Belmont University

June 29, 2004

God Bless Microsoft and Bill Gates

Gates drops by with a $40m gift - Breaking News- smh.com.au - Garry Barker OK, so Bill is one of my favorite targets of disdain when it comes to insecure software, but giving back is not a shortcoming of his. Sydney didn't have the nude protestors that Mr. Gates encountered in Melbourne back in 1991 and the events surrounding his generous gift to five Australian welfare groups seemed to function without a systems crash, a pop-up window, or a blue screen of death. Way-to-go, Bill!
The Microsoft boss said there was still a "very significant digital divide" in the world - unequal access to technology caused by either remoteness or lack of money(my emphasis).
With great restraint, I ask,..."If the software were cheaper, wouldn't less money buy more?" OK, so that is an out of context, cheap shot... I apologize.
Bill, thanks for giving back to the world!

Posted by admin at 04:53 AM |

June 28, 2004

Blogging Video - WOW!!


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Will Richardson, author of Weblogg-ed and Supervisor of Instructional Technology and Communications at Hunterdon Central Regional High School (Flemington, NJ), graciously allowed me to grab his original 27MB Quicktime video on blogging and re-post it here along with a couple of smaller video file formats. The story is wonderfully told by students and instructors. I recommend a view by any educator who is considering the use of blogs as an instructional tool. I commend Will for his efforts and for the well deserved recognition.

The QuickTime Large link above is to a copy of the original 27MB presentation. The rest of the files are heavily compressed to about 8MB each. Enjoy!

Posted by admin at 11:39 AM |

June 27, 2004

Teachers Speak Up - Catching the Dragon IS a Priority

Survey results from Speak Up Day for Teachers, an online survey of 11,132 teachers, are described here: Teachers: Limited time, access cut school tech use - eSchool News online - Corey Murray
"Although 98 percent of survey respondents said they had at least one internet-connected computer in their classrooms for professional use, most respondents said there isn't enough time in the day to take advantage of the technology and that a shortage of computers for students still retards achievement. "

Posted by admin at 03:04 PM |

Comment Spam and Resulting Changes

I suppose that being attacked by comment spammers means that at least someone (or thing) knows that I am out here. I did not realize this until this morning when 150+ porno-comment spams had been posted to the blogs that I support..in less than 12 hours. The attack on The Rio Journal was particularly hurtful to me, mainly because the audience for that blog is a bunch of wonderful Christian people who are/were just getting excited about the possibilities of using blogs for overseas' volunteers serving on mission teams. I am doing my best at the moment to keep from being completely enraged by those who would be so crass as to invade a blog with filth, in the name of free speech...(ok. so I really want to take one of these idiots outside and beat the crap out of them...but that is a far cry from turning the other cheek...'sorry, it is just how I feel at the moment)

Posted by admin at 07:49 AM |

June 24, 2004

'Just WHY can't a Woman, Be More Like a Man?!'

My Fair Lady Video Cover
The demonstrative singing of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady's A Hymn to Him, rang through my brain this morning as I read Information Week's Bush Official Says Laws Aren't The Answer To Offshoring Concerns... buried in the article is the following comment from Phillip Bond, under secretary of commerce for technology:
...the administration wants to create programs that inspire more school children--particularly girls (my emphasis)--with an interest in science and technology at an early age. "We lose the women in middle school. We have to stop losing one-half of our talent pool"
I know that I will get into trouble over this one, but that comment bothers me... I believe it is admirable to recognize that so few girls gain an interest in science and math at an early age, however, is a federal program the solution to change that?

Posted by admin at 06:18 AM |

June 22, 2004

Silicon Valley Report Questioned

Dave McRae took issue with a previously refererence article in his letter to the editor: Conclusions in digital divide editorial not supported implying that the Gilroy Dispatch article was somehow racially motivated. I have re-read both the article and the response and really feel that both missed crucial points. It was not until the end of last month that I ever sat in front of a computer with a non-English browser (IE in Portuguese) that I understood what Hispanics face when learning how to use computers in the US. There is somehow a misunderstanding that people in other countries must learn English in order to use the Internet. Besides the apparent ethnocentricity of that illusion, I find in it a certain arrogance that is disturbing. It is somehow akin to walking into a Hispanic grocery store and complaining to the management that the labels are in the wrong language.

