A Portable Malaise?

Laptop Teaching: Checking In

2007-12-12T05:44:00.001-08:00

Hello, everyone.

Two quick notes, one very important.

* If you've got comments, suggestions, concerns, etc. about laptops or laptop teaching, now is an excellent time to send them along. I'll be spending a lot of time at the beginning of next semester working on next year's tech request, and that's one of our big chances to get things fixed and upgraded.

* The very important note: We've got several new teachers assigned to laptop classrooms for spring, and we may be short laptops. If you know that you won't really be using your laptop next semester, I'd appreciate knowing right away if you'd be willing to volunteer to turn yours in for re-assignment. (If I don't get any volunteers, we may have to call some laptops back in anyway, and I hate doing that.)

Hope to hear from you soon,

Fred

First Day Laptop Notes

2007-08-20T04:27:00.001-07:00

Good morning, everyone. A few notes for this first day o' the semester:

1. Ethernet cables. Currently the Ethernet ports in 106 and 107 are
*not* working. As you'll remember, it can be a problem if every
student in both of those rooms is wirelessly Internetting at the same
time, since that can cause everyone's net connection to slow way
down. We're hoping the Ethernet problem will be fixed soon. VIS is
working on it. Given all that, you may or may not want to require
that your students buy short Ethernet cables if you're teaching in
those rooms. My best suggestion is that you require the cables only
if you know you'll be doing some pretty intense online work all
semester long.

2. Generally speaking, if you're in a laptop room and you have plans
to have your students do intense online work in class, it's good
policy to require them to buy Ethernet cables as part of their course
supplies. Short ones can be purchased at the Computer Showcase in RB
for substantially less than $10.

3. The car reader door locks SHOULD be programmed to accept all of
our IDs. But--as always at the beginning of the year--anticipate
bumps. You may need to have a neighboring teacher let you in. (And,
if that's the case, you should shoot an email to Chris Elliot,
celliott@bsu.edu, and let him know your card isn't working.)

4. I have Mac video adapters (for lending) in my office. Let me
know if you're in need of one.

5. IP Printing in 17S: By the end of the week, I'll have
instructions for wirelessly printing for those of you teaching in 17S.
6. 3-6:00, MW, is a good time to look for me in my office. But
email if you need to find me at other times.

Cheers,

Fred

Fwd: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

2007-08-11T07:42:00.001-07:00

Hey, folks . . .

Notice the upcoming Tablet PC, Blackboard, and Office 07 sessions in the Tech Training list below. These are about an hour long and are usually a good way to get the basics under control.

Fred

Begin forwarded message:

Date: August 11, 2007 3:05:42 AM EDT
Subject: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

Technology Training Support Services invites you to attend the following workshops to advance your technical skills. Please click on the title to see a description and to register for the session. Or, go to www.bsu.edu/techtrain to see the training calendar and register for training sessions.
Campus Utilities and Applications
August 15 What's New with Wireless Networking
August 23 What's New with Wireless Networking
August 27 What's New with Wireless Networking

Faculty/Staff Walk-In Clinic
August 17 Vignette Workshop
August 24 Vignette Workshop
August 31 Vignette Workshop

Instructional Technology
August 13 Blackboard 1: Content Management
August 13 SMART Board Basics
August 13 Gradebook - Introduction
August 14 Blackboard 1: Content Management
August 14 Gradebook - Introduction
August 14 Tablet PC + Active Learning
August 14 inQsit - Creating Online Tests
August 15 What is New with Blackboard?
August 15 What is New with Blackboard?
August 15 What is New with Blackboard?
August 15 What is New with Blackboard?
August 20 Tablet PC + Active Learning
August 22 Power Presentations Basics
August 22 What is New with Blackboard?
August 22 Gradebook - Introduction
August 22 SMART Board Basics
August 23 Power Presentations Media & Design
August 23 What is New with Blackboard?
August 24 What is New with Blackboard?
August 30 Tablet PC+ Digital Grading and Document Sharing

Media and Design
August 14 Vignette Basics
August 16 Vignette Basics
August 24 Vignette Basics

Office Productivity
August 15 Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007
August 22 Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007
August 28 Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007
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A destination for research, learning, and friends
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Office 2007: Getting It Before It Gets You

2007-07-20T16:19:00.001-07:00

Greetings, all.

As you may know, a new version of Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) was released last year, along with the new Windows Vista operating system, and both are now available free from BSU. While you don't need to upgrade to Windows Vista yet (and there are good reasons to wait), it would be a very good idea to go ahead and upgrade to Office 2007, which runs just fine in good ol' Windows XP. There are three major reasons to make the switch. (1) Freshman arriving with new PCs will be using Office 07. (2) The labs all over campus (including our e-classrooms) will gradually be making the switch this year. (3) The new file format for Office '07, which ultimately is a big improvement, in the short term is going to make trouble for those of us still using Word 2003 which, as is, will not read Word 2007 files.

To (I hope!) help you decide how to manage the looming menace of Office 2007, I've put together a little page full of download links and help links, here. Take a look at the page, which covers upgrading and makes suggestions about handling files, whether you're working on a PC or a Mac. (There's even a special Mac section.)

My recommendation is that you upgrade to Office 2007 now, so that you'll have time to get comfortable with it before school starts. You can postpone, if you'd like, but sooner or later Mr. Gates *will* suck you into the new interface. That's the kind of power he has.

If you'd like to get a "sample" of the new programs before you take the leap, Chris Elliott has helped us out by installing Office 2007 on the workroom PC nearest the laser printer.

Let me know if you run into trouble or have further questions.

Fred Johnson

PS: I've been playing with especially Word 2007 for a couple of weeks, and I really do like the changes, for what it's worth. The interface is a little foreign at first, but once I found the options I use most often, everything did work a bit more smoothly than it did in the old interface.

PPS: The link for that help page, again:

http://www.google.com/notebook/public/00598166139742801604/BDSaYIgoQ06ejjLsi

Making a "Help" List for e-Classrooms

2007-07-03T15:06:00.001-07:00

Folks--

I'm working on a "help" sheet with numbers and emails for common
problems or questions people might have when teaching in the e-
classrooms, and I was hoping you could give me a hand making sure
I've covered everything.

Seems to me there are about a half-dozen categories that would cover
most problems:

* Paper and Other Supplies
* Computers
* Printers and Printing
* Projectors and Projector Bulbs
* All Other Instructional Equipment
* Furniture and Room Maintenance Issues
* Temperature

Two questions for you:

(1) Can you think of things that might not fit into those categories?
(2) Are there specific troubleshooting/help questions you want to see
addressed more clearly?

(Question 2 is where you vent. E.g., "How the %$#@ do I . . ." or
"What the %$#$ am I supposed to do when . . ." C'mon. You know
you've got one.)

Thanks!

Fred

Fwd: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

2007-05-13T06:14:00.001-07:00

All-

Notice the two Tablet PC sessions coming up (see below). (And there are also sessions on things like blogging and podcasting for the classroom.)

That is all,

Fred

Begin forwarded message:

From: <lputman@bsu.edu>
Date: May 13, 2007 3:04:59 AM EDT
To: <abjohnson@bsu.edu>
Subject: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

Technology Training Support Services invites you to attend the following workshops to advance your technical skills. Please click on the title to see a description and to register for the session. Or, go to www.bsu.edu/techtrain to see the training calendar and register for training sessions.
Faculty/Staff Walk-In Clinic
May 18 Vignette Workshop
June 1 Vignette Workshop

Instructional Technology
May 17 Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 17 SMART Board Basics
May 18 SMART Board Basics
May 18 Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 21 Best of Blackboard
May 22 inQsit - Creating Online Surveys
May 29 inQsit - Creating Online Tests

Media and Design
May 15 Introduction to Blogs
May 16 Introduction to Podcasting
May 16 Vignette Basics
May 17 Introduction to Vodcasting
May 24 Vignette Basics
May 29 Web Design Basics
May 30 Microsoft FrontPage 1: Introduction
May 30 Using WORD 2003 to Create Web Pages
May 31 Microsoft FrontPage 3: Working with Graphics & Web Components
May 31 Using WORD 2003 to Create Web Pages

Office Productivity
May 21 Office 2007 - A First Look
May 25 Excel 1: Fundamentals
May 30 Office 2007 - A First Look
June 1 Excel 2: Formulas & Functions

Technology Development Series
May 30 Introduction to iWeb for Macintosh Users
May 31 Adding Multimedia to iWeb sites for Macintosh Users
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
This email was sent to you by University Libraries' Technology Training Support Services. You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time.

