Work to Ensure Success
                      5. Episode 5 – Proctored Work

                      Listen to Episode 2 – Aida on Kaplan’s Live Online Course Diagnostic Tests
                      Find out more at http://www.kaptest.com


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                      10 Tips for Kindle e-Readers – A Little Extra (Updated)

                      21 Monday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in ePub, eReader

                      ≈ 1 Comment

                      Source: http://comm334.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/06-22-ereaders_full_6003.jpg


                      Thanks to Nicky Hockly (e-Moderation Station) for compiling this list of 10 tips for eReaders, in particular, the Kindle. Of course, the tips are usable no matter eReader you’re using–Kindle, Nook, or that new-fangled iPad.

                      Update: Check out Assorted Stuff’s tip on Kindle ebooks.


                      Nicky shares how important her personal learning network (PLN) was in “catching up.” I can’t tell you the times I’ve felt BEHIND after skimming the Twitter stream for a bit of refreshment, seeking out new ideas. That said, once I fight past that feeling, I’m thrilled about what folks are sharing and what I can learn from them. Nicky writes the following:

                      Not finding exactly what I needed, I turned to my PLN on Twitter and Facebook, and solicited advice. It turned out that quite a few of my network already had Kindles. I was one of the last to be joining the party, it seemed. If you, like me, are arriving late to e-readers, read on.
                      Here are the top 10 tips I have gleaned via my social networks*.

                      My favorite 3 tips from Nicky’s list include the following with a little extra I’ve noticed:

                      1. Buy a cover with a little extra: Check out this tutorial on how to make your own cover!
                      2. Read work documents with a little extra: Get PDFs of special reports online, as well as books via Scribd.com. 
                      3. Stock up on free e-books with a little extra: Get free ebooks in ePub format, and convert them to MobiBooks format (kindle friendly) using Calibre.

                      There are tons of documents available that you can read on your eReader, whether you want to find stuff others have made or create your own.


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                      Embracing THEIR Version of Online Courses (Get #Free #Moodle Courses)

                      21 Monday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Education, Moodle, MoodleConversations

                      ≈ 1 Comment

                      Want quick download links to free Moodle courses? Get them here!  I love looking at how other educators design their courses. Of course, online learning as we know it may be falling out of vogue…

                      “A…major illusion on which the school system rests is that most learning is the result of teaching. Teaching, it is true, may contribute to certain kinds of learning under certain circumstances. But most people acquire most of their knowledge outside school, and in school only insofar as school, in a few rich countries, has become their place of confinement during an increasing part of their lives”. Source: Ivan Illich, Deschooling as cited by Steve Wheeler’s Learning with ‘e’s: Lunatic Fringe?

                      Will Richardson (Weblogg-ed) had a great piece last week about online learning…what jumped out at me included the following:

                      Learning online is not about finishing the course requirements a few days early or answering the questions that the text or the teacher dictate. It’s about finding our own path through the material…there is another way to learn online aside from digitizing a curriculum. We have goals and outcomes for our participants, but we don’t say to them “here is the path, work ahead if you like, and your grades will be posted online.” We let them find their own way, supporting and prodding as needed, trying to keep them moving in the general direction of shift. With any luck, they experience the change in their own way, on their own terms.

                      More than just digitizing the curriculum…Amen! That said, many still acknowledge the need to provide a framework for learners, a maze of musings and learning that students can work against to find their own way. I’m not sure if the courses listed below offer such an opportunity for inquiry, but we can certainly gain insights into design of a course, can’t we?


                      Accessing Utah’s online courses can provide insights into what society, legislators and educators think of what school should be. While Will’s points are on the mark, many of us still have to work within the framework mandated…play in someone else’s sandbox. Digitizing curriculum with an awareness of what can be provides some room for innovation, and a way to tap into scarce tax dollars:

                      While high schools around the country are cutting expensive courses, students in Utah high schools this fall may have access to every AP course, any foreign language, and high level STEM courses rich with computer simulations. (Source: Tom Vander Ark, Huffington Post)

                      As Ric Murry points out in the comments at Will Richardson’s blog, this is an economic issue…for example, in Texas, online learning is being considered as one possible approach. One large school district (no, not mine) pointed out that they want to offer ALL their professional development and a lot more K-12 student courses online, 40 students per teacher, as a way to cut costs. While such an approach must be carefully considered, it’s not impossible to believe that folks will want to do this.


                      More than a million children are involved in online learning across the country. Online learning is definitely seen as a way to offer parents choice about where to educate their children…that is, if not in public schools, then at home via online providers approved by the State (Source: NewsOK.com).


                      And, in Texas, Governor Perry sees this as one of the only ways to achieve a $10K Bachelor’s degree (as opposed to whatever you pay now for one):

                      College, except for the parties, needs to be less place-based,” he said. Web-based instruction and other technology could drive the price down to $2,000 a year, he said. Perry wrote to university regents last week , urging them to develop $10,000 degree programs and to scale up those programs so at least 10 percent of the sheepskins awarded by their schools are based on this approach. He said programs could include online classes, classes at no-frills campuses, credit for prior learning, credit for Advanced Placement classes in high school and other elements.

                      So, it should come as no surprise that online learning opportunities will start popping up. While I don’t think “do it yourself” a la Moodle is the way state legislators imagine, you can sense people moving in that direction, no? At least, until the online course providers get brought into the picture (e.g. K12.com is one such venture being advocated for in Texas).

                      Bleak budgets coupled with looming teacher shortages amidst an increasing demand for results are accelerating the growth of online learning into blended environments. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently described a “new normal,” where schools would have to do more with less. Blended learning is playing a vital role, as school operators begin to rethink the structure and delivery of education with the new realities of public funding.
                      The growth of online learning in brick-and-mortar schools carries with it a bigger opportunity that has not existed in the past with education technology, which has been treated as an add-on to the current education system and conventional classroom structure. Online learning has the potential to be a disruptive force that will transform the factory-like, monolithic structure that has dominated America’s schools into a new model that is student-centric, highly personalized for each learner, and more productive, as it delivers dramatically better results at the same or lower cost.
                      Policymakers and education leaders must adopt the right policies for this to happen.

                      Source: The Rise of K-12 Blended Learning by Michael Horn and Heather Staker 



                      The Open High School of Utah is sharing their Moodle courses and sharing THEIR vision of what online learning can be:

                      The Open High School of Utah is putting the focus where it should be – on the student. Our mission is to facilitate lifelong success by meeting the needs of the 21st century learner through individualized, student-centered instruction, innovative technology, service learning, and personal responsibility.

                      The courses are licensed as follows:

                      Courses and course materials produced by the Open High School of Utah are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Open High School of Utah courses contain many open educational resources produced by other organizations which may use a different open license. Please confirm the license status of these third-party resources before reusing them.  See OpenCourseWare for additional information.

                      Here are the direct download links for each of the courses–which will initiate a download a backed up Moodle course in zip format and might save you some time:

