[ED-TECH] Friday lectures - Gunther Schuller and Richard Dawkins

Ed-Tech list members,

What a Friday we are having tomorrow! Gunther Schuller is speaking at 3:30 pm and Richard Dawkins at 5:00 pm. Two world famous people, one in music and one in science. ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO ATTEND! Go yourself. This level of speaker is an indication of the quality of our institution just as much (or more?) than our ranking in US News & World Report. I hope that both events are standing room only. More information on the two events are available as follows:

Gunther Schuller, Into the Creative Mind of a Total Musician: http://goo.gl/twpGO (Free tickets can be requested on the web page.)

Richard Dawkins, The Magic of Reality: http://goo.gl/na7yh

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

[ED-TECH] UM Libraries - Paperless University Blog

Hello everyone,

 

The University of Miami Libraries’ Digital Scholarship and Programs Department is proud to announce Paperless University, a new blog about our experiences becoming a paper-free department at the Otto G. Richter Library.  Armed with iPads, we have spent the past two months learning what it takes to live without paper in the office environment, and are using the blog to share our knowledge with the world and foster a community of University of Miami students, faculty, and staff interested in the concept of going paperless. 

 

Currently, our six department members constitute the blog’s only authors, but we hope to change this soon.  We welcome and encourage other people from the UMiami community willing to go paperless in some aspect of their lives—whether as librarians, staff, students, researchers, or faculty—to register as authors and begin sharing.  Comments on posts are also encouraged.  We aim to make the site as participatory as possible, and are actively recruiting people to join us.  

 

Developing this blog has been a great experience. I hope that we can reach an audience beyond our University, so please share this with anyone you think would be interested. If you have any questions, you can send an email to paperlessu@miami.edu and either myself or one of the editors will be happy to answer them.

 

The URL for Paperless University is http://paperless.library.miami.edu/

 

Thanks!

Bryanna

 

Bryanna Valentine Herzog Digital Media Manager   University of Miami Otto G. Richter Library 1300 Memorial Drive, Rm 311 Coral Gables, FL 33146 bherzog@miami.edu 305-284-6221

 

 

[ED-TECH] Library session Tuesday 1-2 pm

This looks like a great session for faculty to learn about the resources and services of the UM library...

Tools for Your Trade: An Information Toolkit

Hosted by Suzanne Stemler and Mei Mendez

Are you an expert at using the library? Don't be so sure! Every university library has its own quirky set of resources and services. In this session we will introduce you to the information environment here at UM and give you the inside scoop so you can find – and get your hands on – the information you need faster and easier.

Light refreshments will be provided

When Tuesday September 27, 2011 from 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Where Richter Library 343

[ED-TECH] FedEx Days

Ed-Tech list members,

SHORT ASSIGNMENT:

Watch the 11 minute video (http://vimeo.com/15488784) based on Daniel Pink's book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.

EXPLANATION:

Have you heard of FedEx days? I hadn't, until yesterday. A FedEx day starts on Thursday afternoon and runs until Friday afternoon. You work on what you want, with whomever you want. You deliver your final product at a meeting (party?) at the end of the day on Friday. I wonder how many seeds would get planted if we cancelled all classes and meetings for a FedEx day at UM?

If you have a few minutes, please take a look at my blog post on vilberg.com and be sure to watch the videos. http://vilberg.com/post/9918324443/

The videos and Drive by Daniel Pink make quite a push for autonomous learning. My blog post reflects on taking the FedEx day, along with the 20% time ideas of Google and 3M, and applying them to a University, say UM. Radical? Probably. Exciting? I think so, do you? Let me know what you think of this idea, Ok?

Best day(1),
Bill Vilberg
Instructional Advancement
Richter Library, Room 325
bill.vilberg@miami.edu
786-250-2255

http://vilberg.com - Spreading seeds of education, technology, and more

(1) In the Vilberg family we say "Best day" rather than "Good day." A good day is when good things happen to you. A best day is when you do the best you can with whatever happens, good or bad.

[ED-TECH] September 2011 Issue of Mother Pelican

Greetings!

*Mother Pelican* is an interdisciplinary journal at the intersection of
ecology, economics, psychology, technology management, gender equality,
sociology of religion, and sustainability science and engineering.

The September 2011 issue has been posted:

Theme - *The Confluence of Gender Balance and Energy Balance*
http://www.pelicanweb.org/solisustv07n09page1.html

Summary

Energy balance is a non-negotiable requirement for a sustainable
economy. Likewise, gender equality is crucial for a civilized transition
to sustainability. That humanity must transition from fossil fuels to
clean energy (and, more generally, from consumerism to sustainability)
is no longer in doubt. The question now is whether the transition will
be violent or peaceful - or at least civilized. It is argued that
fostering gender balance in all roles of responsibility and authority is
the best way to foster a civilized transition. Gender imbalance, with
only (or even mostly) men making all key policy decisions, is
biologically and psychologically bound to perpetuate the violence-prone
patriarchal mentality of control and domination.

Most secular institutions worldwide already know by experience that
gender balance mitigates violence and enhances capabilities for human
development. Religious institutions that remain attached to
theologically baseless patriarchal practices are doing a disservice to
humanity by reinforcing resistance to gender equality and balance. The
joint and fair resolution of gender balance and energy balance issues,
which not insignificantly are emerging simultaneously at this point in
human history, offers the best hope for a civilized transition to a
sustainable world animated by solidarity, peace, and justice. It also
offers the best hope for continuing progress in integral human development.

Articles:

Editorial Essay ~ The Confluence of Gender Balance and Energy Balance
Globalization and Integral Human Development - Eammon Keane
Loss of Confidence in the Current Order - Leonardo Boff
A Convenient Truth About Climate Change - David Lempert & Hue Nguyen
Sleeping with the Enemy: Economists & Polluters - Mason Gaffney
Are We Entering an Era of Concatenated Global Crises? - D. Biggs et al.
Concerning the Testicular Logic of Biblical Hebrew - Roland Boer
Toward a Post-Growth Society - James Gustave Speth
Gender Equity in Islam - Part 4: The Political Aspect, by Jamal Badawi

Supplements:

Advances in Sustainable Development
Directory of Sustainable Development Resources
Strategies for the Transition to Clean Energy
Tactics for the Transition to Clean Energy
Status of Gender Equality in Society
Status of Gender Equality in Religion

Please forward this notice to friends and colleagues who might be
interested.

Sincerely,
Luis
Luis T. Gutiérrez, PhD, PE
The Pelican Web of Solidarity and Sustainability
Mother Pelican: A Journal of Sustainable Human Development
http://pelicanweb.org