[ED-TECH] i>clicker use in the spring

If you are using the i>clicker in your classes this spring, be sure to let the bookstore know, so enough will be on hand for the many classes using them. Here is the information the bookstore needs.

Also go to MyUM and check the box next to the course name to indicate that you will be using clickers in your class, so I will be able to provide support and assure that a base unit is in the classroom for you.

If you would like a refresher on how to use i>clicker, feel free to sign up for any of the online training sessions at https://iclicker.webex.com/mw0306l/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=iclicker . If none of these times fit your schedule, please let Alise Alford know at either alford@iclicker.com<mailto:alford@iclicker.com> or 903.926.6640.

They also have user guides and tips available at www.iclicker.com that they are constantly updating. And don't forget to utilize their live Technical Support at 866-209-5698 or support@iclicker.com if you have any issues.

Bill Vilberg

ISBN: 0-7167-7939-0
Product name – i>clicker
Vendor name – Macmillan (MPS, formerly VHPS)
Vendor website – www.iclicker.com<http://www.iclicker.com/>
Course enrollment – (estimated enrollment)

[ED-TECH] Need help beta testing a CV / job site for online faculty

Hi everyone,

I'm putting together a CV network and online edu opportunity site and I need a few volunteers to help beta test the system.  If you are interested, please go to http://corkboard.ednak.com and test drive the system.  You can just email me back your thoughts on the system and its usability.

I'm planning to open up the Cork Board for public consumption within the next 2-3 weeks.  Feel free to pass this beta test invitation on to others as I really want to get a good use case test in place before I release this out to the wild :)

Here's a few of the unique features with this system.

Post Your CV to the Cork Board - you can now post your CV to the Cork Board and allow schools to find you.

Adding Video to Your CV - You have the ability to add a video introduction or guest lecture to your CV.  What an amazing opportunity to showcase your talents to prospective schools.

Searching the Cork Board - There are over 190 openings currently listed on the Cork Board (and it continues to grow each day).

Tutorials - We've added (and continue to add) a series of tutorials designed to help you use and navigate the Cork Board.

Thanks for your time.

Regards,
Colt

[ED-TECH] Great $6 gift for readers and researchers

What could be better than a book mark, with a pen built in, that holds post-it flags, and has an elastic band to hold your book shut when you are not reading it? All for only $6. I heard about this on the Daily Giz Wiz podcast and ordered it immediately. It arrived on Friday. I love it.

[cid:D5FD1999-910F-4948-BF79-B819E9F8B9EF]

Enjoy.

Here is the link to the BookMarker entry in the GizWiz blog:
http://tinyurl.com/bookmarker

Here is the link to the BookMarker site:
http://everydayinnovations.com/catalog/BookMarker-16-1.html

Here is a link to it the BookMarker on Amazon.com<http://Amazon.com>:
http://tinyurl.com/bookmarker2

Also might be available at the Container Store, Staples, and Borders, according to the BookMarker site.

Bill

[ED-TECH] Google Wave invites

Google Wave is a new service that facilitates collaboration. You need to have a group of people working on a project in order to use it productively. I have 20 invites to Google Wave. If you have a group that wants to try to use it to communicate, send me their e-mail addresses and I will send invites to the first 20 I receive.

Bill

[ED-TECH] Cell phone tour at the Lowe Art Museum

RESOLUTION: Take a break one day during finals and go by the Lowe Museum to experience their new cell phone tours. Also, stop by the gift store for 20% discounts to UM employees.

EXPLANATION: At lunch today I stopped by the Lowe Art Museum (http://www.lowemuseum.org/). I was amazed, entertained, amused, and engaged by the wonderful cell phone tour that they have available for the "Kitchen Dreams" exhibit by Ricky Bernstein (http://www.rickybernstein.com/). If you haven't tried this, stop by the Lowe (free for all UM employees) and go back to the Ricky Bernstein exhibit. You dial a single phone number, listed next to each piece, on your cell and then enter a code that is unique for each piece. Then you get to listen to the artist talk about his art. It is like standing next to him as he tells stories about each piece. Incredible.

Be sure to experience this wonderful use of technology to improve the learning experience. It is here until January 24, 2010. Closed on Mondays, but open 10:00 am - 4:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday and 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm on Sunday. Definitely worth experiencing.

I actually was in the Lowe to buy holiday gifts at their incredible gift store, a great place to shop, especially with their 20% discount up through December 23rd. Same days/hours as above, I believe.

They also have cell phone information for another exhibit at this time, but I had to get back to work, so I haven't listened to it yet. I will be back soon.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
bill.vilberg@miami.edu<mailto:bill.vilberg@miami.edu>
786-250-2255

[ED-TECH] Journal of Sustainable Development - December 2009

For your consideration:

The PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development ~ December 2009
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv05n12page1.html

Section 1. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Section 2. Integral Human Development (IHD)
Section 3. ESD/IHD and Gender Balance
Section 4. ESD/IHD and the Rich/Poor Gap
Section 5. ESD/IHD and the MDGs
Section 6. ESD/IHD and Political Will
Section 7. ESD/IHD and Democratic Governance
Section 8. ESD/IHD and Technological Innovation
Section 9. Suggestions for Prayer, Study, and Action

Sincerely,
Luis

Luis T. Gutierrez, PhD
Editor, PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development
A monthly, free subscription, open access e-journal.

[ED-TECH] Mathematica 7 seminar

Aaron Pollack, Academic Relationship Executive from Wolfram, makers of Mathematica and Alpha, will be giving a free seminar about Mathematica version 7 on Monday, November 30, 2009, 10:10 am - 11:00 am (Period C) followed by questions and answers and demonstrations until 12:00 PM, in Richter Library, Faculty Exploratory (Room 305).

Mathematica is sometimes still perceived as primarily useful for only math and/or physics. This technical talk will illustrate how features in version 7 specifically changes the pedagogy of teaching within chemistry, economics and a number of other departments as well.

To register for this event, go to the www.iacmiami.org<http://www.iacmiami.org> web site. Contact Bill Vilberg, bill.vilberg@miami.edu<mailto:bill.vilberg@miami.edu> or 786-250-2255, for further information.

[ED-TECH] Great GIS Workshops in Florida

Hey Group,

Last chance to register for great GIS Mapping Workshops in Jacksonville and Miami!

These hands-on workshops focus on teaching the fundamentals of using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to extract Census data and good map layout and design.

Mapping Florida Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis

Miami: December 9th, 2009
Hyatt Place Miami Airport West/Doral - 3655 NW 82nd Ave Miami, FL 33166

Jacksonville: December 11th, 2009
New Horizons Computer Learning Center- 7020 A.C. Skinner Pkwy STE 180 Jacksonville, FL 32256

*These are one-day workshops (8:30am - 4:30pm). Participants choose which day to attend.

Audience: Beginners, anyone interested in mapping their community.

Focus: This workshop is customized for each location.

For more information about the Florida workshops, please visit http://www.urban-research.info/workshops/florida-gis.htm

Gina Clemmer

New Urban Research, Inc.

877.241.6576 | www.urban-research.info

 

[ED-TECH] Mathematica 7 Seminar - Monday, November 30

Ed-Tech mailing list people,

Aaron Pollack, Academic Relationship Executive from Wolfram, makers of Mathematica and Alpha, will be giving a free seminar about Mathematica version 7 on Monday, November 30, 2009. That is the Monday following Thanksgiving. It is also the Monday of the last day of classes. Please don't let any of that stop you from learning more about Mathematica 7 (and Wolfram Alpha) and meeting Aaron.

Mathematica is sometimes still perceived as primarily useful for only math and/or physics. This technical talk will illustrate how features in version 7 specifically changes the pedagogy of teaching within chemistry, economics and a number of other departments as well.

This session will be held in the Richter Library, Faculty Exploratory (Room 305). The presentation will run from 10:10 AM - 11:00 AM (Period C) followed by questions and answers and demonstrations until 12:00 PM. If you must leave at the end of the presentation, that will be understandable, given the many things that will be going on at that time in the semester.

To register for this event (registration is REQUIRED) please go to http://iacmiami.org and fill out the "Mathematica 7 Seminar" form.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu<mailto:bill.vilberg@miami.edu>
786-250-2255

You received this message because you are on the Ed-Tech mailing list at the University of Miami. If you would like to be removed from this list, Reply to this message with that request. The reply will come directly to me and I will handle it personally. An archive of all past Ed-Tech messages can be found at the http://wvilberg.blogspot.com web site.

[ED-TECH] PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development ~ November 2009

For your consideration:

PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development ~ November 2009
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv05n11page1.html

Section 1. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Section 2. Integral Human Development (IHD)
Section 3. ESD/IHD and the Gender Continuum
Section 4. ESD/IHD and the End of Patriarchy
Section 5. ESD/IHD and the Culture of Solidarity
Section 6. ESD/IHD and the Culture of Sustainability
Section 7. ESD/IHD and the Role of Technology
Section 8. Progress Report on the 2009 Surveys
Section 9. The Tripod of Prayer, Study, and Action

This is Part 8 of the series on "Education for Sustainable Development."