                      1. English Composition – This one semester course, completed in conjunction with the core Language Arts course, focuses on fundamental, cross-curricular writing and English grammar and usage. Students will work through all steps of the writing process to create effective paragraphs and essays—skills that will apply in all disciplines throughout high school and beyond. Wikis and group work will allow students to share ideas and connect with other students, and interactive instruction and review will clarify grammar and usage rules to help our students avoid embarrassing mistakes that beset the English written word.
                      2. English 9 – English 9 is the second semester of a year-long Language Arts course. In this course, we will study novels, plays, poetry, and articles as a means of improving critical thinking, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and written expression. Through written, audio, and video recordings, students share their reactions to the characters, themes, and issues of the works studied. Grammar, vocabulary, symbolism, plot points, and character development are among the language and literary techniques which students will study in this course. Throughout the course, students will make connections between the themes and characters of literature, and the events and interactions of their own lives.
                      3. Algebra A (First Semester) – Algebra A and Algebra B make up a two-year Algebra program. The main goal of Algebra is to develop fluency in working with linear equations. This 2 year program gives students the opportunity to study, learn, and practice algebraic concepts at a pace that allows additional learning activities, projects, and discussions. In this course, students will work with tables, graphs, and equations and solve linear equations and inequalities and systems of linear equations and inequalities. Throughout the course, students will have opportunities to apply mathematical skills and make meaningful connections to life’s experiences.
                      4. Algebra B (Second Semester) – same as Algebra A
                      5. Algebra 1(A) – The main goal of Algebra is to develop fluency in working with linear equations. In this course, students will work with tables, graphs, and equations and solve linear equations and inequalities and systems of linear equations and inequalities. Students will learn how to simplify polynomials and begin to study quadratic relationships, along with analyzing mathematical situations verbally, numerically, graphically, and symbolically. Throughout the course, students will have opportunities to apply mathematical skills and make meaningful connections to life’s experiences.
                      6. Algebra 1(B) – same as 1a
                      7. Social Studies (Current Issues) – Current Issues is a one semester Social Studies elective that takes a close look at the media surrounding us. We analyze the unique place in history occupied by the United States that allowed media to develop and flourish. From there we investigate the origins of Newspaper, Television, Internet, and Advertising. After looking at the past history of various mediums of mass communication, students then take a look at current efforts and future endeavors of each communication tool. Finally students end the course in a disruptive innovation on the research paper–with collaborative research done in a Wiki Space. Students stay connected with current events as they are happening and learn perspective about the media that we interact with on a day to day basis.
                      8. Geography – This course covers both physical and cultural geography. Students learn various methods for defining place on the Earth’s surface. Student’s also investigate types of ecosystems and biomes. Various methods of how the Earth can be changed and modified naturally are then discussed, with students learning about earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and erosion. Finally, economic systems are covered as well as political systems of government. The course emphasizes student application of core standards with information that is happening in real time.
                      9. Computer Technology – The goal of this class is to familiarize students with basic computing principles and terminology. By engaging in real-world activities, students will become acquainted with modern technology and learn why it is important. When students understand how computers work, finding solutions to technological problems becomes a lot easier. We will be exploring topics such as computer hardware, software, document processing, and a variety of other useful applications.
                      10. Earth Systems – In this course, we will explore the Earth and the solar system and learn about Earth’s landforms, rocks, atmosphere, and climate. We will understand how different processes reshape our planet and discover how and why the Earth has changed over time. We will see how science affects us everyday and how we, in turn, affect our planet.

                      RESTORING MOODLE COURSES
                      Not sure how to restore a Moodle course? Watch this video (YouTube hosted):




                      The process is pretty easy…go to an existing Moodle course, click on RESTORE, then browse to your backup’d up course file in zip format on your computer, then upload it. After the upload is done, click on RESTORE and that’s it!



                      Thanks to Eric Hileman for sharing this via the Oklahoma’s Tech Directors’ List.


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                      Google To the Rescue – Importing Delicious Bookmarks

                      21 Monday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in GoogleApps, SocialBookmarking

                      ≈ Leave a comment

                      Although no service is great, you have to appreciate Google’s efforts to make rescue of your precious bookmarks–and the tags that define them! After all, although you could just install Scuttle (as I did here, creating my own domain name-MGLinks.org), it’s great to know that one’s Delicious bookmarks are available and protected by “Do No Evil” Google.

                      The process is pretty straightforward, as shown in the screen shots below:
                      1) Go to the Delicious Bookmarks Import page on Google Bookmarks
                      2) After entering your username and password for Delicious (of course, you have to be logged into Google gmail or something first), click the EXPORT TO GOOGLE BOOKMARKS button.
                      3) And, finally, click the import button one more time….

                      4) When you’re done with this very quick process–much faster than other sites–you’ll see your bookmarks appear in GoogleBookmarks.
                      Now, is this a perfect solution? Yes. Thank you, Google.
                      In the meantime, how do I reconcile MGlinks.org with GoogleBookmarks? Hmm…
                      Ah well….


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                      Laughter is the Best Medicine

                      21 Monday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Humor, OnlineLearning

                      ≈ Leave a comment

                      One of my favorite section in Reader’s Digest growing up–in fact, the only section I read religiously as a youngster–was the one entitled, Laughter is the Best Medicine. There were other humor section in Reader’s Digest, too, and once upon a time, I submitted a few pieces of writing to them for publication (unsuccessfully).

                      Reading this list of Signs of Being in e-Learning Hell, I about fell out of my chair laughing, especially at this one included in the comments:

                      It was a while back, but one line system I worked with had a feature to collect comments from students. One stood out:
                      “This room is too cold.”

                      It may be we need more humor.


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                      MyNotes – Electronic tablets break down educational barriers in R.I. schools | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal

                      21 Monday Feb 2011

                      Posted by mguhlin in Education, MobileDevices, MyNotes

                      ≈ Leave a comment

                      In reading this article, as nice as the iPads are, you can accomplish all the neat stuff being accomplished with $200 netbooks. The excitement comes from using ipads, the latest and greatest  technology. Of course, that’s not to say iPads are bad. If one could equip my population with them, and had administrative support, why not? But the fact is, you can get more bang for your buck in tough economic times with inexpensive netbooks that come with keyboards, allow greater flexibility. Perhaps the most distinguishing characteristic is the apps that come on the iPad. They represent a lot more value than what we might see on a netbook…right?

                      Quotes:

                      Electronic tablets break down educational barriers in R.I. schools | Education | projo.com | The Providence Journal

                        • Electronic tablets break down educational barriers in R.I. schools 06:58 AM EST on Monday, February 21, 2011 By Linda Borg
                          • Step into the Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts in South Providence and this is what you see: seventh graders using iPads to write essays, edit videos, practice their multiplication tables and e-mail their homework to teachers.
                            • Because Trinity, a first-year middle school charter, only has 34 students and 6 teachers, it can afford to give an iPad to every student. At $500 from the school’s operating budget, the iPad is cheaper than a typical laptop, more portable, and, with its touch screen technology, easy to use.
                              • At Trinity, the iPad has nearly eliminated the need for paperback novels. The school buys one book for $6 and downloads 34 copies. And there are many books in the public domain, such as the entire works of William Shakespeare, available free of charge. The potential for cost savings is considerable.
                                • Trinity uses the iPad to foster a constant dialogue between students and teachers. A child can submit a homework assignment and get almost instant feedback. An essay can be revised several times with teacher input before it is submitted for a grade. If a student forgets his homework assignment, he can e-mail his teacher from home.
                                  • Trinity has also created a math portal that allows parents to review their child’s homework assignments via the iPad or a personal computer.
                                    • the use of social networking sites is prohibited. Students may only access the Internet through a specific application that filters out inappropriate material. And the iPad must never be left unattended.
                                      • zero problems with broken iPads, zero problems with stolen iPads and zero problems with serious violations. The kids are rising to that level of responsibility. That’s what we as a school are about.”
                                        • 46 percent of public school districts offer distance learning over the Internet or through video conferencing and 53 percent use online curricula.
                                          • more than 80 percent of teachers surveyed said they would like to use technology in the classroom, 47 percent said that funding for such technology is inadequate.
                                            • In Woonsocket, high school students use videoconferencing to bring authors into the classroom, communicate with other schools, and share data. One day, students piled into the library to watch a surgery performed in real time.
                                              • the E-Learning Academy offers 200 electives and 13 advanced-placement courses that students can take on school computers without sitting in class. What began six years ago as a credit-recovery program has since morphed into a virtual high school that enrolls more than 500 students.
                                                • In Providence, iPads provide a fresh take on the classic “learning walk.” In the past, principals have observed teachers and then scribbled their observations on a long worksheet. The iPad not only makes it much easier to complete the evaluations, it aggregates the data and helps schools identify strengths and weaknesses in each subject.

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                                                  GuestBlog – Third Place in Essay Contest #OptimistClub

                                                  21 Monday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in Education, Family, GuestBlogger, Writing

                                                  ≈ 2 Comments

                                                  What a thrill to share this piece of news…Aida Guhlin (daughter) took 3rd place in the San Antonio, Texas Optimist Club essay contest for which she will be honored today….here’s the piece that won the award by Aida R. Guhlin. She is a product of Texas Public Schools.

