Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Guidelines: Teaching, Learning, and Technology Roundtable (TLTR) - Originated 1994, revisions 2012


Logo for TLT Group - colorful drawing of 3 people at round table with tech and symbols - by Lonni Sue Johnson
see tlt.gs/tltr  
To achieve the best in teaching and learning through more effective use of information technology while controlling costs, a college or university needs continuing communication, cooperation, and collaboration among representatives of a wide range of faculty and academic support services to facilitate better planning, decision making, and support for faculty and students. Exchanging candid information among and within institutions helps develop more realistic goals, measurable against more realistic benchmarks. Consequently, each campus TLT Roundtable should have these 6 characteristics (adapted to reflect local circumstances -- especially local politics and culture):


  1. Two Categories of Faculty Represented
  2. Four+ Services Organizations Represented
  3. Chief Academic Officer Engaged
  4. Student Views Available
  5. Inter-Institutional Information Exchange & TLTR Coordinator
  6. Long-Term Institutional Commitment  
Additional description of each of the 6 characteristics:  

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Colonoscopy Humor! Videos + Dave Barry’s "A journey into my colon-and yours" March=Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

Link to Amazon for Book
YouTube Video (2 mins) "SU2C: Homer's Colonoscopy" of Homer Simpson's colonoscopy experience"To see more humorous and educational videos on early detection, stand up with us at "Stand Up to Cancer" Website;  Note that March is National Colorectal Awareness Month!
From Dave Barry:  
"...on the day before my colonoscopy... I didn't eat any solid food...Then, in the evening, I took the MoviPrep. ...you have to drink the whole jug. This takes about an hour, because MoviPrep tastes -- and here I am being kind -- like a mixture of goat spit and urinal cleanser, with just a hint of lemon.  
"The instructions for MoviPrep, clearly written by somebody with a great sense of humor, state that after you drink it, 'a loose watery bowel movement may result.' This is kind of like saying that after you jump off your roof, you may experience contact with the ground. 
"MoviPrep is a nuclear laxative. ...There are times when you wish the commode had a seat belt."
Above excerpts quoted from "A journey into my colon -- and yours," by Dave Barry, column in Miami Heraldoriginally published Feb. 22, 2008, posted on Website Feb. 11, 2009
Printable PDF of "Dave Barry colonoscopy certificate!" mentioned in that column.

YouTube Video (<2 mins) of Dave Barry discussing his colonoscopy  while introducing his book which includes a version of Barry's colonoscopy column.

More video links:  1 charming (really!) 1 amusing & informative (really!)

Monday, March 26, 2012

Keeping Up: Social Networking and Higher Ed Archive and Chat Transcript #TLTGFrLv 20120323

In this special FridayLive!, our open, insightful "Keeping Up" Panel takes on Social Networking - options and issues for higher ed. 
"Keeping Up" panel: Charles Ansorge, Steven Bell, Ilene Frank, Lisa Star, Jane Harris, Beth Dailey, Jane Marcus, and Steve Gilbert
Text Chat Transcript - including links - Below  

Text Chat Transcript

David McCurry, TLT Group: (13:44) Welcome back to Friday Live! Spring 2012. We have over 160 registered participants today, and the maximum room capacity of 100. We will allow guests to enter only 5 minutes after the beginning of today's session. Thanks for your patience and support.
Charles Woods: (13:46) Charles Woods, Library Systems, University of Waterloo
David McCurry, TLT Group: (13:48) Hi Charles.
Quinten Vervecken: (13:50) Quinten Vervecken, Brepols Publishers, an academic publishing house from Belgium
Beth Dailey: (13:50) Good afternoon from Beth Dailey, Faculty Training Specialist, EDMC
Loretta Kucharczyk: (13:51) Loretta Kucharczyk, Intentional Academic Advisor at Prairie State College in Illinois.
Cathy Swift: (13:55) Cathy Swift - MERLOT
Kelley Cotter: (13:56) Kelley Cotter--Drexel University 

Friday, March 23, 2012

“..ways people use new media in the first years of an emerging communication regime can influence the way those media end up..”