Sincerely,
Luis

Luis T. Gutierrez, PhD
Editor, PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development
Home: pelicanweb.org ~ Email: pelican@pelicanweb.org
A monthly, free subscription, open access e-journal.

[ED-TECH] Internet Speeds

I just ran a network speed test from http://speedtest.net/ and got the
most incredible results. I can download at 50 Mbps and upload at 10
Mbps. Those are megabits per second. A normal ethernet cable runs at
10 Mbps, although we are moving to 100 Mbps and even 1 Gbps.

It is incredible how fast the Internet access is at the University of
Miami. Back in the early days we measured in T1 lines, which are 1.5
Mbps. These days our connections off campus, particularly to other
institutions of higher education, are almost as fast as connecting to
a server here on campus. And our outages, knock on wood, are few and
far between.

I was contemplating this and realized I should do a shout-out to our
Information Technology networking group for the great service they are
providing. So, IT networking, this Bud's for you!

Bill Vilberg
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

[ED-TECH] REMINDER to RSVP by Fri/Oct-23 - JMP Workshop at Univ of Miami on Mon/Oct-26 from 12 - 2pm

You are invited to attend a complimentary JMP Workshop we have
scheduled at the University of Miami on Monday, October 26th from 12
to 2pm.

* Coral Gables Campus - University Center Ballroom, 256 A/B
(Live)
* Medical Campus - Rosensteil Medical Science Building, TBA
(Video Conference)

Pizza will be served at both locations.

Please RSVP by Friday/Oct-23 here:
* Coral Gables Campus<http://www.iacmiami.org/events/118>
* Medical Campus<http://www.iacmiami.org/events/123>

Attached is the workshop flyer for more information.

You can download a free, 30-day trial of JMP here if you are not
familiar with it:
http://www.sas.com/apps/demosdownloads/jmptrial8_PROD__sysdep.jsp?packageID=000503&jmpflag=Y

Please forward this email on to other faculty, researchers or graduate
students that may be interested.

Give me a call with any questions.

Regards,
Connie Freeman
_______________________________________________________
JMP Academic Account Representative
SAS Institute, Inc.
919.531.6433 (o) | 919.349.9514 (m) | 919.677.4444 (f)
connie.freeman@jmp.com<mailto:connie.freeman@jmp.com>
Click here<http://jmp.com/webcasts> to access free JMP Webcasts.
Try JMP for free - 30-day trial<http://www.sas.com/apps/demosdownloads/jmptrial8_PROD__sysdep.jsp?packageID=000503&jmpflag=Y
>.

[ED-TECH] Zoomorama - Amazing display of complex visual data

Ed-Tech members,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Go to http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes to see an impressive
display of how our federal budget is being spent. This uses the http://zoomorama.com
free service.

DETAILS

Sometimes it is difficult to get a handle on complex information. For
example, how is our federal budget spent? There are so many agencies
involved, how do they compare in their allocations? A visual
representation is useful here, but it is still very large and
complex. To see a wonderful diagram of federal spending, using a new
tool called Zoomorama (http://zoomorama.com), go to http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes/
and click on the arrow keys to scroll through the diagram. I found
the information fascinating, and the presentation completely
engaging. You can go back to Zoomorama.com to see other examples. On
some you take the "tour" by clicking on the arrow buttons. On others,
you click on the diagram and then zoom in to see the details. Either
way, I like it.

There are two free services being offered, and one professional
service, so you can test this out for no charge. If you do something
with it, let me know.

Bill Vilberg
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

[ED-TECH] Class Project Idea - "Names of UM"

Ed-Tech members,

I have been at UM for 11 years now, and I am always drawn to the names on our buildings. Who were these people? What was their relationship with UM? What were their lives like? We are a new school, so which ones are still alive? For those who aren't, who remembers them and could tell me (us?) about them?

Please go to http://tinyurl.com/namesofum and watch the short video (no sound) of a few of the names that I have captured on pictures. This represents a very small fraction of the names of UM.

Done? Great. Then here is my idea.

I would love to see a class project to document some of these people. I would guess that there are enough names that the project could continue for a number of years. I don't see this as being appropriate to all disciplines, but there are a lot that could participate: composition, public relations, journalism, marketing, sociology, psychology, history, and education all come to mind. Each might have a different context, but all would be valuable. Perhaps it could be a interdisciplinary activity.

I did some brief research, and found a Word document, produced by Advancement, that lists very (VERY) short bios for the people with buildings named for them. You can find it with the http://www.miami.edu/advancement/NamedBuildingsGables.doc web link. In some cases that information consists of a sentence or two. So much more could be said about each of these people.

I think this is interesting and important information that could serve as an excellent learning activity for our students. Any reactions?

Bill Vilberg
bill.vilberg@miami.edu<mailto:bill.vilberg@miami.edu>
786-250-2255

[ED-TECH] Video Storytelling - A mini-class with Elam Stoltzfus

Digital Media Services Presents Video Storytelling 101 by Elam Stoltzfus

Elam Stoltzfus is an award winning producer, cinematographer, and director, who films documentaries and educational programs featuring environmental issues in Florida. Stoltzfus will be on campus to share some of his knowledge and experience in film-making. If you're having trouble turning your grey-matter ideas into a media presentation, then this might be the session for you.

Register for this mini-class at www.iacmiami.org<http://www.iacmiami.org/>.

When: Thursday October 22, 2009 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm
Where: Richter Library, Room 343
Seats are still Available. If registration is filled, please contact Bryanna Herzog at bherzog@miami.edu<mailto:bherzog@miami.edu> or 305-284-2548.

I highly recommend this session. Storytelling is an important component of everything that we do. This is a wonderful chance to hear from this incredible resource. Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Interactive Lab now available for online educators

Hi everyone,

Wanted to let you know about a great conference coming up next week. It is
the 2009 WCET annual conference. WCET is a cooperative network of
institutions and organizations that provides a leading source of critical
thinking and expertise on the evolving role of technology in higher
education. Here is the description of the conference:

During this era of accelerating change driven by new technologies and the
creative genius of individuals who apply them, we must be bold in our search
for best practices, in questioning common practices and in embracing new
ways that e-learning and associated policies and services can erase
academe's limitations and increase its contribution to the world.

The conference will be in Denver, CO and ednak will be there. This will be
a great opportunity to discuss important issues facing online educators
today. It will also be a great utility to strengthen your own online
education professional expertise.

If you can't make it to the live conference in Denver, ednak can bring the
conference to you! We've set up an interactive lab to discuss and interact
based on the conference tracks / themes. Even though the conference won't
take place until next week, you can begin participating in the interactive
lab now.

To get started, simply go to http://wcet.ednak.com

Once there, you can submit questions using the ednak SmartForm that related
to specific sessions of the conference. You can also interact with
discussions that relate to these same specific conference sessions.

Please note that in order to participate, you will need to be an ednak
member. Don't worry...it's free. You can create your profile in seconds
and before you know it...you will be networking with other online educators
and sharing insights / best practices. We've tried it and trust us, it's fun!

Feel free to share / forward this to others as you see appropriate. The lab
was set up give online educators a tool to help foster and facilitate
interaction, so you can pass this on to others you think would be
interested. Look forward to seeing you online (or in person at the conference).

Enjoy!
Colt

[ED-TECH] JMP training - Mon. Oct. 26th

Ed-Tech members,

Do you teach or use statistics? JMP is a statistical software package that reinforces concepts and provides an intuitive framework for real-world data analysis. You can go to www.jmp.com<http://www.jmp.com> for more information about the software. If you use this software, or have any interest in learning about it, we have a wonderful learning opportunity for you.

On Monday, October 26th, 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm, two trainers from JMP will be at UM to work with faculty and staff who use JMP or would like to learn more about it. The live presentation will take place in the University Center on the Coral Gables campus. We will have an audio-video feed to the Miller School of Medicine so that people there can participate without having to travel all the way to and from the Coral Gables campus.

Registration is required. To register, go to http://iacmiami.org and select the session that you would like to attend.

AGENDA (tentative):
* Navigating JMP and using its smart, graphical interface
* Analyzing, graphing, and charting in a single step: regression, multivariate analysis, time series, data mining
* Design of Experiments (DOE) and recursive partitioning
* Interactive and motion-enabled graphs for examining 2D, 3D and up to 7 dimensions
* JMP Integration with SAS

Wm. R. Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu<mailto:bill.vilberg@miami.edu>
786-250-2255

[ED-TECH] PW Journal of Sustainable Development

This is to let you know that the October 2009 issue has been posted:

http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv05n10page1.html

The focus is on gender equality and integral human development.