Posted by admin at 09:18 AM |

June 18, 2004

The Education, Technology, and Piracy Formula?

Technology executives want better schools, fewer software pirates - 06/17/04... I am pretty sure that I have heard this song before. This time the chorus includes Microsoft's Steve Ballmer, Adobe's Bruce Chizen, Symatec's John Thompson, McaAfee Security's George Samenuk, Solidworks Corp.'s John McEleney, and RSA Security's Art Coviello. I look into the faces of these executives, generally from the same generation, and have a better understanding of the confusion with the blending of criticism of education, exporting technology, and problems with international piracy. My confusion goes something like this:
  • Mr Coviello asks, "Why can't we get in the educational system the same increase in productivity that we've gotten in the rest of the economy?" Let's see... could it be that assembly line, industrial revolution models of education from the 19th century aren't working as well as it did when Mr. Coviello was in school? Could it be that funding for improved education doesn't come close to proportionate amounts of spending that his company puts into R&D? Could it be that the female dominated secondary educator pool is paid a pittance of what most of these aging, male, mostly Caucasian, executives are paid?
  • John McEleney, "described buying a black market copy of his company's $4,000 engineering design software for $4 during a recent swing through Asia"... and this is the area of the world that we want doing our high tech production because math and science are revered and apparently ethics and rule of international law are somehow lacking? Might I suggest that all that R&D money be poured into Asia so that your $4,000 piece of software can be sold for it's apparent market value of $4.00 and exported back to the US (meow).
  • Bill Conner, chief executive at Entrust Inc., suggested "schools should offer better opportunities in math and science for women and minorities." He said students who excel in these areas still face stereotypes they are nerds. The last time that I looked across campus, none of our math and science classrooms were labeled "for women and minorities only"... and the tatoo business is just waiting for the day that women line up to have 'GEEK' plastered across the lower back so that it will show in the latest mid-drift syle. ...and while we are whining, what percentage of that highly skilled Asian workforce includes women and minorities? I have ranted enough (and yes, I feel better)... but the issues of educational reform, globalization of technology, and piracy of intellectual property do not combine well into any sort of empircal or legislative formula. I am not implying that there are not relationships between the issues...but to hear this generational group of executive's black-and-white-issue-solutions makes me believe that perhaps they received entirely too much math and science training in their background and missed the boat on what a liberal arts education means to the rest of humanity. Do I pass the collection plate here?

    Posted by admin at 04:41 AM |

    • June 17, 2004

    Blogs, Journalism and the Oracle

    Soon-to-be-blogger, Dr. Syb (Dr. Sybril Bennett), emailed me a link to an article from last month's USC Annenber Online Journalism Review :Scholars Discover Weblogs Pass Test as Mode of Communication. I realize that the article is already a month old and I am not sure how that calculates in blog-years, but it is still a good read. More fascinating to me is what Googling the story title reveals in the aftermath...and this list is just a partial list from the first results page on Google:
  • Kairosnews pointed readers to Alex Halavais' OJR Roundtable Remix with the opportunity to continue and expand the discussion
  • The article was furled by several people
  • It was quoted is almost its entirety on For Tamil Journalists ins Northern Srilanka
  • Blogdex recorded 19 blogs that referenced the article as of June 3, 2004.

    Posted by admin at 06:46 PM |

    • Yes, I Have Shifted Focus...But Not Indefinitely

    I am guilty. My recent tangent into the world of vlogging (video blogging) has left me feeling like I have crossed over to the dark side of something...almost like shifting political aliances or moving from staff to faculty (just kidding, my faculty friends). I am not quite to the point that I want to LifeSwitch, although I admire their site enormously. The Media Studies program at Belmont is looking at blogging as one component to add to a student's arsenal of journalism tools. Assisting with this effort will be another distraction from Chasing the Dragon... but it includes interaction with generations that missed the technology boat but are sincerely interested in catching up. I welcome them to the chase and hope that I can be an encourager. Much of traditional media simply does not get it, in terms of personal web publishing... but the communication and journalism people here at Belmont have really caught on. More later...

