Vic Divecha's Tech Blog http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/ Instructional Tech, eLearning, Online Learning, Learning Spaces en Copyright 2009 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:17:28 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.17 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss World Usability Day 2009 - Afternoon Session Reflections (Continued; See Report from Morning Session here)

The afternoon of World Usability Day (WUD) 2009 [http://usability.msu.edu/conf/2009/Default.aspx] focussed on larger infrastructural, community and sustainability issues. Almost all speakers were excellent, spare one who performed the good old, 'death by powerpoint'. He shall remain unnamed for the rest of this blog post.

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/11/world_usability_1.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/11/world_usability_1.html conferences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:17:28 -0500 World Usability Day 2009 - Morning Session Reflections I began learning about usability the moment I sat in the car this morning to travel to East Lansing to attend World Usability Day (WUD) conference hosted by MSU. Its an hours drive from home, so I decided to pack some podcast-heat to bring myself unto speed. My last format interaction with Usability was at the 2007 WUD conference in the exact same spot.

Listening to the UXPod podcast, which interviewed Ethnograpist and UX lab work expert Patrick Larvie, I picked up my first micro-learning lesson.

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/11/world_usability.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/11/world_usability.html conferences Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:14:01 -0500 Teaching Audio Recording Today In HMP 612...

HMP 612 Audio4 Podcasting Part I
View more presentations from Vic Divecha.
]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/09/teaching_audio.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/09/teaching_audio.html Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:17:40 -0500 The Record Update: Article on EPID GSS Distance Learning Front Page of the Issue

Link to the Article

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/08/the_record_upda.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/08/the_record_upda.html Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:00:51 -0500 So Much for Patient Privacy From India...

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/06/so_much_for_pat.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/06/so_much_for_pat.html Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:43:57 -0500 Simulteaching Paper in 2009 Getting ready for the Summer and trying to write a paper about it in late summer... my abstract for a brief paper as a follow up to the simulteaching 2008 paper:

Improving Quality of Simulteaching by Analyzing Demand for Support Abstract: Measuring the quality of synchronous delivery during the 2008 cycle revealed distinct areas for improvement in the synchronous offering approach at two hybrid summer courses. Measurement of the quality of synchronous course delivery was done using demand for support. Analysis of demand data yielded the following areas for improving quality of learning (i) Better instructor & student orientation (ii) better pre-course launch administrative processes and (iii) Simplification of the homework and take-home exam submission process. The effectiveness of the new and improved approach in 2009 is expected to reflect in the new demand data for technical and learning support. This data will be collected during summer 2009 and analyzed in the final paper submission.
]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/04/simulteaching_p.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/04/simulteaching_p.html Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:24:22 -0500 How sustainable is internet democracy? In response to "The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500" This article reflects the current “rules-of-engagement” where the individual is empowered through free web-services. I keep mulling over the scenario when economic squeeze may make free-memberships unsustainable, falling back on pay-for-service models (no free email, no free membership on social networking). However blasphemous this may sound, it may very well be the reality in a few years if the credit crunch takes too long to untangle. So the rules-of-engagement may change again to favor institutionalized content-generation. “Internet democracy” is fragile because it depends on infrastructure which is not yet controlled by individuals.

True internet democracy might happen when individuals generate and maintain hardware independent of big companies or government. It could be a distant fantasy, to imagine a Ham Internet like Ham radio. But not impossible.

Bottom line point: I’ll celebrate internet democracy when I run my part of the internet without the dependence on local infrastructure and those tech innovations are yet to come.

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/how_sustainable.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/how_sustainable.html Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:04:42 -0500 Tech Podcast: Episode III


Vic Divecha's Tech Podcast: 11th March 2009

Implementing a Cell Phone SMS Service using Twitter, "Scratch" Interesting possibilities in a different application realm for MIT's new programming language for children; The death of email and Internet Explorer and more...
Music: DJ Adori "Lies"

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/tech_podcast_ep_1.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/tech_podcast_ep_1.html podcast Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:14:45 -0500 Tech Podcast: Episode 2

Twitteronomics Video


Tips for presentation via TED photographer

Eric Schmidt's Twitter Rant:

Toledo School of Ed: No to Distance Learning

USC's Online Master's in Teaching, Supported by 2Tor

Athabasca and Sun Tieup for Virtual Worlds

Music: http://ccmixter.org/files/George_Ellinas/19174

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/tech_podcast_ep.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/tech_podcast_ep.html Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:04:24 -0500 Tech Podcast: 4th March 2009

Download mp3 here

Podcast Contents:
Moodle + Google = Awesome
Kindle 2
ASU's Ambitious Enrollment
Purdue's Rhea Raises Hopes, Leaves Me Grappling
Podcasting Effectiveness Research at SUNY Fredonia
Camtasia 6 Update

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/tech_podcast_4t.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/03/tech_podcast_4t.html podcast Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:14:54 -0500 Good Game Design: Google Tech Talk

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/good_game_desig.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/good_game_desig.html serious-games Wed, 25 Feb 2009 11:31:44 -0500 Accelerated Learning: A Personal Experiment For long I have yearned the need to become familiar and stay current with a few news domains which are information heavy. Being a fan of late night talk shows, stand-up comedy and fake news (The Onion, Stewart/Colbert) I decided to have some fun permeating these new realms.


]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/accelerated_lea.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/accelerated_lea.html Adult Learning & Learning Theory Mon, 23 Feb 2009 15:17:32 -0500 Cheating in Online Exams King et al. write in the Journal of Educators Online:

...respondents felt quite liberal in their views of potentially cheating behaviors when there was no test-taking policy set by the course instructor. In addition, 73.6% of the students in the sample held the perception that it is easier to cheat in an online versus traditional course.

Towards the end of the paper, the authors suggest research based remedies for inhibiting cheating: open discussion in a classroom setting (which is done by some departments/schools), posting of honor code in print and online (which is supported by UM's testing tools) and keeping updated on strategies from Duke University's “Academic Integrity Assessment Guide’

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/cheating_in_onl.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/cheating_in_onl.html Adult Learning & Learning Theory Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:50:57 -0500 Google Apps Academic to Include Moodle This is a synergy that I would look forward to. This will remove barriers to using moodle. I hope moodle can leverage security and code maintenance from Google's team and become a high quality, yet simple to use product:

Through the integration, users loaded into Moodle will be automatically loaded into Google Apps Education Edition, "providing users with Web-based e-mail, document authoring, spreadsheets, presentations and sites, all integrated with their online learning platform," explained Moodlerooms' West Coast Managing Director Michael Penney

via CampusTechnology.com

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/google_apps_aca.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/google_apps_aca.html Future Directions Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:40:07 -0500 Design Principles Database This is an excellent tool for instructional designers, where case studies are posted by ID/eLearning practitioners.

Whether you are an educational technology researcher, a learning scientist, a designer of web-based learning materials, or a teacher using technology, the DPD is a place for you to learn from the wisdom gained by dozens of researchers who have designed, enacted with students, and studied the use of technology for learning. This wisdom is translated in the DPD into pedagogical Design Principles

]]> http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/design_principl.html http://mblog.lib.umich.edu/~rdivecha/archives/2009/02/design_principl.html Adult Learning & Learning Theory Mon, 23 Feb 2009 10:25:39 -0500