Video Prompter Design

I am working on the design of a video-prompter that can be used to help faculty record videos.

The problem with most designs for video-prompters is that the one-way mirror used "reverses/flips" the text (it gives a "mirror image"). This creates a great deal of difficulty because special "teleprompter" software must be used to reverse the image so that it appears correctly to the narrator/subject.

In this design, I am creating a "periscope" which uses a mirror to flip the image once (upward) and then a piece of regular glass to again flip the image (outwards). When the interior of the box is painted black, the plain glass acts as a false-mirror -- giving back a reflection from the surface.
At the same time, the video camera shoots through the plain glass toward the subject.
Because the image the subject sees is the same that is coming from the monitor, ANY content can be used on the teleprompter window.
This means that faculty can use PowerPoint slides, scripts, websites, or news articles as their "source materials." In addition, the script window can be resized to a portion of the screen and a "video monitor" window of the recording can be shown (so the instructor can see themselves while recording in a "picture-in-picture" type of setup).

If and when I build this, I will take some photographs and post a sample video of the unit in action.

Cheapie Teleprompter Using Microsoft Word

Here is a quick "hack" which will prove useful to those who are trying to develop a teleprompter for recording their video.

One of the problems with scripts is that they are hard to "scroll" in timing with the recording. This creates stumbles and fumbles on the recording.

I've written a quick MACRO for Microsoft Word which allows the user to enter in a couple basic parameters, and then their script will automatically scroll at the speed they enter.

To complement this, I suggest that this be used on a laptop positioned about 5 to 7 feet away from the subject (at the camera position) and that 36-point font be used with page margins set to 0.3 inches (which gives maximum "display" of the text on the computer monitor). This will help avoid the subject's eyes from "darting back and forth" noticably as would happen if the user were closer to the laptop screen and the letters were smaller.


Here is the code:

Sub DownBit()
' DownBit Macro
' Autoscroll Window
Dim PauseTime, Start, Finish, TotalTime
Dim i, iMax As Integer
Dim i1, i2 As String
Dim fTiming As Double
i1 = InputBox("Enter number of Lines to Move", _
   "Teleprompter Motion", 100)
iMax = CInt(i1)
i2 = InputBox("Enter Delay seconds between moves", _
   "Movement Timing", 0.35)
fTiming = CDbl(i2)

For i = 1 To iMax
    PauseTime = fTiming        ' Set duration.   
    Start = Timer    ' Set start time.   
    Do While Timer < Start + PauseTime
        DoEvents    ' Yield to other processes.   
   Loop   
   'Move down a small scroll increment
   ActiveWindow.ActivePane.SmallScroll Down:=1   
Next i
End Sub

Burks Oakley and Ray Schroeder: Top 20 Technologies

I received the list below through a MnSCU list-serve which was from SloadCWiki.
Burks Oakley and Ray Schroeder created a list of Top 20 Technologies.
This is a great compilation of sites! I've added a brief description of the functions/services each site provides.

• Blogger http://blogger.com/
  blog (digital diary) site
• PBWiki http://pbwiki.com/
  wiki (online collaborative webpage that groups can edit, similar to WikiPedia)
• Podomatic http://www.podomatic.com/
  podcasts (user-created "TV/Radio station" in which users create and delivery their own online video and audio programming)
• Flickr http://www.flickr.com/
  photo-sharing site
• Google Docs http://docs.google.com/
  collaborative word-processing and spreadsheets
• Google Calendar http://www.google.com/calendar/
  collaborative calendar allowing users to share schedule and events with others
• GooglePages http://googlepages.com/
  web page creation and hosting using built-in WYSIWYG editor
• Del.icio.us http://del.icio.us/
  public bookmarking of webpages; tagging of pages to quickly find similar content
• MySpace http://www.myspace.com/
  social-networking software allowing personal profiles and "about me" information
• Citizendium http://www.citizendium.org/
  online and "reliable" encyclopedia using expert editors to write and review content
• YouTube http://www.youtube.com/
  free video clip hosting service encouraging users to post original videos plus video-clip (webcam) feedback to other users
• Gliffy http://gliffy.com/
  create flowcharts, process diagrams, and room layout diagrams (similar to Microsoft Visio)
• Skype http://www.skype.com/
  Voice Over Internet Protocols (VOIP) - allows computer-to-computer phone calls for free, or computer to land-line and "voice-conferencing" (up to 10 lines) for modest expense ($29.99 per year for unlimited calling; additional SkypeIn number for $60 per year allows a "phone number" for land-lines to call your computer/voicemail)
• Kartoo http://www.kartoo.com/
  Visual-based web search engine, showing results in spatial diagrams with interconnecting web-lines
• Elluminate vRoom http://www.elluminate.com/vroom/
  Web conferencing/collaboration with up to 3 individuals (free)
• Second Life http://www.secondlife.com/
  Virtual world in which you create a character and interact with other characters
• Odeo http://www.odeo.com/
  Audio podcast hosting site allowing users to post music, lectures, and audio shows.
• Digg http://www.digg.com/
  Dynamic news site. Stories "rise in the ranks" depending upon how many users "digg" that story.
• Xdrive http://www.xdrive.com/
  online backup site to securely store up to 5GB of content (photos, video, music, documents)
• zoho http://zoho.com/
  online-based office suite (similar to Microsoft Office / Open Office) which also includes tools for Wiki, project planning, and web conferencing
  

