Ancient History Ramblings

Moving and Rebooting

Well, after a semester that overloaded me on several levels, I am going to restart my blog but on a different site. So, if you are interested check out the new and hopefully more consistent:

http://ancienthistoryramblings.wordpress.com/

 

RSM

iPad Apps Everywhere

I have enjoyed using my iPad and have made a conscious effort to find as many ways to use it as possible, particularly in the classroom. This has been an ……..interesting experience. The multitude of apps available has been a bit daunting to sift through. I have had trouble finding apps that are designed for faculty to use. The first one that I installed was Attendance. The app is designed for taking attendance in class or at a meeting. It is easy to set up and fairly straightforward. I have been using it for one of my classes and have been pleased with its simplicity. The only issue I had was that the importing of my class roster from our computer system took a little work. Overall, I am quite pleased with how it works and feel it will be a big help in most of my classes. I am not too sure about my larger classes of around 100 students though. We’ll see.

RSM

My iPad Experience

I broke down and got an iPad, mainly based on the advice of Bill Caraher. I have to admit to not being an Apple fan – I have never had a Mac and use a Zune instead of an iPod. I had my iPad for about a week and have really enjoyed it. My goals for getting the device are:

• Better organize my calendar/appointments/email/etc.
• Do a better job of organizing my notes and research items
• Find a way to use the iPad in the classroom

I have spent a lot of time reading about how to use the iPad and the best apps for it, now is the time to see if I can translate it into success.

RSM

Colleges Watching Online Behavior?

It will be interesting to see how colleges and universities handle the idea of monitoring their students’ online actions. At the National Conference on Law and Higher Education, a panel debated whether colleges have an obligation to monitor what their students’ post online on their Facebook pages or on their Twitter accounts. While I have been telling my advisees, especially prospective teachers, to be careful in what they post on their Facebook pages, I have not gone as far as some faculty who suggest that prospective teachers should delete their accounts. If colleges decide to pursue online monitoring, it will be interesting to see how they will manage this, especially as college budgets become tighter.

RSM 

Egyptian Troubles

The ongoing civil unrest in Egypt, in addition to the danger to life and property, also poses a threat to Egyptian antiquities and sites. Various news agencies and websites over the last few days have reported that various museums, including the Cairo Museum, have been broken into and artifacts stolen or damaged. Hopefully the situation in Egypt will stabilize soon. One good site for keeping track of this is the blog of Dr. Zahi Hawass.

RSM

Desire2Learn

My university recently began the process of migrating to Desire2Learn from Moodle. This transition was greeted by a fair number of complaints from faculty members since we had just made the transition from WebCT (purchased by Blackboard) to Moodle only 2 years ago, and this had been a very lengthy and painful process. So, since course management systems have been a hot topic at school, I have spent some time over the last few years following the various stories that have popped up in the news about Blackboard and its numerous lawsuits against other CMS companies (including Desire2Learn) and even the US Patent and Trademark Office. Now, Desire2Learn has filed a lawsuit of its own over its failure to win a contract in Utah. It is amazing how much time and effort these companies spend in litigation……..time and effort that might be better spent in improving their product.

RSM

The Year of the Tablet?

As technology experts make predictions about the coming year, many are predicting the arrival of the tablet computer in huge numbers, including on campus.

• Wired Campus
• Campus Technology

I have to admit to being skeptical. So far, at least on my campus, I have seen only about 4 iPads – all being used by faculty. I remember a few years ago I began thinking that laptop usage in class was on the rise among students, but I have noticed in the last year or so a decrease in the number of student laptops in classes. Perhaps my campus is different from others – it is a public, state institution – but it really can’t be that far off from other schools. I think the introduction of technology into the classroom is great, but it does move slowly in academia, often very, very slowly – particularly with funds being so tight. Now, will I get one this year? Probably…..well, most likely.

RSM

Kindle 3

Now that the holiday buying season is over, Amazon has announced that the Kindle 3 is its best-selling product of all time having passed the latest Harry Potter novel. Amazon is expecting to sell more than 8 million Kindles this year. Clearly the price drop helped spark sales, but the question I have is whether an e-reader can be successfully used at a university. While various universities have been experimenting with e-readers, nothing definite seems to have emerged as to their viability outside of experimental or pilot programs.

RSM

End of the Semester and Organization

The end of the semester has finally arrived for me, and it always brings a time of reflection and a time of planning. Reflection on what worked and did not work in the previous semester and planning for the upcoming semester – which will be starting sooner than expected. In keeping with this, ProfHacker ran a great article on “Organizing Your Teaching Material.” The article talks abut the organization and archiving of files – which for many people includes both paper and digital formats. It is a good read and a timely one since I was planning on trying to reorganize my office over break – we will see if that really happens.

RSM

Cheating at UCF

As we approach final exams, it was interesting to read about a cheating scandal at the University of Central Florida. The post on this topic by Robert Talbert includes a video of the class where the professor at UCF confronts the class and is an important read if you use publisher provided test banks. Talbert makes some very interesting points on the subject.

RSM