Outline:
Section 1. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Section 2. Combined Analysis of ESD Surveys V0 to V1.7
Section 3. Phases of Integral Human Development (IHD)
Section 4. The Nuptial-Family Context for IHD
Section 5. The Socioeconomic Context for IHD
Section 6. The Socioecological Context for IHD
Section 7. The Sociopolitical Context for IHD
Section 8. The Religious-Spiritual Context for IHD
Section 9. Suggestions for Prayer, Study, and Action

This is Part 7 of the series on education for sustainable development,
plus four excellent invited papers.

Sincerely,
Luis

Luis T. Gutierrez, PhD
Editor, PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development
http://www.pelicanweb.org ~ pelican@pelicanweb.org
A monthly, free subscription, open access e-journal.

[ED-TECH] Faculty Learning Community applications

Ed-Tech people,

If you are a tenured or tenure track faculty member teaching
undergraduate students at UM, consider applying for the 2010 Faculty
Learning Community (FLC) on Information, Communication, and Technology
(ICT) Literacy. This is the second year of this excellent program .
You get to intellectually engage with other faculty, improve one of
your courses, and learn about ICT. FLC Fellows receive a one course
release and $1,500 in developmental funds. Check out http://tinyurl.com/y85qwvp
for a brief description from today's e-Veritas and go to http://tinyurl.com/y953ml3
for more details and the application form. Applications are due in
the Office of the Provost by October 30th, but don't wait until the
last minute. Apply NOW!

Don't know what is meant by a Faculty Learning Community? A faculty
learning community (FLC) is a group of trans-disciplinary faculty
engaging in an active, collaborative, yearlong program with a
curriculum about enhancing teaching and learning and with frequent
seminars and activities that provide learning, development,
transdisciplinarity, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and
community building.

Don't know what is meant by Information, Communication, and Technology
Literacy? Your students can text message and download music files,
but can they problem solve and think critically in a digital
environment? If they can, they have high ICT literacy. You may be
incorporating ICT activities into your courses already, or are
thinking about how 21st century information, communication, and
technology activities are changing your students' experiences. The
FLC on ICT is a chance to work with other faculty exploring this
exciting area.

Disclaimer: All the statements above are my interpretation of FLCs
and ICT Literacy. There are many different understandings. I am
writing this for those people who may not realize, from the jargon,
what this program is all about. If you have ANY interest in this, you
should check out the web sites and apply. The application is not long
and the opportunities are extensive. I am not part of this program,
but it is so exciting that I wanted to share it with all of you.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

[ED-TECH] Dealing with the flu situation - Recording your lectures

Ed-Tech list members,

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

On Friday, October 2, 11:15 am - 12:05 pm, in Memorial Classroom
Building, Room 212, I will be demonstrating and documenting HOW TO
RECORD YOUR LECTURES AND MAKE THEM AVAILABLE ON BLACKBOARD. With the
high incidence of influenza like illnesses, I encourage you to learn
how to do this. It will help students who are out with the flu from
falling behind or, worse, coming to class and spreading their illness.

To sign up, go to http://www.iacmiami.org/ and register for the "Audio
recording your lectures" event. For those of you teaching at that
time, or out with the flu(?), we will be recording the session so you
can watch it on-line.

MORE DETAILS AND RELATED INFORMATION

What are you doing to adjust your courses for the high incidence of
influenza like illnesses this year? Are you making adjustments so
that students who are asked to stay out of classes for up to five days
won't fall behind? Are you giving them the opportunity to continue to
make progress in the course while they are out? I hear reports of
students who are sick coming to classes because it is the only way
they can get the information and find out what is going on. That is
not something that we want happening.

There are a few general rules that you should think about.

1. Keep the syllabus on-line and up to date.
2. Keep the students aware of all assignments.
3. Open your communication channels so that students can ask questions
and get clarifications without attending class, if they are out
because of illness.
4. Provide a way for students to get the information provided during
class, even if they are out because of illness.

Most of these are easy to do.

1. Put your syllabus on Blackboard. If there are changes because of
the flu season, update the syllabus and post the new version on
Blackboard. Students will always know where to go to find the current
copy. Any time that you update it, make an Announcement in Blackboard
and check the box to send the announcement via e-mail to all your
students.

2. Use the Assignments area in Blackboard to list all the assignments
in the class. If there are changes or clarifications, modify the item
for that assignment and, as above, create an Announcement and send it
to all the students.

3. Share your e-mail address with your students and tell them how
often you will be checking it. You might want to make a new e-mail
account on Gmail just for your class messages and tell your students
that they should use that address for class related e-mail. Then
check once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the
evening. That way it won't interfere with all your other
communications but they will still be able to reach you and will know
when to expect some sort of reply.

4. To provide classroom information to students who are out sick, you
can post lecture notes or PowerPoint handouts on Blackboard. BUT WHAT
YOU SAY IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT IS ON THE SLIDES. In order to
capture what you say, it is easy to record your lecture, convert the
file to the correct format, and post it on Blackboard. If you would
like to start doing this, let me know. I am scheduled to do a
demonstration on Friday, Oct. 2, 11:15 am - 12:05 pm, in Memorial
Classroom Building, Room 312. If you are going to attend this, please
register by going to http://www.iacmiami.org/ and signing up for the
"Recording Your Class Lectures" session.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Utility to network and share best practices

All, has anyone seen the ednak community?

It is a thought networking utility dedicated to online educators. It seemed
liked something that would be ideal to share with this group.

The community is located at http://www.ednak.com. It is a completely free
resource for educators and a good place to network / share best practices.

We are considering closing membership and making it available by invitation
only, however for now at least, membership is open and available to all. If
this is something that interests you, you can sign up and begin connecting /
networking with others in the ed tech world.

Enjoy!
Colt

[ED-TECH] Blackboard; Audio recording; Wikis, Flickr, and YouTube; RefWorks, and more

Please take a moment and go to http://www.iacmiami.org/ to look over the upcoming training activities. With the range of topics, there is something for almost everyone. Here are some of the upcoming topics.

* Blackboard Crash Course: Keys to Creating More Engaging Courses
* Audio Recording Your Lectures
* Using Wikis, Flickr, and YouTube for Research and Instruction
* iPhone Development
* Designing Learning Activities with SoftChalk Lesson Builder
* Citation Tracking, Impact Factors, and You
* RefWorks
* Improving Research Assignments through Library Partnership

For more information, and to register for individual sessions, go to http://www.iacmiami.org/

Wm. R. Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu<mailto:bill.vilberg@miami.edu>
786-250-2255

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday!!!!

Another month is almost gone, so it must be time for FUN FRIDAY! This
Friday, Richter Library, Room 305, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm. Sign up at http://iacmiami.org
if you would like to attend. I hope to see you there.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Upcoming GIS Mapping Workshops in Florida

Hey Group,

We're trying to get the word out regarding a couple of upcoming GIS mapping workshops in Miami and Jacksonville. The workshops are geared toward beginners who would like to map demographic information for Florida communities. Please pass this information onto anyone that may be interested. 

The workshops are great for Government Agencies, Public Health, Academic Institutions, Non-Profit Organizations, etc.

Mapping Florida Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis

Miami: December 9th, 2009
ExecuTrain of Miami - 5201 Blue Lagoon Drive, 9th Floor (Penthouse level) Miami, FL 33126

Jacksonville: December 11th, 2009
New Horizons Computer Learning Center- 7020 A.C. Skinner Pkwy STE 180 Jacksonville, FL 32256

Audience: Beginners, anyone interested in mapping their community.

This hands-on workshop focuses on teaching the fundamentals of using a Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to extract Census data and good map layout and design.

For more information about the Florida workshops, please visit www.urban-research.info

Gina Clemmer

New Urban Research, Inc.

877.241.6576 | www.urban-research.info

 

[ED-TECH] FERPA (re)certification

FERPA has changed, so everyone should set aside 10 minutes to go through the training module, available on MyUM on the "Faculty" or "Admin" tab. It doesn't take long, and it really helps if we all understand this law.

If you use PIDMS, MyUM, or UMAPPS to access student data, you will be REQUIRED to complete the training. It isn't painful, and, in my opinion, everyone should take this opportunity to review the rules.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] More learning opportunities

As part of our Faculty Development activities, we have arranged for a number of excellent presentations by our librarians again this semester. If any of these interest you, please go to http://iacmiami.org/ and register for the specific sessions that you will be attending.

Images for Instruction and Research: An Introduction to ARTstor
Instructor: Chella Vaidyanathan (E-mail: cvaidyan@miami.edu)
History, Political Science, and U.S./International Government Docs. Librarian
Location: Faculty Exploratory (Richter Library, Room 305) - Friday, Sept. 18 (1-2 pm)
Description:
ARTstor is a digital library/database that has more than one million images which include collections from a wide variety of civilizations, time-periods, and media, as well as from different museums, photo archives, and archaeological sites. Currently, the database has more than 60 collections that are being used for instructional and research purposes in a wide variety of disciplines such as humanities, architecture, art, and social sciences. In this session, you will learn how to search for images, create and save images groups, and download images for your PowerPoint presentations.

