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Doll with head on |
Today is the last day of finals week, and also
commencement day. It means some papers are
going to have to be graded pretty quickly in some
cases. Congratulations to our graduates, and
to all who completed a successful semester.
Our show today features Palomar tech news and downloads, a Blackboard feature
of the week, "the Wimba voice tools,"
which we now have installed on our test system,
Haydn is on hiatus this week, trying to get his
grades submitted post haste, my tech
talk topic on training, part 2, which I neglected to
include in last week's show, so it will be given
from the perspective of the fait accompli, and
finally the gizmo of the week,
unique USB drives.
Palomar Tech and Download News
- The Blackboard system will be unavailable
Saturday, May 20 for maintenance. We will
be backing up system data, updating to Learning
System 7.1, integrating the new database server,
and cleaning up discussion board data tables
which were corrupted by an earlier Blackboard
installation.
- Tami Weintraub of the library wants to
remind all patrons that on May 21 all existing
access codes
(userid/username/passwords)
for off-campus access to the Library’s
online research databases
will
expire
and no longer work.
To continue using the databases off-campus, you
may obtain new access codes in person or by
telephone (x2614 or x8113) from the Library
Circulation Desks, or by registering online at
http://www.palomar.edu/library/forms/dbregistration.htm.
- The RF Polling Devices we ordered from
eInstruction, and talked about back in
episode 10, have finally arrived. We
will be learning all about them next week and
will be making them available starting next
Fall.
- Software downloads/upgrades this week
include:
- Quicktime has been upgraded to version 7.1,
and Apple is calling this a major upgrade.
- The
Horizon Wimba Live Classroom and Voice tools
should be available beginning Sunday, May 21, if
all goes well with the Blackboard upgrade
tomorrow. Here is a sample of their audio
VEmail mail:
- Intersession classes begin Monday, May 22,
making this Saturday, May 20 the only day
possible for us to perform planned maintenance
on Blackboard.
Blackboard Feature of the Week - David Gray
David's topic this week is "The Wimba Voice
Tools." David will be installing these on
our production Blackboard system this weekend, and
will preview them for you here.
Listen to this segment only [mp3 - play time =
6:25]
Teaching with Technology - Dr. Haydn Davis
Haydn is on hiatus this week, but will return
next week.
Tech-Talk-Topic
Technology Training - again, again
The training schedule for next Fall has been
completed, except for the Blackboard certificate
component, and can be viewed at:
It is our most ambitious schedule to date, in
answer to prominent focus group and survey
responses indicating that faculty want more
technology training. We have re-thought
the entire training sequence and come up with a
new system of competency categories as a way to
organize our thinking about training. As
stated last week, the competencies are:
- Technology Essentials
- Presentation Skills
- Document Preparation Skills
- Communication Skills
- Assessment
- Teaching and Learning Strategies
I think the real difference in the coming
fall will be the Blackboard course we create to
go along with all these workshops. It
should serve as a future resource for any
faculty member interested in any of these
topics, whether they come to the workshops or
not. For some of the more advanced topics,
our plan is to move them entirely online at some
point, using Blackboard. There are just
two problems:
- This is an awful lot of preparation to
do over the summer. I hope we're up to
the task.
- The Microsoft productivity software is
about to undergo major changes, and our
materials will have to be re-done early next
year.
That's just life with technology.
Listen to this segment
[mp3 - Play time
= 11:22]
Gizmo of the week
The Wooden Memory Drive. "They all
look different since they are all picked by hand out
in the woods." That's right. If you are
tired of amorphous polycarbon and silicon devices
betraying you, go back to nature with these USB
drives as God intended them. A 512MB model
retails for around $80, no extra charge for moss or
lichen.
Actually, I found from the same source a number of
weird USB drives. I had to agree with the
top two choices.
|
The thumb drive: |
The Barbie drive.
Just pull off her head and stick her
body into your USB port: |
 |
 |
I'm not making this up.
(Source:
Fosfor)
Music
The
music for today's show was provided by
Magnatune.com, and is used through their
Creative Commons license for podcasts. Today's
album was
Stuff by
Very Large Array. "Soothing mania,
precision, crowd-oohing, big sky sound."
-Flipside Magazine
We
used tracks 12: "Everything is fine;" 2: "Superdrag;"
5: "Submerge;" 7: "Word;" 10: "Psychedelic baby;" 8:
"Slow there;" 3: Perfect place;" and 11: "Something
new."
Visit
magnatune and reward them for their generosity,
and if you like this album, buy it. Magnatune is not evil!
"Education is what
survives when what has been learned has been
forgotten." ~ B.F. Skinner
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for May 19, 2006 - Episode 18
