CollegeHumor videos continue to get better and better. I love this one.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Filed under: Computing | 1 Comment »
CollegeHumor videos continue to get better and better. I love this one.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Filed under: Computing | 1 Comment »
A few of my Twitter favorites from today. Good stuff from smart people, and a few of my own thrown in for balance.
fncll You’ve prob already seen, but this article on multiple intelligences, genius and wishful thinking hits a sweet spot imo http://bit.ly/zdddW
Starfish360 RT @barrydahl IHE: Comm Colleges & High Schools to create free, online courses in a program being drafted by Obama admin. http://is.gd/1i3AF
shareski Tom Carroll pulling a Prensky, assuming young people are highly connected. They are connected but not really for learning. #necc09
aaronleonard RT @barrydahl DOE report: The use of video or online quizzes – freq encouraged for online education – “does not appear to enhance learning,”
busynessgirl Wolfram|Alpha can easily plot two graphs with natural language: http://tinyurl.com/m8j4u3
ajwms RT @barrydahl: Finding value in paper about “Edgeless Universities” by Peter Bradwell (Demos) via Jane Hart @c4lpy http://is.gd/1itFL
jasongreen From NY POST – Don’t Get that College Degree http://bit.ly/12CtYM
barrydahl New Keynote proposal for EAT-IT 09: “Professionalism and the Jekyll and Hyde Effect” – still accepting more. #EATIT09 http://bit.ly/18372w
barrydahl 3rd Keynote proposal for EAT-IT 09: “Hot Technologies to Change Everything!” Want in on the action? #EATIT09 http://bit.ly/18372w
ReedForCongress Tomorrow is our first financial deadline. Please donate @ http://tinyurl.com/kvcso3 to help show that we can win against Michele Bachmann!
Filed under: Twitter | Comments Off on Tweets from my Peeps 06/29/09
Last week I experienced one of those keynote speakers that makes me shake my head in disgust – both at what she had to say and at the probable fact that she gets paid a handsome sum of money to say it. I don’t want to call her out personally for a few different reasons, so I won’t mention her name or company – but some people will probably figure out who I’m talking about.
A major part of the presentation was subtitled: “Generational Overview.” She starts out by identifying five different generational groups. Out of those five groups, she felt compelled to make up her own names for four of them. Even Baby Boomers were not called Baby Boomers. To not give further credence to much of her baloney, I will not use her made-up generational names. I will refer to the target generation as Generation Y, although I prefer my own made-up name of Digital Net-Gennials (it is tongue-in-cheek, rest assured).
She starts out by talking about the youngest generation (some (not her) would call them the unimaginative name of Generation Z) and detailing several traits for the group that she identifies as being from 0-13 years old. These traits include:
She then shows about 5 or 6 examples of new kinds of schools (some specific such as Benjamin Franklin Elementary in Kirkland, Washington and the Microsoft School of the Future in Philadelphia) as well as how schools are teaching with Web 2.0 tools, SMART board and SMART tables. What an incredible overstatement. Sure this is happening, but at an incredibly low rate of adoption. However, many people in the audience left with the opinion that this whole generation is being immersed in new learning technologies in the elementary and middle schools.
Next she moves on to Gen Y. This section begins with Michael Wesch’s video: “A Vision of Students Today.” Then her slides (fully copyright protected, you won’t find them on the net) go into great detail (err, baloney) about this generation.
I could go on, but those are the highlights gleaned from my 8.5 pages of handwritten notes. The biggest problem that I have with presentations like this is not all the baloney – it’s that this person stands up there as an “expert” and most of the audience members seem to be believing everything she has to say. OMG – this is so wrong on so many levels.
I gave the keynote on the first day and gave just a couple of snippets from my one person debate about Gen Y. I was asked (in advance) to not talk very much about the generations since the day two keynote was all about generations. I obliged, but did have to slip in a few pieces of point-counterpoint about some of the generational drivel that has been driving me crazy. On the long drive home I speculated about what I would have done differently if she had been the first speaker and then I was the second. My guess is that I would have felt compelled to debunk much of the baloney that she was sharing during her talk. I wonder how that would have gone over with the conference organizers – probably not very well.
Am I wrong? Is she right? Can I get a refill on my prescription of crazy pills?
Baloney (or bologna, if you prefer) sandwich photo (CC-3.0) courtesy of UNC – Chapel Hill
Filed under: Conference, Generations | Tagged: GenY | 8 Comments »
During the next few days we will be excited to finally open our new Technology Support Center (TSC) at Lake Superior College (LSC). The construction and remodeling have taken much longer than anticipated so several of us are anxious to begin serving students in the new space.
Apparently not everyone shares our enthusiasm. One anonymous college employee has criticized the use of the special I.T. dollars for this project. In particular, this was the second year that each MnSCU campus received additional dollars from the system specifically dedicated for use with local (campus-based) I.T. projects. We call it the “I.T. Special Allocation” although there is probably a more official name for this initiative that I just don’t know about.
The employee stated that using the special allocation for this project was an improper use of funds. I actually can’t say for sure one way or the other, but my interpretation is that we have acted properly. The guidance for the use of these funds comes from a MnSCU memo dated August 8, 2007 with the following subject line: “Guidance on College/University Spending of FY 08 IT Allocation.” The same guidance was used for the FY09 funding as far as I know.
Quoting from the first paragraph: “Your spending allocation should, overall, be consistent with the final legislative language which states: This appropriation includes funding for operation and maintenance of the system, including technology infrastructure improvements to deliver more online programs and services to students.”
Continuing, “Also, in order to ensure that the special IT funding allocation is spent in accordance with the Board of Trustees’ intent, each College or University should allocate this special funding in support of the appropriate institutional efforts in implementing the 8 key projects proposed in the 08-09 legislative funding request. These 8 key projects are consistent with the legislative appropriation language and include: Network and Data Center Modernization, Security Management, Identity Management, Retooled Administrative Systems, New Technology Architecture, Student Services and Online Learning, and Faculty Research and Development.”
The document goes on to define those eight key IT projects within which it would be appropriate to spend the special allocation of money. The two relevant areas in particular are as follows:
Ignoring the incredible corporate-speak for the moment, I believe that these two categories justify the spending of the dollars on this project at LSC. A little background is probably in order. We opened a new building in August 2007 and in that building is the current Student Technology Center (STC). The STC is an open lab where students can go to get technology help or just to use a computer as needed. There are about 55 computers in the lab. At the time that we opened the lab we heard student complaints (via Student Senate) that the lab was too small and that students had lost open computing space on campus. At the same time we had another space that had been used for several years and was known as our e-Campus which was also the help desk for online students. In other words, there were two help desks, one for on-ground students and one for online students.
Part of the plan that we made to address the Student Senate concerns was to continue to have two open computing labs on campus but only one help desk – sort of a one-stop shop for student help needs with technology. Thus we decided to expand and remodel the small e-Campus space into the adjoining much larger space. That new space is the STC that we are ready to occupy. The other space will be converted into a quiet computing lab – in other words, no help desk services will be available there. Overall, we are attempting to meet the identified student need for more access to technology infrastructure and we believe that we will provide better service to students including our online students.
It’s not much to look at just yet, but in a few weeks it should be a busy hub of activity on campus.
Filed under: Computing | 2 Comments »