Journals, blogs and hometown news: keeping up electronically with RSS Feeds
Instructor: Meiyolet Mendez (E-mail: meimendez@miami.edu)
International Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies Librarian & Instruction librarian for Modern Languages and Literatures
Location: Faculty Exploratory (Richter Library, Room 305) - Friday, Sept. 25 (11:00 am - 12:00 pm)
Description
Save time by having the latest articles in your research area delivered to you automatically. Set up an email alert to notify you when a certain article or author has been cited or even to receive the latest sports scores and hometown news. This hands-on session will explain RSS feeds and email alert services and help you set them up from your preferred databases and web sites.

Using Wikis, Flickr, and YouTube for Research and Instruction
Instructor: Chella Vaidyanathan (E-mail: cvaidyan@miami.edu)
History, Political Science, and U.S./International Government Docs. Librarian
Location: Faculty Exploratory (Richter Library, Room 305) - Friday, Oct. 2 (1:00 pm - 2:30 pm)
Description
Flickr and YouTube aren't just used to record cats playing the piano. Both are valuable repositories of primary and secondary source material on a wide range of topics. The Library of Congress and other museums have uploaded many of their image collections to Flickr. Likewise, YouTube has numerous video clips from historical and contemporary documentaries. In this session, you will learn how to find useful material and organize, share and present it. Wikis are the quick and easy way to create web pages. Collaborate on documents, brainstorm ideas and share bibliographies with colleagues without learning html. They're also great to foster class discussion and group projects among your students.

Citation Tracking, Impact Factors, and You
Instructor: William Jacobs (E-mail: billjac@miami.edu)
Science and Engineering Librarian
Location: Faculty Exploratory (Richter Library, Room 305) - Tuesday, Oct. 13 (1:00 pm - 2:00 pm)
Description
You've heard of impact factors and know to count up citations, but do you know about the h-index and eiginfactor? These are all numbers you can use to evaluate journals, researchers, institutions and individual articles. They're also being used to evaluate you and your work. In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how they're calculated, how they're manipulated, their strengths and weaknesses, how to interpret them and how they're commonly misinterpreted. You'll be able to see how you and your department measure up and check to ensure that you're getting the credit you deserve.

RefWorks
Instructor: Jameatris Johnson (E-mail: jyjohnso@miami.edu)
Africana Studies, Anthropology, Psychology, Sociology, and Women's & Gender Studies Librarian
Location: Memorial Building, Room 212 - Friday, Oct. 23 (11:15 am - 12:05 pm)
Description
RefWorks is a web-based tool that allows users to create searchable databases of citations and through that database manipulate them into a number of writing styles. During this Lunch n' Learn you will learn all that you need to get you started with your very own RefWorks database.
Some RefWorks Features:
* Gather references automatically from article databases while you research
* Format manuscripts and citations instantly in a variety of styles (MLA, APA, Turabian, etc.)
* Create and organize a personal research database online
* Access your information online from any computer, anywhere, any time
* Share your databases with colleagues around the world

Improving Research Assignments through Library Partnership
Instructor: William Jacobs ((E-mail: billjac@miami.edu)
Science and Engineering Librarian
Location: Faculty Exploratory (Richter Library, Room 305) - Monday, Nov. 9 (1:00 pm -2:00 pm)
Description
Do your research assignments introduce your students to the depth of literature in your field or do they send your students scurrying to Wikipedia? Are they learning research methods or just doing a scavenger hunt through the library's collection? In this session, you will learn how the library can work with you to create research assignments with strong learning outcomes. We will review the latest studies on student research behavior and best practices on the development of research assignments.

To register for any of these sessions, go to http://iacmiami.org/

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Memorial/LC/Res. Coll. Technology Classrooms

Ed-Tech list members,

If you are teaching in Memorial, the Learning Center, or any of the Residential College Classrooms, you know that there is an incredibly wonderful amount of technology in each of those rooms. This Friday, TOMORROW, Ken Gamber will be demonstrating how to use that technology in Memorial 212, 11:15 am - 12:05 pm. Ken manages the technology in those 65 classrooms, so he really knows all about how to use it to advantage. You will learn about the computer, document camera, writing tablet, and more. I urge anyone using these rooms to attend, either as an initial training or a refresher course.

To register, please go to the http://www.iacmiami.org/events page.

If you are unable to attend, Ken is happy to make appointments to work with you individually. You can reach him at 305-284-6239 (8-6239 on campus) or at kgamber@miami.edu via e-mail. We know how busy you are and how many demands are made of you. We want to do everything we can to support your teaching activities, so that you can show your passion for your subjects and your students can become fully engaged in learning.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] SimplyMap session THIS FRIDAY at 1:00 pm - EXCITING!

Ed-Tech list members,

This semester will be FILLED with opportunities for faculty development. One session that I encourage you to attend, is the "SimplyMap" session THIS FRIDAY at 1:00 pm. SimplyMap is a new program that allows you to produce a map showing the geographic distribution of statistical data for any part of the United States. A wide variety of statistics are included such as population, housing, business, health, and MRI consumer data. You can display the data by state, county, zip code, or census tracts or, in the case of businesses, by individual locations. It's easy to learn and fun to use.

SimplyMap

Terri J. Robar, Maps & Special Formats Librarian & Subject Librarian for Geography and the School of Communication

Friday, September 11, 2009, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

Richter Library, Room 305 (Faculty Exploratory)

Seating is limited. Registration is REQUIRED. To register, go to http://iacmiami.org and sign up for the "SimplyMap" session.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement

[ED-TECH] I>clicker training session

Ed-Tech members,

The i>clicker has been adopted across the UM campus to increase student engagement in classes. If you are not using the i>clicker yet, please attend the training on Friday. If you are using the i>clicker, please encourage your cohorts to attend.

There will be an i>clicker training session this Friday, 11:15 am - 12:05 pm, in Memorial Classroom Building, Room 212. I will go through the use of the i>clicker in class to increase engagement, and synchronizing the clicker numbers with your Blackboard roster in order to see names in i>grader and to upload clicker results into Blackboard.

To attend the training, please register by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and clicking on the "Events" link.

For more information on the i>clicker at UM, go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on either the "Clickers" link or the picture of the i>clicker.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday - TOMORROW!

I know this is the first week of classes and everyone is very busy, but why not take a break on Friday, tomorrow, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, and see some new web sites and technology? We do this in the Faculty Exploratory, which is in Richter Library, Room 305. Seating is limited, so please register by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and selecting the "Events" link.

[ED-TECH] The High Cost of Textbooks

I am beginning a project to increase the use of open source textbooks at UM. Open Textbooks are available for free on-line or for a very small cost, say $30, in published form.

We have to start reducing the cost of textbooks to the students and, hopefully, increasing the money being given to the authors. With today's publishing and marketing models, this can be accomplished. Someone can write a textbook, give it away on-line, or have it published on-demand for a small cost, much of which is retained by the author.

I will be scheduling some sessions discussing what is out there and how to find it.

If you want to look into this before I start the faculty sessions, do the following.

1. Read the article in today's Miami Hurricane:
http://tinyurl.com/osbooks

2. Then look at some example Open Textbooks that cost around $30 published and can often be downloaded for FREE:
http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/statement.asp?id2=37633#mainexamples

3. Go to the top of the page and read about Open Textbooks.

4. Look at a longer list of Open Textbooks by going to:
http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/statement.asp?id2=37633#mainexamples

These are some of the activities that we will be doing in the Faculty Exploratory during my sessions on Open Textbooks. Be thinking about it. If you have anything to share, let me know.

I need to state that my son will, hopefully, be starting at UM in the Fall of 2011 and my daughter in Fall of 2013. This project is somewhat self-serving, since I would rejoice at reducing the $700-$1,000 per year for textbooks.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Classroom Technology Open House Friday

Ed-Tech members,

If you will be teaching in the Memorial Building, Learning Center, or Residential College classrooms, please plan on attending an open house that demonstrates the wonderful technology that is available in these rooms, from the computers and writing tablets through the lights and telephones. Even if you have taught in these rooms before, it is useful to review what is there, and see if you could use any new capabilities this year.

There will be an open house demonstration session this Friday, August 21, 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm in Memorial Classroom Building, Room 110. There will be another session next Friday, which will be announced once a room is obtained.

If you wish, you can contact Ken Gamber, at 305-284-6239 or kgamber@miami.edu, for a private demonstration, in addition to or instead of attending the open house.

To sign up for the open house demonstrations, please go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Events" tab. The event is called the "Classroom Technology Demonstration".

