I've been a programmer at the Technical University of British Columbia for over two years now. I was reading with amusment Schank's article, thinking about our university and all that we've done and learned developing classes for our first year of students this September.
TechBC may be closer to Schank's vision for a univsersity than a few others I know. We've tried to develop our course delivery models to embrace an online environment from the beginning. Too many online offerings are either just supplementary information for a lecture, or some glorified correspondance course. We've tried to change that by throwing out the old learning models (including a lecturer standing in front of a class droning on for 3 hours a week) and starting with something new.
A few features that set out TechBC from the rest (If I may get a plug in for my employer):
TechBC is Canada's newest university (1997). It's not a technical institute, but rather a university using technology to teach.
TechBC courses all have some kind of online component, but vary in "delivery model", ranging from "Presentational-Cooperative" (half way between a lecturer and team based learning), to "Computer-Mediated Classroom" (heavily based on online conferencing, ala Slashdot), to "Flexible Study" (the more traditional "online" course, but with a high level of interactivity and and attempt to build a community of learners.
TechBC "courses" are delivered as three 5 week, one credit modules. The theory is that modules can be interchanged as required, so you don't have to take three modules of Statistics if you're a business major. Modules are developed and re-used for other courses.
A common first year for students called TechOne. The material is divided between business/management, multimedia design, and information technology. This may have been for practical reasons as well, you have no idea how much work it is to get just 6 courses (ahem, 18 modules) out for September! (Including making sure all the servers are working, the Javascript debugged on 6000 pages...:) This also gives the students time to decide which program to go into (I know I could have used this, though I may not have been enthused about taking business courses in my first year)
Course material is developed from scratch from both textual and online resources. We don't quite have the same bias as other universities developing courses from existing "static lectures".
Geek Friendly! Well, at least our advertising slogan for this year of classes is "The geek shall inherit the earth". All of the professors, and even the presedent of the university are geeks at heart. (Especially us wacky ones in Educational Technology and Learning.... Hi guys!)
Greater sense of online community. Well, at least we're working on it. Building a course management system to handle all these new concepts takes time. Nonetheless, the students seem to be posting as much in online conferences as hanging out after class.
Motiviated Professors. They're all really enthusiastic about teaching their students. Some of them come from the old school of lecturing in front of students, and are becoming excited as to how quickly the students are actually learning with the new course delivery models. As one professor commented just this last week, he was amazed how much and how quickly the students were learning brainstorming in teams (they were redesigning a user interface).
"Standardized" course material. Well, not really, but once course content is created online (a big overhead), it can be reused by faculty and not re-invented each semester. It probably ages after about 2 years or so and has to be re-done.
Strong business relationship (with tech partners, not banks or cola manufacturers), with plans for a strong co-op program.
Some amusing points. I notices Schank was complaining about the use of Latin as an "ancient educational language". Latin is also often used as text filler, sort of an "insert your text here" when developing course material. We bucked ther trend and used Esparanto. (A quote translated from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, I believe).
I liked the bit about using "games" such as flight simulators to teach students. I think most of our professors who would like this idea and think it was cool.
Reading about people "drifting off" and losing interest in lectures. I've been asked to generate reports from the web logs to determine which students may be losing interest so we can give them some more attention, and make sure they're not dissatisfied with their learning experience.
Well, I've plugged enough. It's not all been roses... It's been hell to put off from the university's point of view, and we won't really know how well it works until the students have completed their first semester of courses.
Perhaps our university can shock the others into changing their ways...
There are presently plans for a Europa Orbiter to launch in 2003, and arrive at Europa in 2007. Details at the JPL site.
The mission plans to determine the thickness of Europa's Ice and determine the existence of water. There's also a link on that page about the mission being a precursor to "hydrobots", underwater submaries that would melt their way through the Europan ice to explore underneath... Very Cool.
Biotech once again shows great promise. We may achieve clinical immortality (ala CEO Morgan), just in time for all our babyboomer parents not to leave us inheritance.