                                                  When I was two years old, my mother taught me the alphabet and all the sounds each letter made. My first memory of letters was in the bath tub, playing with the sponge letters that would squelch to the walls of the tub, and my mother pointing to each one, asking me to recite the name, the sound and a word that went with it.
                                                  When I was three, entering pre-kindergarten, my teacher taught us to read. My greatest challenge I remember was the word, “jelly”. I have a short film in mind, where I am staring at a small paper book, reading aloud to my teacher a story about a boy making a sandwich. Coming across the word jelly, I halt. The J sound is throwing me off. It sounds like G, but I can’t truly understand this yet. I continue to stare at the word, now unable to read the rest of it, because I simply could not understand that first part.
                                                  My teacher quickly went to work. She covered up all the other words so my vision quickly became tunneled and then took her customary red pen and drew a soft-edged rectangle around the word. She then cut the word directly in half, so I saw je on one side and lly on the other. Coaxingly, she asked, “What does this part of the word sound like?” as she pointed with the tip of her red pen to the lly part.
                                                  I knew the answer to that part. It was easy.
                                                  “It sounds like lee.” I mumbled. I was scared to get it wrong but I felt so sure that I had to answer.
                                                  Mrs. C- was pleased. As she had thought, I did understand concepts and with this assurance she leaped onto the fact and took it for a swim.
                                                  “Alright, good. Now what’s the J sound like? ”
                                                  Ah, now we were back to the simple ideas. Pleased, I responded with, “Juh.”
                                                  We were progressing nicely and she furthered the lesson.
                                                  “And the E?”
                                                  “Ee and eh.”
                                                  “Right, but which one do we use?”
                                                  What rule did that follow again? I couldn’t remember and took a guess.
                                                  “Eh?”
                                                  “Correct, now, combine what the J makes and the E makes.”
                                                  Juh.
                                                  Eh.
                                                  Juh-Eh.
                                                  Jeh?
                                                  “Jeh?”
                                                  “Good. Now tell me again, what does the lly make?”
                                                  “Lee.”
                                                  “Okay so now why don’t you-”
                                                  The connection sparked and I interrupted her.
                                                  “Jeh-lly!”
                                                  The word was jelly! Mrs. C- smiled and praised me then had me continue reading.
                                                  The class was a small private school pre-kinder and the teacher had at least one assistant, so student and teacher lessons were often one-on-one.  My mother was a well-trained kindergarten teacher and my father was moving up in the ranks of technology-related education.  The first five years of my life were that of a single child’s one and so I was showered with attention, love and learning from birth by not only my parents, but grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends of the family. I was put in daycare at eight months and learned quickly how to interact with the rest of the world on both their terms – and mine. By the time I was learning how to read, I was well-equipped for whatever stumble-inducing exercise would be shoved my way.
                                                  I could not ever decide such a choice because while they were individuals who contained scattered and sporadic knowledge, none of it could be separated into groups of levels of caliber. I lived -and continue to live in- a web of people who pick up where the others broke off. Some leave forever; making their lessons so much more valued and listened to. Others come to join me, providing sought after information. They are always adding to my education.
                                                  I understand now, that the village to raise a child philosophy holds much truth. If we expect the future to be worldly and aware, then they must be exposed to the world, the good, bad, ugly, pulchritudinous, young, ancient, small and gargantuan. It is this unique “education” that I have received, not only one from my teachers at school, but from those of my “village”, allowing me to embark on the future before me. Being with this village and what they’ve taught me has educated me to a point to where I am comfortable with going into the unknown that is my future because I believe my “village” has brought me forward beyond requirement for what is ahead in my life and I also have a web of people to rely on, constantly teaching me, guiding me as I go forth. Education never stops on graduation day, but continues throughout my life with others around me and through new experiences that tomorrow holds.

                                                  Ms. Stengle (teacher) and Aida (Essay Winner)


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                                                  Books are a Drug

                                                  19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in Book

                                                  ≈ 1 Comment

                                                  Love this image sent to me by a student….

                                                  Source: http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_l8se9i6AsA1qa5k5bo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1298235064&Signature=ATbdxo3a1kDB86GgZoJ8UmdxQPs%3D

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                                                  2011 Oklahoma #Moodle Moot 06/07-06/9/2011

                                                  19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in Education, Moodle, MoodleConversations

                                                  ≈ Leave a comment

                                                  Check out this announcement that comes to me via Tony Mba:

                                                  We are pleased to announceMoodleMoot Oklahoma 2011When: June 7, 8  & 9Where: Metro Technology Centers, Springlake Campus*Register by May 1, 2011 to get last year’s price.*Click here for more information and to register:  http://moodle.metrotech.edu/
                                                  MoodleMoot Oklahoma is now calling for presenters! 
                                                  We will have a pre-moot training day on June 7, 2011, and the moot itself will be June 8 and 9, 2011. 
                                                  June 7
                                                  Pre-MootThe Pre-Moot training day will provide instruction and hands-on activities to participants who need to know basic Moodle knowledge. Topics covered will include how to set up a course, create quizzes and assignments, and using the discussion forum and glossary. Last year we added an Admin session that was standing room only, so if you’ve conducted Moodle training, we’d love to have you come help us out!
                                                  June 8 & 9
                                                  Moodle MootOnce again, we are interested in offering four to five tracks during the moot – curriculum, hands-on, technical, and business.  We’re still thinking about the fifth track – so be sure to let us know if you have any ideas!Our Call for Presenters is open through April 17th, 2011.  If you’re interested in presenting, please submit your proposal by clicking Presentations->Call for Presenters on the top menu, or click here.MoodleMoot Oklahoma is now calling for Lab Assistants!We are asking for Lab Assistants this year – if you would like to volunteer to help out with the pre-moot, or for Open Lab during the moot, please volunteer by clicking Presentations->Volunteer for Lab Assistants on the top menu, or click here.  Be sure to volunteer by May 15th!


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                                                  Installing #SugarSync – Installation Tips and Improvement Suggestions

                                                  19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, TechTips

                                                  ≈ 1 Comment


                                                  Join SugarSync at Miguel’s Invitation

                                                  Read the Complete SugarSync Series

                                                  As nice as SugarSync is, there are some things it could do better. For example, the installation process of the file manager on Windows is problematic. It can lead to issues like synching file folders you don’t want to sync.

                                                  After clicking through the standard installation options, note what happens when you run SugarSync…
                                                  Step 1 – Connect Your SugarSync install to your online account:
                                                  Step 2 – Select Your Favorite Icon to Represent your computer:
                                                  Step 3 – Setup Options – this is the area that can use some improvement.
                                                  The program here needs a bit more explanation. You are presented with two options; the best option is the Advanced area. Watch what happens when you select the “Express Setup” which should be avoided by newbies to storing data in the cloud:
                                                  Note the amount of content floating around and easily uploadable. My recommendation in this is to go with Advanced options rather than select your Desktop and your Documents folders, which would then throw everything you have out onto the web…This is problematic because if you have LOTS of content, you’ll easily exceed the 5gigs allocated by SugarSync.
                                                  In fact, that’s what caused this problem with a friend’s machine. I prefer to choose advanced setup, and then you’ll see a windows that allows you to add folders to be synched. I would create a special folder that you’ll be sharing:
                                                  So, to summarize, here are my recommendations for using cloud storage apps like SugarSync and Dropbox:
                                                  1. Create a special folder on your Desktop or somewhere that you are going to put things into sync. Avoid selecting existing folders with data because you’ll undoubtedly exceed the capacity allocated to you from the cloud storage app (e.g. SugarSync is 5 gigs, Dropbox is 2 gigs).
                                                  2. Only share content that you wouldn’t mind seeing appear on the evening news. For example, I tend to put freeware/FOSS programs in my cloud storage because I can access it from anywhere. I never put confidential data in there unless it’s encrypted first (e.g. Truecrypt volume, AxCrypt or PGP/GPG).
                                                  3. Find out more about the undelete feature…if you accidentally sync data up to cloud storage, delete it locally, make sure you know how to undelete it on the cloud storage site.
                                                  IMPROVEMENT TIPS FOR SUGARSYNC DEVELOPERS
                                                  1. Put the files as their own webpage so they can be embedded. This is great for audio/video.
                                                  2. Clean up the install process so that it doesn’t try to import your documents and desktop folders during the “Express Install”
                                                  3. Allow me to manage ALL my computers via the Web, not just the one I’m on.
                                                    Of course, if you have File Manager running, you can right-click on the computer you want to remove and then have it go…


                                                  4. What else? Leave your suggestion in the Comments.

                                                  Read the Complete SugarSync Series


                                                  Join SugarSync at Miguel’s Invitation


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                                                  The #SugarSync Series (Updated)

                                                  19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, TechTips

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                                                  Join SugarSync at Miguel’s Invitation

                                                  Sure, it’s fun learning new stuff! Here are the last few blog entries for SugarSync afficionados:

                                                  1. Give Me Some Sugar! SugarSync, A Dropbox Alternative
                                                  2. Give Me More Sugar! Sharing Folders and UbuntuLinux
                                                  3. SugarSync – I’m Diabetic! This is Too Much Sugar For Me!
                                                  4. SugarSync – Installation Tips and Improvement Suggestions
                                                  5. SugarSync Reflections
                                                  6. SugarSync for iPad/iPhone/iPodTouch

                                                  Join SugarSync at Miguel’s Invitation


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                                                  Video Game Collaboration

                                                  19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in Education, Family, Gaming

                                                  ≈ 1 Comment


                                                  YouTube video on how to do stuff on Gears of War.


