XLS Commons
Posted on August 3, 2009
Filed Under Operational Efficiency | Leave a Comment
Rafting is one of my favorite summertime activities. It can be relaxing to drift and let the water maneuver the boat with the flow of the stream. However, to navigate the river, catch some air and avoid the dangers that come with whitewater rafting, each paddler needs to work together as a team. Read more
Posted on July 30, 2009
Filed Under Emerging Technologies, Operational Efficiency | 2 Comments
As you can see, web conferencing has featured heavily this month. Elluminate Live! is available for faculty at The University of Montana, but would be web conferencers needn’t shell out a penny for a live, online classroom. Indeed, instant messaging systems such as Yahoo Messenger and Google Talk as well as Voice over the Internet Providers like Skype can serve a number of the functions of web conferencing.
However, for those interested in venturing into the free web conferencing tool area, perhaps it is best to use a tool designed explicitly for the purpose, and I would say that the two most useful systems in this category are WiZiQ and dimdim.
WiZIQ’s initial appearance belies its web conferencing capabilities. It appears to be a social network where individuals can teach and be taught. However, a little closer inspection reveals that WiZiQ offers more than just the possibility of making a little money on the side. In fact, there is no need to participate in this aspect of the community. It is possible to schedule a session for whatever purposes you would like as long as you have become a member of the network.
Once you’ve joined, scheduling a session is easy. At the login page, select ‘schedule new class’.
Next, choose a title for your session and complete the date and time fields. Note that if you schedule a session for the current time, there is a short delay on entering the session. All sessions are private by default. You have to request to hold a public session or upgrade to premium services to be able to hold a public class. Click schedule and continue to go to the room.
One of the nice features of WizIQ is that it has very friendly interface. You can upload PowerPoint’s, PDFs, draw on the whiteboard, and send an invitation to join the meeting from the meeting room.
Dimdim also prides itself on it ease of use. Unlike WiziQ, dimdim avoids the commercial networking and focusses on delivering on demand sessions. Rather than paying for premium networking opportunities, Dimdim looks to make money from users by having them purchase advanced features.
Once you’ve signed up for dimdim scheduling a session is simple. You have the choice of two options: host a meeting or join a meeting.
Selecting host a meeting, will give you the option to start the session. Similar to WiziQ, you can invite participants to join your session when you have entered the room. Dimdim also has an easy to use interface. One notable feature is the ability to zoom in and out on content. The whiteboard, therefore, can appear to have depth.
Both of these systems have similar affordances and it is worthwhile visiting both to see which you prefer. Of course, you get what you pay for, so these systems are not as robust as Adobe Connect or AT&T Connect. However, they provide a means to utilize the potential benefits of web conferencing on a schedule that suits you. For those who do not have access to web conferencing through the University, it would be worth looking at both of these options.
Robert
Posted on June 22, 2009
Filed Under Operational Efficiency | 2 Comments
Keith and Clare, part of the XLS team, shared these interesting articles about ways that colleges and universities are cutting costs. For example, Davidson saved more than $10,000 by switching from bottled water to tap at most college events:
I am inviting suggestions regarding how UM can provide drinking water to the up to 2800 undergraduate students and faculty mentors who will be visiting our campus April 15-17, 2010 for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. We have concerns for both cost and the environment. Providing multiple bottles of water is expensive and environmentally wasteful – yet the affordable plastic bottles we could provide for refill are smelly and there would be no way for participants to wash them prior to using. At this point, we are planning to suggest that students bring their own Kleen Kanteens or Nalgenes and we will provide tankers of fresh drinking water for refills, but perhaps you have other good ideas and suggestions. I’d appreciate it if you added your comments below.
Thank you,
Janie
Posted on June 2, 2009
Filed Under Emerging Technologies, Faculty and Student Support, Operational Efficiency | 4 Comments
Synthesis–the combination of two or more elements into something (or somethings) new–is presumably something we do well at universities. After all, as a university, we apparently encompass it all, the “whole“.
My observation, however, is that we are far better at analysis–separation, deconstruction–than synthesis. There’s a long and much prized history of this, of course. We have schools and colleges in which students and faculty have largely separate research and learning experiences from one another. For faculty members, specialization and specialness seem to govern most of their work lives and focus. For students, there’s a wide variety of experience depending on their major. The collection of ”general ed” requirements is an attempt to provide an opportunity for synthesis, but there’s no guarantee that actual synthesis will occur. Read more
Posted on June 2, 2009
Filed Under Operational Efficiency | 2 Comments
In women’s gymnastics, a popular vault is the Yurchenko vault. It’s described on wikipedia.com as a vault in which “the gymnast does a round-off onto the springboard and a back handspring onto the horse or vaulting table. The gymnast then performs a salto, which may range in difficulty from a simple single tuck to a triple twist layout.” Now that you know what it is, you should be able to do it, right?…No?
Okay, perhaps we should try something a little less complicated. How about something we are constantly trying to achieve at work: efficiency, defined as “accomplishment of or ability to accomplish a job with a minimum expenditure of time and effort.”
keep looking »