Keeping Laptops for Summer

2007-04-30T06:12:00.001-07:00

Folks with Departmental Laptops--

(1) Big announcement: So long as you're planning to teach at BSU in the fall, we're not taking the laptops back over the summer. The laptop pool is big enough now that the chances of us having to completely redistribute them in the fall are much less than they were last year. More importantly, summer is the best time for many of us to experiment and learn how to use new tools. So I talked with Drs. McBride and Hozeski, and we all agreed that leaving the machines with you is the best policy.

(2) Two notes on that, though. First, if your computer is slowing down, messing up, freaking out, or in any way on the fritz, please get in touch with Chris Elliott (celliott@bsu.edu) and set up a time to leave your computer with him for a checkup. (Chris can fill you in on how to do regular maintenance yourself, too, if you'd like to do it yourself.) Second, remember that if you are not assigned to a laptop-only classroom in the fall, we *may* have to take back your laptop in the fall, so that some laptop-less person who *has* been assigned to a laptop-only classroom can be equipped. But we're going to try to avoid that, and we think that we probably can.

(3) Tech Training: Once or twice a month, we get "Tech Training" emails (like the one appended below) in our inboxes. These are easy to ignore, I know, but these folks run some pretty valuable intro sessions for us, for free. Summer might be a good time to consider one, like maybe Tablet PC one being offered on the 17th. If you've got interest, sign up, so they don't cancel the sessions.

(4) On the evils of PowerPoint. (There's funny here, if you need a grading break.)

(5) Non-evil PowerPoint. (Not so much funny, but a very good set of principles. Bookmark this one.)

One week to summer break . . .

Fred

Begin forwarded message:

From: <lputman@bsu.edu>
Date: April 29, 2007 3:04:50 AM EDT
To: <abjohnson@bsu.edu>
Subject: Technology Training for Faculty and Staff

Technology Training Support Services invites you to attend the following workshops to advance your technical skills. Please click on the title to see a description and to register for the session. Or, go to www.bsu.edu/techtrain to see the training calendar and register for training sessions.
Instructional Technology
May 17 Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 17 SMART Board Basics
May 18 SMART Board Basics
May 18 Tablet PC + Active Learning

Media and Design
May 15 Introduction to Blogs
May 16 Introduction to Podcasting

Office Productivity
May 1 Access 4: Reports
Ball State University Libraries
A destination for research, learning, and friends
This email was sent to you by University Libraries' Technology Training Support Services. You may unsubscribe from our mailing list at any time.

Fwd: IMPORTANT - Daylight Saving Time

2007-02-27T05:44:00.000-08:00

G'morning, folks.

If you haven't already, please DO take a couple of minutes today to run updates on your laptops, in advance of Daylight Savings Time. Step one (below) is the one you need to worry about.

Fred

PS: Macs: You just need to run "Software Update," which you can access at the "light switch" icon that opens the control panel.

Begin forwarded message:

From: "helpdesk@bsu.edu" <helpdesk@bsu.edu>
Date: February 27, 2007 5:34:09 AM EST
To: abjohnson@bsu.edu
Subject: IMPORTANT - Daylight Saving Time
Reply-To: helpdesk@bsu.edu

To view the HTML version of this message, copy and paste the following URL into your browser:http://vgndialog.bsu.edu:8181/hm?g=1.3gb8s.2c6y.rs.0.3mx24.2evp&h=1
UNIVERSITY COMPUTING SERVICES
This message contains important information about your computer and electronic devices, and is a follow-up to the message you received last week about the upcoming daylight saving time change. Please read this message entirely and follow the steps provided to make sure you are protected.

If these steps are not followed, your appointments and clocks will be one-hour off after March 11.
Step One – Update Your Computer:

Please be sure to perform this step before Wednesday, February 28^th.
If you have Windows XP, make sure all critical updates are installed on your computer by visiting Windows Update. If you are running a Macintosh or some other version of Windows, check the Daylight Saving Time web site at www.bsu.edu/ucs/dst for more information. A tool is also available on this site which you can use to make sure the update has been successfully applied to your computer.

After performing this update, you may notice Outlook appointments occurring after March 11 are off by one hour. Do not attempt to correct these appointments manually by dragging them to a different time! They will be corrected automatically later.

Need help with this step? Click Step One - Update Your Computer

Step Two – Wait For UCS Server Update:

UCS will begin an update to all central e-mail servers at 5:00pm on Wednesday, February 28^th. This update may take several days to complete, as it will update and fix all appointments occurring after March 11^th in all Outlook calendars across the entire university. You will receive a message from UCS when this process is complete.

Need help with this step? Click Step Two - Wait For UCS Server Update
Step Three – Check Your Appointments:

After you receive the message that the UCS central e-mail server update has been completed, you should check your appointments in Outlook occurring after March 11^th to make sure they have been corrected.

Even if the appointment times appear correct in your calendar, you should re-verify important meeting times with all attendees for appointments occurring after March 11^th. Your calendar may be correct, however others may not be. This is especially true for appointments involving individuals outside the university, since their computers or calendars may not have been updated.
Need help with this step? Step Three - Check Your Appointments
Thank You!
Thank you for your assistance as we work though this change to the daylight saving time. Again, verifying appointments by phone or e-mail follow-up is a good idea for appointments occurring after March 11^th especially if the appointment involves individuals outside of Ball State University.

Re: Tablet PC Training through UCS

2007-02-26T10:40:00.000-08:00

PS: If you *do* go to one of the sessions they're offering, I'd be
interested in hearing about how useful (or not) it turns out to be
for you. Fred

On Feb 26, 2007, at 1:39 PM, Fred Johnson wrote:

> Laptop Folks--
>
> I'm planning to do a 2-hour evening workshop sometime next month on
> the laptop classrooms, but, in the meantime, some of you may be
> interested in this:
>
> http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/minicourse2/course_session_detail.asp?

> CourseID=7016&SponsorID=1
>
> It's one of UCS's little one tech training sessions, focused on
> using Tablet PCs.
>
> Fred

Tablet PC Training through UCS

2007-02-26T10:39:00.000-08:00

Laptop Folks--

I'm planning to do a 2-hour evening workshop sometime next month on
the laptop classrooms, but, in the meantime, some of you may be
interested in this:

http://www.bsu.edu/webapps/minicourse2/course_session_detail.asp?

CourseID=7016&SponsorID=1

It's one of UCS's little one tech training sessions, focused on using
Tablet PCs.

Fred

Snow Day Visual Rhetoric Viewing

2007-02-13T05:04:00.001-08:00

Two virtuoso displays of visual presentation rhetoric, the first is for satirical (and comedic) effect, the second is more serious but possibly even more entertaining, in a way. (Watch three minutes of the Rosling video, and you'll be hooked for the other 17.) (If you're me.)

Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert on At&T:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJMkmjugSi8

And

Prof. Hans Rosling (Karolinska Institute in Sweden) on myths about the developing world:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4237353244338529080&q=label%3A%22ted%22+rosling

Fred

PS: And what does this have to do with teaching with laptops (since this is the laptop list)? This: that clips like these have never been so easily available and reliably display-able as they are with laptops. You cue the clip up on your browser before class, or maybe even download it. And then it plays in class the way you expect (something that is not always the case with our permanently installed teacher stations, on which you can't always test your presentations beforehand, and in which there are often unexpected quirks).

Laptop Classroom Maintenance Notes: Please Read

2007-01-04T14:09:00.001-08:00

All--

Eight quick laptop classroom maintenance notes for the start of the semester. Pesky but important.

Pranks:

1. Desk pranks. The nice desks we have in the laptop rooms have one serious flaw, and that's that idle-handed students can pop off the metal covers on the legs. These pop right back on, though. Please, if you notice those weird triangular-shaped pieces coming loose, try to pop them back on. It's a pain, I know. I'm working on getting the custodial staff to help us out with this, too. I'll let you know. (If you can't get it done, just place the pieces neatly out of the way, as you've been doing. If you discover that you're a wily and talented leg-fixer, please feel free to pop as many of them back on as you'd like.)

2. Ethernet pranks. In RB 107 and LA 20S, some clever students sitting against the wall in one of the "islands" spent a class period or two disconnecting the Ethernet cables from the wall. Watch out for that. It may be the reason why the Ethernet (Internet) ports at the desks suddenly don't work right . . .

Day-to-Day:

3. Be sure to shut down the projectors when you leave. The bulbs seem a little prone to burning out, but part of the problem is that they sometimes get left on overnight, or, worse, over the weekend. (For that reason, if you notice the blue light of a left-on projector in ANY deserted departmental computer room, please pop in and shut it down.)

4. Also please be sure to shut down the document cameras ("ELMOs") in RB 106 and 107, if you use them. I've found them running several times over the last semester, and they don't like it.

5. There are hooks on the wall in LA where you can hang up the cables after you're done teaching. Please do that; when they're on the floor, they're always in greater danger of being damaged, or of tripping somebody. If things go as I hope they'll go, we should also have hooks in the RB classrooms by Monday. Use 'em.

Breakdowns:

6. Equipment Breakdowns: If projectors, document cameras, VCRs, touchscreen control panels, or any other piece of equipment in the laptop rooms malfunctions, please call VIS right away. 285-3999. (I'd appreciate it, also, if you could drop me a line/email when you call in the VIS cavalry, so I have a sense of what's breaking, and how often.)

7. For problems with your laptop (or with desktop computers in the regular classrooms), contact Chris Elliot, the English Dept. Computer Specialist. 285-8528, celliott@bsu.edu.

8. Last one . . . If you have a laptop breakdown during the semester, Sharon has two spares she can check out to you for a limited time. So long as no more than two of you break down at once, we should be able to keep everybody "in business."

Thanks for reading to the end, everyone. I'll see you next week . . .

Fred

Classroom Assignments, Keeping Laptops, Ethernet Cables . . . and You

2006-12-20T14:33:00.001-08:00

Hello, everyone.

Four quick(ish) laptop classroom notes and queries.

1. Jama's just given me the list of spring laptop classroom teachers, and it's a good deal shorter this semester than last. As long as you're making use of the laptops, however, or even just thinking hard about making use of them, I want you all to be able to hold onto them all year. There are guest computer hookups in every writing program classroom, so you can make use of them whether you're in an official laptop room or not, and--more importantly--I want you to be able to continue to play with and experiment with them.

2. We do have three new names on the list of laptop classroom teachers (David, Nicole, and Larry), though, and I'm looking at options for supplying them with laptops. If one of you has a departmental laptop that you don't anticipate opening up next semester, either because you're using a personal laptop (Todd?) or because you and laptops don't much get along, please let me know. (I've talked to Larry, but, David and Nicole, you should contact me and let me know if you actually have a personal laptop you'd prefer to use. That would make my job easier, but it's *definitely* not a requirement that you use your own machine to teach.)

3. IMPORTANT: Please make sure that this coming semester, as last semester, you make ethernet cables a required item for your students in laptop classrooms. (Ethernet cables are the cables used to hook computers to the Internet.) The computer showcase center on the first floor of RB has short ones on sale for $3-4, so it's not a huge financial burden. (Also, it would be good for our relationship with the Showcase Center if we could sell out their supply.) Though we have wireless all over, if every laptop classroom student logs in at once, UCS says we'll slow the building-wide network to a crawl. So it's a matter of (n)etiquette. (This, I hope, won't be the case in the future, but for now we need to do our part to keep the local network moving.)

4. Most days, students won't necessarily need to use the ethernet cables; but make sure they bring them on big 'net work days. In a pinch, there are spares--which should be stowed after any class when they're used--located in the teaching station cabinets in RB and in the little grey cabinets in LA 20S and 17S.

Fred

PS: If you've got some feedback for me on how the laptops and laptop classrooms are or aren't working for you, please send it to me. (And, as I tell my students, positive feedback can be as helpful as negative for helping a guy do a good job.)

Future of Touchscreens

2006-10-30T07:30:00.000-08:00

Two laptop-ish links.

(1) Jeff Han demos his amazing touchscreen interface. Makes our current tablet PC capabilities look wimpy; but it also makes it look like the tablet interface is an indication of what's to come.

(2) Macs Only: A good site for free Mac applications.

Sending Large Files: a Quick Note

2006-10-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

All--

If you're having any issues with really large visual student files clogging up our really small email inboxes, you might want to check out Pando, which hosts big files online and lets users with the address download them. (There are a few other options for sending large files linked here.)

Fred

Cleaning Up Mac Desktops and Docs

2006-10-10T11:34:00.001-07:00

Apple Folks-->

I just came across two li'l programs that might interest you.

1) Desktopple, a free program that does just one thing: temporarily hides all the icons on your desktop. Could be useful when hooking up to a projector, especially if the projector has lower resolution than your Mac. (I have a lot of detritus on my desktop, and syncing my screen with one of the projectors always jumbles my icons.) http://foggynoggin.com/desktopple

2) Overflow. This one costs fifteen dollars but has a free preview. Basically, this is to help you have quick access to all your applications but ALSO have a clean simple dock. It kind of gives you multiple docks to launch from. Really, you need to see it to understand, and, luckily, the software company has a handy video on the linked paged that shows you what it does. Worth a look if your dock is getting too full. http://www.stuntsoftware.com/Overflow/

2.5) Overflow is kind of a more elegant version of the free program Todos, which I linked to a few weeks ago: http://www.dbachrach.com/opensoft/index.php?page=Todos

That's all I've got,

Two Annotated Lists of Online Applications

2006-10-09T12:49:00.001-07:00

All--

* Does anyone know when or how or under what conditions the touch panel controller in RB 106 shut down? I'm going to work on getting it fixed, and it's always good to know how and why it stopped working.

* In the meantime, if you're in 106, you can make everything work with the remote. Instructions are on one of the guidance sheets/comics on the counter.

* Just a reminder: Please be sure to re-lock the doors on the cabinets in 106 and 107, if you open them.

For your reference and entertainment:

--> SlideShare is an interesting new online utility that let's you post PowerPoint presentations for retrieval online. You have to ask to be invited to use it, but if you ask, they'll invite you. (If that makes sense.) I'm expecting to play with this a little. It's kind of YouTube for PowerPoint.

--> Here and here you'll find interesting annotated lists of web-based applications that might prove useful to someone with a laptop computer teaching in a school with great wireless internet access. (Hey! That's you!) And here's a third list of interest, overviewing online note-taking tools.

I tend to glance at lists like this now and then, so that if I can be aware of tools like this when the time comes that they might be immediately useful. E.g., I knew about Flickr for months before I tried it, but I fired it up when I realized it could be useful for photo essay projects in 103. I spent ten minutes looking at Writely one day, and I didn't really put it to use until almost a year later, when I needed to collaborate with a couple of people on a piece of writing. Etc.

