iSean

so i survey my students each week through the semester. i pose questions about the previous week’s work (e.g., how difficult, how long did it take) and i ask about the technology students use as well as what they liked and didn’t like. i even get a few questions in that get to the heart of the previous week’s objectives (sort of like a quiz that isn’t graded). well, on my last survey i asked how my students viewed me politically. i try and teach from a Devil’s advocate-type perspective and make sure many sides of various issues are discussed/debated, etc. here’s the results:

if that’s all it was i might draw certain conclusions and not know whether my conclusions are accurate or not. so, my next question asks, “Was there anything specific that lead you to respond the way you did on that last question?” and most students left this blank. however, the most commonly cited reason for choosing “liberal” was that i am an education professor and that i use a Macintosh computer. even those these results are skewed, nobody really had anything substantive for why they chose the response they did. i think most students selected the option that represents their own thinking. i also noted that nobody chose “strongly liberal” or “strongly conservative.”

i guess that means i do a good job of staying neutral. my question to myself is this . . . is that a good thing? should i stay neutral or should i come out with a position and say that i try and teach from a neutral perspective, but my actual position on issues may seep into discussions from time to time? i know i have colleagues who tell their students right up front. hmmm.

Technorati Tags: learning, politics, students, teachers

we have finals next week and i had many projects and assignments due here at the end of the semester, which i’ve been grading like crazy. sooooo, i’ll be back next week around wednesday.

i have some neat trends in data from my weekly class surveys to share.

cheers!

some folks in the blogging community are buzzing about the Adobe Learning Summit where Adobe apparently made it clear that they want to be players in eLearning. Ellen Wagner of Adobe even has a white paper (PDF, 199kb) where she describes Adobe role and vision in eLearning. i think the white paper is worth a read. let me first say that my sense of big corporations who jump on the eLearning bandwagon is that they tend to be behind the times when it comes to eLearning. you look at one of the biggest players, Blackboard (Bb), and it’s probably much easier to find critics than fans. my problem with Blackboard is that i can EASILY find similar tools from the open source community that are better than Blackboard in just about every aspect of their product. on the other hand, i have never been a big fan of software that tries to be everything for everyone. i never liked my browser to be everything (e.g., Netscape had the browser, email, calendar and all that jazz in some versions); rather, i wanted a browser to specialize in browsing and an email application to specialize in perfecting my email experience and i could pick the best apps for each task. so Bb being a jack of all trades never appealed to me. I get my content management from Drupal and my community forums from phpBB and Wordpress is great for blogging, etc . . . life is good. but part of this issue of being everything is that Bb is missing out on much of what is currently available. our students are big into Facebook and YouTube and Flickr and tools like this, yet these aren’t a part of Bb at all. Instead Bb is slowing adding new services (e.g., blogging) that are implemented poorly and can only really be used for class and not carried with the student once the class ends. yuck! but, for many instructors a tool like Bb does make it easier to shift to online learning so kudos to Bb for that.

back to Adobe . . . the Adobe corporation clearly has their pulse on the market. early in the white paper, they discuss YouTube and text messages and IMs and even smart phones. Adobe is a big player in the technology field; however, they haven’t traditionally been players in education — at least not with an eye on education even though they’ve had products used in education. the white paper does a good job of describing the eLearning market — we are a market after all. if we weren’t a market to be served then the business community would not deliver products to be bought. Adobe clearly has to see a way to benefit and make money before they jump in, so the white paper describe this market. of course, Adobe does not restrict their market to K-12 or even K-college; rather, they also identify the kinds of e-Learning that corporations engage in (e.g., they cite up to 40% of corporate education being offered via eLearning).

the white paper makes a case that Flash Professional is the number 1 application in eLearning. perhaps i’ve not paid attention well, but i learned to use Flash back in the 90s and i still have yet to actually use it in my teaching and i teach almost exclusively online these days. it’s far, far too cumbersome and time consuming for use in individual lessons, that’s for sure. but i digress. clearly, the biggest Adobe application in education is Adobe Acrobat and the Adobe Reader for creating and viewing PDFs. for the especially geeky (myself included) Adobe Dreamweaver is certainly near the top of the list, but most eTeachers are not using Dreamweaver, nor will they ever. most instructors are relegated to Bb-like tools. and Adobe recognizes the importance of Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Adobe is not making a decision to add a competitor in the LMS market . . . instead, Adobe wants to extend the LMS and online learning experience with their tools (remember BASF — “we don’t make the products you buy; we make the products you buy better”). i think this is a wise decision, but they don’t need to hear it from me as they’ve no doubt spent a lot of time trying to find their place in eLearning. i think their focus on making “just-in-time access” to online learning and e-Materials is a step in the right direction. i like that they want to extend rich and engaging learning experiences. i will patiently wait to see how this is carried out.