Rheingold's Book Net Smart [Amazon] 
Title sentence above is from Howard Rheingold's website as of March 23, 2012:  "Howard Rheingold | Exploring mind amplifiers since 1964".  That sentence appears in the following full paragraph which introduces Rheingold's new book Net Smart:
"The future of digital culture—yours, mine, and ours—depends on how well we learn to use the media that have infiltrated, amplified, distracted, enriched, and complicated our lives. How you employ a search engine, stream video from your phonecam, or update your Facebook status matters to you and everyone, because the ways people use new media in the first years of an emerging communication regime can influence the way those media end up being used and misused for decades to come. Instead of confining my exploration to whether or not Google is making us stupid, Facebook is commoditizing our privacy, or Twitter is chopping our attention into microslices (all good questions), I've been asking myself and others how to use social media intelligently, humanely, and above all mindfully. This book is about what I've learned."

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Navigating the Technology Tsunami: Archive and Chat Transcript from TLT Group's FridayLive! #TLTGFrLv 20120316


Presenters:  Jane Harris and Pamela Howe, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Friday, March 16, 2:00pm Eastern


* We apologize for the unfortunate coincidence of the anniversary of the Japanese Tsunami and the title of this presentation.*  Many experts believe that technology is influencing the ways we seek information, engage with with others, and learn. If so, how does this affect our teaching and learning practices?  What changes might make sense?
Our thesis is that our technologies reflect and align with the ways we engage with others and learn.  Thus, understanding learning sciences research can help us use technology to enhance our practice.  We will share examples from the research and a variety of available multimedia learning environments .  Attendees will engage in discussions about potential strategies and challenges.
Access to the presentation Google Site will be provided.


Related Resources: Ppt slides from 3/16/2012

Text Chat Transcript:

Bonnie Mullinix, TLT Group: Welcome to: Navigating the Technology Tsunami     Presenters:  Jane Harris and Pamela Howe, University of North Carolina at GreensboroFriday, March 16, 2012, 2:00 pm (ET)

Steve Gilbert, TLT Group: '...one of the most memorable [film documentaries] this year, winner of a jury prize as well as an Oscar nomination, is Lucy Walker's unforgettable "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom," a look at the aftermath of the 2011 Japanese disaster that emphasizes the way "beauty and terror always exist in nature."'- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times  http://www.thetsunamiandthecherryblossom.com/

"Keeping Up"? - Sharing my colonoscopy photos [Can you digest this message?]

[Original version sent March 21, 2012 to family and close friends while I was still slightly sedated.]

Been thinking all day about which photos from my colonoscopy this morning to share with you. So difficult to chose! But Sally really liked the booties they let me keep, so I've inserted a picture of them below. Of course, I'm happy to send copies of the more organic images upon request.

In case you were wondering, I got my first routine colonoscopy in 2005 and did so well that I was given a 7 year reprieve before the next one. Today the doc found and snipped one small polyp of the least offensive kind, so the results from some test in the next few days will determine whether I get the max 10 year reprieve this time or merely 5. But the 5 year reprieve is now the worst possible consequence, and that isn't too bad.

As anyone can tell you, the "prep" for the colonoscopy is the most disgusting part. Sally cleverly arranged to visit our daughter in Brooklyn during that phase, leaving only our dog Chloe to closely observe my experience. She (Chloe) hardly complained at all.

But seriously folks, colonoscopy is a highly unpleasant diagnostic medical procedure that is also an intelligence test: if you are smart enough to understand its potential benefits vs. the discomfort, you will get it done as often as recommended. On the other hand, I can assure insurance companies that they need not worry about policyholders frivolously over-scheduling elective colonoscopies.

Feeling really clean both inside and out, Love, Steve



Steven W. Gilbert, President, TLT GroupSteven W. Gilbert, President
http://tlt.gs/SteveGilbertBIO
301/270-8312 skype: stevegilbert
Schedule appts with me: http://tungle.me/SteveGilbert

THE TLT GROUP -- a Non-Profit Organization
The Teaching, Learning, and Technology Group
www.tltgroup.org
PO Box 5643, Takoma Park, Maryland 20913 USA

Get a signature like this. CLICK HERE.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

"LTAs are as important today as they were 10 years ago" - C. Ansorge founder of 1st LTA collection

Ansorge, now in his 50th year of college teaching and still finding new ways to improve his own courses and help his colleagues, developed an online collection of Low-Threshold Applications still available at http://tltgroup.wordpress.com/low-threshold-applications/