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] I>clicker web application

Ed-Tech i>clicker users,

I>clicker is in the process of testing a web application that, apparently, can be combined with the physical i>clicker remote. The app would run on a computer, iPhone, or any other device with a standard web browser.

Read more about it here: http://iclicker.com/DNN/Products/webclicker/tabid/156/Default.aspx

They are testing it this semester, and there is an e-mail address on the web page for people who want to try it in their classes.

I pass this on based on my reading the web page. I know NOTHING about it.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Flu Proof Your Course

Duke has a very nice set of pages describing ways to "Flu Proof" your course that you might want to look over. They use Blackboard, so their material applies to our situation here at UM. Most of you on the Ed-Tech list already use Blackboard, so using it during a flu outbreak would not be a major change. Please share the Duke web site with others in your department, school, college, or work group so that they can prepare now for a possible last minute situation.

http://cit.duke.edu/resources/flu.html

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] August 2009 Journal of Sustainable Development

There is evidence that the exclusion of women from roles of religious
authority is an obstacle to the *integral human development of both men
and women*. Another conclusion is the incentives (including subsidies),
as well as disincentives, are the best leverage points that must be
democratically adjusted/revised to steer societies and economies from
the current mess toward sustainable development.

Consider the following report:
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv05n08page1.html

Link to a survey on education for sustainable development:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dER6YnFIUXI4bW0yNTU4YThOaHJkTWc6MA..

You are cordially invited to participate.

Best regards,
Luis

Luis T. Gutierrez, PhD
Editor, PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development
http://www.pelicanweb.org ~ pelican@pelicanweb.org
A monthly, free subscription, open access e-journal.

[ED-TECH] SoftChalk LessonBuilder 5 - (still) FREE

Three years ago the Instructional Advancement Center IAC purchased a site license for SoftChalk LessonBuilder. I know a number of you have used it to create content that you then post in Blackboard or elsewhere. The license was renewed this year by the Professional Development and Training Office (PDTO) so the new version (5) is available for everyone to use.

If you use SoftChalk LessonBuilder, please thank PDTO by sending an email to Sandy Sallum (s.sallum@miami.edu) letting her know that you appreciate having access to this product.

If you don't use SoftChalk LessonBuilder, you might want to take a look at it. It allows you to easily create professional quality content (lessons) that your students can do on-line. You can download LessonBuilder from the http://www.miami.edu/software site, in the Graphics, Design, and Web Tools area. The http://www.softchalk.com/ site has demos and training available. Take a look and see if this product might be of use to you.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center

[ED-TECH] FORA.tv

I have previously mentioned TED (Technology, Education, Design) videos as exciting and engaging on a number of topics. (http://www.ted.com/)

I found FORA.tv today, which hosts a wide range of videos from some very distinguished sources, such as The Association of Computing Machinery, The Brookings Institution, Council on Foreign Relations, and C-SPAN, to mention a few. I attended the Chautauqua Institution a few summers, and they are putting making videos available of their famous lectures on FORA.tv. (http://fora.tv/) You can watch the lectures on your browser, or, if you register for free, you can download them and watch them on your computer or portable video device.

As you are finishing up your syllabi for the Fall, identifying what the students will do to learn and not just what you will be covering, consider using some of these videos as learning material.

Bill

[ED-TECH] I>clicker specialist on campus August 13th

Alise Alford is the i>clicker expert. The i>clicker is the handheld clicker that you can use in class to keep your students engaged. Alise will be on campus on August 13th and will be happy to meet with any faculty who would like to discuss using clickers in their classes. She has lots of great information about good practices and procedures. If you are interested in meeting with her, please contact her directly. If more people are interested than time permits, we can set up some time here in Richter Library for groups of people.

CONTACT INFO:
Alise Alford
Regional Technology Specialist
i>clicker
903.926.6640
aalford@iclicker.com
www.iclicker.com

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] iPhone security patch

If you have an Apple iPhone, you should sync and update it.

On Friday the 3.0.1 update was released. It fixes a serious security problem on the iPhone. Someone could take over your phone by sending you a text message. You wouldn't have to do anything. As soon as the text message is displayed, your phone would be controlled by the other person. The 3.0.1 upgrade resolves the problem. The problem was announced at a security conference on July 30th. The upgrade was released on July 31st. If you have not synced your iPhone since Thursday, do so now.

For more information, Google "iphone sms security patch".

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Free textbooks

There seems to be increasing interest in the use of free textbooks, both in Florida and nationwide. I know that James Nearing has "Mathematical Tools for Physics" available as a free pdf on the http://www.physics.miami.edu/~nearing/mathmethods/ web page.

Has anyone else at UM written a free textbook?

Is anyone at UM using a free textbook as the required text in your class?

Some sites with open source textbooks:

http://linear.ups.edu/opentexts.html - Go to the bottom of the page for articles about free textbooks, and lists of collections of free textbooks.
http://cnx.org/ - Connexions - Both modules and textbooks in many, many fields
http://globaltext.terry.uga.edu/ - The Global Text Project - Books in many fields

Finding an open source textbook may not be easy, since a salesperson doesn't come to your office, but the savings in cost to students can be dramatic and the ability to control the content can enhance your teaching.

Comments?

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] ~ Reminder ~ ESD Survey Version 1.6

REMINDER ... a survey on education for sustainable development (ESD)
is online. The objective is to gather an inventory of critical issues
that frequently emerge in sustainable development.

The eight UNESCO themes are as follows:
1. Education for gender equality
2. Education for health promotion
3. Education for environmental stewardship
4. Education for rural development
5. Education for cultural diversity
6. Education for peace and human security
7. Education for sustainable urbanization
8. Education for sustainable consumption

The are 16 questions (2 questions per UNESCO theme) ... should take no
more than 30 minutes ... this is the link ....

http://tinyurl.com/movr9w

Please forward this message to colleagues who might be interested.

Take care,
-- Luis

Luis T. Gutierrez, PhD
Editor, PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development
This is a monthly, free subscription, open access e-journal.
http://pelicanweb.org ~ pelican@pelicanweb.org

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday #15 - Handout

At Fun Friday #15 we talked about Good Guide (product ratings based on health, safety, and community), Magic/Replace (a web based editing service for tables such as spreadsheets) and Prezi (a new media type of presentation tool that lives on the web). If you are interested in URLs or screen images for these, download the handout.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/iac-production/attachments/31/Fun_Friday_15_handout.pdf

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] CaneID passwords

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
-----------------------------------
You should change you CaneID password, if you haven't in the last six months. In the fine print, below, you will find (1) a way of generating easy to remember and hard to guess passwords and (2) some suggestions that might help you remember your passwords.

THE DETAILS
-----------------------------------
When was the last time you changed your CaneID password? That is the password that you use to connect to MyUM, among other things. If you haven't done it in the last six months, why not take a moment and do it now? A policy is about to be implemented requiring that this password be changed regularly. If you change it now, you won't have to change it again this summer, when they notify people with "stale" passwords.

HOW DO YOU MAKE A GOOD PASSWORD?

A good password is easy to remember and hard to guess. To make it hard to guess it should be long(ish) and consist of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters. Here is an example of a good password: "Iw2bSOCf67-71." (The first character is a capital i, not a lower-case L.) This password is longish, and would be very hard to guess. It looks like random gibberish. BUT IT IS VERY EASY TO REMEMBER, since it comes from the sentence, "I went to beautiful St. Olaf College from 1967-71." As long as I remember the sentence, I can quickly and easily type in the password. You can do this with any sentence, but it is useful to have numbers in it somewhere. For example, "My two wonderful children are named John and Marion." would become "M2wcanJaM." This password has upper-case letters, lower-case letters, a number, and a punctuation symbol. It looks like gibberish but is easy to generate any time I need to use it.

A SECRET ABOUT PASSWORDS

Since you may type in your password a lot, make it something positive. Note that I included "beautiful" in the first password and "wonderful" in the second password. Every time I type in these passwords, I will reinforce my positive feelings. What I say I think. What I think I act upon. So make your sentence positive and your password can help you be a better person. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

WRITING IT DOWN

Most security instructions admonish you to NEVER write down your password. I ALWAYS write down my password, especially when I first create it. That is when I am most likely to forget it, since I have to unlearn the old one, which causes interference with recalling the new one. But I only write down the sentence, somewhere innocuous, not the actual password. Someone would have to find my sentence and then figure out how to turn it into my password. Since I write down LOTS of sentences and notes, I feel comfortable with this. If you don't feel comfortable writing down your password, another strategy is to log out and back in a number of times immediately after changing a password. That will begin to teach your fingers how to type the new password and help extinguish the old password.

STORE YOUR PASSWORDS ON YOUR COMPUTER

If you are like me, you have LOTS of passwords. If you don't have lots of passwords, you probably use the same password over and over, something you know you should not do. I store my passwords on my computer, encrypted with a strong password, such as those described above. I use a commercial program, but there is a free program called KeePass (http://keypass.info) for Windows that has gotten strong recommendations. You might want to give that a try. It can even enter your passwords for you on login pages on the web, so it makes it easy to use strong passwords, that are unique for each account, and change them often.