That is all.

Fred

NVU for Free, Cross-Platform Web Design

2006-10-05T08:59:00.001-07:00

Kenan asks:

Being in a laptop classroom where I am requiring websites has presented a problem we may not have foreseen. Not everyone has the same website creation software. My temporary solution has been to have them form study groups according to the type of software they are using. If anyone has any other suggestions let me know. I wonder if this is an issue that needs to be addressed as faculty.

My suggestion, as a first possible solution, is that we direct students to NVU, which is a free, well-respected, Mozilla-based web design program. And it's cross-platform, so your Macs and your PCs will be able to run it equally well. It's not as easy to do fancy rollovers and whatnot as it is to do them in Frontpage, but it's a-ok out of the box for basic web design.

There's a link here at the bottom of my "productivity" page at the help site, and you can go directly to it here.

The image at the top shows what you need to enter to set up NVU to work with a BSU site. (Click the image to make it bigger.)

Quick Notes

2006-10-03T12:08:00.001-07:00

All--

Three quick computers-on-campus notes:

1) BSU is featured in a USA Today article today about computers on
campus:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-10-02-gennext-tech_x.htm

2) I've made a few additions to the laptop help-and-suggestions
pages. Go see:

http://abjohnson.iweb.bsu.edu/laptopready

3) Shoot me an email if you're up for some kind of evening playing-
with-tablet-PCs event/workshop/play-date this month, where those of
us who are interested can share tips and ask questions about using
these laptops in the classroom.

Fred

Just Notes and Links

2006-09-06T05:33:00.001-07:00

Hello, everyone.

Just a reminder that if you're running into any consistent tech problems in the laptop rooms, you should let me know.

And an exhortation: Share ideas and solutions with each other! The thing that's great about having so many laptops in circulation now is that we have so many brilliant minds working on how to use them.

Some links of interest:

* A tool I'll add to the help site soon, worth a look: Snipshot, for online photo editing.

* And here's a rundown of all the online photo sharing sites (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/web_photo_sharing_faceoff.php), in case any of you are looking for interesting ways for students to work with photos.

* Some funny (or mildly amusing, at least) parodies of the recent Mac vs. PC ads that Apple's been running. Relevant because this one's about Tablet PCs. (The one about games and jobs is pretty funny, too, and it sets up the joke at the end of the Tablet PC one.) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9Krgk4Mlps&mode=related&search=)

* And just to show I love the Macs, too, here's Todos (http://www.dbachrach.com/opensoft/index.php?page=Todos), which gives Macs a kind of super dock, showing all their applications at once. I just tried it. It's neat.

All for now,

Fred

Two Small Notes: Power Cords, Document Cameras

2006-08-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Two quick notes.

(1) A few people have been confused about the two power cords
included with the new Tablet PCs. The little one is for carrying.
The big one is for plugging in the "port replicator," which is a
docking station you can use in your office. (If you don't get the
docking station thing, just hold onto it, for now.)

(2) I keep noticing that the document cameras in 106 and 107 are
being left on. Please shut 'em off when you're done with them.

That is all,

Computers and Carrying Cases are Ready

2006-08-23T12:46:00.001-07:00

Hello, everyone. The carrying cases are here, and the computers are
ready to go.

If you're slated for a new machine, go see Sharon, and she'll hook
you up.

First three things you should do:

1. Charge it all the way up, by plugging it in. (The power cord is
in the brown box.) Once it's charged all the way up, run the battery
all the way down, or as close to all the way down as you dare.
(It'll warn you when it's at 10% power. Push it beyond that, until
it's scolding you about shutting down soon, and then plug it in.)
This helps get the battery in good shape. (And you should try to run
the power all the way down about once a month, actually, just to keep
the battery on its toes.) (No kidding.)

2. When you first turn the machine on, it'll offer you tutorials.
Do 'em. They're clear and helpful. (If for some reason your machine
doesn't offer you a tutorial, go Start --> All Programs --> Tablet
PC -> Tablet PC Tutorials.

3. The tutorial will tell you how to "calibrate" the "digitizer
pen" (which you'll find in the lower left corner of the computer).
Do that. It can make a big difference in the responsiveness of the
machine. (There's a switch on the bottom of the lower left corner--
*under the machine*--which will release the pen, if you slide it.)

Let me know if there are any problems with these first steps.

And *have fun*.

Fred

Small Items

2006-08-22T10:09:00.001-07:00

To clear up any potential confusion . . .

On letting the next class in:

We should never leave students alone in the tech classrooms. If the
next teacher in your classroom has not arrived before you need to
leave, you have no choice but to lock that teacher out. Someone from
the office can always come down to let a teacher in, if needed.

On syncing the screen and the projector:

Once you've plugged in the video cable, you need to tell the computer
that you want it to send a picture to both the computer screen
("notebook") and the projector ("monitor"). To do that, right click
anywhere on the desktop, then choose Graphics Options --> Output To --
> Dual Display Clone --> Notebook+Monitor. Once you've done that
once, the computer will often automatically sync to the screen when
you plug it in, but if you ever get a black or blue screen from the
projector when you expect the laptop to be mirrored on the projector
screen, try changing the Graphics Options first.

All for now,

laptop shenanigans

2006-08-21T15:27:00.001-07:00

Quick updates/notes:

* Chris is working hard setting up the computers.
* We're still waiting for carrying cases for the computers.
* The new touchscreen boxes on the cabinets in 106 and 107 will allow
you to control everything in the room at the push of a button, Let
me know if you have trouble making it work. (But I don't think you
will. It's pretty slick.)
* Real teacher's stations for 106 and 1077 . . . are in the mail, I
hope.
* Don't turn out the lights in 106 and 107. They'll go out on their
own, and come on for the next person in the room.
* I've left the ethernet cables in the rooms for this week, but
they'll disappear over the weekend. Remember: your students need to
buy their own to bring to class.
* Someone from the office should be down in the morning to help the
first teachers of the day get into 106 and 107. If they aren't
there, run up to the office and get 'em. They know to expect you.
* Chris is still waiting for the supertopsecret Best Lock software
for programming the door locks on 106 and 107.

That is all.

Fred

2006-08-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, all.

Apologies in advance for a long email at a busy time . . .

If you're getting this email, then Jama has given me your name as a teacher assigned to one of our four laptop classrooms. If this is the first you've heard about laptop rooms, you should check out previous announcements at the Laptop Ready Resources site (http://abjohnson.iweb.bsu.edu/laptopready) (scroll down for archived announcements from this summer). You may also want to take a look at the classroom help sheets in the right hand column on this page (http://abjohnson.iweb.bsu.edu/laptopready/Links.html).

Good news first:

** The student desks are here and set up, and we ought to have all ports and plugs activated before the end of the week.
** All major classroom tech equipment is in and working in all four classrooms.
** The two new rooms, RB 106 and 107, have locking cabinets whose locks are a match for your office-door keys. (Meaning: you have the key to the cabinet. It's the same as your office key.)
** Sandy bought us cool looking blue staplers, so each laptop room has a stapler. (A small thing, but useful. And blue.)
** And a big thing: Rather than the 17 Tablet PCs we initially anticipated receiving, we'll be receiving 30, which means we'll be in good shape for
supplying computers to every teacher assigned to a laptop classroom this semester.

