Friday 26 February 2010

Blackboard Info Sheets










As of this year, I'm no longer the School’s Blackboard and Moodle Support technician, so I thought I'd point teaching and admin staff to a range of resources for Blackboard. The uptake of Blackboard by staff and students has been swift and deft, so you should have no fears about going solo at this point. There are, of course, numerous resources available now in place since I first started supporting the School in 2006, and these resources will help you when shelving older courses and creating new ones for teaching this semester.

I've uploaded a 'Blackboard Info' folder on the School's K drive. You'll find a range of how-to sheets from (re)categorising a weblink; managing groups; backing-up sections; adding/deleting students, creating assessments; working with columns; and troubleshooting for staff and students.

You can use QWeb (My IT@ UB job logging) on the Gateway page to request Blackboard help when removing an old or installing a new course. The drop down boxes will guide you through relevant information you’ll need to include in order to log a job in with service desk (such as course codes, teaching staff, etc). You can also use QWeb to follow up on any ongoing issues you have with IT generally at the University.

Please also avail yourself of the online teaching and learning resources being created by the ever-helpful LEWS team. You get to their repository by going through myIT@UB and selecting ‘LEWS’ followed by ‘Staff Help’.

Lastly, I’d like to thank you all for throwing yourselves into the deep end with the range of new techno-thingys that the School and University has been updating over the last three years. Whilst the Teknia newsletter will no longer exist, I will keep the BSSH Bloggers going for those interested. All the best for the coming teaching year be it online or face to face. Ciao!

Wednesday 24 February 2010

The Other E-reader: Apple iPad












As promised in my last post re E-readers, here's the official Apple iPad trailer. If you can live through the OTT first 3 minutes as marketing reps gush about how you 'don't have to change to fit the product, the product changes to fit you', the presentation becomes much more practical in terms of the possibilities for use re education and of course, the all important mobility factor.

The iPad challenges Amazon's Kindle in the lucrative market of E-readers. Given the price of these E-readers, it remains to be seen whether they can actually be adequately utilised in education or remain the domain of those who can afford shiny new toys. I imagine that the opportunities for use in education and the development of EduApps are certainly a high possibility in the E-reader market, however we have yet to see something that really has the ability to make a difference (in terms of access - a key drive of education and social reform) and not just an amazing gadget that impacts upon the household/school budget.

Having said that, Apple are still on friendly terms with educators and continue to offer discounts to staff and students on their entire product range, but it would be nice (dare I say heart-warming?) to see an effort go into the development of delivery to those marginalised by what is increasingly looking like elitist shiny toy syndrome. Don't get me wrong, I'm an Apple fan from way back and I'd LOVE an iPad, but I find myself increasingly wondering when a company with Apple's resources is going to develop a technology for people in real educational need. I'm thinking here of the XO Laptop, of course, which currently has a programme for Haiti. However, I'm also a realist - I know that technology like the iPad or the XO for that matter, doesn't sow crops, provide clean drinking water, or assist women with small business loans to support their families and villages, but it would be a nice sea change if we could put a lot more consideration into the churning out of devices and apps.

Thursday 18 February 2010

What's on your Kindle? Understanding E-books and E-readers












The good folks at IPOL are running a seminar on understanding E-books and E-Readers for the University. If you haven't heard of Amazon's Kindle or it's upstart little brother the Apple iPad, then head down to this informative session with Deirdre Wilmott and Ian Knox to evaluate and come to better grips with the potential limitations and purposes of this mobile technology.
  • When: Thursday 25 February 2010
  • Where: Room F200, F Building, Mt Helen
  • Contact: IPOL@ballarat.edu.au or 5327 9155
  • Cost: [and I quote this] "No cost to UB Staff and Affiliates. $300 for Non-UB Staff and Affiliates" >:-0
Here's Amazon's official Kindle video. It's definitely worth a look. I'll post an entry on the Apple iPad later.

Tuesday 16 February 2010

International Student Safety Debate










With increased violence against international students in general and Indian students in particular on the rise in eastern Australia, the publication of of a paper directly addressing this issue by Nyland, Forbes-Mewett & Marginson in the latest edition of the HERDSA journal is timely to say the least. The HE sector in Australia is largely driven by a (previously) perceived reputation (asset) for being able to provide a safe study environment in the international education market.

Nyland, Forbes-Mewett & Marginson's ARC funded work suggest that the 'industry' is having difficulty coming to grip with how best to address the safety concerns of international students following recent demonstrations by Indian students & those concerned for their welfare, and the framework of management responsible for exporting Australian HE as a site of safe and reputable education for internationals. The ramifications of what has/is happening to internationals whilst in Australian HE is impacting on enrollment numbers and the business sector. Their report tracks developments across the USA, New Zealand and the UK before focusing on Australia.

C. Nyland, H. Forbes-Mewett and S. Marginson, 'The international student safety debate: moving beyond denial', HERDSA Vol. 29, No. 1 2010, 89-101. Routledge website here.

March Book Group













The book group resumes in March this year with John Ajvide Linqvist's Handling the Undead. Another engrossing read by the author of Let the Right One In. We meet at The Known World bookshop in Sturt Street on Sunday 7th March at 2:00pm.