Sunrise on Lake Superior

Today wraps up the D2L Fusion 2007 conference. It has been an excellent event! (Fusion07D2L)
The key inspirations I am taking away are to:

1. Make stronger pushes to have students create materials in accessible formats (especially for group and peer-review learning activities).
2. Make smarter use of common-documents inside "learning object repositories."
3. Create libraries of "sample media" that faculty can use in creating course content and learning objects.
4. Encourage better institution-to-institution sharing of resources and training materials.

D2L 2007 Fusion conference in Duluth

This image is a night shot taken of Lake Superior from Duluth.


I have found a few great tips from the D2L 2007 Fusion conference being held at Duluth.

Here are a few items to share.

Begin each online course with students writing an e-biography which includes who they are, where they came from, what they've done, what they plan to do, and what they enjoy.
This will help build community at the very start of the course, and it is a great ice-breaker that helps the instructor identify backgrounds of students.

Student e-folios are rarely accessed by businesses, and therefore, there is less of a need for a campus to "host" the content. It might be a better strategy to have students build and post content in "off-campus" tools and then use the "campus e-portfolio" as a database with sets of links to objects and assets that likely exist off-campus.

Students need to be made aware of how to create accessible documents - so that peer review activities allow all students to access and use the content created by others.
Some of the features is proper document organization and use of structures.

Virtually There!

Campus Virtual Tours seem to be a hot item.

Not only do they help prospective students get familiar with the layout of major buildings, but they can also help communicate the personality and priorities of a campus.

Here are some sample sites that each provide a different method of delivering the virtual tour experience.

• Central Michigan University - Video Segments (Quicktime) on Faculty Relationships, Student Organizations, Volunteer Center, Technology, Internships, and Student Activity Center
  http://www.cmich.edu/videotour.aspx
  
• MIT - 3D Map of campus with clickable "yellow dots" for more information about specific locations
  http://web.mit.edu/vrtour/index.html
  
• University of Nottingham - Video Introduction, plus 360-degree panorama views of sites around the campus (might be interesting to do inside of labs/classrooms)
  http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/virtual-tour/introduction-to-university.html
  http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/virtual-tour/lakeside_arts.html
  
• University of Northern Iowa - 3D Map, allows you to click on buildings to see more information about that site.
  Additional photos for interior views, and then video clips explaining a feature of the site.
  http://www.uni.edu/infosys/tour/
  http://www.uni.edu/infosys/tour/maucker.shtml
  
• Franklin & Marshall College - Has an interactive map as well as "Guided Tours" (4 series of videos, each featuring a different "student guide")
  http://admission.fandm.edu/tour/
  
• Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising - Los Angeles -- Bottom of page has several different views of the design studio, using an interesting interface
  http://www.fidm.edu/about/campuses/los-angeles/design-studio/index.html

eLearning Games and Simulations (wrap-up)

I had the great privilege of attending the eLearning Games and Simulations workshop on May 24th, 2007 in Bloomington, Minnesota.





The session handouts are posted at: http://www.mngts.org/elearning07games/ - and I am placing the link here as a reminder to myself as well as a method to pay tribute to the many great presenters I met during the workshop.

To the right is my current avatar in SecondLife.

New Logo in 5 Minutes

Eariler I had introduced the Paint.Net image editing software (available at http://www.getpaint.net/ ).

With that tool, I was able to create a logo for one of my class podcast sites in only 5 minutes.