                                                  Deja vu! Whether it was that or a feeling of recognition, I had a positive reaction to PCHSDirector’s Blog (Dave Meister) entry on Making Ourselves Smarter. The part that resonated with my experiences with my son, who’s been gaming ever since he could sit in my lap and tell me where to go in a maze while I was still trying to figure it out, is shown below:

                                                  My son has become a WWII and Vietnam War era weapons expert.  He can recognize and describe the capabilities of weapons I have never seen or heard of (and I am a history teacher!).  He has learned a lot about World War II and Vietnam because of his interest in video games set in those historical eras.  He has done research outside of the games because he simply enjoys learning about the two conflicts and because he has a group of online friends that gets together regularly to play those games.  

                                                  Because the games are social in nature, he and his friends work together to compete with other similar groups.  I watched (and listened) to them one night as they differentiated what they were doing in order to take on another group of online players.  It was really fascinating as they talked each other through the “contest”, each with different types of expertise at playing the game.  Together they were really good at taking out their opposition.  If they had not been so good at collaborating, sharing each others’ expertise, the other group would have stood a chance.  What a wonderful example of how we are smarter together! 

                                                  Although my son quickly progressed far beyond Enemy Territory (a fantastic WWII game that is available online) and Urban Terror (more up to date weapons)–both of these games are multiplayer and no-cost–he’s now playing other games that tap into the collaborative nature possible. Since Dave above has already elaborated on that experience, I’ll share something new that I’ve observed.


                                                  My son has taken up with viewing YouTube videos to find out how to better play a game. These YouTube video tutorials are incredibly detailed and walk him through exactly how to do better in his Pokemon games. In a lot of ways, while they haven’t replaced the conversations with other kids his age, they have gone a great way at enhancing them. Think of it this way–my son is getting a high-end education on gameplay from experts from around the world…and he wants to give back. He wants to create his own video tutorials and share them with everyone (he’s already made one and its available on YouTube under a pseudonym/handle).

                                                  At times, I’m not sure if I’m in favor of this experience…he’s learning how to make himself smarter using videos freely available off the web, applying what he learns, all without the traditional teacher standing over him grading him. Success, for him, is measured on whether he gets the job done, whatever that job happens to be…pride and accomplishment flow, not from the grade he gets, but whether he can effectively communicate his own vision of how to achieve success to others.

                                                  Pretty scary if you ask me. I love these quotes from Lyn Hlt in the comments at Dave’s blog:

                                                  “Since much of the most relevant knowledge on the edge is tacit knowledge, edge participants naturally place a heavy emphasis on building diverse networks of relationships that will help them to collaborate more effectively with others in the creation of new
                                                  knowledge.”
                                                  “Tacit knowledge is held by individuals, so if firms want to enhance their participation in tacit knowledge flows, they must find ways to expand and enrich the social networks of their employees, helping them to connect with other individuals on relevant edge.” (Source: The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion by John Seely Brown)




                                                  A YouTube video on how to play a game better by yourself….


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                                                  SugarSync – I’m Diabetic! This is Too Much Sugar for Me!

                                                  19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, TechTips

                                                  ≈ Leave a comment

                                                  Image Source: http://diabeticdietsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/diabetic-hypo.jpg

                                                  Updated 2/19/2011 – Added uninstall overview.

                                                  A colleague jumped into SugarSync yesterday with both feet, and unfortunately, accidentally deleted her files on her computer. Though the decision to delete was clearly my colleague’s, rather than some problem with SugarSync, she is now stuck trying to figure out how to “undelete” her files on Sugarsync–which offers undelete just like Dropbox–and then, after the files are undeleted, a way to get 5 gigs of files from SugarSync back to her computer.

                                                  As far as I can tell, there are several ways to accomplish this with SugarSync…I’m going to review the options I see them.

                                                  Before working with these options, you have to first UNDELETE files if you accidentally deleted them on SugarSync:

                                                  Once you’ve undeleted your files and they appear back in your folder on SugarSync, you’re ready to jump into one or both options below.

                                                  Option #1 – Download your data as a compressed zip file.
                                                  You might want to use this option if you need to get your data out of SugarSync and don’t want to install the file manager on your computer so it can “get” the web-based version of your files and save them to your computer. Although I’m not sure if Sugarsync will be able to handle a 5 gig sized compressed file of documents–maybe it will break them up into multiple 4 gigabyte files to accommodate the FAT32 individual file size constraints–you might be able to download the files as a zip file.
                                                  To accomplish this, go to the web-based interface for SugarSync:
                                                  Once you click on DOWNLOAD, you will be prompted as to whether you want to download files as a zip and then given the option to download the zip file with all your stuff:
                                                  Save the file on your computer then uncompress it (right-click to extract) or double-click to open the zipped file then drag the contents to your desktop (depends on what computer you’re on).
                                                  Option #2 – Install the SugarSync File Manager and let it do the work.
                                                  With 5 gigs of files, it might be easier to just install the Sugarsync File Manager and let it synchronize your files, dropping a copy of the undeleted files into the location where they were previously. If you take this approach, your folders will display the black on yellow background “synching” arrows (arrows going in a circle) until the synch is done, as shown in the image to the right.

                                                  In the image below, note that the SugarSync File Manager appears, as do two folders to the right. The folder entitled “SugarSync” is the folder that is synchronized to the web, while the second folder below it is a folder (“Pictures”) where I pasted the contents of the “SugarSync” folder.

                                                  Once it is done synching, copy the files to a folder not set up to sync to SugarSync and uninstall SugarSync. You may also want to go to the SugarSync web site and permanently delete files that are there.

                                                  If you decide to uninstall SugarSync, note that your synched folders on your computer do not disappear…they remain along with their contents, as you can see below:

                                                  You can always look at the data on the web via the SugarSync site…you’ll have to manually delete it there (not hard).


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                                                  MyNotes – HomeSchool in OK = More Online Learning Choices?

                                                  19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                  Posted by mguhlin in Education, OnlineLearning

                                                  ≈ Leave a comment

                                                  Quotes:

                                                  Education choice for Oklahoma’s future | NewsOK.com

                                                    • Education choice for Oklahoma’s future   BY DAN LIPS Oklahoman    0 Published: February 5, 2011
                                                      • Oklahoma is fast becoming a national leader in offering families school choice, thanks to its charter schools and the new scholarship program for children with disabilities.
                                                        • Debates about school choice have focused on the critical challenge of helping kids trapped in bad schools transfer into better ones, whether by open enrollment, new charter schools, scholarships to attend private school and homeschooling.
                                                          • Future conversations are likely to be about customizing education to best suit children’s individual learning styles and finding the right learning environment to let children reach their highest potential.
                                                            • Across the country, more than 1 million children are participating in various forms of online learning. These programs include full-time virtual schools, supplemental online courses and classroom-based online instruction.
                                                              • By harnessing the power of technology, students can be taught any time, anywhere by some of the best teachers in the world. They can learn at their own pace — progressing to new lessons when they excel or receiving additional instruction when they struggle. Classrooms of students can receive individualized, customized instruction with a teacher’s support and supervision.
                                                                • The challenge for policymakers in Oklahoma and beyond is to implement policy reforms that will let families take full advantage of the best learning options for their children.
                                                                  • Oklahoma should consider this approach to create a system of real parental choice and innovation to hasten the arrival of education’s exciting future.

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                                                                    Give me More Sugar – Sharing Folders with SugarSync

                                                                    19 Saturday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, TechTips

                                                                    ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                    In a previous blog entry, I mentioned SugarSync–a Dropbox like tool–did NOT work with UbuntuLinux. Also, how do you share folders with SugarSync?

                                                                    UBUNTULINUX
                                                                    Well, I was wrong. It works just fine using WINE, as you can see from the screenshot below:

                                                                    Here’s what the screenshot of the web app looks like (desktop app above):
                                                                    That’s pretty amazing. Of course, Dropbox has native integration with UbuntuLinux. Still, it’s nice to know SugarSync will work on all 3 operating systems I use!
                                                                    SHARING FOLDERS
                                                                    One of the questions that came up is whether you can share folders with SugarSync the same way you do with Dropbox. Dropbox folder sharing is pretty straightforward…you get a link to the folder, then share that. Users then have the option to click on the link and view the contents of the shared folder. When you click on the link, a window like the one below shows up:
                                                                    Dropbox share folder
                                                                    On SugarSync, it works similarly, except the options are a bit varied:
                                                                    Note that you can require a password on SugarSync! As far as I can tell, Dropbox doesn’t have that password feature.