And then some bad news:

** It looks at this point as if the new Tablet PCs won't be arriving this week. And I can't say when they'll be arriving, because Gateway is being unhelpful. With good luck, we'll have them to you in about a week. In the meantime, I'll make sure that we have laptops to use in each of the classrooms; you'll just need to bring your files (on USB drive or CD) or upload them to iLocker. I'm very sorry about this. And the folks at UCS are sorry. (Ironically, the only people not sorry are the sorry people at Gateway who couldn't get our order out in time.) (In their defense, it sounds like there were some real technical difficulties with the bodies of the machines, and I'm glad they didn't send them out broken.)
** It's possible that the rolling teacher stations we ordered for RB 106 and 107 won't arrive this week. If they don't, we'll leave the big old-style teaching tables in 106 and 107, at least until the teacher stations arrive.
** And one more potential issue. The new card readers on the doors of RB 106 and 107 are nicer than the old ones on the rest of our doors. But programming them requires some new super-secure keying software that Chris Elliott hasn't yet received from foot-dragging Best Lock. That means we may have some issues with getting into 106 and 107 during the first week of school. If you arrive to 106 or 107 and are locked out, someone in the office can let you in. If you're teaching in 106 or 107, please do your best to wait for the next instructor to arrive before leaving, so that we never have to shut the door. But if no teacher arrives and you have to go, please pull the door shut; there's less to snatch in these rooms than in our desktop PC-based rooms, but we still need to protect the equipment.

And that's the news. I'll send updates if and when I can.

Fred

PS: If you'd like to check out the new RB rooms before Monday, stop in at the office and ask them to let you in to take a look (or if you really just want to SEE how things are looking, there are pictures here) (http://abjohnson.iweb.bsu.edu/laptopready/See.html). The LA rooms (17s and 20s) are keyed with the old-style card-readers, so if you were set up for card entry last year, you ought to be able to get into 17 or 20 to take a look right now.

PPS: Don't forget about Ethernet cables. (See bottom of this announcement.)

Buying Ethernet Cables (for Students)

2006-08-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Quick notes:

* I've put up a post about purchasing Ethernet cables both on the Portable Malaise blog (here) and at the laptop classrooms help site (here).

* Still no word on computers arriving, unfortunately.

* But we do have two things in LA that a couple of you have been wanting: tackboards and hooks for our cables. (See attched photos.)

Fred

On Purchasing Ethernet Cables

2006-08-07T15:30:00.000-07:00

The best price in town on 3' Ethernet cables is going to be the price to be that offered by BSU's Computer Showcase Center: $2.24. They also offer great deals on much longer Ethernet cables.

However, supplies will be limited at the Showcase, in part because this is the first year they've stocked 3' cables, so they're unsure about demand. (If students buy a lot of cables, they'll order more ASAP.)

There are a few other good buying options around town, though none quite so affordable.

* Best Buy and Staples both offer nifty retractable ethernet cables like the one show here (at the Staples website). These run $10-$15, but they're well worth the investment for people who planning to use their laptops in a lot of different environments, because they fit tidily into a laptop carrying case.

* Best Buy is offering a discount on a 3' Ethernet cable to Ball State students (with ID). The discounted price is about $10--still quite a bit higher than BSU's Showcase price. Staples also offers a couple of shorter Ethernet cables at affordable prices--a 7' cable for $9 and a 3' cable for $12. (The shorter one costs more, because of lower demand.)

* Students may also be able to find great deals on cables at E-Bay, where the very motivated can find all the materials they need to make their own cables, if they really want to do that.

* On a similar note, it often pays to ask the resident computer geek on the floor. Other students may know about deals that we don't know about. (Certain students may also already have the cable and connectors to make their own Ethernet cables.)

Web Design and Ethernet Cables

2006-07-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple of good questions, and I thought I'd pass on the answers to the whole group.

(1) Todd asked about web design software.

The Showcase Center has Frontpage, but they want 50 bucks for it; and Dreamweaver's a great program, but it costs even more, I think.

The ed students tend to use Netscape as a free web design tool; I never have, and the results usually look very 1996, but it's an option. And any students who come packing a new Mac (new post January 2006) will also have iWeb (Mac's iWeb--different app than BSU's iWeb websites) installed, which is kind of a template-based web design tool. (I used it to make the resource site, just to see how it works. It's alright.)

But my recommendation, if you're interested in having your students do web design, is that you should download NVU and see if it makes sense to you: http://www.nvu.com/index.php

It's a free, open source, easy to understand (in my opinion) web design app; and it works on Mac, PC, or Linux. For basic table-based design, it works just fine. I use it most of the time, when I do web design, and it also makes a decent FTP program for uploading and managing files.

(2) Martha asked me what I meant by "short" Ethernet cables. I'm thinking 3'. I should know in about week what price the BSU Computer Showcase Center will ask for 3' cables. (They're ordering them for the first time this fall, just for us.) I know Best Buy will charge $10, but the Showcase Center cells 25' Ethernet cables for $6, so I think they'll probably have the best price. I'll pass along more info as soon as I have it.

Update: Laptop Classrooms, Resources

2006-07-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone. Here's the laptop classrooms news.

* We'll be doing a laptop classroom orientation session on the second day of WP orientation (Tuesday, August 15).

* Furniture for RB 106 and 107 will arrive on the 16th of August. That's unfortunate since it's a day after our orientation, but it's fortunate because it means (barring new calamities) that the classrooms will all be ready on the first day of classes.

* Everything else with the renovation appears to be on track.

* The new computers could arrive any time, though UCS can't give us an estimate of when they'll arrive. Our order went out to Gateway with the whole huge university order, and it didn't go out until the start of the new fiscal year. That means it's possible they'll come in later than we'd like, and I'm sorry about that. I'd much prefer to be able to guarantee you a couple of weeks to play with the machines before school starts.

* I've got a new set of resource pages online here:

http://abjohnson.iweb.bsu.edu/laptopready

* A note for your syllabi: Under course materials, you need to list something like "Short Ethernet cable." This is something students can pick up for about $10 at Best Buy (with a discount they tell me they're willing to offer), and maybe for much less through BSU, though I don't have an answer/price back from the Computer Showcase Center yet. Last year we provided Ethernet cables for connecting to the Internet, but not only was that a messy solution, since the cables were always all over the tables, it was (and is) also a maintenance problem, since students tend to break the connectors. So this year we're going to try requiring that they bring their own cables. (The reason we need to use Ethernet cables instead of wireless connections has to do with the limitations of the wireless network. If we have two classrooms full of students right next to each other doing internet-intensive things at the same time, the network will bog down and no one will get anything done. So we have to go with the old-school cable connections. It's like 2001 . . . )

And that's all for now . . .

Fred

Laptop Classroom Teaching, Fall 2006

2006-07-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Hello, all.

If you're getting this email, you've been assigned to teach this fall in one of our four laptop-ready classrooms (LA 17S, LA 20S, RB 106, and RB 107).

Things you should know:

* We've got enough laptops for everyone. In fact, we'll have enough Tablet PCs for everyone, which I think is fantastic news. (When I say "we've got," I mean that they're ordered and should arrive soon.) A few of you, I know, would prefer to use your own laptops; please drop me a note right now if that's you. (I've got you down for "using own computer" already, Martha.)

* It's my hope that I'll be able to hand you laptops to work with in early August, so that you'll have time to play with them before school starts. We are at the mercy of Gateway, though, so I can't make that promise yet.

* I'll be doing a basic teaching-in-laptop-rooms hour during WP orientation (8/14).

* I'm posting relevant ideas and links to a blog (here: http://www.portablebsu.suprglu.com/). (This is actually a combo blog that combines posts to the old Portable Malaise blog [http://portablebsu.blogspot.com] and posts to a new Del.icio.us account I'm using for links to articles of note [http://del.icio.us/portablebsu].) I'm also working on help and resource pages which I'll begin to make available online later this month.

* By the way: http://del.icio.us is a pretty fantastic tool for teaching with computers, if you need to view websites in class. Basically, it's an online bookmarking site, so you can bookmark pages and have access to your bookmarks from any computer. It also lets you "tag" the pages you bookmark, which is like slipping them into folders, but better. You could, say, "tag" a page with "plagiarism," if you were teaching about plagiarism. Then, in class, you bring up all your pages tagged "plagiarism" (or "audience") just by searching for that tag. But you can also use multiple tags for one site, so maybe you tag that plagiarism site as "funny" or "Eng103," too, and it will come up on searches for those terms/tags. (More on del.icio.us later . . .)