You can easily create text-based graphics for you site as well using a small amount of color, some interesting fonts, and some rotated backgrounds. Here are the steps!

• Create a gradient background (I chose red to yellow). This will be LAYER 1 -- the bottom-most layer.
  
• Add a new layer (Layer 2).
  
• On Layer 2, create a series of large question marks.
  
• Select ALL on Layer 2 and choose the EFFECTS > EMBOSS.
  
• On Layer 2, choose the ADJUSTMENTS > CURVES and modify the TRANSFER MAP > RGB to add color back into the gray emboss effect.


• On Layer 2, choose LAYERS > ROTATE/ZOOM to turn/rotate the question marks to slightly overlay the original gradient background (Layer 1).


• Add a new layer (Layer 3), and use the text tool to create the word "Management." Separating out words into different layers makes it easier to size and place each word.


• Add a new layer (Layer 4), and use the text tool to create the word "Clues."


• Move the elements on each layer to the locations that seem pleasing.


• Save the FULL layout file (Paint.Net format).


• Click on the topmost layer (Layer 4) in the Layers tool and then use the LAYERS > MERGE LAYER DOWN operation (this blends two layers into one). Continue this operation until there is only one layer left.


• Use the IMAGE > RESIZE command to get the graphic to the precise size needed on the web (remember that earlier we saved a full-size version - so this version should be as small as possible).


• Use FILE > SAVE AS > [SAVE AS TYPE: JPEG] to store the file in a web-ready format.

Building the Logo - tools locations

Free PDF Export in OpenOffice

I will often work with faculty who do not have Adobe Acrobat Professional installed on their office or home computers.

However, most of the time, the documents that faculty need to create as PDF files are version of Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files.

The open source software suite OpenOffice is a near-clone of Office 2003, but only better. In addition to being able to read and write Microsoft Office formats, OpenOffice also allows the user to
EXPORT as PDF files (for use with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader) as well as the ability to export to well-formed HTML files and images that can be uploaded into online course management systems (such as Blackboard and Desire2Learn).

The download is free!
http://www.OpenOffice.org

Another Great, Free Photo Editor

Some of us budget money each 2 years to buy an upgrade to PhotoShop (yep, that would be me).

However, there are some shareware, open source, and freeware applications out there that will satisfy the needs of most instructors.

Bring us Paint.Net, which is a very easy to use image editor with many of the same menus and tools as found in PhotoShop. The software is "freeware" as initially developed by an undergraduate student for a course project.

What I really like is the support for layers and layer blending (transparency levels), since this makes the work of retouching photos and graphics much easier.

Desire2Learn Fusion Conference

D2L
Fusion
2007

The Desire2Learn 2007 Fusion conference is being held July 8-12, 2007 in Duluth, Minnesota, and it is being co-hosted by Lake Superior College and the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
Early Bird Registration is $425 - must be registered before May 4th, 2007



For more information, check out the D2L Fusion Conference Home Page

Excel shortcuts

If you do a lot of work in Microsoft Excel, you might be able to work faster by keeping your fingers on the keyboard (rather than clicking through the menus with your mouse).

Excel has some shortcuts.

TAB key
TAB = move to next cell to the right
SHIFT+TAB = move to the next cell to the left

ENTER key
ALT + ENTER = create a line-break in the same cell (start a new line)
CTRL + ENTER = fill the highlighted range with the current entry
SHIFT + ENTER = move to the cell above

CTRL key combinations
CTRL + R = Fill to the right
CTRL + D = Fill down
CTRL + F3 = Define a name
CTRL + K = Insert a hyperlink
CTRL + Z = Undo the last action
CTRL + ; = Enter the current date
CTRL, SHIFT + : = Enter the current time

Single keys
ESC = cancel the current cell entry
HOME = move to the beginning of the line
END = move to the end of the line
F4 = repeat the last action

Video Shooting Tips

I've created a video that illustrates easy methods to improve the quality of your video production.

The suggestions include:

• Using of a tripod for your video camera,
• Having simple backgrounds,
• "Filling the frame" with your subject,
• Lighting your subject from the side, and
• Ensuring against continuity errors in outfits, hairstyles, lighting, etc.

