“Paternity” leave

I just found out from Becky Barton, how I account for the time, in ESSIC, that I’ll be out of the office when the baby is born.Apparently, it all gets marked “Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA).” However the first…

I just found out from Becky Barton, how I account for the time, in ESSIC, that I’ll be out of the office when the baby is born.
fmla.jpgApparently, it all gets marked “Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA).” However the first 40 hours is listed under “Sick Leave-Family” for the first 40 hours and anything after that is listed as “Vacation.” (If I take any un-paid days off then it get’s marked “NP-New Child.”)

That’s pretty easy, but I’m glad I asked.

Quarterly ID Meeting

Starting off talking about dates for upcoming meetings, looking at conflicts with upcoming conferences; Rick: our next QID is April 22nd, then July 15thHow is CE going to handle the Federal mandates regarding textbooks and courseAgenda Additions and random things:Jen:…

Starting off talking about dates for upcoming meetings, looking at conflicts with upcoming conferences; Rick: our next QID is April 22nd, then July 15th

How is CE going to handle the Federal mandates regarding textbooks and course

Agenda Additions and random things:

  • Jen: +agenda, something about faculty and flexible design and quality (faculty made a mistake and lead faculty thought we were responsible)
  • Alicia: can we get a list of books available through MBS or other sources that are available as eTextbooks
  • What do sight impaired students do with traditional textbooks? Response to Kindle getting sued for accessibility issues
  • iPad might be available for the Blue Team, maybe in time for June (Mobile eLearning conference)
  • Jen: collaborative markup for PDF’s that we’re sharing

Kathy and New Texbook Policy & Quickbase

  • goal is to drive down costs for the students by giving them choices through a more transparent process of listing required materials
  • required textbooks (ISBN) must be listed with the course listings in the catalog
  • this will somehow affect GRS 3 & 4 partners
  • we should get recommendations for Summer (by Feb 1st) and Fall 2010 (by March 1st), work with the faculty
  • we’ll have new confirmation deadlines in PACTS, when Erica sends us information about checking the confirmations… review them carefully because there will be differences
  • Destiny One has been given the green light and will replace ODIN, ISSO, and ?
  • Quickbase can handle time tracking
  • IP agreements, author forms for new and revised (50% or more) editions to Kathy, this will all be happening in Quickbase – ask El about this

<!–Michael's Brazilian network didn't seem like a network to me. It was a pyramid structure of dissemination of learning up and down. To me networks are multi-nodal and experts are accessible by all. It was a creative use of limited resources, but I still wouldn't define this as a network.

–>Literature Review w/ Wenyi

  • Paula: Alignment – a good theme, learning outcomes > activities > interaction > assessments – all must align
  • How will the formative assessment … are we using formative assessments? If not, why not? How might I collaboratively assess communal activities (blogs, wikis, etc.)?
  • I have to look at the process of peer reviews and mechanisms in ANGEL that can facilitate those reviews. How would students read feedback given from others?
  • Andrea: we have to focus on working with faculty, as they may have a very different perspective on assessment. We should be knowledgeable about a number of different assessment types and be able to help faculty members think through their thought processes and design of assessments.
  • Rick: to do assessment well takes a lot of time… that’s a big problem. The articles need to accommodate for different subject matter areas, learner levels, etc. – to general.
  • Wenyi – do we assess collaboration, if so how? Andrea it depends upon the content area? Paula – scientific inquiry is a process, how do we extend that in to distance learning? Rick: do we grade the collaboration or the summative event (a paper or a presentation)?
  • Wenyi – what about computer-based tools that might be available that could assist with the grading processes (A.I.) Rick: is this good or bad? is this authentic teaching. Wenyi: it might be better than nothing

Team Updates
Equella – Stephanie will be taking it out to the Campuses. What about CE@UP? March 31 – images, multimedia objects, not lessons, stuff that we own (not copyrighted), videos (talk to Dean about getting things into the Flash media server), etc. uploaded by designers; Rick has a template for a white paper

iPad – what does it represent to us, how can it benefit us and our learner? El will get one and we can look at it then. How will we handle apps? Who’s account will be tied to the device?

Cross-training/pollination with the Blue Team

I’ve been thinking about how I can work closer with the Blue Team or Learning Design as a whole. I’ve talked about it with El and briefly with Rick after he sent me an email:”we need to find a way…

I’ve been thinking about how I can work closer with the Blue Team or Learning Design as a whole. I’ve talked about it with El and briefly with Rick after he sent me an email:
“we need to find a way to do more cross-training, cross pollination of what you are working on with others on the Blue team. And likewise we need to get you more involved with some of the World Campus courses.”

