Take Out from the Opinion Drive-thru

Microsoft Takes Aim At Apple With Business-Friendly 'Surface' Tablet

Microsoft is doing its best to make Windows 8 as attractive as possible, especially to business users, in an attempt to carve out a space in an Apple-dominated tablet market with its Surface tablet.

http://onforb.es/NgFa9I

Apple’s Retina-Equipped MacBook Pro Is a Sight to Behold

With its newest MacBook Pro, Apple has drafted another set of design standards and build philosophies for PC makers to follow, this time for high-performance machines. The next wave of portable computers will become even slimmer. They will lose their optical drives. Their serviceability will be limited. And the screens will get better — much better.

http://bit.ly/NO8CFk

50 Must Have iOS Apps for iPhone and iPad Users

iPhone is a great phone. Hardware and software aside, what makes the phone great is the app ecosystem. There are lot of apps available in Apple App Store and you will surely find lot of apps that you’ll like. In this post, I have listed 50 apps that I have found after lot of searching and trying.

http://bit.ly/NO66ik

QR Codes: Poetry & Speech Units

While QR codes could be used to direct students to any type of podcast, they are incredibly helpful for teaching poetry and short speeches. In such a context, students have the ability to choose their own “text” and listen, review, take notes, even evaluate.

http://bit.ly/NO6ygE

14 Ways to Use Garageband in the Classroom

Garageband is a great app that I think any student or teacher using an iPad should consider buying. It is a multi-track audio editing app that is as robust as you will ever need (unless of course you teach audio production). Later this week I will be posting a new page full of Garageband resources for teachers, students and learning. For now, you can get your brain juices flowing by reading the list below, watching the embeded ‘how to’ videos, and then go start playing with Garageband yourself!

http://bit.ly/MuvnYX

Obama directive means federal agencies have to go mobile — can newsrooms keep up?

Major federal agencies are getting 12 months to implement new mobile strategies, the White House announced on Wednesday. President Barack Obama says each major agency has to pick two “key government services” to make available on mobile phones. Obama said in a statement that “Americans deserve a government that works for them anytime, anywhere, and on any device.”

http://bit.ly/KjndTs

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"Take Out" with generous permission of americanvirus

Interesting LINKS for Going back to School

All A-Twitter about Education

"Back to School" by Timothy Valentine

Some of the top tweeters in education.
http://bit.ly/os5ElN

14 Free and Simple Digital Media Tools

With so many free (or inexpensive) useful tech tools out there, editing video, audio, or photos doesn’t have to cost a fortune – or leave you with a headache. If your digital media needs are simple, your tools can be simple, too.

http://bit.ly/nNwvBX

Apps for Poets

Poets may quickly fall in love with their iPhones and iPads through a number of fantastic apps. What kind of apps are there? Well, there are apps for reading poetry, writing poetry, jotting down snippets and ideas, recording poetry, and everything in between. The iPhone and iPad have become the solution for the modern day poet. These apps are for those that love the artistry of words.

http://bit.ly/q0Pf5h

The Visible College  (via will Richardson)

Class begins when the classroom door closes.” This image is enshrined in many practices, much popular memory, and even campus policies. But the concept may well be turned inside out in the near future as several trends coincide, altering the ways we teach and learn. That shut door is about to be wrenched open and our closed classes drawn into a global, visible college

http://bit.ly/lSewBq

The Case for Graphic Novels in Education

Graphic novels encompass such a wide range of themes and create such layered experiences through word and art that they actually belong in classrooms . . . . Because contemporary students have a much wider visual vocabulary than we did growing up, I contend that the format offers great opportunities to teach as well as to entertain.

http://bit.ly/q6OuFg

10 Major Mobile Learning Trends to Watch For

While the applications of mobile learning are growing all the time, Online College has highlighted some of the major trends here, showing tge changes in how we teach, learn and interact in educational environments.

http://bit.ly/nrXDQq

Survey Anxiety!

Flickr CC photo courtesy of Beinecke Library

I have been working this summer on a survey for our staff on their technology usage.  The intent of this project is entirely for planning purposes.  I have put a lot of thought into this and solicited feedback from various experts in our community.  The process has created some challenges for me that I have decided to air in this blog post.  Perhaps you will have insights or suggestions.

Change

This is a very exciting time to be in educational technology.  The rapid development of mobile technologies, touch technology, and cloud services call for new ed tech support and solutions.  But change is anxiety producing.  So simply by raising the subject, we may surface objections.  Furthermore, since Mercy is an early adopter of 1:1 computing, there are not too many road maps for us to follow.  The big companies like Apple, HP, Microsoft are introducing less expensive computing solutions for schools who are not yet 1:1.  Consequently, the concern that we might accidentally downgrade what we have worked so hard to build is a legitimate concern.

Transparency 

I wish to promote transparency and collaboration for major decisions that affect many stakeholders.  In this case, however, should all the results be shared?  I don't want to manipulate the results, but not being experienced in survey authoring, I'm a little concerned about dud questions producing results that may muddy the water.  Nevertheless, I'm strongly inclined to share the results within the community.  So here's a greater concern:  Some responses may be easy to identify individually.  Teachers of a particular course, one person "departments", etc. may be easy to spot even if names are withheld.  Will this affect candor?

Ulterior Motives

For me the biggest issue is dispelling concern that the survey is actually a way to "check up" on people.  We absolutely need to know who is filling out the surveys so that we get a clear idea of how critical certain softwares and functions may be.  If we decide on changes we want to be sensitive to current users, so as not to simply jerk the rug out from under them.  I'm hoping that transparency will help to alleviate this.  But I am a little concerned that folks will overstate usage "just in case."

Leading Questions

Obviously, not everything is up for grabs as we develop our "tech plan".  Consequently, we are focusing more attention on specific areas and have discussed some options that we want to "air out."  I've discovered that it is challenging to develop a set of questions that are not "leading," particularly since I of course do have my own opinions.  Nevertheless, I don't want to foreclose feedback.  This is a tough one

Open-Endedness
From a practical point of view, I have found it challenging to find the right blend of fixed choice questions and open-ended prompts.  Obviously, open-ended questions allow for more nuance and intensity of expression.  They also may have the desired effect of making respondents' feel more engaged in the process.  On the other hand, they are unwieldy and may make it harder to discover patterns.


I don't plan on sharing the results of the survey at the Drive-thru, but will surely blog on the process.  It's already been quite a learning experience.