The costs are gonna be through the roof, though... I'm looking at some new high tech medicine costing around $5000 a dose (for me, 3 doses would last 4-6 months). Everyone, enjoy your health while you still have it.
"Mr. Malda? Your brain cells have been restored, you'll be out of the hospital in a few days! By the way, your insurance company called... They say your 10% of the procedure is going to cost you $324,000..."
It's amazing that the majority of the American populace isn't bracing for the end of the world... Forget Y2K. In 1899, there was a huge dip in the stock market, and there was way more panic by September a century ago than there is today. (The stock market did jump back within a few months in 1900).
I think by focusing everyones attention on Y2K, we're not panicing! A modern day apocolypse myth can be explained away as a technical problem to be solved. "Yes, there is a problem with the end of the century, but our best technicians are working on it and we'll have it fixed just in time!". I bet they couldn't say that in 1899...
It doesn't matter how bad y2k is. It's the end of the millenium! Where are the thousands of doomsday cultists committing suicide? Where is that stock market panic? Why haven't end of the millenium trinkets shown up everywhere?
Well, I guess I could be wrong about the trinkets...:)
Re:How do you determine longitude with pre-elec te
on
GPS Rollover Tonight
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· Score: 1
You DON'T.
That's what had naval navigation messed up for so long. It took the invention of a really good watch, a small pocketwatch, actually, to finally get accurate longitude.
This first watch used for such a purpose managed to make a transatlatic crossing while only loosing two seconds of time. Try taking a pendulum watch on a boat while the boat is rocking back and forth enough to make even the hardiest sailors ill...
Those first pocketwatches must have been the cell phones of the day. They were years ahead of their time, packed so much technology into such a little bundle, looked really cool and everyone had to have one.
The GPS rollover is more likely to be the Y2K disaster scenario that your local newspaper is freaking out about. Navigation systems, electrical devices going nuts, etc.
I think Y2K will be more of an economic problem than an "elevators will get stuck". Programmed in a thousand different ways by a million programmers, the effects will be far more random and unknown. Probably enough to shake the JIT shipping philosophy up a bit.
OK, enough Y2K rant. All the people who've heard enough already can just go on being happy and keep their money in mutual funds before the Great Crash...;)
Worst thing that could possibly happen with the GPS rollover... The classic Y2K misnomer: A plane falls out of the sky.
I don't think it would matter if it was a technicality (really bad weather, etc). The millenial panic level (which seems a bit subdued to me so far) would take a big jump, regardless of the fact that GPS and Y2K are completely seperate problems.
I also don't see too many people stocking up on compasses and sextants...
Hey! This is the first time I've ever heard any American that states their country is *equal* to other countries. Think of it... America, on par with Canada, Sweeden, and Burundi both ecomonically and in population!:)
I'm a proud Canadian, glad to see my Canadian tax dollars going toward paying our *full* amount every year and keeping places like Bosnia, Crete, and the Golan Heights from turning into another Kosovo... funding good programs like UNICEF that feed starving human beings.... but that's another rant.
I believe the American's UN debt stands a billion dollars. For the booming US economy, that's chump change. Heck, Canada could come up with that money if we really had to (It would be about 1% of our budget, and yea, 1.5bln CDN is a big chunk but it's a one time payment!)
Insead the Americans point at the UN, and say it's inefficient, bloaded, and ineffective. It's not really worth the money. The claims about its inefficiency are justified, but geez, look at what they're trying to do! Get hundreds of countries together that don't even speak the same language to stop from killing each other on a weekly basis. People in their twenties today don't have a real idea what real war is even like... An ounce of prevention saves a ton of bomb. A hard lesson for a lot of us to learn.
The UN was a good first try. Just like trying to do a software project with no specifications. You have to try first to see what you really want, then start over again from scratch with good design docs, cut out the functionality that wasn't required, and start again.