* Motion sensors they installed in RB 106 and 107 are going to make the lights in there turn on automatically when we walk in (and then turn off automatically a little while after there stops being motion in the room). Cool. It's sort of like Buck Rogers, but without the silly Mel Blanc robot.

More to come . . .

Fred Johnson

PS: Email me with any questions or concerns you have at this point.

Rmail Request

2006-07-09T20:40:00.000-07:00

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GE Imagination at Work -- Collaborative Whiteboard Online

2006-07-09T20:35:00.000-07:00

Click here to view the original Webpage.

Sent using R|mail.

Tablet PCs / Journal Writer

2006-01-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

A good idea for tablet-pc carriers, from "Pimp My Tablet": here.

Fred

PS: I'll try to do some emails about good ideas for using these machines over the next few weeks, and send them to you three who are carrying them. If you're up to trolling for ideas yourself, you might start by bookmarking Pimp My Tablet, Tabletology, JK on the Run, and Rob Bushaway.

A Possible Meeting Day?

2005-11-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

A question (*just* a question): We've never been able to put this whole group together at the same time, and I'm wondering how you all would feel about trying to get together and talk about what we're doing in the laptop classrooms on, say, January 6, the Friday before spring semester begins. Shoot me an email and let me know.

I've talked to most of you at different points in the semester, and things seem to be going pretty well for you, in general, now that the heat problem is solved in 21S. But: Just a reminder that if anyone is having troubles with anything in 21S or 17S, you can and should let me know.

Also . . . if at this point in the semester any of you feel like you could throw together a wishlist of technological and ergonomic features you'd love to have in an RB (1st floor) classroom converted into a laptop classroom, I'd love to have that list.

And here, as usual, is non-required reading about a laptop teaching initiative. This one uses IBM/Lenovo's new tablet PC, which I think looks like a great machine.

Fwd: More on Firefox

2005-10-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

A quick tech note:

I've been selling my freshman on the Firefox browser as a research tool, and I thought a few of you might be interested, too; so I'm forwarding an email I sent them this morning (attached below).

Here's one teaching advantage: if you're showing several webpages during a class meeting, you can open them all in tabs inside one browser window. It's a much cleaner, tidier way to do it. And if you're teaching from a laptop, you can set up all the pages before you come to class.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Fred Johnson <abjohnson@gmail.com>
Date: October 18, 2005 9:20:40 AM EST
To: Abjohnson280 Blog <abjohnson.ab280@blogger.com>
Subject: More on Firefox

Macworld has just posted a story about the advantages and features of Firefox. The keyboard commands are for Macs, but the features are the same. (Windows controls are often slightly different, but often the only difference is that you would use the "control" key instead of Apple's little "apple"/command key.) One thing that I didn't mention in class is Firefox's excellent search bar (ctrl-f to search on Windows). For those who'd like to play with more features of the browser, this article has some nice tips.

Kudos to any of you who used Sage and saw this message posted on the course blog before you received the email version.

fj

Dirt Cheap Laptops; New Stuff for 17 and 20S

2005-10-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone. I'm going to lift my head up from the grading for a second for a small update on the laptop classrooms.

Practical info up top, as usual. We have a couple of new items in 20S and 17S.

In the baskets (new thing 1) inside the cabinets, you will find new little DVI to VGA converters (new thing 2). These are for the Macs and work just like the little white gizmo you use to hook up your projector now. But they're generic. I had Sandy order these in anticipation of the day that one of us leaves his or her own converter gizmo at home. They're back up for the forgetful. (That's not just me, is it?) I've tested one this week, and I had to wiggle it a little once to get it to work, but it seems basically A-OK. We've also got new 10' VGA cables for projector hook up (new thing 3). These'll let you get a little further from the plugs if you want.

A wrinkle with these: I just realized that what we received, to my dismay, are extension cables. They plug into the other cable and give you another ten feet of strolling space. (I found this really helpful with my new tablet PC, which I finally got running for the classroom this week.)

What these cables don't do is give you the option of hooking up a second computer (like, maybe for a student presentation) at the second wall jack. If you didn't know this: the two sets of plugs in each room work independently, as Computer 1 and Computer 2 on the projector remote. So you can, if you want, toggle between them. Could be fun. Could be cool. I'll work on getting cables to do that.

The baskets also now contain VCR/DVD hookup cables. (Or will: right now they're both in 17S.)

Soon, we ought to also be getting laser pointers to go in the cabinets, in case you'd like to use those.

***

That's the news. As always, please let me know if you're running into problems with the tech or the classrooms, or if you have any requests. (I'd love it if you could all give me a wish list in January.)

***

A couple of my interesting-links-you-don't-have-to-read follow:

***

First, I hope you all noticed that BSU was just named as the #1 "unwired" campus in America by Intel. That's nice, it is. We're part of that. Actually, we're a big part of what will make it matter, educationally, or not.

Second, have you played with Facebook? I started messing with Facebook because it was a good way for me to connect faces and names early in the semester. Then I put up a profile, and I've found that now and then a brave student will ask to be my friend. Some interesting potential in it as a tool for us, in terms even of recommending reading, websites, and ideas to students who come to our profile pages. Also a good place to post office hours and that sort of thing, maybe, as your students are more likely (infinitely more likely) to be puttering around on Facebook than on Blackboard or our iWeb sites. (Downside: some of the students are putting awfully personal or compromising information on their pages. Upside to that: an excellent opportunity to talk about audience, persona, and self-representation online.)

Third. I hear about the movement to create sub-$100 laptops now and then, and I find it intriguing. (The ones featured in the linked article have power cranks for recharging their batteries. Wrap your mind around that.)

That is all.

Screencasts, Visual Outlining, Elmore Leonard

2005-09-13T06:14:00.000-07:00

If you've got a few minutes this week, this (and the original
"screencast" it refers to) are worth your time. Some interesting
thinking about the uses of laptops in the classroom--particularly
tablet PCs, but a good idea sparker no matter what laptop you're
packing. (The screencast link may not work on Macs. Mac users
may, in retaliation, make your most vexed and disapproving teache
face as you think about Bill Gates.)

****

Also, a quick note for the Mac folks, while I'm thinking about it;
plus a side-note for PC folks. All inspired by this post.

Macs: Tucked into your Applications folder, you'll find two nice
little applications: the basic versions of Omnigraffle and
Omnioutliner that come free with OSX. The first lets you create
graphical representations of processes, flow charts, etc. The second
is a very nice little outlining tool that lets you easily create
outlines with nested items and checklists. The free versions on your
Macs are stripped down a bit, but they still work very well, and, I
think, intuitively: it won't take you long to figure them out.

I used Omnigraffle yesterday to plot a short article by Hank Stuever
for my 103s. It looked like this (only bigger).

Each major chunk has details radiating out from it. The story is
simple and interesting enough that we could then talk about how
Stuever arranged his ideas and what would have happened if he had,
say, switched the beginning and the end, or left out certain parts,
or started with one of the middle pieces. So we got to consider, as
a class, revision scenarios for Stuever's piece. And they'll be
doing this with their own literacy narratives on Wednesday.

For PC folks, this can be done in MS Word. It's a little less slick,
but it works. Just turn on the "drawing" toolbar and play. You may
need to format the "layout" of each image so that it is "in front of
text" or "behind text"; that arrangement gives you the most freedom
to slide stuff around.