I personally use 1Password on my Mac and iPhone to keep track of my passwords and my software keys and such. I used RoboForm on my PC before I switched to a Mac. KeePass was not available back then.

DISCLAIMER
-----------------------------------
These suggestions are for your personal use. If you are told to do things differently by someone with authority, do it the way you are told by that person.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday - July

Some of you may have noticed that there was no Fun Friday event in June. June was so fun, I just couldn't indicate that one Friday was better than any other.

But there WILL be a Fun Friday in July. So, register now, by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and clicking on the "Events" menu item, for Fun Friday #15, July 24, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (or later).

Take an enjoyable lunchtime break with technology. This is an informal demonstration of interesting web sites, hardware, and software.

POSSIBLE DEMONSTRATIONS

1. MultiURL.com - Web site groupings
2. Sequoia and GrandPerspective - HD space visualizer
3. MyDropBox.com - Backup and access
4. prezi.com - Zooming presentations

There is no more free lunch at Fun Fridays, but you are welcome to bring your own lunch and eat it during the presentation.

The demonstration will be over around 1:00 PM, but the discussion is welcome to continue as long as people want to stay around.

When Friday July 24, 2009 from 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Where Richter Library 305
Seats Available 15

With only 15 seats available, sign up NOW if you want to attend. Go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Events" menu item.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Survey on education for sustainable development

Greetings ...

A survey on education for sustainable development, test version 1.5, is
online. The objective is to gather an inventory of critical issues that
frequently emerge in sustainable development. Many issues that emerge
from the interaction between social, economic, environmental, and other
factors are already included, but there are many more to be identified.

This is the link:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cnoyc2ZKeF9RSDFiQkw2eTZzdGszMGc6MA..

If you want to take a look at the database:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=rz2sfJx_QH1bBL6y6stk30g&output=html

For more background info on this project:
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv05n06page1.html

Please forward this message to others who might be interested.

Thanks,
Luis

Luis T. Gutierrez, PhD
Editor, PelicanWeb Journal of Sustainable Development
http://pelicanweb.org
pelican@pelicanweb.org

[ED-TECH] Advisement/registration system ideas

Ed-Tech members,

I was asked to generate ideas for an improved advisement/registration system. The vision is to create something as useful as Amazon.com. If Amazon can keep track of what I have ordered and make recommendations based on my viewing and order history, shouldn't the system students use to build a schedule be able to do some things like that, too? This has really been fun, so far, and I have enjoyed talking with people about various features or capabilities they would like to see.

If you would like to be part of this process, please let me know. I am using a service called e-tipi, and I will be happy to invite you to join the group so we can add ideas, comment on ideas, vote for ideas, and come up with an amazing system, at least on paper.

If you REPLY to this e-mail, please change the address to bill.vilberg@miami.edu so everyone doesn't see all the volunteers. I don't want to flood mailboxes with "Add me, too" messages.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] UM Web sites & WolframAlpha

Ed-Tech members,

I was fooling around with Wolfram Alpha at the http://wolframalpha.com web address, which Gersom Manresa will be demoing at Fun Friday next week (you can register by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and selecting the "Events" link), and I generated the following report. There are a number of interesting findings here. After looking over the table, go to the bottom for my reflections.

[cid:3325681119_23926149]

* Why are 10,000 people a day going to http://www.physics.miami.edu? That is a very impressive number. Is it for the e-book that James Nearing makes available there, or something else?
* About 2,600 people a day visit http://caneid.miami.edu, the CAS login page. This should increase dramatically when Blackboard begins using the CaneID system for authentication.
* The web.miami.edu subdomain is our search engine (http://search.web.miami.edu), and serves 5,300 daily visitors.
* Blackboard is listed as courses.miami.edu (http://www.courses.miami.edu) with 7,900 daily visitors.
* I am happy that http://libguides.miami.edu is getting 600 visits a day, but I would like to see even more visits, since this is such a WONDERFUL resource. Please, please, PLEASE go to LibGuides and see what is offered in your discipline. You can contact your subject liaison librarian, listed on the http://www.library.miami.edu/about/contactus/subject_librarians.html web page, to request a guide specifically for your course, or on a subject in your discipline. Do it now and if you want it ready for your Fall classes.
* Some great activity at UM is revealed in this list, such as the www.geodesy.miami.edu web site which is using "space-based geodetic data to investigate changes in the Earth's land and water surfaces." Exciting stuff.

If you want to generate this information, go to http://wolframalpha.com and search for miami.edu. In the "Web statistics..." section, click on the "Subdomains" link. That shows the top ten. Click on the "More subdomains" link to see the entire list.

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement

[ED-TECH] E-textbooks - Follet Caf=?iso-8859-1?Q?=E9Scribe?=

Ed-Tech list members,

The semester is over. Time to start thinking about the Fall.

Our bookstore at UM, Follett, has a new system, called CaféScribe, for electronic textbooks, in order to reduce student costs, support new pedagogical techniques, save paper, and lighten backpacks. Wendy Smith, Store Director of the UM Bookstore, wendy.smith@miami.edu, 305-284-4463, is interested in finding a "limited number" of classes from a variety of disciplines that will adopt and use their electronic books, so that we all can gain experience with the process. Follett will have 4,000 electronic textbook titles, using CaféScribe, available by this fall.

If you are interested in participating in the trial, and I hope you are, please contact Wendy directly. She is looking for experimenters and early adopters and will be limiting the numbers, so please apply by don't feel hurt if you aren't part of the trial group.

For more information, (1) read the letter from Wendy, below, (2) check the additional details on the "FolleteTextbooks.pdf" flyer on the http://idisk.mac.com/wvilberg-Public?view=web web site, and/or (3) go to http://www.cafescribe.com/ for the official web site. Then let Wendy know that you are interested.

----- BEGIN INSERT -----
Dear UM Faculty,

Hard to believe that another term is just almost behind us and that we are well into our preparation for a successful Fall 2009 term. To date you have received a variety of communications requesting your adoptions, in addition to the $772,000 we saved our students last year by either having used books available and/or the ability to pay half back to our students at the end of term.

With that said-I would like to take this opportunity to communicate an exciting addition to our portfolio of course materials available for this fall. The UM Bookstore in partnership with CafeScribe offers downloadable digital textbooks to be used in a format that our students are most comfortable with. The benefits are numerous-but, most important to note that the cost of this digital textbook typically sells for 50% of the traditional text. Attached is a detailed document that defines CafeScribe and lists many of the benefits for the students and the faculty alike.

By this Fall-we are slated to have access to about 4,000 etextbooks. We are currently seeking a limited number of faculty to adopt CafeScribe as a required course material for this Fall. Please contact me directly with your questions and/or interest in implementing CafeScribe.

With your continued support, we look forward to a successful adoption of this enhanced educational resource on our UM Campus.

Regards,
Wendy

Wendy Smith
Store Director
UM Bookstore
305.284.4463
----- END INSERT -----

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement Center

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday - May 29

The next Fun Friday will be on May 29, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, in Richter Library, Room 305.

If you have attended before you know what this is all about. If not, come on by and participate in this informal demonstration of technology, such as web sites, hardware and software. I don't know everything that will happen this month, but I expect to demonstrate a time-line service that could be used by you to document, say, your family's history, or in your class, to document some event that your students are studying.

Sound interesting? Sign up now by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and clicking on the "Events" link. Attendance is limited to 15 of my best friends ... strike that ... of the first people who register.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] I>clicker training Wed., May 20 (WITH FREE LUNCH)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

If you will be around on May 20th, I encourage you to attend the i>clicker training that day.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
University Center, Ballroom C/D
LUNCH PROVIDED
Registration Required (Go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and select the "Events" link to register.)

DETAILS

Clickers can increase student engagement and learning by allowing you to ask questions during the class and get responses from all the students. Clickers work specially well in classes with 25 or more students, where it is hard to interact with everyone during every class session. They are also extremely useful in first and second year classes, where students may not be as likely to participate. But there are lots of other uses, too.

The University of Miami has standardized on the i>clicker system. Students buy a clicker in the bookstore and can use it in all their classes. If you use the clickers in a class you will be given an instructor's clicker and a receiver (base unit) will be placed in your classroom, so there is no charge to you or your department. A number of faculty have been using clickers for the past year or so and the feedback has been very positive.

I>CLICKER TRAINING
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
University Center, Ballroom C/D
LUNCH PROVIDED
Registration Required (Go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and select the "Events" link to register.)