El had made a great point that the more I can do to formulate a strategy, the better it will be because it’ll give Rick and other a starting point. Thinking about an approach, some of the first questions that come up are:

  • What do I need to be effective?
  • What do others need to be effective?
  • What does it mean to be cross-trained in CE programs?
  • Who are the important contacts at CE?

UPDATE: Mon 8 Feb
I spoke to Linas and he reminded me that a lot of our PM-stuff will eventually be handled by Quickbase. However, Quickbase is kind-of “hands-off” right now until Ti Team finishes their work on the database.

I was just thinking, “what would I want if I were to “step-in” and pick-up for Jen for a short period of time?” That depends on the task and length of time really. For shorter projects, I don’t need much background…

  • just contact information for the instructor
  • a quick background on the task at hand (pre-requisite tasks)
  • sense of the critical path
  • due date and
  • details about the actual task at hand.

(That’s not a lot of “background?”)

For projects that need more involvement, in addition to the above list I would like (in no particular order)

  • an overview of the program
  • list of the “usual suspects”
  • time tracking information
  • syllabus for the course
  • change log on the course and a way for me to record my edits
  • an all-paid trip to go relax at my parent’s home in Maui or go up to the Green Mountains “in-style”
  • a new, full-suspension, Trek Fuel mountain bike
  • clear expectations on both sides
  • to have fun

FWD: 90+ Videos for Tech. & Media Literacy

Penn Ralston-Berg, an instructional designer for the World Campus, just forwarded this blog post titled, “90+ Videos for Tech. & Media Literacy,” that lists a bunch of videos. It looks like a great collection of videos for classroom purposes.Warning: I…

Penn Ralston-Berg, an instructional designer for the World Campus, just forwarded this blog post titled, “90+ Videos for Tech. & Media Literacy,” that lists a bunch of videos. It looks like a great collection of videos for classroom purposes.

Warning: I have noticed that at least one video, that is linked from this post, has probably been illegally uploaded to YouTube: Super Size Me (#94 on the list). I know that we cannot encourage the use of copyrighted materials with out permission in our courses. Just because someone else (may have) broken the law doesn’t mean that we can benefit from that “opportunity.” Please use these resources carefully and contact an expert before taking on that liability.

CE@UP Faculty Portal

This information is a continuation of the information originally posted on my Tiddlywiki.Remaining steps:update CE@UP with current statusfinish uploading available content and resources into the RedDot test portaledit content in RedDotidentify content owners and establish permissionsprovide training in RedDot to…

This information is a continuation of the information originally posted on my Tiddlywiki.

Remaining steps:

  1. update CE@UP with current status
  2. finish uploading available content and resources into the RedDot test portal
  3. edit content in RedDot
  4. identify content owners and establish permissions
  5. provide training in RedDot to CE@UP staff
  6. publish live version of the website for CE@UP faculty

The Outreach Faculty Development social networking NING has over 160 members. The network has not been formally promoted as of yet. Content and cross-promotion needs to be evaluated before the live-launch of the CE@UP RedDot portal.

Important links:

Email from ANGEL Drop boxes are being updated

Dawn Lorenz, an instructor for CE@UP’s RHS 301 course, made me aware that if an instructor sends an email from the clickable option from the grading feature on a drop box, the resulting course mail is flagged as a low…

Dawn Lorenz, an instructor for CE@UP’s RHS 301 course, made me aware that if an instructor sends an email from the clickable option from the grading feature on a drop box, the resulting course mail is flagged as a low priority message.
screencap_low_priority_emails_sent_from_dropboxes.jpgI asked the Outreach Helpdesk about the issue and they said they will keep their eye on the situation after the next ANGEL update on Jan 23rd, 2010. However, this is actually part of a related but bigger bug. Those course mails cannot be replied to successfully. If a student receives a course mail generated from the drop box feature and he or she wants to reply to that email, perhaps they disagree with the grade or have a question about it, the mail is lost in the ether. Apparently the bug doesn’t correctly add the proper “reply to” address and the message is never received by the instructor. This has of course led to some problems.

As of now, I have asked the Helpdesk to hold tight on passing the “low priority” query to the ANGEL Ops team until they fix the bigger bug. The Helpdesk will do their own testing on the “low priority” query after the upgrade later this month.