Sometimes I sit up at night and dream niavely about a more trim, efficient UN and what it could do to really change the world. Stop hunger, disease, resolve bitter conflicts with the resources to back it up. It would cost a lot of money. How much? Perhaps 100 billion a year? That's a lot, maybe $500 a year spread out amongst worldwide taxpayers. But look what we could do with that! But it's too expensive, even though the Americans must spend that much every year on beer.
On the other hand, if there is no hope, and humankind's differences can't be resolved no matter how much the effort, lets just nuke the planet now and get it over with...
What if in the distant future, we had the ability to replicate physical objects, either by copying an original or storing it digitally, and creating it out of component atoms (ala StarTrek)? You could but a chocole bar and copy it and give it to all your friends.
Would Hershey sue for Chocolate Bar piracy?
Would it be illegal to replicate the chocolate bar? Immoral?
Slashdot Mirror
TechBC may be closer to Schank's vision for a univsersity than a few others I know. We've tried to develop our course delivery models to embrace an online environment from the beginning. Too many online offerings are either just supplementary information for a lecture, or some glorified correspondance course. We've tried to change that by throwing out the old learning models (including a lecturer standing in front of a class droning on for 3 hours a week) and starting with something new.
A few features that set out TechBC from the rest (If I may get a plug in for my employer):
Some amusing points. I notices Schank was complaining about the use of Latin as an "ancient educational language". Latin is also often used as text filler, sort of an "insert your text here" when developing course material. We bucked ther trend and used Esparanto. (A quote translated from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series, I believe).
I liked the bit about using "games" such as flight simulators to teach students. I think most of our professors who would like this idea and think it was cool.
Reading about people "drifting off" and losing interest in lectures. I've been asked to generate reports from the web logs to determine which students may be losing interest so we can give them some more attention, and make sure they're not dissatisfied with their learning experience.
Well, I've plugged enough. It's not all been roses... It's been hell to put off from the university's point of view, and we won't really know how well it works until the students have completed their first semester of courses.
Perhaps our university can shock the others into changing their ways...
The mission plans to determine the thickness of Europa's Ice and determine the existence of water. There's also a link on that page about the mission being a precursor to "hydrobots", underwater submaries that would melt their way through the Europan ice to explore underneath... Very Cool.
The costs are gonna be through the roof, though... I'm looking at some new high tech medicine costing around $5000 a dose (for me, 3 doses would last 4-6 months). Everyone, enjoy your health while you still have it.
"Mr. Malda? Your brain cells have been restored, you'll be out of the hospital in a few days! By the way, your insurance company called... They say your 10% of the procedure is going to cost you $324,000..."
Well, China was going to launch the capsule this year, but unmanned. It may be some time (2001, at least) before they launch a manned craft.
Take a look at this BBC news story for details and nice pictures.
I seem to recall another article that stated that China's manned launch wouldn't be well into the next decade, but I couldn't find it.
Looking forward to the next moon race! I wasn't even born yet for the last one...
It's amazing that the majority of the American populace isn't bracing for the end of the world... Forget Y2K. In 1899, there was a huge dip in the stock market, and there was way more panic by September a century ago than there is today. (The stock market did jump back within a few months in 1900).
:)
I think by focusing everyones attention on Y2K, we're not panicing! A modern day apocolypse myth can be explained away as a technical problem to be solved. "Yes, there is a problem with the end of the century, but our best technicians are working on it and we'll have it fixed just in time!". I bet they couldn't say that in 1899...
It doesn't matter how bad y2k is. It's the end of the millenium! Where are the thousands of doomsday cultists committing suicide? Where is that stock market panic? Why haven't end of the millenium trinkets shown up everywhere?
Well, I guess I could be wrong about the trinkets...
You DON'T.
That's what had naval navigation messed up for so long. It took the invention of a really good watch, a small pocketwatch, actually, to finally get accurate longitude.