If you would like to learn more, either attend the training or go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and select the "Clickers" link.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday & Writing Tablet Training

TOMORROW at Fun Friday, 12:20 pm - 1:10 PM, Richter Library, Room 305, Faculty Exploratory, we will demo Adobe Acrobat's incredible ability to convert scanned documents so that you can search them, and the versatile and free Handbrake program for converting videos to various formats. Don't miss this chance to learn new things about technology. Bring your lunch from home or stop by the University Center food court or Subway in the Law School and pick something up to eat during the presentation.

This coming TUESDAY, April 28, there will be two opportunities to learn about the writing tables available in the Memorial, Learning Center, and Residential College Classrooms. You will learn to use the SMART Notebook software to prepare and deliver lecture material, writing directly on it during the presentation. If you use these classrooms, I urge you to attend one of these sessions, either 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM (almost full at the moment) or 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

Sign up for Fun Friday or the writing tablet training by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and clicking on the "Events" menu item.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] FW: Internet status

If you are still having trouble with the internet, contact someone for help. The problem was reported as solved as of 9:00 AM.

Bill Vilberg
[See http://three.sentenc.es]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Stewart Seruya <stewart@miami.edu>
Reply-To: Stewart Seruya <stewart@miami.edu>
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:02:02 -0400
To: <SYSTEM-ADMINS@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU>
Subject: Internet status

Internet traffic to/from the Coral Gables campus should now be functioning properly.

Thank you

Stewart Seruya
Assistant Vice-President
Telecommunications & IT Security
Information Technology
University of Miami

------ End of Forwarded Message

[ED-TECH] Fwd: Internet Slowdown

FYI...

Bill Vilberg
[See http://three.sentenc.es]

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Seruya, Stewart" <stewart@MIAMI.EDU<mailto:stewart@MIAMI.EDU>>
Date: April 23, 2009 8:25:16 AM EDT
To: "SYSTEM-ADMINS@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU<mailto:SYSTEM-ADMINS@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU>" <SYSTEM-ADMINS@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU<mailto:SYSTEM-ADMINS@LISTSERV.MIAMI.EDU>>
Subject: Internet Slowdown
Reply-To: "Seruya, Stewart" <stewart@miami.edu<mailto:stewart@miami.edu>>

The Coral Gables campus network may be experiencing some Internet slowdown. We are working on identifying the cause and expect performance to be back to normal shortly.

Thank you.


Stewart Seruya
Assistant Vice-President
Telecommunications & IT Security
Information Technology
University of Miami

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday, April 24th @ 12:20 PM in Richter 305

Last month we changed the Fun Friday location to Pearson-Mahoney, in order to have more space, and we stopped providing free lunch. Attendance dropped dramatically so this month we are retuning to Richter 305, the Faculty Exploratory, but are still in the "no food provided" situation. We hope you will take a break and come over for another Fun Friday demonstration.

Fun Friday #14
April 24, 2009, 12:20 PM - 1:10 PM
Richter 305, Faculty Exploratory
Demonstrations: To be determined (Be surprised!)
Seats: Limited to 15 people
Registration: Go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Events" menu item

Bill Vilberg
[See http://three.sentenc.es]

[ED-TECH] Susan Boyle on YouTube

Given the fact that there have been more than 20 million views of this internet video in the past five days, you may have already seen the video Susan Boyle on Britains Got Talent, but, if not, you need to see it NOW! I was inspired by her incredible voice, humbled by her positive outlook, and embarrassed by my, and the audience's, initial reaction to her. Go to the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY web page to see it, and have the Kleenex nearby.

Bill Vilberg
[See http://three.sentenc.es]

[ED-TECH] Doing new things: TweakToday

How do we find new ideas, new experiences, and new ways to see the world? The wonderful web site http://tweaktoday.com creates, through a collaborative process, a "mission" each day for people to complete, share, and discuss. Carpe diem.

Bill Vilberg
[See http://three.sentenc.es]

[ED-TECH] SoTL Conference presentations available

I know everyone is hard at work trying to finish off the semester/year and I congratulate you on everything that has been accomplished this year. If you are interested in some things going on at other schools, you might enjoy checking out the proceedings from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons in March 2009, available at the http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/conference/proceedings/2009/papers.htm or http://tinyurl.com/sotl09 web address. By looking over the PowerPoint and PDF handouts from the sessions that interest you, you can quickly learn some valuable things from people who are studying the teaching and learning process in higher ed.

Bill Vilberg
[See http://three.sentenc.es]

[ED-TECH] Writing Workshops

If you expect your students to produce written material, the Writing Center can be a wonderful partner. They are happy to work with students individually, helping them apply the writing process to your assignments. In addition they offer regular workshops on a variety of subjects. This Thursday they have a workshop on Revision & Creative Writing that might be of interest to you and/or your students.

A Writing Center Workshop
Revision & Creative Writing

Thursday, April 16, 6:30-7:30pm
Hecht Residential College, Room 101
(305) 284-2956
www.as.miami.edu/writingcenter

Bill Vilberg
[See http://three.sentenc.es]

[ED-TECH] Outstanding Teacher Award Ceremony - TODAY @ 4 pm

Be at Storer Auditorium at 4:00 pm today, Monday, to join in the award ceremony for the Faculty Senate Outstanding Teacher Award. This is a chance to join together as a community and celebrate the incredible effort that each one of you puts into working with our students as they learn and grow here at the University of Miami.

Anita Cava, a professor in the School of Business Administration, Department of Business Law will receive the award this year, and I hope that you will all share in the joy of the recognition of teaching as a valued activity here at UM. President Donna E. Shalala and Faculty Senate members will be there. It would be exciting to fill the hall with people who value and are excited about teaching and learning.

See you there!

Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement

[ED-TECH] Last Chance Until 2010 - GIS Mapping Workshops in Florida

Hey group,

Last opportunity to participate in a great GIS Mapping Workshop in Florida
until 2010. Don't wait any longer and get registered for next week's
workshops.

Mapping Florida Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis

Jacksonville: April 1st , 2009
New Horizons Computer Learning Center- 7020 A.C. Skinner Pkwy STE 180
Jacksonville, FL 32256

Tallahassee: April 1st, 2009*
Tallahassee Community College - 444 Appleyard Drive, EWD Building #38, Lab
217 Tallahassee, FL 32304
Miami: April 3rd, 2009*
Location to be determined.
*These are one-day workshops (8:30am - 4:30pm). Participants choose which
day to attend.
Audience: Beginners, anyone interested in mapping their community.
Focus: This workshop is customized for each location.

This hands-on workshop focuses on teaching the fundamentals of using a
Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants
will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address
mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to
extract Census data and good map layout and design.

For more information about the Florida workshop, please visit
www.urban-research.info

Gina Clemmer
New Urban Research, Inc.
877.241.6576 | www.urban-research.info

[ED-TECH] Last Chance to Register: GIS Mapping Workshops in Florida

Hey group,

We're trying to get the word out to the Florida Educational Technologies
Community regarding a couple of upcoming mapping workshops in Florida. The
workshops are geared toward beginners who would like to map demographic
information for Florida communities.

Mapping Florida Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis

Jacksonville: April 1st , 2009
New Horizons Computer Learning Center- 7020 A.C. Skinner Pkwy STE 180
Jacksonville, FL 32256

Tallahassee: April 1st, 2009*
Tallahassee Community College - 444 Appleyard Drive, EWD Building #38, Lab
217 Tallahassee, FL 32304
Orlando: April 3rd, 2009*
Valencia Enterprises of Orlando 2411 Sand Lake Road Orlando, FL, 32809
Miami: April 3rd, 2009*
Location to be determined.
*These are one-day workshops (8:30am - 4:30pm). Participants choose which
day to attend.
Audience: Beginners, anyone interested in mapping their community.
Focus: This workshop is customized for each location.

This hands-on workshop focuses on teaching the fundamentals of using a
Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants
will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address
mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to
extract Census data and good map layout and design.

For more information about the Florida workshop, please visit
www.urban-research.info

Gina Clemmer
New Urban Research, Inc.
877.241.6576 | www.urban-research.info

[ED-TECH] Teaching Celebration - Monday, March 30

Ed-Tech list members,

I believe we should take every opportunity we have to celebrate teaching. Please join together as Anita Cava receives the 2009 Faculty Senate Outstanding Teacher Award and we celebrate the quality teaching that you all provide at UM. The award ceremony will be on Monday, March 30, at 4:00 PM, in Storer Auditorium in the School of Business Administration. A reception will follow. Please RSVP at 305-284-3721 or with facsen@miami.edu.

Faculty Senate announces Outstanding Teacher Award
The Faculty Senate is proud to announce that the recipient of the 2009 Faculty Senate Outstanding Teacher Award is Anita Cava, a professor in the School of Business Administration, Department of Business Law. Join in congratulating Professor Cava on this most prestigious award by attending the award ceremony with President Donna E. Shalala and Faculty Senate members on Monday, March 30 at 4 p.m. in the Storer Auditorium at the School of Business Administration. To RSVP, call 305-284-3721 or e-mail facsen@miami.edu.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday - March 27th

The next Fun Friday event is scheduled for March 27th. Because all the seats have been filled the last two months, we have moved to another location. We will be in one of the newly renovated class rooms (103) in Mahoney-Pearson Residential College. This provides you with the chance for a lovely walk before and after the event.