Video Shooting Tips - Improving One Step at a Time

Sources of Video and Audio

Video Sources

Annenberg Foundation Media - http://www.learner.org/
PBS podcasts - http://www.pbs.org/podcasts/
NASA Video - http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/
videogallery/index.html
U.S. Govt. Podcasts - http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shelf
/Libraries/Podcasts.shtml
SBA Podcasts - http://www.sba.gov/tools/
resourcelibrary/Podcasts/index.html

Audio Sources

Podcast Networks - http://www.podcast.net/
National Inst. of Health - http://www.nih.gov/news/radio/

Climbing the Ladder - How to interview for a job.Podcast from BusinessWeek at:http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/
podcasts/climbing/current.html
Direct download link: http://www.businessweek.com/mediacenter/qt/podcasts/

If you are interested in listening to Podcasts related to business issues, you can visit
National Public Radio at:http://www.npr.org/templates/topics/
topic.php?topicId=1006
Minnesota Public Radio at:http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/economy/
Wisconsin Public Radio at:http://www.wpr.org/webcasting/archives.cfm (Joy Cardin, Kathleen Dunn, and Ben Merens)
BusinessWeek Online at:http://www.businessweek.com/search/podcasting.htm
Podcast Alley - Business at:http://www.podcastalley.com/podcast_genres.php?pod_genre_id=10
PodOMatic - Business at:http://www.podomatic.com/search/directory/Business

Serving Up Video on YouTube

YouTube.Com is a free site that you can use to host video content for your course.

The video content is streamed out to the user in an Adobe Flash file (meaning that users cannot easily download and store your materials). There is no limitation on the number of videos that you upload, and you have the ability to delete videos any time you desire.
The limitations on file size are that videos must be less than 100MB and shorter than 10 minutes. These restrictions are not that troubling, because you can always take a longer sequence and cut it into smaller pieces.

As you post new videos, they automatically are loaded in LIFO order (last in, first out) - so that your more recent additions are at the front of the list that viewers can access.

The one frustration is that the audio and video can fall out of synchronization (synch). This is a result of the conversion to Flash; it is a known issue and not one that you can easily control. Some people find this extremely distracting (especially those who might be hard of hearing and rely upon mouth position to help discern words), but most users will not find it too bothersome.

As a demonstration, I've uploaded a couple videos (my profile site is http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=nospam4artsnet ).

You can watch one of my videos (on how to get ready for recording audio using a computer headset microphone) by going to the link at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61wBoxz7lsg

Mental Engineering and AdCritic

Mental Engineering

Studio shot - image link from MentalEngineering.com

Over the weekend, I had the honor and privilege of attending the taping of 2 episodes of the show Mental Engineering - which broadcasts on public television in about 100 markets. This show is GREAT! I was already a big fan before I had a chance to see the live recording.

John Forde (pronounced four-dee) is the host, and he brings together professors, comedians, and celebrities to discuss the psychological, social, and political aspects/impacts of nationally released television commercials.

The show runs on Channel 17 Saturdays at 9PM, and also intermittently on Channel 2 on Sundays at 11:30PM.

More information about the show is at: http://www.mentalengineering.com/index.html

Tapping some of the show's content might be a very useful activity for students in media studies, psychology, sociology, graphic design, advertising design, marketing, and entrepreneurship courses.

John also provide a "lesson plan" for graduate level students in social psychology. Information is at: http://www.mentalengineering.com/class.asp.

If you have interests in advertising or marketing, then you should definitely get involved in watching this show and telling your local public television affiliate to keep the show in its line-up. John is also looking for financial support - so if you come to love the show, consider a tax-deductible donation.

To see some low-resolution video clips from the show, you can visit YouTube.com and search for the user profile of JohnForde (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=johnforde)

---

AdCritic.Com

Another great site, if you are interested in advertising, is AdCritic.Com and their companion magazine Creativity. This is a paid-subscription site, and it is pricey (they have a 12-month special for $99),
but when it was a free service, I found it to be one of the BEST resources regarding advertising from across the world (print ads as well as full-clips from television ads).

---

Interview with Steve Creason, MIS

This is the second interview in the podcast series.

Assistant professor Steve Creason shared his views about Management Information Systems and the changing roles of work. Our conversation was so interesting that it went much longer than expected. Therefore, you get TWO podcasts in one (each about 20 minutes).