Free course work from Stanford on iPhone development

I love my iPhone. It does all I need it to do:email, scheduling (though it would be nice if syncing were easier with Oracle), addressessyncing URL’s thanks to Xmarksnotes, tasks, unit conversions, VNC control over my desktop computer, voice recordingaccessing,…

I love my iPhone. It does all I need it to do:

  • email, scheduling (though it would be nice if syncing were easier with Oracle), addresses
  • syncing URL’s thanks to Xmarks
  • notes, tasks, unit conversions, VNC control over my desktop computer, voice recording
  • accessing, editing, and creating databases thanks to Bento
  • taking photos, playing videos and my music (downloaded and via Pandora)
  • portable file storage accessible via wireless networks
  • IM’ing, tweeting, Skype phone calls over WiFi
  • movie listings, Netflix and TiVo management, maps, weather
  • eBook readers, news aggregation
  • advanced star charts for use with my telescope thanks to StarmapPro
  • grilling recipes from Weber’s On the Grill
  • and a few games to boot!

Now, how cool would it be to make my own apps! I just read about a course offered through Stanford being taught by Apple employees! I’m going to have to check this out when I’m done with my current course from Lynda.com.

I wonder what kind of app I’d make. What about you?

Going “Mobile” at a Mobile Conference Next Summer?

So, the question I might be looking to answer next summer is, can I “successfully” attend the mLearnCon conference with nothing but my (1st gen) iPhone? What about present at a conference? Well, save that second question for now.Obviously…


So, the question I might be looking to answer next summer is, can I “successfully” attend the mLearnCon conference with nothing but my (1st gen) iPhone? What about present at a conference? Well, save that second question for now.

Obviously I would have to get the go ahead to attend. But assuming that I could, how would I define “successfully”?

Well, first and foremost, I would need some way of efficiently capturing the salient highlights of each of the presentations that I would attend. And let’s take that one step farther. I’m not looking just to capture, but instantly share with the larger community.

  • Twitter might be a good framework to handle the microblogging.
  • I could always use a good ole blog like MT4 to synthesize my thoughts into more developed posts.

A close second is to give others a feel for the conference. It would probably be of incredible value to share “the pulse” of the conference with those back home so they could turn green with envy. Let’s be honest, this isn’t going to be CES or an Apple unveiling, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have fun. 🙂 Photos, videos, blog posts, interviews, and streaming media are some great ways to capture the affective side of a conference.

  • I’ll have to test out uploading images into MT4 from my iPhone.
  • I have a Flip Ultra HD, but I would need a laptop to share those videos.
  • If I had one of those cool WiFi enabled digital cameras, I might be able to come up with a creative way to share video on the fly, but I don’t.
  • A new iPhone 3GS might be able to upload videos over WiFi, but I’m not going to by a new iPhone just for this conference.
  • I could always use Skype to connect with a few people back home if they wanted to listen, but I question the quality of the audio the iPhone’s mic could pick up.
  • Now, having said that, I do have a Samson Airline Micro wireless mic that I could hook up to my Olympus digital audio recorder that would allow me to capture excellent audio for later use in a podcast. The Airline Micro is awesome, and although it was worth the money, it wasn’t cheap.

Airline Micro on a GL2
But, will all that multimedia be necessary? I could do everything I mentioned rather easily, but I’m not sure it would be the best way to accomplish what I really need to get done. Deciding when to use different forms of media is an essential part of effective multimedia delivery. Why use a video when an animated slide show can convey the same information in a more efficient use of time? Brian Strauss, a multimedia specialist, challenges the use of video when a single paragraph summarizing a presentation may be a much better use of people’s time. It all depends on the content, context, intended audience and purpose.

By the way, if Apple announces a tablet this winter or spring, does that qualify as “going sans laptop?”

So, I’m looking for some feedback. Any mobile-friendly frameworks or platforms to suggest?

Ning’s major pitfall: no simple editor :-(

Don’t worry, this isn’t a negative rant. Ning is a fantastic platform and I would like to thank Shannon Kennan and Larry Ragan for creating this community space and introducing me to the tool. I’ve been finding some really great…

Don’t worry, this isn’t a negative rant.

Ning is a fantastic platform and I would like to thank Shannon Kennan and Larry Ragan for creating this community space and introducing me to the tool. I’ve been finding some really great resources and “new faces” around the site. continues…