Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
You can use podcasts to bring expert speakers into your course experience.
Experts give your curriculum credibility. Imagine having John Lennon and Yoko Ono drop into your online course to discuss the idea behind the song Give Peace A Chance. There is almost no limit to what you can do here!
Although brevity is one of the principles of good podcast design there are times to flirt with this principle such as presenting a talk by a leading expert in the field. These are golden opportunities which deserve respect by being presented as they were given.
Downloading a large podcast takes time so warn your students ahead of time. This podcast is over 55 minutes in length. If possible use a link to the publishers copy like I have in this blog. That way you may take advantage of streaming and avoid lengthy downloads.
When choosing an expert speaker make sure he/she is relevant to the audience. Mitch Kapor is a legend in the field of computers so he would be a great choice for one of my Computer Science courses but probably would be less relevant to a course in human resource management. Pick your expert speakers wisely.
This particular webcast is entitled How to Build a Successful Company. This is something Mitch Kapor has plenty of experience in. His company competed successfully with Microsoft in the highly competitive computer software market. In fact, he made of habit of producing better products at lower prices. Microsoft simply couldn’t compete with his lower overhead expenses.
This podcast is from Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders.
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Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
I admit it. I’m an unapologetic Mac-snob but I’ve earned the right. Once upon a time I had an engineering career in the personal computer industry. For years I tried to destroy Apple Corporation by making the best computers I could but they just wouldn’t die. Early retirement found me going back to school for a doctoral degree and I found myself having to work in a Mac lab.
Macs! I was furious. “How could they expect me to use one of these?” Well, I got an education. It’s been a decade since my first exposure to Apple products and I wouldn’t use anything else because I demand a dependable computer for my work. I especially enjoy telling all those frustrated Windows users to solve their problems by simply buying a computer that really works!
So, take my advice. If you want to make your work more fun and more creative get a Mac. Educators get a discount too!
Which one? I prefer the MacBook Pro because it can travel with me. It’s made with quality components and is really fast.
By the way, it took about 30 seconds to learn how to use it.
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Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
Would you believe it!
Here we are at the All Star break and the lovable losers are in first place. Not only are they in first but they have the highest winning season in all of professional baseball. Yes, they are tied at .600 with Los Angeles but that’s an entirely different league. The Cubs also have 8 players on the National League team and 2 players being considered for rookie of the year.
Yes, “anyone can have a bad century” but it looks as though that’s in the past. It really is “next year!”, Dad. Its too bad you aren’t here to see it.
I know this has nothing to do with education or technology but its my blog and I’ll celebrate if I want to. Besides there is a lot of technology in baseball but “there’s no crying.” So put your towel away Cardinals fans.
I’ve been waiting for this all of my life!
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Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
For the uninitiated this means “buyer beware!”
The buzz of the summer is Microsoft’s brand new operating system Vista. I couldn’t think of a more appropriate statement concerning it than caveat emptor.
If you are the IT guru at an institution of higher learning run as far away from Vista as you can. And fast! New versions of Microsoft’s Windows operating system are like the sexy new cars our fathers warned us about. They were full of promises and looked great but they were all full of problems. Dad always said “wait a couple of years until they shake all the bugs out!” And he was right!
There have been lots of stories about all of the devices that stop working when you install Vista. They may be true. I don’t know. I do know that you want your students and faculty to come to a fully functioning campus. So, sit this one out for awhile and watch the agony of others.
If you really have to make a change junk out all of your PCs and replace them with Macs. Trust me on this. You won’t regret it.
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Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
Most people think teachers live the good life during the summer. The truth is we do!
I’ve spent most of my summer preparing for the upcoming academic year and writing a new workshop for the Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching & Learning. The weeds are growing well in my yard while I work 12 hour days and I’m loving it!
What’s new? Well I’m jazzing up my Blackboard courses with tons of new vodcasts and podcasts. These gems allow me to add content to my course for free! Imagine having Al Gore visit with your students about global warming or Peter Gabriel talk about witness.org. Impossible you say? Hardly. These are just the tip of the iceberg of educational materials that are freely available to you if you are brave enough to give them a try.
Come on in! The water if fine.
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Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
We all know the price of gas is climbing out of sight but what can we do about it?
First, slow down. I have a 30 mile commute to my school 5 days per week. My schedule varies too much to carpool so I’ve slowed down. Driving 55 mph instead of 65 mph saves me a lot of gas and it doesn’t really take that much longer to get to work. I’ve acheived average mpg’s as high as 40 in my Subaru Legacy but we can do much better.
Why not change the academic schedule to a 4 day week. Kalamazoo Valley Community College did it during the last oil crisis and cut back on gas consumption for students and faculty. Everyone liked it so well they kept it up long after the crisis ended. Just think, everyday weekend was a 3 day weekend!
Another thing we can do is teach online at least one day a week. This is going to be a hard sell on my campus. The Vice President of Academic Affairs tends to resist change. So the trick may be to get him to think its his idea. Hmm….
Fortunately I’ve been hired to do a workshop on Blackboard later this summer. My plan is to entice faculty to use podcasts and vodcasts in their courses. Participants will;
- experience some of my favorites,
- learn how to find media,
- see how to add them to the course,
- and make their own podcasts.
A little show-and-tell session with the VP ought to get his mental juices flowing.
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Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
Raul Midon’s All the answers is a passionate song about all the possibilities of learning on the web. His musicality is superb and his lyrics inspiring.
Hopefully listening will inspire others to test the waters of drawing the World Wide Web and internet technologies into their teaching. There is so much out there. Its a universe of collaboration and information waiting to be tapped into. Why wait?
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Posted by Mark Winegar on 15th July 2008
How do groups get anything done? Through collaboration!
Microsoft, Chrysler, Fannie Mae, and many other icons of business are experiencing failure while loosely knit groups such as WikiPedia are thriving. Why? Clay Shirky gives a compelling explanation in Institutions vs Collaboration at the TED conference.
I recommend this podcast for anyone interested in leadership or organizational theory.
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