Absent computers, this can be done with scraps of paper, of course.
In fact I did do it with scraps of paper in my 3rd 103 of the day,
which has an Elmo but isn't in a laptop classroom. And that is a
great illustration of how handy it is to be able to have our own
laptops with us. If I coulda plugged in my own laptop, I wouldn't
have had to tweak my approach the 3rd time around. On the other
hand, it was fun to challenge myself with cutting apart paper while
talking about arrangement (seriously)

****

Elmore Leonard on rules for writing, featuring humor, good advice,
and thoughts on hooptedoodle.

On Hooking Your PC Laptop to the Projectors

2005-09-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

John and Matt alerted me to the fact that their PC laptops weren't as
plug-and-play easy to use with the projectors as I had hoped they
would be. This is a message for anyone dealing with projector
troubles on a PC. (If that's not you, you can probably stop reading
now.)

I'm one of the three of us who still hasn't received a laptop, so I
still don't know as much about this as I had hoped to know by now,
but I'll tell you what Matt and I worked out on Friday.

1. If your computer and the screen don't sync up immediately when
you plug in, go to the "Start" menu, and then select the "Control
Panel."
2. In the Control Panel, choose "Display." If your version of
Windows is set up the XP way, you may not have "Display" is an option
in the first screen that pops up. Instead, you'll get a screen that
says "Pick a Category." If you get that screen, choose "Printers and
Other Hardware," and after that click *I hope* you'll see "Display"
as an option in the sidebar at the left.
3. In the "Display" panel, choose the "Settings" tab.
4. Now . . . if we're lucky (you and me), you'll see two little blue
squares representing monitors that are side by side. If one is
faded, you may need to double click on it to get the computer to
recognize it, or you may need to click the "Identify" option to get
that to happen. I'm (unfortunately) a little hazy on this step.
5. Hit "Apply." Nothing will work if you don't remember to hit
"Apply."

If, at that point, you get your desktop background and nothing else
projected onto the screen, you've got your computer and the projector
in "side by side" mode, which is pretty nice for teaching, actually.
It means you can slide things off of your screen and onto the monitor
(and, conversely, that you can keep things on your monitor that you'd
rather not have projected). Just keep track of where the cursor/
arrow is: if you slide it onto the projector screen, you'll have to
slide it back to do anything on your laptop screen.

I know this is really hard to conceptualize without visuals, and I'm
sorry for that. Let me know if you're having this problem and need
some more hands on help. I'll meet you; we'll figure it out.

Also: if you want to experiment with the monitor settings, you can
most likely do so with any old computer monitor. E.g., you can hook
up your desktop machine's monitor to your laptop the same way that
you hook the projector up (the video plug should be the same). With
it hooked up, you should be able to go into the Display area and
experiment with settings.

Keep me posted on any tech issues with the classrooms . . .

(Or, heck, any ergonomic issues, heating and cooling issues,
whatever you got . . .)

Fred

Mis-typed links . . .

2005-08-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

As John pointed out to me, the link to the blog I posted a couple of
days ago went out to this crazy Bible Study blog. That happens when
you spell "blogspot" "blogpsot." It's an opportunistic typo link.

Which makes me wish I'd registered amzaon.com about 12 years ago . . .

Laptop Update . . .

2005-08-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

With apologies for the late hour of posting . . .

* The card reader on 20S is working A-OK. So all scheduled laptop
classes can be in their scheduled rooms tomorrow.

* From what I could tell when I taught in 20S today, ethernet
connection was not yet available: the lines are there, but there was
no signal.

* However, my students and I were able to hook up wirelessly, no
problem.

* There are still EPS laptops in the little storage cabinets in both
labs. *They keys* to the one in 20S [censored], because I forgot to carry them back over tonight. Go get 'em if you need 'em, and leave 'em in 20.

Email with questions and concerns . . .

Fred

Addendum to Friday Update . . .

2005-08-28T11:47:00.000-07:00

Laptop Group--

Kris emailed to let me know that she'd be glad to walk over and
unlock 20S for the couple of you scheduled to teach there on Monday.
So you have your choice: stay in the alternate room, or let Kris know
and she'll let you into 20S.

That is all . . .

Fred

Your Friday Update . . .

2005-08-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

All-

1. UCS is going to be installing another wireless hub near 17 and
20S to accommodate use of wireless.

2. And we'll also (if I'm understanding correctly) have ethernet
access, for heavy usage exercises, and to supplement fritzy wireless
cards.

3. Electrical outlets and ethernet are available at each seat at
each table.

4. Two Gateways are in the office; more on the way. Chris E has to
set them up, etc, but I'm expecting our Gateway woes to end mid next
week.

5. The door opener on 20S is still busted.

6. Soooooo: 17S classes can move to LA on Monday. 20S classes will
need to wait until Tuesday.

7. Remember we've got those EPS computers for you to use, locked in
the file cabinets.

Fred

PS: On hooking to the projector:

PC folks: using the projector should be as easy as plugging in.

Mac folks: you may need to do all this:

a) Got to Preferences, either by clicking the icon in the dock
or by clicking the blue apple at the upper left, then clicking
"system preferences" in the drop down menu.
b) Choose "displays" in the "hardware" section.
c) If you do not have "arrangement" as an option, click "detect
displays," and give it a sec to do so.
d) Click "arrangement"
e) Click the little "mirror displays" option.
f) And that should synch up your monitor and the projector.
****) At some point, the icons on your screen may get much
bigger, because your screen is higher resolution than the projector,
and the Mac has to go with the lesser screen's settings to mirror.
****) Sorry this is sort of a pain. It's because Macs are set
up to do some pretty cool multiple display arrangement things.
****) Like, if you figure it out, you can actually put the
projector and the Mac side-by-side, so the cursor moves from one to
the other.
****) Speaking of which, if you plug in the projector and lose
the cursor, check to see if it's on the projection screen, then roll
it back to your machine.

More details . . .

2005-08-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Lots info coming . . . brace yourself . . .

* The Gateways have been reordered. Sandy should be able to start tracking the orders on Monday.

* For next week, until mid-day Friday, I've checked out two PCs from EPS. Those who don't have, or don't want to use, their personal laptops in the classroom can hook one of these up. Right now, they're locked in the silver metal cabinets in 20 and 17, and we'll leave them there. (So please be careful about keeping the room secure! Laptops are pretty easy to swipe.) The keys to the cabinets are in my pocket right now but I'll put them in the "chalk" ledges on my way home.

* Stop by and check out the set up tomorrow, and see if you understand it. Terminals for pluggin' in are at either end of the room. It'll be obvious which plug goes where, I think. (Hope?) There are three things to plug in, to have access to everything.

1) Video cable. Mac users: you'll need the Mac video adapter that **came with** your computer. Looks like this; should be in the box.

2) Audio cable. If (and only if) you want sound at the projector (which has internal speakers), you'll need to hook up the audio cable to the

headphone jack on the computer.

3) Ethernet (internet connection) cable.

4) Of course, you might also want to plug in the power cords . . .

* On net connection: the reason we do the hard-line connection instead of "wireless" in these rooms is that UCS tells us that if 50 people in that small space try to do complicated online things all at once (like log into Blackboard's discussion areas), we're gonna make the wireless router slow down to a crawl. That means sometimes Wireless will be fine, but if things drag, we'll want to plug in.

* Projector remote controls. Make sure they're switched on, with the button on the upper right. (And switch off when you're done; it saves the batteries.) These projectors turn on pretty slowly, so hit Power, then give it some time. From the remote, you can control the volume of the projector speakers. You can also switch from Computer One to Computer Two, depending on which port you've jacked your computer into.

* On that note, it's a cool feature that we can hook up two laptops, using both sets of connectors, and switch between them using the projector remote. Could come in handy during presentations.