MCpodcast_02Creason1 (streaming MP3)

• 1:45 How much technology and how much management?
• 2:52 You have to understand Profit and Loss!
• 4:36 You need a lot more business education than you need technology education.
• 5:28 Outsourcing
• 8:10 You want to concentrate on your core business.
• 9:15 What's important data, and what's less important data?
• 10:35 Government makes decisions based on consensus....
• 11:30 On the verge on a shift in the way our economy works.
• 13:00 We need to teach managers to manage by task rather than by hour.
• 15:30 Remote work in a team environment.
• 17:00 Getting managers and professors to teach to the capability of the technology.
  
  

MCpodcast_02Creason2 (streaming MP3)

• 0:45 No longer tethered to the desk.
• 2:35 Being "on call" through technology.
• 3:40 Managing by time causes the problem.
• 5:30 Working class has easier.
• 6:30 Preserving the knowledge capital with an aging population.
• 7:30 McDonalds' expert systems
• 9:08 Knowledge narratives
• 10:00 Company historians.
• 12:00 Managing a company versus managing customer expectations.
• 17:14 No one knew what Enron did.
• 18:30 How much does it cost to keep your customers?
• 21:10 The biggest failure in online.
• 22:00 What does eBay really sell?
• 23:00 The MIS program.

Friendlier Discussion Spaces

Online discussions are often just too text-based. As one means of encouraging some creativity, I have posted a few images inside the descriptions of my discussion threads.

At the least, I hope that this will make topics easier to locate for my grading purposes (and for students wanting to post comments) - especially when I re-shuffle the order of the discussion topics throughout the term.

Moreso, I hope to encourage students to make use of images, sounds, and possibly even video links in their major projects and shared research resources.

Here is a screenshot of the entrance to my discussion area.


In D2L, you can add images into your discussion topics by using the HTML Editing Tool for composing the forum descriptions and then using the image tool to UPLOAD A NEW IMAGE (that will appear in the page).



WARNING!!! If you are using D2L, make sure that the files saved into D2L have no space characters or other punctuation symbols in their file names. Use of the ampersand (&) gets especially rough. "Just say no!"




Similar use of images can also be placed into descriptions for the Dropboxes, Grade Items, and Quiz descriptions and questions.

Please make sure that any image you are using is well captioned and/or contains appropriate ALT text in the IMG tag.

Easy Course Images

Rather than buying a $900 digital SLR camera, you can create very high resolution images for your courses by using a $70 scanner hooked up to your computer.

Place the objects that you need photographed on the scanner glass (be realistic about size and weight of objects, please).

Then scan.

Simple visual elements help make content more interesting. Use of symbolism can also aid memory in a student's investigation of the topics.

Simple!

Cheap and Easy 3D for Online Courses

Do you have an object that you would like to show students in 3-dimensions?

Too hard to mail the object out for viewing?

Here is a simple yet effective optical illusion that will work for you.

Make two scans of the object.

The first scan, the object will be to the left-most position on the scanner.

The second scan, the object will be to the right-most position on the scanner.

Open both images and copy them into a new third image. The "side-views" of the object (which were originally toward the middle of the scanner) still need to appropriately point toward the center in the final composition.

Leave some blank "white space" between the objects.

Have students stare at the whitespace between the objects and slowly cross their eyes. All of a sudden, they see the 3-dimensional object in the "negative space" left behind.

Light colored empty "negative" space works best. View the sample above of what is normally a very flat MP3 player (has little dimension to begin with - but with this process, you see it "lift off" the screen).

Have fun!

Super Phone! The New Educational Toy!

It was time for an upgrade.

The old cell phone was two years old, which was just too old.

The new Motorola Q was the thinner winner. This new cell phone has a built in MP3 player, 1.3 megapixel camera, and Microsoft operating system with wireless Internet access and Bluetooth capability. You can also record video and watch video on the unit.

The built-in memory is pretty tiny, but there is a mini-SD slot that can accept 1GB memory cards for additional music and photo storage.

The camera resolution is not very high and the lens is very wide angle, but it is perfect for some quick web-sized images that are perfectly acceptable for web use.

The data package is quite pricey ($45 extra each month on top of normal cell plan package), but can be purchased on a month-by-month deal. Also - the battery life is tiny (I've purchased a AC charger for home, another for the office, and also a high current car charger).

So, why all the fuss?

This is a great tool for teaching and learning!

See something interesting while walking down the street?

Take a quick photo.

Want to do something intellectual while exercising?

Download and listen to a web podcast from your favorite news or education site.

One the run?

Check email and even surf over to your course site to see the newest postings.

The ability to carry all of this functionality in your shirt pocket is fantastic.