    Posted by admin at 05:55 AM |

    June 16, 2004

    Educational Gaming and Gender Differences in Application

    The Learning Game story in today's Canadian National Post delivers an interesting perspective on the use of gaming in education and the gender issues that arise in actual use. The article includes several quotes from Suzanne de Castell, education professor at Simon Fraser University. The quotes that raised my antennae: "...any technology question is also a gender question" and ?It's early days yet. I do think there are real flaws in most 'educational' games -- they're school-based puzzle-oriented, instructional tools. Authentic play doesn't happen like that."

    Posted by admin at 07:40 AM |

    June 15, 2004

    Silicon Valley Not Immune to Digital Divide

    The Dispatch - Digital Divide in Silicone Valley reports today that a survey of 600 people in the Silicon Valley area shows a larger than anticipated gap between Hispanics and non-Hispanics in terms of computer ownership and Internet access. Language and socio-economic conditions were cited as major factors....missing from this report are generational differences in ownership and use (sigh). There is an inference here that due to the heavy concentration of computer related businesses in the valley that those business products and services would somehow automatically spill over into the community...perhaps by osmosis.

    Posted by admin at 07:49 PM |

    June 13, 2004

    Video Diary - Paul's Experiment

    Flash Viewer 6 Required
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    QuickTime SmallQuickTime Large    		At what I would term a leisurely, campground pace, it took the best part of four hours to shoot, capture, edit, and compress video for a two minute long piece using a minimal amount of (although fairly sophisticated) equipment. From my experience over the last 10+ years of shooting video, that is not far from typical for documentary-type productions. A tripod and a remote control for the camera might have sped things up (not to mention more coffee)...and adding just one other person to my one man crew would have reduced the location time by at least half.
    The point: if expensive resources are to be expended, and, if this ratio of production time to delivered product is any where near accurate, then the need and appropriateness of the medium should be weighed heavily against other options. Introducing myself could have been done with much less time and equipment in an audio format. The cave could have been captured in a few digital stills. The 'story' could have been communicated in a narrative text. What the video delivers is the character of the person in a context that reveals more about the person than any audio or still versions can reveal. There is a balancing act to perform here in weighing appropriateness of message, length and media selection that this type of project should address on the front end. The technology IS available. There are useful technical skills that should be acquired and practiced. Performance in front of a camera raises unfamiliar feelings and issues. We live in a world dominated by screen fed stories...the balance is tilting toward the need to include video in the toolbox of delivery systems for stories on the web. As promised on the video clip, I have documented the sequence of events for the video project included in this post:

    Posted by admin at 03:18 PM |

    June 11, 2004

    I Want Video...and I Want it NOW!

    Rio Das Pedras - RioI have recovered emotionally from my immersion into the world of the urban poor (the Kleenex box has disappeared my video editing bay). It is time now to reflect on my primary mission for that experience: to communicate text, visuals, and multimedia while in the field. One of my goals was to shoot, capture, edit, upload, and deliver video clips of the 2 to 4 minute variety similar to what The FeedRoom web site delivers. The major glitch in that sequence turned out to be the availability of Internet access with a connection faster than 56K (ouch). The other glitch was a matter of personal endurance, lacking the energy to do production/editing work after 8-10 hours of field work in stressful conditions. I have an increased appreciation for the embedded journalists of the world...including an understanding of why they include at least one crew member in the 'embedded' formula. It is stimulating and challenging work...even when my artificially determined deadlines approached, the adrenaline rush was there. There is also an element of instant gratification that comes with the delivery of every multimedia element. There is also an element of surprise over how things don't always turn out the way the mind envisions them.

    Posted by admin at 09:43 AM |

    June 09, 2004

    STARBAK' Suite of Streaming Technology

    Business Wire is running a story on STARBAK Communications, Inc. . The report focuses on the success that UnumProvident experienced using STARBAK products for simplified multicast/webcast. Information on the company and products may be found here. Have any of you had any experience with this company?

    Posted by admin at 09:02 AM |

    Another Laptop Program...Great Motives, Questionable Outcomes

    Gustavo Reveles Acosta, writer for the El Paso Times Online, reports a 12 Million Dollar Technology Immersion Project for nine schools or school districts. I should score this as a major defeat of the technology dragon...but I have reservations.

    I applaud the effort to get computers into the hands of middle schoolers...even left to their own devices, students will learn in a classroom of computer users (granted, it may NOT be what the teacher intended for the children to learn, but it woud be learning)...I digress.

