Month: January 2009

I have operated at least one server pretty much since this was possible. My motivation for this commitment has varied. Early on, having my own server allowed me to do quite a few things others could not do. This is still the case in isolated areas. My research involves database driven interactivity and storage requirements I cannot duplicate with services provided by the university. Even some of the instructional strategies I employ are very cumbersome when using something like the Blackboard CMS. For example, creating and modifying linked web pages is not practical in Blackboard. The system does not allow modifications to one part of an interconnected system of pages. Some familiar with a CMS may question my claim. Try changing one page of a 40-50 page web site saved on a CMS. Blackboard, at least, wants to treat the entire site as a unit.

The last few days I have been experiencing some of the limitations of having a great deal of personal control. The server offering instructional materials for one of my courses and the development site for online content associated with our book has crashed over night. Temporarily losing the development site is not catastrophic, but students do get frustrated when course content is not available even if they happen to discover this is the situation at 2 in the morning.

At one time, I had hoped that most educators would each operate a simple server and it seemed that things were going in that direction. The Mac had a simple way to share web pages. You did not have to FTP content to a remote server, you just moved files into a folder on your desktop machine. Some things have changed. The assignment of static IPs is now less popular. Security concerns also seem more prevalent. You can still use any Mac as a server, but I know no one who actually does this.

I now have another option. I can rent server space at a reasonable price. The resources I offer at Learning Aloud are provided on rented space. I can do PHP and MySQL scripting, but I do not have to setup or maintain the server. This combination offers advantages.

There is an expression that often applies – I know just enough to be dangerous. I have learned some things operating a server. I know a little linux and to consider some of the exploits that hackers might apply (sql injection). However, when you don’t maintain a server on a daily basis you end up applying your time very inefficiently. I never completely understand what I am doing and I must expend a great deal of time and energy in trial and error. As the equipment I use (typically cast off Macs) changes and runs on different operating systems, what worked last time does not work this time. Critical files are located in different places and executing a statement on the command line from my old notes may not work this time. So, I can spend 8-10 hours over a weekend to get something working a couple of times a year or I can pay $10 a month to not have to worry about it. It would be nice not to have to pay anything, but those hours of labor have to be worth something even to me. This is now the decision. How important is it to have physical contact and control over the entire process?

— I located this post through bloglines that outlines issues in using the Mac as a server

Various bloggers and educational writers frequently float the idea that our students regard us as out of touch because we do not take advantage of participatory web tools in our classrooms and do not use such tools ourselves. While personally quite interested in participatory web applications in education, I have expressed skepticism regarding just how involved students actually are with such tools (perhaps ignoring Facebook which may or may not meet my personal definition of “participation”). Ironically, Will Richardson seems to have come to a similar conclusion. I say ironically in that pro-blogging and personal learning network (PLN) advocate Richardson has a way of suggesting that conventional education is unacceptable. His recent post represents a more balanced perspective.

I say these things as an introduction to what was for me a very unique experience. After my educational psychology class (undergraduate) on Friday a student approached me to say that he had been reading my blog and found what I had to say quite interesting. He went on to say that I was the only faculty member he knew who used tools like blogs and wikis and he was glad to meet someone who was doing this kind of thing.

I am not certain how I react to criticism, but I know that I am even more awkward in reaction to praise. I did thank him and suggested that there were probably other faculty members who were involved in this type of thing. I suggested that I teach these tools in one of my graduate education courses and I felt it important to be a practitioner of the activities you advocate.

I thought more about this interaction afterwards. I know other faculty members involve their students in blogs and wikis. I know that other faculty members have Facebook pages. I am not certain I know other faculty members at my university who are active bloggers or who create wiki content outside of their own courses. This could mean several  things. It could mean we operate in our own little worlds and are unaware of each other. It could mean there are simply few of us who do such things.

Despite my cautious remarks regarding the level at which 12-25 year olds have embraced participation, I do think such activities should be more common among academics. Richardson is right – not everyone is a reader/writer. However, academics are. Grants and publications are expected responsibilities. We get paid for discovery AND communication. We are familiar with the proposal that it does not count until it is published – our responsibility is to communicate.

Perhaps the sad reality is that we get no credit for communication outside of the classroom that does not result in a product that ends up in some research library. I am careful to so say “some” because most libraries are unable to secure many of the journals that now exist. I support scholarly publication as a priority, but there is a point at which there is a diminishing return on this activity. Three pubs a year, 4 pubs, is there a meaningful difference. Perhaps some of the commitment here should be devoted to a public discussion of what we do. Perhaps if more “scholars” made the effort, the tax money expended on public institutions would be regarded as more acceptable by the general public. What about communication for public consumption as a responsibility of the scholar?

The student who responded to my earlier posts did get me thinking about why I do this. I originally proposed that I wrote for my own amusement and my own education (hence the title of this blog). It is more isn’t it? I do want others to understand what I do on a level that is personal and understandable. It turns out it does not take much feedback to keep me going. So, if the student I described reads this post – thanks for your comments!