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                                                                    Give Me Some Sugar…SugarSync! A Dropbox Alternative (Updated 2/19/11)

                                                                    18 Friday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, TechTips

                                                                    ≈ Leave a comment


                                                                    Join SugarSync at Miguel’s Invitation

                                                                    Read the Complete SugarSync Series


                                                                    Worried about relying on just ONE solution–like Dropbox–to store your files “out there” in the cloud?  Consider Jeff Thomas’ point about Dropbox being down recently….

                                                                    I’m trying to prepare my final post of my Google Sites series and I needDropbox access.  Fortunately I don’t need any specific file–I just need it as a part of a screencast.  But what if I did need that file right now in preparation for a presentation?  Dropbox is down as we speak!

                                                                    But any Read/Write web denizen knows that you need not depend on just ONE solution, right? If yes, then consider SugarSync, a Dropbox-like tool that works on Macintosh and Windows (not UbuntuLinux, though). Aside from missing an UbuntuLinux interface, SugarSync is pretty sweet! 


                                                                    Update: Yes, SugarSync DOES work with UbuntuLinux. And, you can share folders with others. Read up on it.

                                                                    Some quick stats:
                                                                    • You start out with 5 gigs of free space on SugarSync as opposed to 2 gigs with Dropbox
                                                                    • You get 500 megs free space for each referral to 250 megs with Dropbox
                                                                    • You get 10 gigs of free space if a referral pays for a plan (and those look reasonable, too).
                                                                    SugarSync features support for Android, Blackberry and iPhone/iPad/iTouch…and other mobile devices.

                                                                    Remember, the more people you refer who join SugarSync, the more free storage you get. It’s easy: you get an extra 500MB for each person you refer who joins a free plan and a whopping extra 10GB for each person who joins a paid plan! What’s even cooler is that your friend also gets the same free storage due to your referral. (SugarSync Email)


                                                                    Managing referrals is pretty nice with the referral screen (shown above). 

                                                                    The desktop app for Sugarsync is pretty straightforward (read the Quickstart guide), and isn’t unlike the web version (appears below desktop app screenshot):


                                                                    Desktop app



                                                                    One of the neat aspects is that you can email files to SugarSync. With Dropbox, it’s my understanding you have to use a third party solution (e.g. SendtoDropbox.com, AirDropper.com). But you can do that with SugarSync, and if you are syncing folders to Dropbox, then you can email to SugarSync and have it get dropped right into Dropbox!! Pretty nifty.



                                                                    Another feature I liked is the Web Archive. It’s described in this way:

                                                                    The Web Archive is a location for storing files that do not need to be synced, but just need to be backed up and stored online. If you want to make room on your hard drive, and you no longer need to make changes to the files, then they’re perfect for storing in the Web Archive. 

                                                                    Some drawbacks to SugarSync, although these may be due more to my ignorance:

                                                                    1. I couldn’t find an easy way to, as one would say with Dropbox, “unlink” a folder or remove it from synching. Once you setup a folder, it’s almost as if you’re stuck with that being the folder. You can always add more but…it would be nice to unlink. I tried both the web and desktop apps to no avail.
                                                                      Finally found the solution in the Help files.
                                                                    2. On the Known Issues page of SugarSync, it says there’s no iPhone app (“None”) but the Help files clearly show there is. Which is it?
                                                                    3. I didn’t see any way to upload files via the web, although downloading isn’t an issue.
                                                                      Update 2/19/2011: Yep, there’s an upload via the web interface but it requires Shockwave/Flash compatibility (check image below):




                                                                    Well, I’m sure there’s a lot more to learn about SugarSync. If you join up, I hope you’ll do so using the link below:

                                                                    Join SugarSync at Miguel’s Invitation

                                                                    Read the Complete SugarSync Series



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                                                                    No-Cost Web #Image #PDF #OCR Tools

                                                                    18 Friday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in Chrome, ImageEdit, PDFtool, TechTips

                                                                    ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                    Thanks to Sciweavers for releasing a suite of free web-based tools…read their press release below:

                                                                    We have just released the following online applications and thought that you may be interested in sharing interesting ones with your community. All services allow unlimited usage, no registration, and no Email.

                                                                    http://www.sciweavers.org/free-online-web-to-imageiWeb2Shot is a free online web page to high resolution image snapshot. You can set image to custom wallpaper or actual page size.  Save or email cool websites as images, or share them on image network such as Flickr. iWeb2Shot provides a bookmarklet and a Google chrome extension that enables you to convert  current web page to image directly from your browser. Supported images are (PNG, GIF, JPG, TIF, BMP, PPM, PGM).

                                                                    http://www.sciweavers.org/free-online-html-to-pdfiWeb2Print is a free online HTML to PDF converter. iWeb2Print converts a web page to an elegant printer friendly PDF to print or read offline. You can set the page size to (Letter, Legal, A0-A9, B0-B10, etc), page orientation to (Landscape, Portrait), PDF mode to (Color, Gray), and much more. iWeb2Print provides a bookmarklet and a Google chrome extension that enables you to convert  current web page to pdf directly from your browser.

                                                                    http://www.sciweavers.org/free-online-ocri2OCR is a free online OCR that converts scanned documents, faxes, or screenshots into editable text. i2OCR supports several input image formats including (TIF, JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, PBM, PGM, PPM), which can be loaded from disk or URL. The service can recognize multi-column documents written in 30+ languages including major ones (English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese). When you click the convert button, i2OCR shows the recognized text as well as the input source image side by side to facilitate the correction of mis-recognized words. Recognized text can be downloaded as a doc file or copied as text.

                                                                    http://www.sciweavers.org/free-online-latex-equation-editorTex2Img is a free online Latex equation editor that converts Latex equations to high resolution images to embed in documents, presentations, blogs, websites, emails, or even to tweet. You can also use Tex2Img to learn Latex by trial and error or even convert your email, telephone number, or home address into an image to avoid spam. You can change the equation background color, text color, transparency, font size, and output image format (PNG, GIF, JPG, TIF, BMP, PNM, EPS, FIG, PS).

                                                                    https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/mhabjpofjblpelkgmllkpcnlhgjpebko?hl=eniWeb2x is a google chrome browser extension that converts a web page to a printer friendly PDF, image snapshot, or high resolution wallpaper


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                                                                    Lifetime GiveAway – WinX DVD Author @WinXDVD

                                                                    18 Friday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in VideoConversion, WindowsOS

                                                                    ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                    Wow, awesome news! WinX DVD Author is now freeware (no cost!). Thanks to the DIgiarty people for sharing this software program with us all!

                                                                    It was once a shareware which cost $49.95. As requested by our customers, our developing group recoded it to a complete freeware (on Feb.16). What’s more, the software was also updated with more powerful encoder and decoder engine. For those who are looking for free solution to create and burn home video DVD, the enhanced WinX DVD Author freeware will be surely a nice choice.

                                                                    Are you looking for an easy and fast way to create home video DVD from video files, camcorder, webcam, Youtube and personalize it with DVD chapter menu & subtitle (*.srt)? WinX DVD Author is your ideal solution and it is totally free!
                                                                    With step-by-step wizard built in, even novice can easily convert and burn MKV, M2TS, M4V, MP4, FLV, MPEG, MOV, RM, RMVB, H.264, AVI to DVD, etc. Equipped with fast and powerful decode encoder engine, this free DVD burner software takes less than one hour to create a full 4.3 G high quality DVD, while delivering 100% excellent audio and video effects. 

                                                                     http://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-author/


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                                                                    Skitch – Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

                                                                    18 Friday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in ImageEdit, TechTips

                                                                    ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                    http://screenshots.en.softonic.com/en/scrn/68000/68291/3_skitch-beta.jpg

                                                                    Skitch, which ran on beta FOREVER, is finally charging approx $15.00 a year. Ouch. These $15 per year apps are killing my rapidly shrinking budget (remember, like many Texas educators, about 80,000, I’m due to be unemployed). Yet, it seems WRONG TO not PAY for SKITCH, when I must have grabbed thousands of images, annotated them, and then uploaded it to their image hosting service.