(moments later) if you explore the Adobe eLearning website you can get a feel for what they are working on. for example, i just mentioned that they want to help extend current tools like LMSs — Adobe already has a LMS Integration tool that fits into Bb, which allows for using the LMS to set up meetings. i checked out the PDF describing this tool and it looks just like a typical Bb add-on that will never get used and is more of a tool for an audience that does not yet exist — a solution looking for a problem. i hope this is not the direction Adobe is going with their eLearning focus. i generally like the Adobe applications that i use (e.g., Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Acrobat, Flash, and Fireworks), so my hope is that the eLearning solutions that emerge are congruent with the products that Adobe has used to make their name and/or that Adobe is looking at web 2.0-like solutions (see, for e.g., Google’s online applications).

Technorati Tags: Blackboard, online learning, ed tech, Adobe, eLearning, learning, technology in education

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

i have written previously about how i am less than enthusiastic about e-Portfolios in higher education. frankly, i think the great benefits of e-Portfolios are to the programs that adopt their use, but that the students see very little benefit. i’ve heard anecdotal information about how preservice educators can use these portfolios in the hiring process, but there is no research confirming that this is often the case. you can visit electronicportfolios.com and see how cumbersome it is to develop an e-Portfolio.

in any regard, this is the background that bring me up to this past week. apparently there are folks in my department who are looking at switching the portfolio that our students currently complete from a paper portfolio to an e-Portfolio. as i mentioned previous, i saw no value in having my students in my classes develop an e-Portfolio if later in the program they would have to switch back to a paper portfolio. apparently higher level discussions have started and e-Portfolios are being considered. i was asked to talk with a woman who was visiting to help our College of Education find a way to switch to e-Portfolios last week. She wanted to know what i use for my e-Portfolios. i explained that i don’t do them, but that i would strongly consider using WordPress (a blogging tool). the committee was intrigued by this option and i have been asked to join the committee later this month to explore the viability of this option. i have to admit, i was asked to call into this meeting last week without knowing what they were discussing and only learned the topic while i was on the phone. i haven’t fully thought through the idea of blogging an e-Portfolio, but as the woman talked about how they wanted something that students could continue to use after they graduate and all that jazz, the blog option just popped into the forefront of my thinking.

i am still not thrilled with the notion of requiring an e-Portfolio, but if our whole program is going to buy in then i suppose i should be front and center helping to make the implementation go smoothly.

Technorati Tags: portfolios, blogging, blogs, e_portfolios

i don’t often post Apple Macintosh specific stuff here. In fact, I use both a Mac and a PC; though, the PC is on my Mac. heh. but the newest operating system for the Mac is being released tomorrow and it’s supposed to be a great upgrade. i know on the PC side that many folks are less than enthusiastic about Vista with many folks choosing to stick with XP for now (and that includes me). but i’ll be upgrading my computers tomorrow when the fedex driver drops my new software off at my house. you can read about the 300+ new features in the OS release here, but one thing has me most excited . . . and it has to do with iChat.

i rarely use video chatting that’s built into iChat, but i now have some new folks to add to my buddy list. last week my dad’s Dell died. i helped him upgrade to a new Mac. yesterday my brother’s Dell died and he’ll be buying a new Mac laptop this weekend. both intend to use video chatting to talk with me and also to my children. but i am looking at this from another angle. every time they’d have problems in the past and give me a call, i’d have to talk them through what to do without knowing exactly what was on their screen. the new iChat has VCN built into the application. in other words, i will be able to chat with them and then have them click a single button on the iChat window interface to that allows me to see their screen and even take it over. this is going to make my tech support life much smoother.

i anticipate my father needing this much more than my brother. in fact, my brother did a quick search the other day and found a Mac using lawyer’s blog. this lawyer talks about all of the applications he uses to succeed so just reading this convinced my brother. my brother will be fine. but my dad is a whole different ball game. my dad helps to keep me grounded as i teach technology. i don’t think i can ever encounter a student who has technology skills that are below my father’s. i think my father has had a computer and a broadband connection for about 3 years now and he’d be hard pressed to tell the difference between being in Outlook Express and Internet Explorer. Most of the tech support I’d provide will be just helping him to learn how to do pretty basic stuff, but my hope is that this stuff is simple enough that it starts to be understood and that he stops fearing technology. anyway, here’s the quick description of screen sharing.

