[ED-TECH] Web 2.0 and Barcamp

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fn:Kim Grinfeder
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org:University of Miami;School of Communication
adr:;;5100 Brunsn Drive;Coral Gables;FL;33146;USA
email;internet:grinfeder@miami.edu
title:Assistant Professor
tel;work:(305)284-6253
tel;fax:(305)284-5205
url:http://com.miami.edu
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Hi,
Just to remind you that we have two great Internet related events today
at the University of Miami School of Communication. Nick Dominguez will
be talking about designing for Web 2.0 at 3:35 and then we are hosting
Barcamp at 6:00. All are welcome to attend, there is more information
about these events below. Please forward this email to any interested
parties.

-Kim

3:35pm - 4:25pm: Room 2055 - COMWEEK CLOSE UP
*The aesthetics of web 2.0 - An examination of design and usability
among web 2.0 sites and applications - with Nick Dominguez*
Nick is an interactive graphic designer and illustrator living in South
Florida. In 1998 he graduated from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale
with a degree in Visual Communication. For over 7 years he has designed
for various startups and companies in the South Florida area. More
information at http://www.nickdominguez.com/

------------------------------------------------------------------------

6:00pm - 9:30pm: Common Ground Courtyard
*Barcamp Miami*
Think BarCamp is a meeting among geeks? Think again!
BarCamp is your opportunity to present your company, your startup or
your idea of the next big thing. Everyone is welcome to present and all
presentations are scheduled upon arrival.

The first BarCamp "unconference" was organized in California in August
2005.Since then, BarCamps have been held across the globe, culminating
last year in the first anniversary Barcamp Earth, held the same day in
multiple locations worldwide. Barcamp is a great place to meet people
and learn about your online community in your home town.

This year, South Florida will finally get its first BarCamp Miami on
February 21st, 2007

"BarCamp Miami was designed for people in South Florida to share and
learn in an open environment." - Kim Grinfeder, Professor, University of
Miami

BarCamp Miami is an intense event with discussions, demos and
interaction from an ad hoc gathering of entrepreneurs, technology
developers, journalists, bloggers, designers, web enthusiasts, students
and anyone else who's interested in learning about new projects
underway. It's a way to "get everyone together and see what happens".
Prepare in advance, but come early to get a slot on the schedule wall.

"You don?t have to present anything but I do encourage people to just
come and listen and share ideas." - Alex de Carvalho, Community Guy,
Scrapblog.com

More information at http://barcamp.org/Barcamp-Miami

--
__________________________
Kim Grinfeder
Assistant Professor
Visual Communication Program
School of Communication
University of Miami

305-284-6253
http://com.miami.edu
__________________________

[ED-TECH] New student e-mail at UM - UMail

Ed-Tech list members,

The opinions listed below are my own. Since you have contact with our students, and provide them with guidance, I wanted to share this new e-mail solution with you so that you can share it with your students, if you wish.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

UM has a new and improved e-mail service for students: UMail. I strongly urge you to let your students know about this and even to encourage them to switch to it, at least for all UM mail. Using UMail should greatly reduce the number of problems that students encounter receiving our messages on Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, and AOL. Send students to http://www.miami.edu/umail for the signup link, tutorials, answers to their questions, and more. (RSMAS and Med School students are not included - all other students are, I believe.)

EXTENDED DETAILS:

Many students at UM use an external e-mail service such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, or AOL. Some of them have trouble receiving e-mail from UM, either from Blackboard or other systems. In the past students could get an e-mail account on the UMSIS system. That is still available, but now the can get an account on the UM exchange system, the same system used by faculty in some schools and employees in all the business units on campus. It is the system that I use.

The student accounts will have 1 GB of storage space. They can have all the junk mail filtering and virus filtering that is on my account, and I can tell I don't see 2 junk mail messages a day, and only once in four years did an infected e-mail make it through. They can access their e-mail from the web. If they use Internet Explorer the web access will have an incredibly powerful interface, almost exactly like the Outlook application on a PC. Using Firefox will bring up an interface that is not quite as feature rich, but it can be used to access their accounts, as well. They will also be able to access their e-mail from devices such as the Blackberry Pearl, Blackjack, or many other cell phones with e-mail capabilities.

I hope you will share this information with your students. Any student having trouble receiving your e-mail should seriously consider switching to the UMail service. Others will probably find it a good solution, at least for all their UM e-mail.

TECHNICAL ISSUE:

The only "gotcha" that I can see is that when a student creates the UMail account their Preferred E-mail Address is automatically changed to their UMail account, and can only be changed to some other account if/when they delete the UMail account. So students cannot "try" the UMail account while continuing to have their e-mail sent to Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL, or whatever system they use. When they get a UMail account, all mail sent to their @umiami.edu address will begin going to their UMail account. I see this as an advantage, since they don't even have to go to MyUM to make the change -- it is done automatically. But they should be aware that this is going to happen.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3944

[ED-TECH] Faculty Lunch and Learn sessions & training

Ed-Tech mailing list members,

Two more 2006 Excellence in Teaching Award winners have scheduled Lunch and Learn presentations to share their teaching practices with other faculty at UM.

• Michael Davidson-Schmich, "Breaking the Ice & Curiosity and Engagement Objectives," Thursday, Feb. 15, 12:30 PM, University Center, Room 226 A - Two low-cost high-impact teaching practices that change the classroom dynamic and motivate the students to learn.
• Carl Hoff, "The Art of Giving Science Exams," Monday, Feb. 19, 12:20 PM, University Center, Room 226 A/B - An analysis of why Carl moved from multiple choice to written exams, how he reduced the workload, and how it seems to have improved his student's learning. Should be interesting to anyone in any discipline.

I encourage you to check the complete descriptions by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and clicking on the "Lunch and Learn Series" menu item. These are two excellent teachers who will be talking about their teaching practices. This is an opportunity to gather new ideas about things you might want to try. Lunch will be served.

We also have two IAC training sessions scheduled at this time.

• "Getting Started with Blackboard," Bill Vilberg and Jennifer Clister, Friday, Feb. 9, 2:30-3:20 PM, Memorial Classroom Building, Room 105 - Introduction to Blackboard for teachers with little or no prior experience.
• "Using the Smart Classrooms in Memorial and the Learning Center," Ken Gamber, Friday, Feb. 16, 2:30-3:20 PM, Memorial Classroom Building, Room 105 - Training on the data projector, document camera, computer connections, VCR/DVD player and amplifiers located in each of these rooms.

I hope you will be able to attend some of these sessions. Registration is required. You can register by using the links on the http://www.miami.edu/iac > "Lunch and Learn Series" page.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3944

[ED-TECH] Lunch and Learn sessions next week

Ed-Tech List Members,

Quick reminder that the Instructional Advancement Center is holding two Lunch and Learn sessions next week.

On Monday, David Wilson will talk about the Cross-Disciplinary Team Teaching that he has done at UM. This is a great way to cover material from a new perspective and thereby renew your teaching.

On Tuesday, Anthony Krupp will talk about a number of teaching practices that he uses to enhance student learning in his classes, including one he has named "Mitosis." These are some great techniques that you might be able to use in your classes.

Please go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Lunch and Learn Series" menu item for locations and times and to register. Registration is limited and required.

I hope to see you there. We will be recording the sessions and posting them on the IAC page for people who are unable to attend.

Bill Vilberg

Assoc. Dir. of Instructional Advancement

305-284-3944