Ansorge's most recent observations re: LTAs on March 15, 2012 were offered in an email  response 
to a TLT-SWG posting about the origins of Low-Threshold Applications "Before there were Apps..."  That post suggests how the concept of LTAs introduced 10 years ago could be helpful for developing educational uses for the Apps so prevalent today.
"LTAs are as important today as they were 10 years ago when you published the article and when we began to post LTAs and form a collection for anyone who was interested.Many of the APPs available for mobile devices might be viewed as LTAs. The number of APPs continues to grow by leaps and bounds so your point of keeping up with the latest and greatest is important. It was important in 2002. Is today, and will be for the future.I continue to seek ways to keep up and do my best. Not sure there is any one way that is best, but having folks share their strategies would be helpful. We all need colleagues to assist us in this effort."
- Charles Ansorge, Univ. Nebraska Lincoln, cansorge@gmail.com

Friday, March 16, 2012

Has Your Frog Been Cooked? From Long-Term Greed to Short-Term Greed. Goldman Sachs Cautionary Tale for College Presidents et al.

The Goldman Sachs "revelations" this week offer a vivid lesson that may not seem immediately relevant to higher education. However, the Goldman story demonstrates a painful sequence experienced by many colleges, for many decades: the institutional equivalent of discovering that you ARE the frog that is being cooked in the slowly heating waters. 


I hope that college presidents, boards, and others who influence major decisions for colleges and universities will consider this cautionary tale of Wall Street mission creep. If you are unfamiliar with this pseudo-controversy, see the brief excerpts below from "At Goldman, short-term greed vs. long-term greed," Posted by Ezra Klein at 03:42 PM ET, 03/15/2012, published in Washington Post p. A9 March 16, 2012.

Many colleges and universities have recently been pressed to launch new online programs in response to financial exigency and changing applicant demographics. For decades, many colleges and universities under financial pressure and changing applicant demographics have launched new programs or divisions - often more career-oriented than the core curriculum or longstanding programs. A
fter a few years, especially when such programs succeed and effectively subsidize the operations of the entire institution, those who have been responsible for the new divisions begin to influence decisions that affect the the more traditional components and, eventually, the institutional mission. Many may feel that it would be hypocritical or ungrateful to object to some of these small steps in a new direction. 

However, the impact of these steps can accumulate so gradually that even the oldest of the "old guard" don't notice until the changes have become irreversible. The frog has been cooked. The institution has a new mission.

So please be careful and test the waters before you urge your own institution to jump in. Or check the temperature often enough that you can still jump out before it is too late.



Excerpts below are from   "At Goldman, short-term greed vs. long-term greed," Posted by Ezra Klein at 03:42 PM ET, 03/15/2012, published in Washington Post p. A9 March 16, 2012. 

..."But the response of many of Goldman's defenders confirmed the very trend Smith was lamenting: A change from long-term greed, which aligned Goldman's interests with those of its clients and arguably with those of the broader market, to short-term greed, which is not quite so benign for your clients or for the broader market."

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Dissecting Hybrid Workshop + Ender's Test; Chat Trnscrpt & Archive from TLTGroup's FridayLive! #TLTGFrLv 2/17/2012


Dissecting a Hybrid Workshop PLUS Update on Ender's Test
Recommendations, Insights, Challenges, Questions
Text Chat Transcript - including links - Below


DESCRIPTION OF TLT GROUP'S FRIDAYLIVE! SESSION FEB 17, 2012
What we learned from a hybrid FridayLive! and how it will help online teaching and learning:  focus on identifying what worked with our hybrid workshop, what didn't work, and why.
On Feb 10, Steve and TLT Group staff led a FridayLive! discussion  with two distinct audiences connected to each other in an Adobe classroom - one group was with Steve at the Lilly Conference on College Teaching, the other group was a collection of individuals from across the U.S. logged in individually to the Adobe classroom.
Recognizing that many faculty are facing a transition of their courses to some form of hybrid instruction, the TLT Group is always seeking opportunities to "walk the walk" in order to understand the challenges and appropriately make recommendations.

PLUS:  Update on Ender's Test
Our discussions in these past weeks about Ender's Game have been both fascinating and deeply satisfying. A portion of Friday's session will be spent delving deeper into the ideas of artificial instruction.  We're moving toward a Lilly test of Caring and a WGU test of who what education is good for.

Leader: Steve Gilbert, TLT Group



Text Chat Transcript 

 David McCurry, TLT Group: (2/17/2012 13:19) Welcome back to our regularly scheduled Friday Live!
 Steve Gilbert, TLT Group: (13:32) tnx, working on PPT!