* File management. Some of you (I'm thinking of Trey, specifically, actually) may find this piece of info very useful. BSU is providing 2 Gig of storage space to every single BSU student and faculty member. That's a lot of bytes. The way this works, you'll be able to set up your account and upload stuff, then access it from a secure web address online. Pretty cool. I'll try to post more info on using this later on, but for now, check out the UCS site.

* The card reader on 20S is still on the fritz . . . working.

* Okay . . . some things were installed . . . wrong. And we won't be able to fix them until probably fall break. The deal is this . . . In the end, ethernet (internet) and power jacks should be located in one of the little triangle inserts in the corners of the desk. Like, really built into a special triangle insert. But . . . the special inserts weren't requested with our furniture order, due to some kind of message deterioration between the higher ups and purchasing. So . . . we'll get those later. In the meantime . . . heh . . . well, you'll see. The problem is solved, but it's a little bit, umm . . . my wife's students at Central High would call it "ghetto." But it'll work.

Email me with questions and concerns . . .

Fred

The Quick Update . . .

2005-08-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

Stay in the alternate classrooms for tomorrow, but plan on being in
20 and 17S on Monday.

More to come . . .

Laser Pointers

2005-08-24T19:06:00.000-07:00

By the way . . . the WP would be willing to purchase laser pointers
for us, if we think they would help us teach in these funny-shaped
rooms. Can you let me know if you want 'em by going out to the blog
(http://portablebsu.blogpsot.com) and putting your "yes" or "no" vote
in the comments section on this post. (My emails to you are also
posting to the blog.)

(If you've never played with Blogger/Blogspot, you may have to
register to comment. It's painless, and it'll be a first step toward
me having us post comments/discussion out there. We may *never*, as
a group, want to do that, I know. But I'd like to create the
possibility, at least.)

Update on Laptop Classrooms, 8/24

2005-08-24T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone . . .

Your daily 20s/17s update:

1. Some tech issues to resolve, so plan on staying in alternate
classrooms for tomorrow (Thursday).
2. The Gateway computer order seems to have fallen into a
bureaucratic rabbit hole. Or memory hole, if you prefer Orwell.
Either way, they have been **reordered**. Sandy (who has been making
a lot of phone calls for us) will be aggressively tracking this
shipment. I'll update you as soon as I know more.
3. Orientation/meeting: I'll let you know as soon as I can . . . but
I can't plan an orientation until we have all the equipment in
place . . . so . . . it's in a holding pattern. The good news is
that it ain't rocket science (or even auto maintenance); you'll be up
to speed quickly, as soon as we can, uh, get these things built.

2005-08-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone--

The furniture is in, and set up. Except (there's always an "except,"
and I'm sorry about that) for the teaching stations, which we're
trying to track down.

Tomorrow they'll be wiring up the classrooms for us. So we're
closer, but for tomorrow we'll still be in alternate classrooms.

The Gateway machines are still not here . . .

Photos of the two rooms being put together are attached to this
email. I think 20S looks great, and 17S is gonna work okay, too.
Nice big screens lots of Whiteboard space.

More info as soon as I have it.

Clarifications of our Portable Malaise

2005-08-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Clarification on teaching locations for next week, in response to a
couple of questions . . .

Or actually, not as much clarification as I'd like, but I'll give you
what I can:

** 17 and 20S *will* have projectors and screens. If all goes well,
they should also each have two locations where we can plug in our
laptops. And plenty of whiteboard space.

** We can't guarantee that we'll be in the laptop classrooms next week
at all. Furniture arrives Tuesday, then has to be installed. I *hope*
by the second half of the week we'll be in the rooms, but all I can
tell you right now is that we're playing it by ear.

** Sandy is trying very hard to get tracking info on the Gateway
laptops, so we can know where in the world they are and when they'll
get here. This has been much harder than it should have been,
unfortunately.

** For our students: I just clarified this with Kris. She'd like us to
go to our assigned classrooms (LA 17 and 20S), grab our students, and
take them to our temporary rooms. She and Leo will be in LA to catch
any stragglers after we leave. If you'd like, you can also email your
students and let them know what's up.

Alternate Classrooms for First Week

2005-08-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

Alternate classrooms for LA 17S

103/004 MWF 8:00 - Embry - LA 12S
103/027 MWF 10:00 - Embry - LA 12S
103/034 MWF 11:00 - Prince - RB 114
103/039 TR 11:00 - Barrett - LA 18S
103/047 MWF 12:00 - Prince - RB 114
103/062 MWF 2:00 - Hartman, M. - RB 112
103/068 TR 2:00 - Barrett - RB 113
103/075 MW 3:00 - Johnson - RB 108
103/083 MW 5:00 - Johnson - RB 108
103/025 TR 9:30 - Ballenger - RB 361
103/049 TR 12:30 - Barrett - The Writing Center - RB 291

Alternate rooms for LA 20S

103/051 TR 12:30 - Holbrook - RB 361
103/069 TR 2:00 - Scott - RB 361
103/009 TR 8:00 - Holbrook - RB 114
103/022 TR 9:30 - Holbrook - RB 114
103/026 MWF 10:00 - Hartman, M. - RB 107
103/043 TR 11:00 - Holbrook - RB 108
103/080 TR 3:30 - Scott - LA 12S
103/084 MW 5:00 - Siering, Greg - LA 18S

Laptops in K-12 Ed

2005-08-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here's an interesting story from Wired on laptops being used in a few high schools. We're not anywhere near the level of laptop-materials-and-curriculum saturation these schools are trying to achieve. But what we're trying this semester could give us some interesting insights into the pros and cons of replacing texts with portable computing devices.

Campus Utilities and Applications
August 15	What's New with Wireless Networking
August 23	What's New with Wireless Networking
August 27	What's New with Wireless Networking

Faculty/Staff Walk-In Clinic
August 17	Vignette Workshop
August 24	Vignette Workshop
August 31	Vignette Workshop

Instructional Technology
August 13	Blackboard 1: Content Management
August 13	SMART Board Basics
August 13	Gradebook - Introduction
August 14	Blackboard 1: Content Management
August 14	Gradebook - Introduction
August 14	Tablet PC + Active Learning
August 14	inQsit - Creating Online Tests
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 15	What is New with Blackboard?
August 20	Tablet PC + Active Learning
August 22	Power Presentations Basics
August 22	What is New with Blackboard?
August 22	Gradebook - Introduction
August 22	SMART Board Basics
August 23	Power Presentations Media & Design
August 23	What is New with Blackboard?
August 24	What is New with Blackboard?
August 30	Tablet PC+ Digital Grading and Document Sharing

Media and Design
August 14	Vignette Basics
August 16	Vignette Basics
August 24	Vignette Basics

Office Productivity
August 15	Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007
August 22	Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007
August 28	Compatibility Issues with Office 2003 and 2007

Faculty/Staff Walk-In Clinic
May 18	Vignette Workshop
June 1	Vignette Workshop

Instructional Technology
May 17	Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 17	SMART Board Basics
May 18	SMART Board Basics
May 18	Tablet PC + Active Learning
May 21	Best of Blackboard
May 22	inQsit - Creating Online Surveys
May 29	inQsit - Creating Online Tests

Media and Design
May 15	Introduction to Blogs
May 16	Introduction to Podcasting
May 16	Vignette Basics
May 17	Introduction to Vodcasting
May 24	Vignette Basics
May 29	Web Design Basics
May 30	Microsoft FrontPage 1: Introduction
May 30	Using WORD 2003 to Create Web Pages
May 31	Microsoft FrontPage 3: Working with Graphics & Web Components
May 31	Using WORD 2003 to Create Web Pages

Office Productivity
May 21	Office 2007 - A First Look
May 25	Excel 1: Fundamentals
May 30	Office 2007 - A First Look
June 1	Excel 2: Formulas & Functions

Technology Development Series
May 30	Introduction to iWeb for Macintosh Users
May 31	Adding Multimedia to iWeb sites for Macintosh Users