Taking Notes

There are various types of students (both in college and k-12 environments); there are those who day in and day out sit in the front row, listen attentively, ask questions, etc. (usually these are your A students). The second breed of students sit in random locations, often try and listen, but find it hard to concentrate for the entire lecture, due to the cute girl in the corner, the guy making strange noises in the next to them, etc. (usually these are your B students). The final breed of students are those who sit in the back, make random comments, day dream, sleep, etc. - basically it's those who simply care about “the grade” not actually learning (usually students in this category may receive anywhere from an F to an A depending on how test savvy and or well suited to cramming they are.)

In any of the above listed categories I honestly feel that using the "Cornell method" of studying will help (not only will it add direction to your learning, but it will keep you awake in class, etc.). It's a great method that I have used and found that it really helps. (No, I don’t get a kick back for pushing this – although my grading will be easier to do bc everyone’s grades will ultimately go up.) It's really simple to do and can be of great service - I say spread the wealth (the funny thing is BYU has the steps listed on their website; I never knew - wish I had.) Here's a sample layout:

Awesome Fieldtrip!

I don't know how many of you were blown away by what we visited, but I have to admit I was really impressed - I'll go so far to say: flabbergasted! One area we are not covering in detail this semester is how to set up your own server (I guess I didn't include that topic simply because those of us using MACs only have to click on our server preference and we good to go.) However, several of the class members have asked, so in an effort to fulfill their thirst for setting up their own server I decided to pass along a great simple to use step by step tutorial. The only recommendation I have that the tutorial doesn't really discuss is = make sure you use a computer that you don't mind risking being hacked or having spyware and or viruses infecting your server (there's always that risk on personally amateur run servers.)

Observations: Have a good time!

Today is your big day visiting junior high schools. I hope you enjoy your time, take advantage of your time there - helping out, asking questions, etc. Make sure you fill out the observation forms and that you come to class next week ready to discuss your experience.

Photos

I have seen some pretty great photos thus far. Scott has done a pretty good job and has also used Picassa to upload, edit, and show his photos. Check it out.

Project TV

I feel www.project.tv is a very intersting site that can impact (+ -) student learning; I only wish they had a category for high school and junior high students. Hmm... imagine if we created a site for that audience. Or does one exist? At any rate you should visit www.theproject.tv and watch Seth's movie "Glad I Got A Sword Today", it's fairly well done.

Cheaters!

What do you think about this Slashdot article referencing SpectralDesign.Net:

"The results of a research paper released Wednesday reveal who is admitting to cheating (in North America). The study focused on 5,300 graduate students in Canada and the U.S. and concluded that the biggest cheaters were business students — 56% of them admitted to copying papers, plagiarizing, etc. The author of the study said, 'The typical comment is that what's important is getting the job done. How you get it done is less important. You'll have business students saying all I'm doing is emulating the behavior I'll need when I get out in the real world.'" Other grad-student cheaters include: engineering students, 54%; physical sciences, 50%; medical and health-care, 49%; law, 45%; liberal arts, 43%; and social science and humanities students, 39%. These numbers are close to the guesstimate of the anonymous professor.

I don't know if the data is accurate, or even if it clearly represents us, but I wonder about how valid some of the student comments are? I also wonder if this should put pressure on us to become better teachers further integrating moral dimensions into our teaching philosophy and pedagogy?!

125 Class News

It looks like only 4 people have submitted their camera assignment; hopefully by the beginning of class today people have it submitted! Erica has the right idea, she has her website acting as the host for all of her assignments (visit her website and note how she has a place where she will be listing all of her assignments.) You might also want to check out her design, it's not bad. Erica uses some of the principals of appropriate graphic/ web design. Quax (Zach) has also has his website up, running, and looking pretty good. Remember: your websites were due last time, however, as you become more proficient with the tools we are exploring this semester please continue to revamp your website (if needed; I'll be honest, there are some of you who need to do some revamping - but that's ok - it's a learning process.) Note: the principles of design I will be using to evaluate your websites are: color usage, texture, space, size, balance, unity, line, emphasis, etc.

Mindtools Article

Here is a great article that discusses teaching with technology rather than about technology. Please have it read by Thursday's class.

Video Skype

The new version of Skype is great; free video chatting that gets around firewalls. HUGE! (I only mention the firewall part bc CAEDM blocks iChat from working.) The version that actually works isn't the 1.5.0.79, it's the 1.5.0.77. For some strange reason I had troubles getting the newer one working with video, but the older works like a champ. Here's the link to the older download. How do you think Skype will impact the world of education?

