Category Archives: Musings on Technology
Advanced Search Techniques
January 5, 2013
In December, 2012, Fast Company published an article entitled, “A Google Researcher Reveals 4 Crucial Things “Average Users” Should Know But Don’t”. One section of the article looked at “basic” search techniques that could make the “average” computer user’s life simpler should they employ these tactics. I took a very informal poll of several techies [...]
Ed Tech Forecasts for 2013
December 21, 2012
Time for my annual crystal ball gazing into the future of ed tech for the coming year. Technology is notoriously difficult to forecast, and prognosticators are often forced to eat their words in the end (See Top Ten Bad Tech Predictions). Nevertheless, I’ll try to sweep aside the veil and peer into the new year [...]
Using Blackboard Learn to Take Your Class (Mostly) Paper-Free
October 5, 2012
As the costs of printing increases for both faculty and students, it is important to point out that Blackboard Learn offers a number of tools that will allow your course to go nearly paper-free. Here are some ideas to help reduce the amount of paper that your course may use during the term: Post Your [...]
Technology: What students know vs. what we want them to know
August 17, 2012
One of the common technology disconnects we see is faculty expectations compared to student abilities. One of the possible reasons for this is the types of technologies student most commonly use compared with the types of technologies we want them to use. Student Tech Use First off, some students have significantly more computer experience than [...]
The eTextbook unConference
July 13, 2012
This is part one of a post on the eTextbook UnConference hosted at the University of Illinois, on June 28-29th, 2012. According to unconference.net, the term “unconference” arose as people in the technology industry started making conferences that stepped out of the traditional models, which had involved presentations selected months beforehand, panels of speakers, industry [...]
Qualtrics at Purdue; new features available
June 19, 2012
We are fortunate to have access to the Qualtrics Survey Tool as our university-wide survey instrument. Qualtrics is a wonderful tool; simple and easy to get started, yet detailed and in depth enough to create a survey with any numbers of bells and whistles. In addition to workshops delivered by ITaP, the company has a [...]
Administration: The (Un?)Necessary Evil
June 11, 2012
You know the old saying: ”those who can’t do, teach?” In the world of higher education, it may be more accurate to say “those who can’t do, administer.” In all honesty, I don’t put much stock in either saying: the larger truth is that the best teachers are those who “can do”, and the best [...]
On the Go: iPad apps for productivity at the office
March 1, 2012
I go to a lot of meetings. A lot of them. You might even say a plethora, if you are inclined to use words like “plethora.” At these meetings, I generally take lot of notes. You might even say a multitude, or a ridiculous amount…if you are inclined to be judgmental. Or if you have [...]
To Flip or Not to Flip: Musings on Flipping the Classroom
February 24, 2012
Recently, you might have seen this infographic on flipping the classroom. If not, read through it, then come back to this post. Go ahead. I’ll wait. This post won’t make much sense otherwise (unless you’re already familiar with the concept of flipping the classroom). Purdue’s IMPACT project, in which I’m deeply involved, is helping some faculty [...]
Ed Tech Forecasts for 2012
January 4, 2012
I’m about to indulge in my annual prognosticating regarding educational technology trends for the New Year. Here is what some of the experts say is on the horizon for 2012: Educause reports that: Schools will struggle to deal with the consumerization of IT – students as well as faculty expect support for consumer technology in [...]