I'm looking forward to being able to add more image content to my courses quickly and easily, such as the photo of Ken Hess (below) taken with the new Q-cell.

Free, online webcasts from UC Berkeley

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

If you're wondering how podcasts can be incorporated into your course site, check out the University of California-Berkeley webcast link above. The site offers podcasts both for classes and for events that have occured on the campus. You can download individual podcasts or subscribe using an RSS feed (to iTunes or other RSS scrape).

For the events, there are also video casts (vodcasts). This site shows an appropriate use of media. The production values are modest and the media content is compressed to reasonable sizes.

The one shortcoming is the lack of text-transcripts of materials. There are still needs for academia to have access to much better speech to text translation software. IBM has completed research and is developing better speech recognition tools, including ViaScribe. Information about this development is available at: http://researchweb.watson.ibm.com/journal/sj/443/bain.html

Podcast with Ken Hess, curriculum coordinator

Ken Hess, Curriculum Coordinator for Management Courses

This is the first interview in the podcast series. Ken was kind enough to share his advice about the types of resources students should be taking advantage of during their studies at Metropolitan State University.

MCpodcast_01Hess (streaming MP3)

• 1:14 Introduction and Ken's Background


• 1:57 Interesting jobs graduates have found


• 3:00 What sets COM graduates apart from the competition


• 5:25 Resources available to students through Metropolitan State University


• 8:25 Where should students look to be more aware of their industries


• 10:25 How much time should students commit to their classes


• 13:00 Career advice Ken has received


• 16:37 End

Role Playing in Online Courses

Back in high school, I enjoyed being active in theatre and choir. (I'm on the left of the image; show is Diary of Anne Frank.)

A powerful method of evaluating that students can apply what they have learned is through role play.

In an online course, role-play can take place in many forms.

The most direct and simple form is to have the student interact with you, the instructor, directly.

As an example, in my business management class, I might write off an email pretending to be an angry subordinate who is challenging the authority of the manager (the student), or I might pretend to be an important client who is facing "option anxiety." Having the student play a role in the interaction would help me to better classify their understanding of and application of the materials from the course.

Another instructor I have recently talked with is interested in putting students into an online "negotiation" with 3 to 5 players per round. Each player will have a list of negotiation points that he/she is trying to win, and the higher the number of points won, the higher the score for the assignment (everyone fails if there is no agreement at the end of the round - to avoid stall tactics). Using online discussion boards is a way to track the points agreed upon (won) and those left unsettled.

With the use of SKYPE (www.skype.com ) - role playing via the Internet becomes much easier. Skype allows online conference calls of up to 5 users, and this allows for multiple role-players in a single activity online.

I even saw a "game" in which the online course home page looked like a manager's desk in a corporate office. The "phone" connected the user to "voicemails" (text-based) requiring urgent actions, the computer connected the user to "emails" and documents, and the calendar had a "to do" list that needed to be accomplished in that sitting. The instructor played multiple roles to provoke the student's action - as well as provide feedback on progress. I would believe that this would be time consuming, but also (likely) a very powerful learning activity.

More Pedagogy and Method Blogs

I am stumbling onto a few more blogs that deal with similar issues (pedagogy, technology, and instructional design). Here are some links.

http://eduwithtechn.blogspot.com/
http://www.knownet.com/writing/weblogs/Graham_Attwell/
http://pedagogyjournal.blogspot.com/
http://tojou.blogspot.com/
http://uhvonline.blogspot.com/
http://people.uis.edu/rschr1/onlinelearning/blogger.html
http://www.elearning-reviews.org/
http://learningonlineinfo.org/

I encourage you to explore other views, ideas, and methods, and I will do the same (then report back here).

Get Your Students Listening!

One issue that faculty commonly face is connecting the materials from the textbook to examples that students can "touch and feel." Often it is important to students that faculty make the content relevant in an up-to-date and "locally connected" manner. Management and marketing are two curriculum areas that can benefit from connections to local business information and content available via the web.

In every major metropolitan area, savvy businesses are setting up podcasts (web-based radio shows) that inform and educate prospective clients about the news, theories and applications, technologies, and opportunities in their industries.

The benefit to podcasts is their portability. Many students have MP3 players or iPods to which they can download podcast content and then listen to the materials during exercise routines, in traffic congestion, and during breaks at work. The audio format can be especially helpful to students whose learning style preferences are spoken language.

