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Showing posts from November, 2013

The Blackboard Bungle

Earlier this semester, there was a "glitch" with the Blackboard shell for my writing course. I had spent hours and hours uploading content, organizing the shell, and trying to perfect the course. And then it was gone. The Blackboard team eventually restored most, but not all, of the content. It was a tough reminder that online systems are, like all computing systems, imperfect. Systems crash. Databases get corrupted. Things go wrong and you need a contingency plan. The Blackboard bungle left my students frustrated and has cost me more than few hours. While I had copies of all materials, they were scattered about my hard drive. I didn't want to duplicate files, which I thought would waste space. I sometimes used "links" (aliases) to original files, as a compromise. On my computer, which is backed up to three external drives and mirrored to another computer, I now have a directory system that aligns with my Blackboard shell. There are folders for each w

Tablet Time: When Less is Best

Visalia Direct: Virtual Valley November 4, 2013 Deadline December 2013 Issue Tablet Time: When Less is Best My next computer will be a tablet. Yes, I called it a computer because today’s tablets can replace a notebook system for many routine tasks. Though I sometimes need the power and features of a notebook or desktop computer, a tablet is perfect for surfing the Web, answering email, reading books and viewing presentations. When I upgraded from a 12-inch notebook to a 15-inch laptop, the portable computer replaced my desktop system. In return for the extra screen real estate and significant computing power, my carrying case gained weight. Walking across a university campus, the 5.6 pounds of a MacBook Pro plus the weight of its power supply and two video adapters starts to feel like 20 pounds. Most days, I don’t need the power of a laptop in my classroom. I use the laptop to show slides and pages of articles while lecturing. Students do ask to review work and grades, so