I teach in the art program at a small, private college, and we made the transition for a number of our art programs a couple years ago. Here are some of the issues we dealt with:
1. We kept our traditional lab and use it for the first two years, then require laptops for students entering their junior year. This allows us (and the students) to focus on the concepts at the beginning, then the various technological issues once they're more ready for them.
2. Although I expected it, we saw very little reluctance to the laptop requirement. On the contrary, students seem to really like it, and it's been something of a selling point for our program.
3. While we're Mac-based, we allow students to purchase Windows laptops provided they accept all responsibility for configuration issues. So far, we've only had a couple students go the Windows route, and it seems to have worked out OK.
4. Good handouts are essential, unless you want to spend all your time answering the same questions over and over and over. (How do I connect my laptop to the printer? How do I make a backup? Etc.)
5. The biggest problem has been damaged laptops, where students have to send them in for repair. (ie. spilling beer on the keyboard) How do students complete their coursework while they wait? It's tempting to simply call it their problem, but practically, this doesn't really work. Whenever possible, we try to maintain at least one lab machine with all the equivalent software they can use in an emergency.
6. Software updates can be a problem, too. Often, a company (Macromedia does this a lot) will update their software mid-year, and some students will rush out to purchase it. This can get the class out of sync. Our policy is to pick a version we will teach for the year and stick to it.
7. Fostering a sense of community has been difficult. Students tend to finish class, pack up their laptops, and head out the door. Right now we're in the process of re-designing a number of our work spaces to make them more laptop-friendly, in the hopes of encouraging more collaborative work.
So, overall it's been a good thing. But we're still in transition.
...am I the only one who had to get out the dictionary to wayfind the intertwingularity of some of these sociosemantic words? A few of the folksonomies seem to have only ambient findability.
I didn't like having to keep 3 apps open at the same time.
Out of interest why?
Having tried both approaches, I think can answer that. One of the really nice things about Entourage is that it lets you connect various types of information (calendar events, to-do items, emails, notes, even files on the hard drive) in some really nice ways.
For example, let's say I get a new client who wants to start a major job with me. In Entourage, I can create a "project" which will allow me to easily combine everything having to do with that job in one place, including any non-Entourage files that may come along. Every email the client and I exchange, every calendar event we've scheduled, all the tasks having to do with the project are linked. I tried this with Mail/iCal/Finder and it just wasn't the same. In fact, I tried it with quite a few software solutions and nothing came close.
I'm not normally a big fan of MS, but the all-in-one features of Entourage have simplified my job and helped organize my life in a big way.
Especially considering these are taped weeks in advance. I know the contestants are sworn to secrecy, but how do they make sure no one in the audience squeals? I mean--presuming he's lost by now--surely someone at the taping must have seen it.
That's an awful lot of mouths to keep quiet.
I remember reading that when the Osborne computer company finally went out of business, the bank sent guards to the offices to make sure the (now jobless) employees didn't make off with any of the expensive computer equipment.
However, nobody bothered to inform the guards that the company manufactured portable computers--a new idea at the time--and many of the employees walked an Osborne right out the door, carrying it like a briefcase. The guards had no idea the company's precious assets were being removed right under their noses.
Interview and History on NPR
on
Tuxedo Park
·
· Score: 3, Informative
A little while ago NPR did a nice story on this--very interesting.
Slashdot Mirror
1. We kept our traditional lab and use it for the first two years, then require laptops for students entering their junior year. This allows us (and the students) to focus on the concepts at the beginning, then the various technological issues once they're more ready for them.
2. Although I expected it, we saw very little reluctance to the laptop requirement. On the contrary, students seem to really like it, and it's been something of a selling point for our program.
3. While we're Mac-based, we allow students to purchase Windows laptops provided they accept all responsibility for configuration issues. So far, we've only had a couple students go the Windows route, and it seems to have worked out OK.
4. Good handouts are essential, unless you want to spend all your time answering the same questions over and over and over. (How do I connect my laptop to the printer? How do I make a backup? Etc.)
5. The biggest problem has been damaged laptops, where students have to send them in for repair. (ie. spilling beer on the keyboard) How do students complete their coursework while they wait? It's tempting to simply call it their problem, but practically, this doesn't really work. Whenever possible, we try to maintain at least one lab machine with all the equivalent software they can use in an emergency.
6. Software updates can be a problem, too. Often, a company (Macromedia does this a lot) will update their software mid-year, and some students will rush out to purchase it. This can get the class out of sync. Our policy is to pick a version we will teach for the year and stick to it.
7. Fostering a sense of community has been difficult. Students tend to finish class, pack up their laptops, and head out the door. Right now we're in the process of re-designing a number of our work spaces to make them more laptop-friendly, in the hopes of encouraging more collaborative work.
So, overall it's been a good thing. But we're still in transition.
...am I the only one who had to get out the dictionary to wayfind the intertwingularity of some of these sociosemantic words? A few of the folksonomies seem to have only ambient findability.
...that Bill O'Reilly says that Leap Second Lovers are Traitors!
Out of interest why?
Having tried both approaches, I think can answer that. One of the really nice things about Entourage is that it lets you connect various types of information (calendar events, to-do items, emails, notes, even files on the hard drive) in some really nice ways.
For example, let's say I get a new client who wants to start a major job with me. In Entourage, I can create a "project" which will allow me to easily combine everything having to do with that job in one place, including any non-Entourage files that may come along. Every email the client and I exchange, every calendar event we've scheduled, all the tasks having to do with the project are linked. I tried this with Mail/iCal/Finder and it just wasn't the same. In fact, I tried it with quite a few software solutions and nothing came close.
I'm not normally a big fan of MS, but the all-in-one features of Entourage have simplified my job and helped organize my life in a big way.
1. Are you sure you want to reinstall Windows? 2. Really? 3. Really? 4. Seriously, really?
Especially considering these are taped weeks in advance. I know the contestants are sworn to secrecy, but how do they make sure no one in the audience squeals? I mean--presuming he's lost by now--surely someone at the taping must have seen it. That's an awful lot of mouths to keep quiet.
However, nobody bothered to inform the guards that the company manufactured portable computers--a new idea at the time--and many of the employees walked an Osborne right out the door, carrying it like a briefcase. The guards had no idea the company's precious assets were being removed right under their noses.
Here's the link to the interview with the author... http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfI d=1146217
For those who are interested, a brief rundown of Tintin's history on the big (and small) screen can be found at http://www.tintin.qc.ca/english/cinema.htm