Not every student will have access to portable audio players, and students with hearing impairments might not be able to benefit from the content (unless it has been fully transcribed, which is seldom done), so the use of podcasts should be as supplemental material to the course (not required in activities or assessments).

Faculty teaching business topics might want to investigate:
http://www.ibizradio.com/


When possible, it is best to feature locally produced podcasts. Finding local businesses and organizations that offer these online audio segments is a bit of a hunt.

For Minnesota, one site that offers links to local content is:
http://podcastmn.com/
Many of these are music, humour, and adult podcasts, but there are also some with academic appeal.


In the Minneapolis metropolitan area, here are some podcasts examples.
(Note: I have not financial or other ties to any of these sites, and these are offered as examples without endorsement.)


GENERAL ECONOMY and POLITICS
http://www.minneapolis.org/podcast/ - Minneapolis.Org: Features about the quality of life, activities, and events in the Minneapolis area
http://del.icio.us/TwinWest (and http://www.twinwest.com/ main site) Chamber of Commerce

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
http://technomicasia.blogspot.com/ - Technomic Asia: the China Business podcast

MARKETING
http://providentpartners.blogspot.com/ - Marketing Edge: Marketing and Public Relations
http://www.prweek.com/us/podcasts/ - Public Relations Week

SMALL BUSINESS
http://www.sba.gov/tools/resourcelibrary/Podcasts/index.html - Small Business Administration

Easy Photo Editing for Online Courses!

Yes! Another cool Google tool. Picasa is free download program from Google that allows you to quickly and easily crop, size, and perform basic editing on a photo (brightness, contrast, color-balance, red-eye fix).

There are also built-in filters to allow some "quick and easy" artistic modifications to your files.

Download the file from www.google.com >> MORE >> EVEN MORE

Lost in Translation?

Do you feel that some of your content is getting "lost in translation?"
Get ready for another great Google tool!

Google Language Tools allow you to translate text or web pages into Arabic, Chinese, English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Korean, and Japanese via a simple interface. Above is a sample translation from English into Spanish.

This is a wonderful application for beginning language students as well as those who might be studying music, business (human resources), or nursing.
This is also a helpful application for students who speak English as a second language; they can use this tool to translate your content into their native language - in order to more quickly understand concepts and ideas.

Best of all - the tool is free!
Enjoy!

GoogleEarth is Rock Solid!

I've "noodled around" in GoogleEarth now for a couple of weeks. For someone who is geographically challenged (like myself), being able to see a 3-dimensional view of a city skyline is so much more helpful than a flat 2-d "top down" view.
The first image above shows the Management Education Center building in Minneapolis (highlighted in gold) in a rotated view on Google Earth.

Only buildings in downtown areas of major metropolitan areas are in 3D relief, but you can still "fly" over the 3-dimensional landscape as though you are in an airplane.
One of my favorite features is a "spin the globe" where you drag and release the mouse - and the landscape below keeps moving - again, like a virtual flight!

The second image shows mountains in Arizona. Although you can see the 3-D relief in the image - the actual 3-D rendering in the live application will have you sitting for hours on the computer just "traveling" the geography.
This free site can assist in teaching about urban planning, geography, biology, history, and countless other subjects. Allowing students to view the terrain paints events in a much more interesting light.

Check it out at http://earth.google.com and click on MORE>>

Software Suite - StarOffice

The current academic discount price for Microsoft Office 2003 Professional is around $180 (www.academicsuperstore.com ).

If you or your students are looking for a more affordably priced, Microsoft-compatible software suite, consider Sun's StarOffice (http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/
competitive_view.jsp ).
Not only does this software emulate the look and feel of Microsoft Office, but it also reads, writes, and edits files in MS Office file formats.

Additionally, StarOffice can create PDF output files (normally an additional cost, for Adobe Acrobat PDF Writer at $150 for academic discount).

Being able to create PDF files is extremely beneficial for online course development. Most computer users already have the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program already installed on their computers (either through direct internet download from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html or as part of the installation process for other software packages which have documentation in PDF files).
PDF files tend to be much more accessible to persons with disabilities, and the bundling of this functionality right within StarOffice allows you to share written documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint-like presentations with your students simply and easily.

$330 worth of software utility for a $70 price seems like a very "smart decision."

For the truly "geeky" computer users, this software can run on Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OSX, and it also complies with teh OASIS standard file formats that have been widely adopted by the European Union.