Learning Aloud

When I did my last post, I intended to quickly follow it up with another about storage applications. As is often the case, as I explore things in depth, I first become more confused and then learn something. As the name of the blog implies, I then attempt to explain what I have discovered.

So, I have been exploring applications and services suited to short term storage, organization, and transport. This is the type of thing you might do while working on a month long project. This is not general backup which would involve a lot more content and would likely be accomplished automatically in the background. Nor, is it what I would describe as a web clipping service – a tool used while working with web content to organize URLs, sections of text, and screen captures (e.g., Evernote).

The two products I will describe are Shovebox and Dropbox. Shovebox is a Mac product and Dropbox is cross platform. I use both connected between my Mac(s) and my iPod Touch. Dropbox is suited to sharing files across multiple computers and Shovebox is not.

What confused me while doing the background research for this post was my assumption that Shovebox was storing content in the cloud. I spent a considerable amount of time searching to determine the storage capacity you were given for the $25 you spend on the software and I could not find the number. It turns out that I had been using Shovebox under an incorrect assumption. There is no capacity limit because the product is designed to improve your workflow by offering an approach to storing content on your machine. Luckily, I had other backup options for the content I had stored. My recently, I became aware of Dropbox.  This software does store content in the cloud (and on any synched machine). You get 2 gigabytes storage at no cost and the software is free (you do pay for the iPod app). If you want more than two gigs, you pay big time – $100 a year for 50GB. Seems strange there is nothing between free and $100 a year. Note my previous post on the capacity Google makes available for $5.

On the Mac, both Shovebox and Dropbox are available from the monitor bar (I am not certain what to call the bar at the top of the screen).

(left – dropbox, middle – shovebox)

Shovebox is intended to offer a strategy for intense work sessions. You pretty much drag files onto the icon and organize them later.

Files from a work session appear within the inbox. You then move them to folders that identify your projects.

Shovebox synchs with the iPod Touch via wifi. The synch process can be a little tricky depending on the wireless lan. I have trouble at the office, but things work fine at home.

Dropbox works as if you are dragging files into a folder. The icon allows access to the folder. Open the folder and then drag the files. The files are synched across devices and also saved on the web. You can access your web folder from machines without the software.

The iPod Touch makes use of wifi to synch.

You can do some other interesting things with Dropbox (drag files into a public folder and share them as web content), but this post is already too long.

I think many of us try many things and make use of only a few. I have files stored all over the place and both of these applications offer some useful features and some limitations. I guess finding the right mix of features at the right price point for a sufficient number of end users is the challenge for developers.

Disclaimer: I do serve as a Psychology department chairperson. However, just to put my comments in perspective, I did start my academic life with a biology degree. In the following post I ask lots of questions. If the answers were obvious I would be watching the olympics rather than writing.

I seldom comment on general K12 curriculum issues. This topic originated in an unusual way. I was asked to speak at a Psychology club meeting as part of a panel considering career opportunities in Psychology. For whatever reason, I asked the group if anyone was preparing to teach Psychology in high school. No one responded. Lots of interest in graduate programs, but no one in the group interested in high school teaching. It was this lack of response that started me thinking. There are a few high school psychology courses. I wonder if the instructors major in something else. Probably.  I would guess there are more history or sociology majors teaching psychology than the other way around.

What accounts for the distribution of secondary courses anyway. Why multiple math, science, and history courses? What level of mathematics is necessary for general functioning as an adult. I don’t mean as an engineer or actuary, but as your average citizen. Is that senior year course in calculus really the best 4th year selection for the bright kids?  What would be the justification for world history over a psychology course? I mean this in terms of relative value given you could take one or the other. The reason I wonder is that there is such a contrast with the college setting. I do understand the popularity of psychology courses in the college environment. Even though not a general requirement as might be the case with English composition so many students take so many Psychology courses – premeds, nursing majors, pre-OT and PT, and on an on. Far more credit hours generated than the math and science topics that dominate high school attention. An even greater differential when considering the fore-mentioned History. My department is the largest credit hour generator in the college of Arts and Sciences.

I am not necessarily arguing this is the most desirable situation. One of difficult situations I find myself in is allocating resources across service courses, experiences for majors, and graduate education. Few other departments contend with the pressure for service course instruction and focus more on their majors and graduate programs. Of course, I mean this in a relative way. Professional programs even have the luxury of using my department as a proving ground for their students allowing them to focus their attention on those students who have met some standard of performance.

So, my question is what accounts for this difference. High school kids need advanced math, but college students need Psychology? How does this make any sense? What about history? What college programs require their students to take the college version of the history courses they are required to take in high school? Why now is something very different a much higher priority?

The logic of the focus on STEM escapes me. The same is true of history. Connecting the general focus on STEM with international economic competitiveness seems misguided. It is great if you happen to work in math or sciece, but what we likely need are advanced programs for some students with a special interest or aptitude. This is what is likely to drive economic development. Perhaps the general focus is needed to justify the expense. One should not confuse politics with sound planning or an honest assessment of needs.

So, really, are there explanations for these priorities? Perhaps, since we are in a time of examining the purpose and value of education, we should ask some hard questions about the sacred cows.

I reached a milestone this evening. My LastFm account reached 100,000 songs. LastFm is a social music site that keeps track of the music you play from your computer and your mobile devices. I started using this system in November, 2006, and tonight the number of songs this system has monitored hit 100,000.

The 100,000th song was “What a wonderful world” by Louis Armstrong. I like my computer’s choice for the special occasion.

Using this site over the years has helped me think through the notion of both data aggregation and social influence. I do explore the musical tastes of the users that the system identifies as similar to me. I tend not to contact other people. Somehow being contacted by a 61 year old because you both have been listening to the Avett Brothers, Kings of Leon, or The Black Keys would likely scare a few folks. Still, this process help me think through the differences between search and discovery.

It is also interesting to use the data the system stores to consider my own interests.

Miles Davis is evidently my favorite artist and I listened to 1702 songs by Miles in the last few years.

My favorite songs (reminds me of high school in the 1960s) turned out to be “In my place”, “Sweet child of mine”, “Come away with me”, and “All along the watchtower”. If that set tells you anything about me, you are a better psychologist than I. Try listening to “Sweet child of mine” 85 times and see what you think.