Before there were Apps. "The Beauty of Low Threshold Applications" [LTAs] 1st pub 2002 Syllabus Mag - still APPlicable today!

"The Beauty of Low Threshold Applications" 2/2/2002 Steven W. Gilbert, Column in Syllabus Magazine (Now Campus Technology)
Highlights below added by the author ten years later - March 14, 2012.
[How closely do the characteristics of LTAs first introduced ten years ago in the article below fit the Apps we have begun to use in higher education today?
The last two paragraphs are especially applicable today. They're about:
- being unable to keep up,
- the need for increased collegial collaboration, and

- the growing importance of "open course" principles.]

[FULL TEXT OF ORIGINAL COLUMN]
There is a new imperative for many colleges and universities to engage "almost all" of the faculty in improving teaching and learning with information technology. The strategies I described in a previous Syllabus column can help, especially if they include the development of a collection of low threshold applications, or "LTAs."

Recent experience suggests that a new, larger group of mainstream faculty members is more likely to be receptive to what they perceive as only a modest change in their identity, role, or workload that might be imposed by new teaching and learning applications.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Recommended Readings 3.5 Written by Sally Gilbert's former students

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...Foer
We provide this list of books and articles with these hopes:
These are not listed in any particular order!
Ellis AveryB001G8WNMSThe Teahouse Fire by Ellis Avery
Ellis Avery1594488134The Last Nude by Ellis Avery  (This book is just being published.)
Andy SmithB003ZUYB66The Dragonfly Effect - Quick, Effective and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Social Change by Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith
Ben Mezrich0307740986The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal by Ben Mezrich - Just one of many books Ben has written

Recommended Readings 1 Written by TLT Group Members for 2012 - 3.5 Categories

Crazy Busy by Edward Hallowell
We provide this list of books and articles with these hopes:
  • You'll find something(s) to read which are interesting and useful to you.
  • You'll find the eclectic nature of the selections intriguing.
  • You'll join us  as we discuss several of them in our online sessions.
  • You'll recommend other books and articles for Reading 2012.
  • Here are our 3.5 categories:
1. *Listed Below: Books/Articles Written by TLT Group Members
2. Link to: "How To" Books Recommended by TLT Group Staff and Friends
 
3. Link to: Other Books/Articles Recommended by TLT Group Staff and Friends
3.5. Link to: Written by Sally Gilbert's former Students

Books/Articles Written by TLT Group Members 

Susan Ambrose, Michael W Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha C Lovett, Marie K Norman

0470484101How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching
Corry, M. & Watkins, R. (2007)"A Student's Guide to E-learning Success"In Brandon, W. (Ed.) The eLearning Guild's Handbook on e-Learning Strategy.

Recommended Readings 2 "How To Books" Picked by TLT Group Staff and Friends for 2011-2012 - 3.5 Categories


E.g., Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
We provide this list of books and articles with these hopes:
 "How To" Books Recommended by TLT Group Staff and Friends
0787987719
0470343338 Using Wikis for Online Collaboration: The Power of the Read-Write Web  by James A. West, Margaret L. West

Recommended Readings 3 Recommended by TLT Group Staff for 2012 - 3.5 Categories


E.g., Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
We provide this list of books and articles with these hopes:
Books/Articles Recommended by TLT Group Staff and Friends 
Information Systems and Organizational Change“Information Systems and Organizational Change,” Peter G. W. Keen, May 1980, Communications of the ACM, January 1981, Vol 24, No. 1, pp. 24-33 pp. 27-28, 30-31
PDF for downloading tlt.gs/PKCounterImpStrats
Article Converted to Published Google Doc tlt.gs/PKCounterImpGDoc
 
0941901416
Understanding Moore's Law Edited by David C Brock

Friday, March 09, 2012

There’s an App for That! Chat Transcript & Archive link from TLTGroup's Friday Live! #TLTGFrLv 20120309


 Presenters:  Stephen Kaufman and Timothy Lombardo, Information Technology, Ashland University


Friday, March 9, 2012, 2:00 pm (ET)


Applications, or “apps,” can provide an amazing amount of flexibility and interaction for students. The ability for instructors to provide an additional way for students to engage with their content is revolutionizing education. In this session, presenters demonstrated apps that they have found helpful for students and faculty members alike. In addition, they demonstrated apps across multiple platforms. Read Text Chat [below] for links to Apps!