This month we will be looking at a site with Great Speeches of the 20th Century, a site that creates "word clouds" from those speeches or any other text, and a site that creates movies from a word or phrase. Nothing difficult, just fun and interesting.

This is the first time that we will NOT be providing lunch. Please feel free to bring your own and eat it during the presentation.

To make sure we have enough room, be sure to register by going to http://www.miami.edu/iac and clicking on the "Events" link.

Since Mahoney-Pearson is just beyond the Lowe Art Museum, you might want to take a few moments before or after the Fun Friday presentation to stop by and see the new glass pavilion. Remember, the Lowe is free to faculty, staff, and students.

Hope to see you at Fun Friday this month,
Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Apple iPhone/Touch Development User Group Meeting

Ed-Tech list members,

[cid:3317726310_7705231]

A number of people at UM have indicated interest in learning more about Apple iPhone/Touch development. In order to support that desire, there will be an iPhone Development User Group Meeting on Wednesday, March 4th, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm, in Whitten Learning Center, Room 192.

This will be an organizational meeting to see how much interest there is, and how to move forward. Whether you are a web designer or a programmer, you are welcome to attend this planning event.

If you will be attending, please register with the http://tinyurl.com/umiug01 web form. If you know of people inside or outside UM that might be interested, please pass this information on to them, too.

Bill Vilberg

[To subscribe to the Ed-Tech mailing list, go to the http://snurl.com/edtech web page. To unsubscribe, send a message to bill.vilberg@miami.edu.]

[ED-TECH] Upcoming GIS Mapping Workshops in Florida

Hey group,

We're trying to get the word out to the UM Educational Technology Community
regarding a couple of upcoming mapping workshops in Florida. The workshops
are geared toward beginners who would like to map demographic information
for Florida communities.

Mapping Florida Communities: An Introduction to GIS & Community Analysis

Jacksonville: April 1st , 2009
New Horizons Computer Learning Center- 7020 A.C. Skinner Pkwy STE 180
Jacksonville, FL 32256

Tallahassee: April 1st, 2009*
Tallahassee Community College - 444 Appleyard Drive, EWD Building #38, Lab
217 Tallahassee, FL 32304
Orlando: April 3rd, 2009*
Valencia Enterprises of Orlando 2411 Sand Lake Road Orlando, FL, 32809
Miami: April 3rd, 2009*
Location to be determined.
*These are one-day workshops (8:30am - 4:30pm). Participants choose which
day to attend.
Audience: Beginners, anyone interested in mapping their community.
Focus: This workshop is customized for each location.

This hands-on workshop focuses on teaching the fundamentals of using a
Geographic Information System (GIS) for community analysis. Participants
will learn to create thematic maps with Census data, Geocoding (Address
mapping) and Spatial Queries. Other features of the workshop are learning to
extract Census data and good map layout and design.

For more information about the Florida workshop, please visit
www.urban-research.info

Gina Clemmer
New Urban Research, Inc.
877.241.6576 | www.urban-research.info

[ED-TECH] Fun Friday #12 - Adobe Acrobat Forms and Portfolios

Wow! It is almost the end of another month, so it must be time for Fun Friday again. This month I am going to demonstrate the incredible form building and the new Portfolio capabilities in Adobe Acrobat Professional.

UM has a faculty/staff site license for Acrobat Professional. Acrobat Professional has many more features than the free Acrobat Reader that most of us have used. Faculty and staff can download Acrobat Professional 9 from the http://www.miami.edu/software page, in the "Graphics, Design, and Web Tools" section.

The event will take place Friday, Feb 27, 12:20 pm - 1:10 pm, in Richter Library, Room 305 (The Faculty Exploratory). Registration is required, since seating is limited and lunch will be provided.

Please go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Events" item in the menu bar to locate the registration form.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] FW: Web Conferences in MIAMI next week

Ed-Tech list members,

There are two big web conferences next week in Miami.

The first, BarCamp Miami is on Sunday. It is free, in Coconut Grove:

* http://barcampmiami09-fowa.eventbrite.com/

The second, Future of Web Apps (FOWA), is all day Tuesday. A student pass is $45 and a normal pass is $395. This conference is going to have a lot big speakers from 37signals, Virgin, Mozilla, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, digg, plus others.

* http://events.carsonified.com/fowa/2009/miami

I am just passing on this information in case others are interested. I have nothing to do with either event. The student passes to FOWA on Tuesday are an incredible deal, in my opinion. I hope many students will take advantage of this opportunity.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Mid-course surveys

Ed-Tech list members,

Do you give a mid-course survey to your students? You can use it to find out how things are going, where there are problems, and whether the course is succeeding in the ways that you want. It can provide you with this information, and give the students an opportunity to reflect on the course as a whole.

A faculty member at another school gives a set of questions and then posts the responses on-line for everyone to see. An example is at http://people.stu.ca/~hunt/32360708/evals/ so you can see the types of questions and answers he received.

You can do this with paper/pencil, or use Blackboard's survey system to collect the answers anonymously. If you would like assistance with this, let me know.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Registration for next Lunch and Learn events

The next two Lunch and Learn sessions are a great chance to learn more about Library resources and services. I learn something new at every session. Space is limited to 18 people. Lunch is provided. Registration is required. To register, visit http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Events" link.

Thursday, February 5, "Citation Tracking, Impact Factors and You" presented by Librarian Asst. Professor Bill Jacobs. You've heard of impact factors and know to count up citations, but do you know about the h-index and eiginfactor? These are all numbers you can use to evaluate journals, researchers, institutions and individual articles. They're also being used to evaluate you and your work. Learn how they're calculated, and commonly misinterpreted. The event occurs from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. in the Richter Library, Faculty Exploratory room 305.

Friday, February 6, " Demystifying Government Documents" Government and international publications deal with a wide variety of topics such as international affairs, epidemics, declassified information, environmental issues, etc... You can also locate information about recent legislation, reports, maps, and statistics. This session will focus on demystifying government and international documents and provide an overview of the different kinds of publications. Chella Vaidyanathan, Librarian Asst. Professor will present at Richter Library, Faculty Exploratory room 305 from 12:20 - 1:10.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Virtual Worlds: Teaching in Second Life for Higher Education

Ed-Tech people,

I know there are a number of you who are interested in Second Life and how virtual worlds might be used to enhance teaching. On January 27th at 1:00 PM, there will be an on-line seminar that you might want to attend. Even if you are busy, you will get the link to the recording of the event, if you sign up. I have no idea how good or bad this event will be, I am just sending out the information.

To register, and for details on the presenters and such, go to the http://tinyurl.com/9xvrjz web page.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Blackboard Training

A new semester means another chance to learn Blackboard or learn more about Blackboard. Here are some training sessions that we have already scheduled. You might want to attend, or you might know people who might be interested. To register, go to http://www.miami.edu/iac and click on the "Events" item at the top of the menu bar.

Getting Started with Blackboard
New to UM? New to Blackboard? Join us for this introductory training to set up your Blackboard course.
Thursday, January 15, or Friday, January 23, from 11:00am to 12:30pm in the Faculty Exploratory (3rd Floor Richter Library). Register here: http://www.iacmiami.org/events For more information please contact the Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-3949 or 8-3949.

Intro to the New Blackboard Grade Center
We are now running Blackboard version 8.0, and the old gradebook has been significantly updated. Join us for an overview of the new Grade Center features. Friday, January 16, from 11:00am to 12:30pm in the Faculty Exploratory (3rd Floor Richter Library). Register here: http://www.iacmiami.org/events For more information please contact the Blackboard Help Desk at 305-284-3949 or 8-3949.

Bill Vilberg

[ED-TECH] Two songs worth hearing

As we prepare for a new semester, here are two great songs about education. The first one is about K-12, but there are things that apply to higher education, too. The second one is about higher education, but the point applies to all teaching and learning. Take a break, relax, and listen. They make me smile!

1. Tom Chapin's "Not On the Test"

http://www.notonthetest.com/

2. David Roth's song/story "The Three Questions"

http://www.stumbleaudio.com/#davidroth6/10

Bill Vilberg

P.S. I originally started this message with "As we prepare for another semester." That sounded too depressing, so I changed it to "new semester." The newness implies possibilities rather then repetition. What new things are you using/trying/considering in your teaching that will really make it a "new" semester?

________________________________
This message is being sent to the members of the Ed-Tech mailing list at the University of Miami. If you would like to be removed from the list, either let me know or go to http://snurl.com/edtech and remove yourself. The same address (http://snurl.com/edtech) can be used to sign up for the list. The list is open to anyone.