    I am hoping that this is just sour grapes and/or the story is just reporting the cream off the top of the story...there are reports on the research and plan available..and those are commendable.. The story mentions that teachers will "learn how to develop lesson plans with them"...now there's a scary thought. I'd be willing to bet that these teachers have already learned how to develop lesson plans. The story also reports, "teachers will go through training for the use and care of the computers"...that phrase gives me nightmares. I have seen first hand what happens when professors attempt to so their own computer mainenance...if you have ever heard Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie's Internet Help Desk (multimedia file), you understand what that means...(there will be kids in the classroom better equipped to do computer maintenance, trust me)

    Posted by admin at 04:40 AM |

    June 07, 2004

    Generational Gaps

    I read with great interest the snippets of graduation speeches (thanks to Teachnology) that appeared in yesterday's New York Times: The New York Times > Education > Commencement Speeches: Threats to Rights and Financial Barriers to Poor Are Cited at Graduations

    Three events will dominate my thinking today, two are in the news: the 60th aniversary of D-Day and the memorializing of former president Reagan; the third is my 29th wedding aniversary. Those three events are connected somehow in my thoughts by the memory of my dad, a genius-musician-educator-type. Doc Chenoweth belonged to the childhood era of Ronald Reagan and his stories and anecdotes had a similar ring to those of our former president. He joked with me back in 1975, that selecting June 7th (D-Day) as a wedding day would make it difficult to forget... when in actuality, I had to stop for a moment to figure out what-the-heck he was talking about. His recollection of D-Day was intimate and first-hand...for me, my wedding day, Deb-Day (my wife's name) would certainly be more memorable to me. This is the generational gap in historical memory that I speak of.

    Posted by admin at 05:03 AM |

    June 05, 2004

    Nigritude Ultramar

    This one's for you, anil. I hope you win BIG! Nigritude Ultramarine: Nigritude Ultramarine

    Posted by admin at 05:05 PM |

    Wanted: Comment Spam Eating Dragon

    Yes, I know that there are solutions to block comment spam from this blog...and I SHALL get around to implementing the necessary upgrades, modifications, and plug-ins. I must whine for now (chalk it up to stress relief). The problem has not been huge for me, but it has certainly been annoying. Over the last few weeks, one particular spammer using a spoofed yahoo email address, hrie@yahoo.com (as well as myname@myname.com), has inserted links in two particular posts on this site for debt consolidation, cheese, online pharmacies, and items for the enlargement of various body parts, ad nauseum. I have at least a dozen IP addresses banned as a result of this, obviously automated, effort. I have turned off the ability to comment on the two older stories that have been targeted. I feel like I am sweeping up behind some low life and need to wash my hands after each clean-up session.

    Posted by admin at 01:48 PM |

    June 04, 2004

    Women Turned Off by Turned On Geeks

    Silicon.com confirms it... sex is an issue in IT. Strategies of Inclusion: Gender and the Information Society reports attitudes in five European countries... it seems that women like the cool stuff that they can do on the Internet and enjoy 'techie' devices, however, the general view of the geeks behind the scene is much less appealing. Back in February, I posted comments on what some perceive to be a self-imposed technology gap between men and women... this current article by Jo Best includes a few new twists. ...maybe a little cologne on my pocket protector will make a difference (NOT!).

    Posted by admin at 01:34 PM |

    Curriculum Developers vs Computer Designers

    Today's article on the PennState Live site, "IST Students to Design K-12 Software as Part of NSF Grant" raises an issue that I have pondered myself... who designs educational technology components? Do we depend on teachers as our primary resource, or, do we depend on computer science professionals? If both skill sets are needed, then where do our future educators (really) go to get 'cross trained'. Is it really enough to know that someone is out there who can convert my curricula concepts into usable electronic simulations? From the article:
    "Few people are cross trained in computer science and curriculum development, so there are few people who can design educational technology and build it.."
    Of course I have seen (and investigated) educational technology programs across the US, but those programs generally seem to be the step-children of other degree programs... am I the only person who has a problem with that? I look at the catalog of my home, Belmont University, and find one 3 hour education course (elective) that includes 'technology in education' within the course title... ok, I'm whining, 'sorry...but I am concerned that the gap between educators and technically proficient educators is not getting smaller (IMHO).

    Posted by admin at 12:07 PM |