This first watch used for such a purpose managed to make a transatlatic crossing while only loosing two seconds of time. Try taking a pendulum watch on a boat while the boat is rocking back and forth enough to make even the hardiest sailors ill...
Those first pocketwatches must have been the cell phones of the day. They were years ahead of their time, packed so much technology into such a little bundle, looked really cool and everyone had to have one.
Probably about as accurate too...
;)
The GPS rollover is more likely to be the Y2K disaster scenario that your local newspaper is freaking out about. Navigation systems, electrical devices going nuts, etc.
I think Y2K will be more of an economic problem than an "elevators will get stuck". Programmed in a thousand different ways by a million programmers, the effects will be far more random and unknown. Probably enough to shake the JIT shipping philosophy up a bit.
OK, enough Y2K rant. All the people who've heard enough already can just go on being happy and keep their money in mutual funds before the Great Crash...
GMT+5h? Don't worry, if it's an issue, they'll see it first and the plane won't even be allowed off the ground...
Worst thing that could possibly happen with the GPS rollover... The classic Y2K misnomer: A plane falls out of the sky.
I don't think it would matter if it was a technicality (really bad weather, etc). The millenial panic level (which seems a bit subdued to me so far) would take a big jump, regardless of the fact that GPS and Y2K are completely seperate problems.
I also don't see too many people stocking up on compasses and sextants...
Hey! This is the first time I've ever heard any American that states their country is *equal* to other countries. Think of it... America, on par with Canada, Sweeden, and Burundi both ecomonically and in population! :)
I'm a proud Canadian, glad to see my Canadian tax dollars going toward paying our *full* amount every year and keeping places like Bosnia, Crete, and the Golan Heights from turning into another Kosovo... funding good programs like UNICEF that feed starving human beings.... but that's another rant.
I believe the American's UN debt stands a billion dollars. For the booming US economy, that's chump change. Heck, Canada could come up with that money if we really had to (It would be about 1% of our budget, and yea, 1.5bln CDN is a big chunk but it's a one time payment!)
Insead the Americans point at the UN, and say it's inefficient, bloaded, and ineffective. It's not really worth the money. The claims about its inefficiency are justified, but geez, look at what they're trying to do! Get hundreds of countries together that don't even speak the same language to stop from killing each other on a weekly basis. People in their twenties today don't have a real idea what real war is even like... An ounce of prevention saves a ton of bomb. A hard lesson for a lot of us to learn.
The UN was a good first try. Just like trying to do a software project with no specifications. You have to try first to see what you really want, then start over again from scratch with good design docs, cut out the functionality that wasn't required, and start again.
Sometimes I sit up at night and dream niavely about a more trim, efficient UN and what it could do to really change the world. Stop hunger, disease, resolve bitter conflicts with the resources to back it up. It would cost a lot of money. How much? Perhaps 100 billion a year? That's a lot, maybe $500 a year spread out amongst worldwide taxpayers. But look what we could do with that! But it's too expensive, even though the Americans must spend that much every year on beer.
On the other hand, if there is no hope, and humankind's differences can't be resolved no matter how much the effort, lets just nuke the planet now and get it over with...
Whoops! The n ' and t keys on my keyboard must be stuck. I meant wouldn't... :)
Yes, the extra electron shell takes up a lot of elements between 89 and 103, but 118 is a long way to the right of that...
Isn't there another new electron shell beyond 119/120?
Checking out my periodic table, wouldn't element 118 be a "noble gas"? All of its electron shells filled? That would prevent the decay though...
Beware the reactivity of element 119... You thought pure sodium or potassium were bad in oxygen...
What if in the distant future, we had the ability to replicate physical objects, either by copying an original or storing it digitally, and creating it out of component atoms (ala StarTrek)? You could but a chocole bar and copy it and give it to all your friends.
Would Hershey sue for Chocolate Bar piracy?
Would it be illegal to replicate the chocolate bar? Immoral?
Would there be Open Source Chocolate?