# Screen Sharing

Collaborate with a buddy via iChat. Work on a Keynote presentation together, surf the web as a team, or help each other with an iMovie project. iChat initiates the connection (asking permission first) with an audio chat so you can talk things through as you work or play. Trade views of each other’s desktops. Even drag files from one computer to the other.

i also bought a new external HD to accompany the new OS. i’ll be using this for Time Machine:

#Back Up Everything
Automatic backup, built right into your Mac. Never worry about losing a file again. Time Machine stores an up-to-date copy of all your Mac’s files on an external hard drive, personal file sharing volume, or Mac OS X Server. That includes system files, applications, accounts, preferences, music, photos, movies, and documents.

# Go Back In Time
See what your computer looked like in the past. Select a specific date and let Time Machine find your most recent changes, or do a Spotlight search to find exactly the file you’re looking for. Once you do, click Restore and Time Machine brings it back to the present.

my copy is scheduled to be delivered by 10:30 AM tomorrow. i need to get as much grading done today as i can. ;~)

Technorati Tags: Apple, Macintosh, leopard

well, i applied to do a sabbatical a year from now and i have passed the first round already. the personnel committee unanimously supported my proposal. faculty vote comes monday and then it’s on to divisional and through the channels. i wrote months ago about wanting to do research in Europe, but i couldn’t get anything off of the ground. my wife certainly did. she also applied for a sabbatical and has contacts in Italy, Paris, Amsterdam and even in Prague. i had nothing. so i decided to switch my focus to a non location specific project. i am going to be writing a Wiki-based textbook.

i previously wrote about wikitextbooks as far back as early 2006 here (Feb.) and here (Jan.). i tried hard to get a wikitextbook off of the ground and running, but i just did’t have the time. i now might have the time to get the infrastructure in place and even a decent version up and running. i have given it a lot of thought since my initial efforts. i have explored current wikitextbook projects that are in the works. one thing i’ve noticed about other projects is that they’ve been in the works for a long time. wikitextbooks are very similar to open source software, yet open source software seems to be having better success at getting projects up and running. in my sabbatical proposal, i explore why this is and why a wiki like Wikipedia can realize incredible success while wikitextbooks cannot. i don’t think the wikipedia model can work on a wikitextbook and my model will be a modified version of what Wikipedia uses. of course this won’t make wiki purists very happy, but they can stick to their guns and not see a wikitextbook realized all they want. heh.

my proposal takes the position that textbooks should be accessible to all students. an electronic version of a textbook can be much more accessible than a paper version. the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) is dedicated to Universal Design in Learning (UDL) and UDL is all about making instruction and content accessible to all students. Cast describes UDL as:

* Multiple means of representation, to give learners various ways of acquiring information and knowledge,
* Multiple means of expression, to provide learners alternatives for demonstrating what they know,
* Multiple means of engagement, to tap into learners’ interests, offer appropriate challenges, and increase motivation.

UDL is at the heart of my proposal. personally, i think all textbooks should be provided in electronic format so that all students can more easily access the content. if a blind student wanted to use a screen reader then that could happen with an e-version. if a student with a learning disability wanted to listen then the same tools could apply for that. a student with low vision might just want the font size increased, etc. one textbook can be designed to work with all students instead of the paper model that has to be special made for some students. bleh.

i’ll be talking more about my proposal as it makes it way through the channels. if ultimately accepted then i can start work as soon as possible so i’ll rely on the few folks who read my blog to give me some feedback on various directions i’ve chosen. exciting times ahead . . .