Web 2.0 (Interesting Find)

Here is a site dedicated to Web 2.0; for those of you who are interested (as per. our class discussion on this topic) go see this Flash based site that lists all the popular Web 2.0 based sites. It's pretty neat.

http://www.go2web20.net/

Personal Websites (Portfolios) Due

Today is the day (whatever that means)! Yes, I hope you checked your syllabus re: when your sites are due. There seems to have been some confusion, however, as the syllabus states: Websites/ Portfolio is due today (that doesn't mean you can't contiue to work on them/, in fact you should cont. to develop them; however, a preliminary grade will be given.) Note: remember to go to our class 125 wiki and put your link in under your name (make your name an active link to your website.)

Web Design: follow-up

Mellissa Z. wrote a great summary of web design principals (although perhaps next time you can site your references) - some of you still haven't submitted this assignment?! Here is Mellissa's (nice work):

I found a site that commented on the 10 good deeds and the 10 bad deeds in many
webpage designs.

10 good deeds-
1. Placing your name and logo on every page and then make the logo link to the
home page
2. Providing a search function if the site has more than 100 pages
3. Headlines and page titles that explain what each page is about. Make sure it
makes sense.
4. Page structure that helps with scanning.
5. Use of hypertext to help structure the page
6. Product photos that aren’t cluttered. Use small photos, then link it to the bigger
one.
7. Use relevance-enhanced image reduction when resizing photos.
8. Use link titles as a preview of where each link will take the user before they click
on it.
9. All important pages are accessible for users with disabilities.
10. If something is working on big websites, then follow along with the flow.

10 bad deeds-
1. Bad search engines that are unable to handle typos, plurals, hyphens, etc.
2. PDF files that break the flow of browsing. They can be hard to navigate.
3. Not changing the color of visited links. It helps in knowing your past and present
locations and makes it easier to decide where to go next.
4. Non-scannable text. It can be intimidating, boring, and painful to read.
5. Fixed font size. The majority of the time the font is tiny and hard to read.
6. Page titles with low search engine visibility. Searches are a good way for people
to find your website.
7. Advertisements, banners, and pop-ups.
8. No consistency.
9. Clicking on a link and having it open a new browser window.
10. Not fully answering the users’ questions in a search.

You need to ask yourself questions when you are in the design stages of your webpage.
What is the purpose?
Who is the audience?
What is the competition doing?
What will your pages say?
How will the pages look?
What is your timeline?
Who will/can test your site?

There are also some elementary rules of usage that you should follow.
Make sure your links work.

TTE 276: Thurs follow-up

I hope you enjoyed reading the first two chapters of "Bonds that Make Us Free" by Terry Warner; I really feel his book is a powerful tool for shaping us as teachers, disciples, students, parents, friends, etc. As you read "Learning and Teaching for Exponential Growth" please try and understand how the theories presented can impact your teaching and learning; it too can improve who we are.

As per the STLs today (I would say overall not bad; I feel I was able to capture some of what was shared). Here is my brief capture, please visit the wiki and add your insights and thoughts.

Geoff's Furl Suggestions

Here is an RSS you guys can add if you like. It is an rss that collects any "finds" I come across as I carouse the web. Simply copy and past this xml link into your preferred rss aggregator. (Note: you should visit furl and check it out - it's like de.lic.ious, basically a social bookmarking software. Pretty neat how we can share our knowledge like this.


http://rss.furl.net/members/ge_off9/rss.xml

Principles of Design and FTP

Hopefully class was a little more helpful today (here is the lecture ppt); I really feel well designed material are more effective and instructional (good luck with your websites.) Note the TA hours have been posted on our wiki (we have another new TA = Alan Buzbee; he is really savvy and should provide great assistance.

The following are the steps to upload stuff to your www drive:

MAC
1. From the desktop > Click "Go" > "Connect to Server"
2. Type in "smb://fs-caedm/homes/" in the server dialogue box.
3. A prompt will then come up asking for your CAEDM login.
4. Open up your www drive (it might be titled as your login name or HOMES)
5. Drag the files you want access to on the internet into your www drive

Windows
1. Download CoreFTP
2. Install CoreFTP
3. Open CoreFTP
4. Type in: www.et.byu.edu into the server name area
5. Type in your caedm user name and pw into the areas asking for username and pw
6. Click connect
7. Drag the files you want on the web into the www file that will show on the right hand of the program.