                                                                    I feel guilty about it. And, I had to ask them this question, even though I was getting stomach pangs:

                                                                    Is there an easy way to download all the images I’ve uploaded to Skitch? In other words, is there a way to “liberate” my data from Skitch?

                                                                    Practicing liberation when it comes to cloud apps is easy. If you couldn’t pull your data out of Google, Dropbox, or any of the other zillion tools available, you might get worried (I would). But Skitch, the most awesome image editor ever produced and that fortunately a lot of folks copied while they were in beta, holding on to your images doesn’t seem wrong.

                                                                    Walking the Exhibit Floor at TCEA, I ran into a Plasq.com rep, and just had to thank him for Skitch. “Thanks, guy, for such an awesome Mac app!”
                                                                    “Your welcome but you know we spun them off right?”
                                                                    “Yes, but I just want to thank SOMEONE.”
                                                                    Of course, raving about Skitch is easy. Paying for it is…well, hard.
                                                                    And, getting one’s data out of their site? Well…here’s the response I got:

                                                                    Thank you for your email — I’m very sorry that you haven’t received a reply until now because of a mess up here. It was my mistake, please accept my humble apologies.
                                                                    There’s no way currently to bulk download your images, but it’s on our to do.
                                                                    Thank you for your patience

                                                                    You are welcome! I’m the one that feels like a heel.


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                                                                    TuxPaint, Cuteness, and #m90z from @lenovo

                                                                    18 Friday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in HardwareReviews, lenovom90z, m90z, Review

                                                                    ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                    https://img.skitch.com/20110121-mgcy1kewc1x8qrtaxcw45rwq24.jpg

                                                                    Find out more about the m90z here

                                                                    Ok, before you call me on the fact that I’m pushing an m90z ThinkCentre from Lenovo (think of the giveaway coming sometime later this Spring), I have to share TechSavvyEducator (Ben Rimes) fun video of his kindergarten darling working with TuxPaint.

                                                                    Although Texas is slipping into the quagmire of debt and ruin, it’s great to imagine “What if….” with these touchscreens in the hands of awesome ankle-byters!

                                                                    Lenovo ThinkCentre m90z Edu-Smack Down – Tux Paint from Ben Rimes on Vimeo.

                                                                    And, if you’ve missed TuxPaint, you really need to go get it installed on your machine. It’s a fun, easy paint tool reminiscent of KidPix (for you old timers that remember it), as well as free, open source.

                                                                    Tux Paint is a free, award-winning drawing program for children ages 3 to 12 (for example, preschool and K-6). It combines an easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who guides children as they use the program.

                                                                    Find out more about the m90z here

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                                                                    Convert Jing SWFs?

                                                                    17 Thursday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in MacOS, TechTips, VideoConversion

                                                                    ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                    When I saw a twitter conversation between @bethstill and @mbteach about converting SWFs, my hopes were raised by the Online Converter web site:

                                                                    Unfortunately, though I tried converter to AVI and MP4, all that came through was the sound from the SWF (which isn’t a bad trick to know about).  So, thank goodness I’m a Jing Pro user and can save to MP4. . .and there are other screencasting tools that are free depending on your operating system.
                                                                    On a different note, Jing Pro has this neat feature that now allows you to record your own computer screen AND audio from a different device (say, like the audio playing from an on-screen video that you can’t convert or save). You can do this using SoundFlower (on a Mac) and Jing Pro.
                                                                    This is a great modification on Jing’s part!

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                                                                    Dealing with #Moodle Server – VendorHosted or Self-Hosted?

                                                                    17 Thursday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in Moodle, MoodleConversations

                                                                    ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                    Source: http://www.e-learndesign.co.uk/assets/Uploads/MoodlePartnerPostit.gif


                                                                    Recently, a colleague wrote me with this scenario (modified and anonymized):

                                                                    We have been running Moodle for many years now. Several years ago, we moved to a hosting service and hadn’t had any problems until now. This is probably due to the fact that our Moodle has grown tremendously with the onset of our popular virtual classes we’re offering. Even though our old host made every effort to move our Moodle, it took too long and now we’re experiencing problems.

                                                                    Do you recommend any other hosting service or ideas for handling a larger Moodle site? Right now we have approximately 800-1000 users and that number will be growing up to 5000 or so. When we tried to host this internally before, we didn’t have much success due to other duties.

                                                                    My response (slightly edited here) was as follows…what would you have said?



                                                                    This is a tough question to answer so allow me to clarify your options:

                                                                    Option #1 – Switch to another hosting service. There are various Moodle Partners in Texas, such as ClassroomRevolutions, Moodlerooms, NewSchoolLearning and Remote Learner. As great as these are for different folks, you may be talking about quite a bit of money and limited access to the MySQL databases. That is, you won’t be able to easily do your own maintenance because they will probably want to nickel-and-dime you to death.
                                                                    Another hosting provider–such as Rackspace or Siteground–might give you more freedom but cost will be an issue. Yet, this may be the only answer you have. I would ask for the following up front with a hosted vendor:
                                                                    • Hosting of your Moodle on its own server, not shared with other Moodles. They can do this by creating a virtualized server for you where you have admin rights.
                                                                    • PHPMyAdmin needs to be installed on your server and you need to have full rights. This allows you to run queries, update data en masse, make backups, etc.
                                                                    • FTP rights, not only to the Moodle folders where your web pages are so you can update themes and mods yourself, but also to the Moodledata folder which exists at one level up from the web pages folder (e.g. htdocs or www depending on whether they are running Apache (preferred) or IIS (Windows but not good)).
                                                                    • Full Admin rights for your Moodle. Sometimes, you only get course creator rights with hosting providers.
                                                                    That, at minimum, is what you should be able to do on your hosted server. 
                                                                    Account management will become a nightmare for you; with more access to the MySQL database, you can setup an external database that Moodle can authenticate to rather than juggling student accounts all the time. 
                                                                    Option #2 – Set up your own server. This, by far, is your best option. The reason why is you can demand–and get–access to all the items listed above in option #1, and have control of your server (about $8K-$12K would get you a nice one). 
                                                                    I would prefer to run Windows OS with Apache (web server), MySQL (database) and PHP (web pages) running on the machine. It’s easier to “remote control” (IMHO) the server and login. However, setting up a GNU/Linux server IS much easier than Windows (nightmare) for production purposes.
                                                                    You’ll save lots of money over the long term that you can invest in training for yourself and your team.
                                                                    Running updates on a GNU/Linux server isn’t hard, it just takes adjustment to how it’s done…again, I would make sure you get this straight with the powers that be up front. If I can be of assistance, please let me know.
                                                                    Alex Buchner’s Moodle Administration book is a must-read for you.
                                                                    RECOMMENDATION:
                                                                    Having clarified the options, my recommendation is for an internally hosted server that you get more involved in supporting. You have to learn how to do this yourself with a site your size. You can always add more servers.


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                                                                    Converting Video with #VLC Media Player on the #M90z ThinkCentre @lenovo

                                                                    17 Thursday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in lenovom90z, m90z, Review, TechTips, VideoConversion

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                                                                    Earlier this week, I shared how I hoped to play with the Bubbl.us on the m90z ThinkCentre Touchscreen, a 23 inch Windows 7 Professional computer that we’ll be doing a giveaway for here at Around the Corner sometime in the near future (so stay tuned!).

                                                                    While playing with the video in 3gp format–which is typically what you get when you record a video with a mobile phone (my Motorola Cliq)–I realized I’d probably need to convert it to something web-friendly…like MP4. Although there are various tools for accomplish video conversion, I thought I’d use my old standby, VLC Media Player.
                                                                    Of course, VLC Media Player worked great! You can watch the video of the conversion above. And, if you’re interested in checking out the Bubbl.us walkthrough using the m90z ThinkCentre, be sure to check here!

                                                                    Find out more about the m90z here

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                                                                    Job Posting – Network Administrator in Lousiana

                                                                    17 Thursday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in JobPosting

                                                                    ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                    Check out this job opening for a Network Administrator in Louisiana….


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                                                                    Free #Moodle Books Available from #HowToMoodle

                                                                    16 Wednesday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in Book, Moodle

                                                                    ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                    Thanks to @kristy_vincent and Rusty Meyners for sharing this piece of news about free Moodle books you can download in PDF…which is nice since you can drop them into your favorite eReader!