Technorati Tags: CAST, ed tech, open source, textbook, universal design, wiki, wikitextbook

man oh man has the you know what hit the fan. i have written previously about writing a wiki-based textbook (here) and even started thinking about it back in July of 2006 (here). i even started an effort at one point here. this effort never really took off. i presented on wiki-based textbooks this past year at MACUL and generated a bit of interest. unfortunately, the effort never took off (and, that’s a subject for my sabbatical request being turned in on Monday). however, my wiki site has not gone unnoticed. i login every 4 - 5 months just to check on things. imagine my surprise when i arrived today and found that spammers started invading and creating page after page after page on my wiki. they started in august and it looks like they’ve added about 1000 pages of spam. and mediawiki (this is the wiki that drives Wikipedia as well) only allows me to delete 1 page at a time — and it’s a 2 - 3 step process even at that. egads. i shouldn’t be too surprised as my blog is using software (a plugin) that has stopped 24364 spam comments. wow!

you can see samples of my wiki’s spam by visiting the main page and click on ‘Random page’ on the left side menu. as you can see, the vast majority of my spam is written in Chinese with the Chinese characters and all. for all i know, it probably has a bunch of spam and then adds a sentence to say how dorky sean is. heh. i took some time to ban any users who have edited a page this month and then i turned off the ability to create a new account. but i have still have hundreds of users . . . errrr, spammers who have accounts and who i need to ban when i get the time. i wish i could get a user list with check boxes next to them and i could select all at once and hit Ban. i also wish i could revert my wiki site back to how it looked in early August since nothing productive has happened since then, but these options don’t exist. i searched Google and found a help site that explained how i could turn off allowing new users — but this forced me to go into a php file on the server — not for the non-geeky, that’s for sure.

i was pretty high on Mediawiki until this happened. egads it’s a pain. the only plus side is that i am no longer going to use this site and have a whole new domain site planned for the actual wiki-based textbook that i potentially write if i am granted a sabbatical. but, this certainly helps me decide to not make the site open unless potential authors are invited or send me a request so that i can check credentials. i still learn some lessons the hard way, unfortunately.

Technorati Tags: ed tech, mediawiki, spam, textbook, wiki, wikitextbook

i largely avoided linux for the vast majority of its history. i tried it on an old Mac at one point and quickly abandoned ship as it wasn’t ready for prime time. but, when Parallels for Mac came out and i upgraded to a Macbook last year, i purchased Parallels and quickly installed Ubuntu, which is an open source linux build that just happens to come with other open source solutions preinstalled. i have to say that i was amazed at how mature this operating system is. it really is ready to be used by the masses. the next version is out in 15 days and the snippets i have read lead me to believe that anyone who can get this OS installed is ready to use it . . . obviously, the getting it installed part is the hard part. using the OS is a breeze once it’s installed. and, Ubuntu does some things better than Windows and Mac OSs. at the very least, i hope some folks reading this (all 2 of you) give Ubuntu 7.10 a test drive. you might just be amazed enough to consider it over the more costly solutions. i’d love to see the elementary school where my children attend switch to Edubuntu. but, i doubt it’ll happen any time soon. they’re none too happy to spend big $$$ on Windows.

Technorati Tags: open source, linux, Ubuntu, edubuntu

just in case you’re curious, the MACUL conference speaker proposals are due tomorrow. i have been presenting at this conference since i moved to Michigan in 2000 and it’s a great little conference. i say little, but it’s probably one of the largest state technology in education conferences around. it’s really a regional conference and thousands of educators will flock to the conference. last year was in Detroit and this year is in my backyard — Grand Rapids. i am running into a problem as I’d like to present on something novel and innovative and i can’t decide what to do. hmmm. last year i talked did a presentation titled, “Wiki, Wiki, Wiki . . . Textbook?” and i have since switched to the idea of an open source textbook, but not using the wiki. so, i guess i jumped the gun by trying to be too innovative, eh? that being said, the theme of the conference is, “Technology: 21st Century Learning Tools” so an innovative focus would probably be welcomed.

however, i would really like to focus on assessment and the method of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) — describing strategies for how technology can really enhance the process and make it all possible, etc. i could demonstrate how i am doing this in my classroom with weekly surveys and how easy it is to make curricular changes and adjustments and all of that jazz. as exciting as this is to me, i can also picture a potential attendee reading about assessment and CBM and thinking, “ewwww.” heh. so therein lies my dilemma . . . do i want to potentially impact more people or do i want to present a really meaningful session for a small number of participants? i think i’ll actually stick with the CBM idea, but i’ll fiddle with ways to make the session sounds as exciting as i think it can be. time will tell if it works or not. for that matter, i still have to be accepted. ;~)

Technorati Tags: MACUL, CBM, assessment, technology, technology in education