 David McCurry, TLT Group: (3/9/2012 13:40) Welcome everyone to Friday Live!
 Steve Kaufman: (13:40) Hi everyone!
 David McCurry, TLT Group: (13:40) We will begin close to the top of the hour with an orientation of the Adobe environment, then a few words from Steve Gilbert, and then on to our main presentation for today.
 Lorette Calix: (13:43) Hello!
 Donald McCahill: (13:43) Hi, no mic here
 Lorette Calix: (13:44) Must be uncomfortable just sitting in front of the camera waiting.
 Steve Kaufman: (13:46) Yep
 Lorette Calix: (13:46) Yes.  All good.
 Marian Colello: (13:49) Hello!
 David McCurry, TLT Group: (13:51) Hi Marian
 Marian Colello: (13:55) Yes
 Steve Kaufman: (13:55) Hi Steve!
 Steve Kaufman: (13:55) whew!!!!
 Steve Gilbert, TLT Group: (13:57) Now listening to Charles Ansorge, U. Neb. Lincoln - finishing his 50th year of teaching!

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

What's Still Good About Lectures? FridayLive! 3/2/2012 Chat Transcript #TLTGFrLv



This is an abridged transcript of the session - What's Still Good about Lectures?


------------------------------- (03/02/2012 13:41) -------------------------------
David McCurry, TLT Group: Welcome to Friday Live!

Bonnie Mullinix, TLT Group: We love to hear where you are from (institution, location) and your role.... and always (whenever): your interests in TLT Group & this session

Bonnie Mullinix, TLT Group: Home base Web Pages: www.tlt.gs/tltswg

Bonnie Mullinix, TLT Group: www.tlt.gs/necselfdecept

Irina Ivliyeva, MissouriS&T: There is nothing wrong with the lecture as format!  If  the lecture is student-focusd, adn not instrucrto-focused, it is thill a very effective tool.

Friday, March 02, 2012

What’s Still Good about Lectures? Open Forum #TLTGFrLv March 2, 2012


Steven W. Gilbert, TLT Group, Moderator/Presenter




This Home Base Web Page:   http://tlt.gs/frlvlecture2012




See below for description, resources, and links
(including session recordings and text chat transcripts)

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Is Meta Really Bettah? Using Metacognition and Reflection Online #TLTGOLI Feb 14, 21, 28 2012

How to teach the way you want to teach...
Ranging from under-prepared students to honors students

Lucy MacDonald, Florida State College Jacksonville
Saundra McGuire, Louisiana State University
John Zubizarreta, Columbia College 
February 14   2012
This Home Base (Google Doc) Web Page:  tlt.gs/MetaBetta

See below for description, resources, and links 
(including session recordings and text chat transcripts)

Metacognition Session #1 Chat Transcript #TLTGoli 20120214

 Lucy MacDonald:Lucy MacDonald, online faculty at Florida State
College in Jacksonville. The college is in Jacksonville on the
Atlantic, while I am in Sarasota, on the gulf coast, some 500 miles
away!
 John Zubizarreta:Hello, friends. Just letting you know that I'm logged in.
 David McCurry, TLT Group:Hi John.
 Steve Gilbert, TLT Group:Homebase Web page for this workshop:
http://tlt.gs/metabetta

Metacognition Session #2 Chat Transcript #TLTGOLI 20120221

 David McCurry, TLT Group:Welcome to Session 2 of the Metacognition
Workshop, 2012.
 Lucy MacDonald:Welcome back, Deborah. Remind me again where Excelsior is?
 Lucy MacDonald:Hello, Juanita. Where are you located?
 Lucy MacDonald:David, I have done screen shots, so probably won't use
the sharing screens.
 Juanita Painter:Hello. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm located in
North Carolina.

Whose Voices Don't Need to be Heard? Chat Transcript from #TLTGFrLv 20120224

David McCurry, TLT Group: (14:04) A lovely voice, and very sultry jazz voicings to some tasteful jazz standards.
David McCurry, TLT Group: (14:05) No, I'm OK. Today, my voice doesn't matter.

Metacognition Session #3 Chat Transcript #TLTGOLI 20120228

 David McCurry, TLT Group:Welcome to the final session in this workshop.
 ...
 John Zubizarreta:Friends: just by way of welcoming you all, let me
say "hello" while we wait for the official start. Thanks for sharing
your time and thoughts.