                                                                    https://www.howtomoodle.com/moodle-manuals
                                                                    There is a free code that appears on the site that you can use to download the books. The books are both authored by Ray Lawrence:
                                                                    The books should serve as a nice intro to course design (270+ pages) and administration (70+ pages). They are a bit more bare bones than some other books I’ve read, but well worth the time.

                                                                    Kristy Vincent, who brought it to the attention of quite a few folks today, shares the following:

                                                                    I’ve had a little bit of time today to go through the two of them. The Admin Reference Manual is just that…. for reference. It does a pretty decent job of showing the front end admin. This is not a reference for PHP manipulation or understanding. It also does not jump into the FTP for your Moodle. Overall, a pretty good reference. It will save you the time of clicking on all the different options of admin settings to figure out what they do. Page 57 for uploading users will most likely prove very useful for new Moodle Admins. Please note: **** It is for version 1.8***** 


                                                                    The other book, for Course Creators, has a good bit more content (266 pages versus 71). This is NOT for teachers; the gradebook as a whole is pretty much lacking. This is for a course designer or creator. It focuses on the actual look and feel of the course…. not so much the content. It does a pretty good job of breaking down the various resources and activities. Page 252 starts a great explanation and hopefully understanding of Groups. Just keep in mind, it is not for the teacher. This one is created with 1.9. 


                                                                    And if you haven’t downloaded the zip or PDF of http://docs.moodle.org/en/Using_Moodle_book you really should. I casually refer to it as my Moodle Bible. It is more geared towards the teacher. Between the three of them, you should have a decent arsenal of information.



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                                                                    MyNotes – Perry’s call for $10,000 bachelor’s degrees stumps educators

                                                                    16 Wednesday Feb 2011

                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in Education, HigherEducation, MyNotes, OnlineLearning, Politics

                                                                    ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                    One of the fascinating points below is the powerful role technology–online learning–can play in achieving Perry’s goal of a $10K bachelor’s program. Even if they manage to shave a few thousand off the bill, that would be helpful. Yet doing so with technology presumes that teachers and students will have learned to use online learning technologies. The irony is that K-12 budget cuts in Texas ELIMINATE the virtual school network (a.k.a. TxVSN), and WIPE OUT the state technology allotment, where virtual learning coordinators/facilitators in instructional technology departments across Texas school districts.

                                                                    Do Governor Perry and the State Legislators really know what they’re doing? Of course, perhaps the vision isn’t one where school districts and colleges build capacity to get the job done using free, open source tools like Moodle–which many Districts have adopted–but instead are required to purchase online learning packages from EXPENSIVE providers.

                                                                    Wouldn’t it be curious to find out how those online learning initiatives for K-16 students are funded and by whom?

                                                                    Quotes:

                                                                    Educational Equity, Politics & Policy in Texas: Perry’s call for $10,000 bachelor’s degrees stumps educators

                                                                      • Perry’s call for $10,000 bachelor’s degrees stumps educators
                                                                        • Gov. Rick Perry challenged the state’s public institutions of higher learning this week to develop bachelor’s degree programs costing no more than $10,000, including textbooks
                                                                          • Tuition, fees and books for four years average $31,696 at public universities in Texas, according to the Higher Education Coordinating Board. Sul Ross State University Rio Grande College is the cheapest, at $17,532.
                                                                            • “College, except for the parties, needs to be less place-based,” he said. Web-based instruction and other technology could drive the price down to $2,000 a year, he said. Perry wrote to university regents last week , urging them to develop $10,000 degree programs and to scale up those programs so at least 10 percent of the sheepskins awarded by their schools are based on this approach. He said programs could include online classes, classes at no-frills campuses, credit for prior learning, credit for Advanced Placement classes in high school and other elements.
                                                                              • The Higher Education Coordinating Board is examining Web-based instruction and other innovations for cost savings. Paredes, the higher education commissioner, said there is nothing inherently wrong with, say, a student in Texas taking an online course including a package of lectures by a top scholar of American literature at Yale and a reading list with such titles as “Moby Dick” and “The Scarlet Letter” that are out of copyright and sell for very little. Graduate students at various universities could be hired to grade students’ work, he said.
                                                                                • Technology is clearly the core of what we are doing,” said Robert Mendenhall , president of Western Governors. But cost-cutting can be carried only so far, he said. Web-based programs still need faculty members who interact with students and grade their work, especially writing, a core skill in higher education.
                                                                                  • Critics of online education worry about quality and intangibles that could be lost without a face-to-face setting. “A lot of the discussion about online classes takes the view that education is a package of facts,” said John Curtis , director of research and public policy at the American Association of University Professors in Washington. “Education is a process of interaction, of thinking through concepts, debating ideas and having others react to your thoughts.”

                                                                                    MyNotes – Good Practice in Hybrid Courses

                                                                                    16 Wednesday Feb 2011

                                                                                    Posted by mguhlin in Education, MyNotes, OnlineLearning

                                                                                    ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                                    Fascinating findings regarding “good practice” in hybrid courses. My favorite was the listing of Chickering and Gamson’s 7 principles of good practice:

                                                                                    1. contact between faculty and students, 
                                                                                    2. cooperation among students, 
                                                                                    3. active learning, 
                                                                                    4. prompt feedback, 
                                                                                    5. time on tasks, 
                                                                                    6. high expectations of students, and 
                                                                                    7. respect for diverse student learning styles

                                                                                    This translates into the following for hybrid courses:

                                                                                    1. provide clear guidelines for interactions with students; 
                                                                                    2. create well-designed discussion assignments that require participation, engagement, and feedback; 
                                                                                    3. require student-presented projects; 
                                                                                    4. provide feedback on both assignments and inquiries; 
                                                                                    5. establish deadlines; 
                                                                                    6. communicate high expectations through challenging assignments and praise; and 
                                                                                    7. allow students to express their own interests and points of view by choosing project topics.

                                                                                    Quotes:

                                                                                    JOLT – Journal of Online Learning and Teaching

                                                                                      • MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching
                                                                                        • Vol. 6, No. 4, December 2010
                                                                                          • Constructing Communication in Blended Learning Environments: Students’ Perceptions of Good Practice in Hybrid Courses
                                                                                            • Stephanie Babb
                                                                                              • Cynthia Stewart
                                                                                                • Ruth Johnson
                                                                                                  • Distance learning includes courses that are taught at satellite campuses, through instructional television, as hybrid courses, and fully online. In the 2000-2001 academic year, 89% of 4-year public institutions offered some form of distance learning (Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006).
                                                                                                    • During the 2006-2007 academic year, the percentage of distance education courses offered remained unchanged, but the percentage of hybrid courses increased from 35% to 64% (NCES, 2008). 
                                                                                                    • Another study reported that professors, already using blended learning, expected to offer more than 40% of their courses in the blended format by the year 2013 (Bonk & Kim, 2006).
                                                                                                      • hybrid, or blended, courses are a combination of online and traditional, face-to-face courses. The goal of hybrid courses is often to combine quality features of traditional classroom teaching with quality features of online courses in order to promote active, independent learning and reduce time in the classroom (Aycock, Garnham, & Kaleta, 2002)
                                                                                                        • online and hybrid educators recognize the importance of creating a learning environment that fosters interaction, dialogue, and mentoring in an effort to produce learning outcomes similar to those in traditional courses.
                                                                                                          • both students and professors have to learn how to have meaningful online communication.
                                                                                                            • a well-designed hybrid course (Oblinger & Hawkins, 2006), which should foster a collaborative learning environment that encourages students’ interactions with the course content, the professor, and fellow classmates (Hostetter & Busch, 2006)
                                                                                                              • A study found that, when compared with traditional courses, the hybrid delivery mode can result in higher grades and improved learning outcomes (Dowling, Godfrey, & Gyles, 2003), as well as students’ perceptions of greater learning and motivation (Leh, 2002; Riffell & Sibley, 2003).
                                                                                                                • Students in hybrid courses also feel a stronger sense of community with their classmates and professor when compared with both traditional and online students (Rovai & Jordan, 2004)
                                                                                                                  • A sense of community, which is measured by students’ perceptions of connectedness and learning, has been repeatedly shown to be important in the process of learning (Chavis, Hogge, McMillan, & Wandersman, 1986; McMillan & Chavis, 1986; Riger & Lavrakas, 1981; Sarason, 1974),
                                                                                                                    • A sense of community has been found to be influenced by the attitude of the instructor and the environment created by classmates (Tebben, 1995), as well as interactive online tools (Baym, 1995; Dede, 1996; Reid, 1995; Rheingold, 1993). Recently, Wighting (2006) reported that students named connectedness with peers as the most important variable in developing a sense of community.
                                                                                                                      • reduced social cues, such as tone of voice and facial expressions, could cause misunderstandings that negatively affect learning. Other weaknesses include student computer literacy, limitations of technology, and technological inexperience of the instructor.
                                                                                                                        • Benchmarking is a method for developing requirements and standards in e-learning and thereby measuring performance (Oliver, 2005).
                                                                                                                          • even principles of good practice in undergraduate education, which includes contact between faculty and students, cooperation among students, active learning, prompt feedback, time on tasks, high expectations of students, and respect for diverse student learning styles. More than half of the benchmarks involve effective professor-student and student-student interaction.
                                                                                                                            • distance instructors: provide clear guidelines for interactions with students; create well-designed discussion assignments that require participation, engagement, and feedback; require student-presented projects; provide feedback on both assignments and inquiries; establish deadlines; communicate high expectations through challenging assignments and praise; and allow students to express their own interests and points of view by choosing project topics.
                                                                                                                              • According to Pelz (2004), social presence can be: affective, in which students express emotions and feelings; interactive, which occurs when students effectively comprehend others’ responses; and cohesive, which results in a sense of commitment and belonging. Studies have found positive correlations between social presence and satisfaction with both the course and the professor (Richardson & Swan, 2003).
                                                                                                                                • Teaching presence involves frequent and effective interaction between the student and professor (Mandernach, Gonzales, & Garrett, 2006). Teaching presence can be created in three ways: through facilitation of discussion by both the student and the professor; through direct instruction by the professor; or through instructional design (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000).
                                                                                                                                  • Immediacy is related to presence in that it refers to verbal and nonverbal behaviors that create interaction and a feeling of closeness (Gorham, 1988; Hutchins, 2003; Meharabian, 1969). Students should perceive a small social distance between the professor and the student and this can be accomplished through use of humor and encouragement in online and traditional interactions, and eye contact and hand gestures in the traditional classroom (Gorham, 1988). Moreover, Woods and Baker (2004) state that, “the integration of verbal and non-verbal immediacy communication behaviors lets professors move from mere interaction to authentic intimacy and interpersonal closeness” (p. 2).
                                                                                                                                    • Because professor-student interaction is correlated with learning and achievement (Bernard et al., 2004), it is important to provide prompt and effective feedback to students who have less traditional class time.
                                                                                                                                      • prompt responses to student questions, clear communication about assignments, high expectations for student performance, and professor immediacy are important features of professor-student feedback in hybrid courses.
                                                                                                                                        • this study found that students’ perceived satisfaction and performance in hybrid courses was predicted using the benchmarks for course design and delivery (Chickering & Gamson, 1987). The findings bolster previous research by demonstrating the applicability of using the benchmarks to evaluate hybrid courses (Grant & Thornton, 2007). Specifically, user-friendly websites which increase student involvement, house well-designed assignments, provide a forum for faculty–student communication, build a community of learners, and have a mechanism for providing prompt feedback and communicating high expectations were noted as good practices in hybrid instruction.
                                                                                                                                          • findings suggested that students involved in active learning were less likely to withdraw from courses and more likely to be satisfied with their education and graduate from college.
                                                                                                                                            • Students’ evaluations of course design also predicted students’ perceptions of course delivery (Shea et al., 2005),
                                                                                                                                              • Course delivery was defined by a faculty member’s ability to communicate high expectations, provide prompt, helpful feedback, establish immediacy and presence, and create a forum for a community of learners.
                                                                                                                                                • students who thought that the assignments were interesting also believed that their professors communicated high expectations of their performance.
                                                                                                                                                  • Students who had fun completing the course activities also experienced positive interactions with their professors, and students who easily navigated the website and thought that the online content supplemented the in-class portion of the course experienced positive interactions with their classmates.
                                                                                                                                                    • professors who communicated high expectations also provided students with helpful online materials and notes, and professors who posted helpful online assignments also communicated high expectations of their students.
                                                                                                                                                      • It follows that faculty who use rubrics, are responsive to student emails, and provide helpful responses to student questions will limit the amount of time that students waste trying to interpret assignments. Clear and effective feedback has been associated with improved student performance and satisfaction (Mandernach et al., 2006); however, this study did not substantiate those findings, perhaps because student perceptions of performance were assessed rather than direct measures of performance such as grades.
                                                                                                                                                        • faculty who communicated high expectations, but also communicated confidence in their students’ abilities to meet those expectations, had students who were more satisfied with their performance, despite the fact that they expected lower grades in their courses.
                                                                                                                                                          • Those currently teaching hybrid courses or faculty who intend to teach hybrid courses should employ the benchmarks when designing their hybrid class, as this research and previous studies have demonstrated the utility of the benchmarks in predicting student learning outcomes and satisfaction.
                                                                                                                                                            • faculty should design courses to provide students with ample opportunity to converse online about the material as students’ satisfaction was related to positive interactions with classmates.
                                                                                                                                                              • professor communications should be timely, effective, and express high expectations of student performance.
                                                                                                                                                                • This work is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share-Alike License

                                                                                                                                                                  VUSAFE Videos

                                                                                                                                                                  16 Wednesday Feb 2011

                                                                                                                                                                  Posted by mguhlin in Education, Video

                                                                                                                                                                  ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                                                                                                                  http://www.m86vusafe.com

                                                                                                                                                                  Check out this beta service…I haven’t tried it yet. Perhaps, it will solve the issue with blocked YouTube.com and other video sites in schools.

                                                                                                                                                                  Many schools block access to YouTube on their networks, which can be frustrating for teachers who want to use YouTube at school. There’s a lot of great educational content on YouTube, but many teachers and students never have the chance to access it due to inappropriate material on the site (via eschoolnews)

                                                                                                                                                                  VuSafe.com presents an alternative. . .whether that alternative is any good, I’ll have to wait and see. I’ve submitted my application for a beta account.


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                                                                                                                                                                  MyNotes – Race to the Bottom

                                                                                                                                                                  15 Tuesday Feb 2011

                                                                                                                                                                  Posted by mguhlin in Education, MyNotes, Politics, Religion

                                                                                                                                                                  ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                                                                                                                  Source: http://www.christiansocialistpartyusa.org/jesus-socialist.jpg

                                                                                                                                                                  The conclusion of this article is that the race to the bottom–an assertion I whole-heartedly agree with–is that this is a “worrisome trend” for our public schools. Worrisome isn’t the word I’d use…self-destructive as a state.

                                                                                                                                                                  Quotes:

                                                                                                                                                                  UCEA || University Council for Educational Administration – Home | Quality Leadership Matters – Racing towards the bottom

                                                                                                                                                                    • Racing towards the bottom
                                                                                                                                                                      • Sunday, February 13, 2011 at 8:27PM | Catherine Lugg
                                                                                                                                                                        • many states and districts continue to confront dire budgetary scenarios.
                                                                                                                                                                          • The first myth is that the current budget woes are largely being driven by greedy public employees, who are paid too much, whose pensions are too rich, and whose health benefits are too lavish. The second myth is that the US taxpayer and, more importantly, corporate America are being crushed by onerous levels of taxation to pay for these public services. Consequently, the mythology declares that outrageous levels of public spending are strangling the economic recovery.
                                                                                                                                                                            • hese budget scenarios are being fueled by some critical myths.
                                                                                                                                                                              • we are currently paying less for governmental services than what our parents and grandparents did.
                                                                                                                                                                                • From 1980 to 2005, more than four-fifths of the total increase in American incomes went to the richest 1 percent.
                                                                                                                                                                                  • Such dramatic changes in income distribution are not acts of God, they’re the result of conscious policy decisions by our elected leaders at all levels of government. Meanwhile, unemployed human beings continue to have their miserly benefits cut by politicians supposedly taking courageous stands against deficit spending, although unemployment benefits provide more stabilization to the economy than budget and tax cuts.
                                                                                                                                                                                    • the current claims regarding the causes of fiscal poverty by governors, state legislatures, and the federal government, don’t survive intense scrutiny. There are resources available to adequately fund public education. But we’re living in an era where public services are seen as inherently “bad” in terms of quality, efficacy, and morality
                                                                                                                                                                                      • Such wholesale defunding of public education could have lasting detrimental affects upon our long-standing system of common schools.
                                                                                                                                                                                        • Instead of “Racing towards the Top,” which is the current presidential administration’s “reformy” mantra, our public school system is being forced to race to the bottom, in the name of economic hard times and anti-tax paranoia.

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