Remember if you have any questions just email or talk with the TAs (again check their hours out on the class wiki) and or contact me.

Principles of Design and FTP

Hopefully class was a little more helpful today (here is the lecture ppt); I really feel well designed material are more effective and instructional (good luck with your websites.) Note the TA hours have been posted on our wiki (we have another new TA = Alan Buzbee; he is really savvy and should provide great assistance.

The following are the steps to upload stuff to your www drive:

MAC
1. From the desktop > Click "Go" > "Connect to Server"
2. Type in "smb://fs-caedm/homes/" in the server dialogue box.
3. A prompt will then come up asking for your CAEDM login.
4. Open up your www drive (it might be titled as your login name or HOMES)
5. Drag the files you want access to on the internet into your www drive

Windows
1. Download CoreFTP
2. Install CoreFTP
3. Open CoreFTP
4. Type in: www.et.byu.edu into the server name area
5. Type in your caedm user name and pw into the areas asking for username and pw
6. Click connect
7. Drag the files you want on the web into the www file that will show on the right hand of the program.

Remember if you have any questions just email or talk with the TAs (again check their hours out on the class wiki) and or contact me.

Interesting class today?!

So what did you think? Did today's class shake anyone up?! Do you think non-linear teaching techniques are effective. From my vantage point I think there were benefits to implementing this system: first, it was a great tool to use as a pre-test (now, I have a better understanding where people are at, what they know, how you work together, your willingness to trouble shoot and figure things out, etc.), I also think it was effective because it pushed you to analyze what you know and to try and figure out something that's a little complicated under a time constraint. However, the obvious draw backs to this type of instructional procedure is the chaos, confusion, and possible learning outliers (those who get it quick and don't feel empowered, and those who don't get it - due to lack of exposure, effort, etc.) I do feel coaching is a good approach if students are self-motivated and have some background.

In light of our experience today I think there were several of you who did grow and seemed to learn something, however, I don't know if that happened at an exponential rate for everyone (which really should be the goal.)

In an effort to better instruct you (now having taken you through the mud) we (the TAs and I) will re-visit website design and work on helping you acquire the skills to be able to build your own website. Everyone will need to download a freeware "Dreamweaver like" application titled: NVU (N-View). Here's the link. We will use this app. in an effort to help you learn and understand basic HTML and website layout. While we will use this app to help you gain a better understanding of HTML and website layout, I don't necessarily want you to use this app for your portfolio site, I would rather you use an app you foresee using in the future or feel has more affordances than others.

Website Building

Some of you completed last week's assignments - nice work; those of you who didn't - well, it's catch-up time.

Today we will be building websites, yes, actually building. If you're new to website design and function hopefully you will be "paired" with a team who can catch you up and "teach" you how to build a website.

Here's today's assignment/ outline: "Have you ever visited our current TTE website?" It's pretty darn terrible; however, some students went to work and re-designed and programmed a new version which isn't quite as bad, yet it's still lacking. Your assignment is to create the new TTE website based on the BYU website layout (same color schemes, fonts, etc.) You will be teamed with two others (3) and each person will need to design a page (it needs to be done by end of class today). You can host from your www drive (or elsewhere if needed). The three or more pages that need to be done are: home nav page, program overview page, and people with contact info page. Note: I haven't defined what has to be on each page - simply make it the best possible, and learn while doing it (here's what you should learn: how to work as a team, ensure that you understand basic web design principles, basic HTML, how to make internal and external links, etc. You might also learn how to copy code, use CSS, etc. Really what you learn is up to you, how hard you work, and how much your SME {Subject Matter Expert} helps you to learn.)

There are basically 3 types of instructional models: Direct instruction (what we did last time), modular (using a tutorial, step by step, etc.) or non-linear (self pace, group pace, peer collaboration, coaching, etc.) Today's project/ assignment/ learning experience follows the 3rd type of learning/ instructional model: non-linear. Let's see how you like it, and what it does for you. Let me know with a comment on this posting - also post a link to your "finished" re-design TTE website to this post.

Welcome to TTE 125 and 276!

So, in an effort to model what we are learning about I thought I would resurrect an old blog I used to keep. You will be able to access all of our class resources from this one site, in addition I will post any changes, exciting news, and daily activities here. Also, please feel free to comment; in fact if you come across any great finds from reading your RSS feeds please post those here as well.