Learning Aloud

I am fascinated by the new AJAX applications (e.g., gOffice). I don’t understand exactly how software of this type is written and I am fascinated by those who spend what must be a tremendous abount of their time on projects with no obvious compensation (I do recognize the value of satisfying the creative urge, but I personally can satisify this drive with only a couple of hours of time).

My newest interest in Writely.

For the uninitiated, this type of application resides on the “net” and operates on your machine within a standard browser. It is similar to what I used to understand the term “thin client” to imply (a machine with no harddrive requiring that all apps be downloaded into memory as needed).

So, Writely allows you to access a browser whenever and from where ever you might want to work. Writely has two features I did not understand to exist in gOffice. First, you can store files in RTF format and you can get them to your personal machine when you want. Second, Writely has been developed to encourage collaborate efforts – i.e., you can work on a document remotely with colleagues and not have to send the document back and forth (the copy you see is the existing version of the document). I would think an app of this nature would of interest to K-12 teachers wanting to engage their students in collaborative writing activities.

This is an attempt to regenerate one of the posts I created during the holiday break (before I messed up the database).

Cindy found an interesting automator script in MacWorld that generates a 20 x 30 inch poster made up of 72 or 96 images. She decided to create a poster for each of our children (22-30 year old adults) from our collection of digital images. You need to be running Mac OS 10.4 to make use of this automator script.

The following is a miniature version of one of the posters she created. The result of the process is a PDF file. The cost to print such a file commercially will probably be about $25.

Since this is after the holidays, I have a second image that gives you a better feel for what the final product looks like.

Just for the record, the first script she downloaded did not work. Luckily, some time had passed between the time she initially downloaded the script and when she first tried the flawed script. When she downloaded the script a second time and it worked perfectly. Perhaps the original script was flawed and the problem had been reported by others. Read the article associated with the link I have provided to get a general overview of the process, but use the instructions associated with the download itself if you decide to create your own poster.

This procedure may have classroom value in displaying a “collection” of images on a specific theme. For us, it was fun to try to remember the date and situation associated with each image.

I have always enjoyed operating my own server. This situation is not a necessity for me or for most others with an interest in exploring Internet services, but it is fun and it is a way to develop a little better understanding of how things actually work (or frequently what “issues” can cause problems). I have the advantage of working at a university which provides me the opportunity to gain access to the Internet AND to attach servers to the Internet.

This blog runs on WordPress software. For WordPress to work, the server must also provide access to MySQL (a database). I use a Macintosh computer (which means I am taking advantage of the UNIX components built into the Mac operating system – this includes the Apache server software). A Mac server is very easy to operate. MySQL and WordPress are open source resources that can be downloaded. I have installed both several times. Sometimes the process is easy and sometimes it takes me a lot of trial and error. One of the problems of not spending huge amounts of time operating servers is that I rely heavily on trial and error to get things to work and because the time span between doing the same thing can be lengthy (e.g., upgrading WordPress), I do not seem to get better at it. Perhaps this challenge could be overcome by keeping notes on my efforts, but I tend to believe things continue to change (new operating systems, small changes in the applications) and the process is always slightly different.

WordPress has released a nice documentation site that may provide potential hosts the insights they need to get started.

Lately, I seem to be running into a major technology problem each day. Today, all my Microsoft applications refused to open unless I paid money. It took me a little while to identify the problem. Evidently near the end of 2004, someone (this typically means I am blaming my wife) loaded “Office 2004 Test Drive” on my Mac. Evidently, today was the first time I opened a file created with a Microsoft product on this particular machine in the new year.

I do not use the Office 2004 Test Drive applications but the installation of this product must have somehow modified my Office v.X applications (or supporting files). I removed the Office 2004 Test Drive file and this turned out to be a mistake. I should have run an uninstall program in the “Test Drive” folder to remove Test Drive and the altered Office v.X and then reinstalled my Office v.X files (luckily I could find the installation disk or I would have been forced to pay a ransom to Redmond).

In case, you encounter a similar problem you can download a copy of “Test Drive” (DO NOT INSTALL) and run the uninstall program. I have no suggestions if you cannot locate your original install disk.

If you make frequent visits to this blog, you probably noticed that several weeks worth of posts disappeared. This was my fault. I operate several servers and took a short cut when setting up a new machine. I copied a version of my database administration tool from one machine to another. For some reason when I returned from vacation it looked like I had also copied the databases. So – I deleted the databases on the new machine. It turns out that the config files sets a virtual host path and I was actually deleting the databases from the original machine. This meant that I eliminated all of my blog entries.

I do back up my material (evidently on Dec. 7). The problem with my backup technique is that the tool I use assumes the database structure still exists and all the tool needs to do is reload the data. There is probably a lesson here. My favorite technology commentator (Leo Laporte) recently discussed the down side of specialized backup software in comparison to simply copying key parts of the hard drive to an external disk. The file created by the specialized software may not be readable by any other application. This was similar to my situation. Luckily, I had saved my database information (mysql) out as an sql file (a text file containing the data and file structure information) several months ago. I was able to use this old information to recreate the database and then use my specialized software to reload everything to the point of my last backup.

Anyway, I will attempt to recreate some of the missing posts within the next week or so.

New Year’s resolution – backup!

My wife returned last night from TIES, the Minnesota K-12 technology conference, and said that attendance was down. I know the same thing has happened with the similar conference in North Dakota and that there is a possibility that if attendance does not rebound this coming year the stand alone conference may be discontinued. I remember attending MECC (the “original” Minnesota Educational Computing Conference) back in my Apple 2e days – while I attended national conferences in my discipline, MECC was probably the most exciting conference of the year.

I wonder if this is unique to our area, a temporary situation in our area, or a trend of a more general nature. So, if this trend is real, I wonder why this is happening and if it is a good thing. Here are some thoughts (completely without data).

Perhaps individual districts or regions (in ND we have some regional training programs sponsored through the state) have increased tech professional development to the point that further exposure is not needed.

Even if this is true, I think district programs tend to be idiosyncratic and listening only to yourself limits creativity and innovation.

Perhaps “integration” has happened on all levels. Maybe the discussion of teachering with technology has become integrated within more general local and regional conferences. Hence, more technology topics are included at the state teachers convention. In my case, more technology topics might be included at the American Educational Research Association Convention.

Again, while I think this may be the case and this may be fine for those educators with general interests, I still like the opportunity to go to a conference to concentrate on a specific topic.

Some more negative thoughts:

There has been some money spent in recent years on professional development. When money is easy (for example, when grants are available), teachers are paid for participating in professional development. Perhaps this generates expectations that are not feasible in leaner times. Perhaps the idea of individuals paying to become educated is dead.

Perhaps NCLB has caused a loss of interest in technology-supported education or caused priorities to shift to other topics of professional development.

Please check out the following site – Work-Learning Research.

This link provides information related to claims made regarding the benefits of “learning by doing.”

The source cited in the diagram above by Wiman and Meierhenry (1969) is a book of edited chapters. Though two of the chapters (Harrison, 1969; Stewart, 1969) mention Dale’s Cone of Experience, neither of them includes the percentages. In other words, the diagram above is citing a book that does not include the diagram and does not include the percentages indicated in the diagram.

If you follow some of the same discussions I do, it is interesting to note how such claims originate. There must be an important lesson in this situation for educators. ALWAYS question and spend some time with primary sources.

Don Lemon, a faculty colleague sent me an email indicating:

The Dale being referred to is, I believe, Edgar Dale, a UND graduate from Rugby, ND. His writings in education were popular in the 1930s — 1950s. It seems I recall that he had a “Cone of Experience.”