Chrome - Automatically sync all of your bookmarks and web apps no matter what computer or smartphone you are on

Do you use bookmarks?  Do you use more than one computer?  Do you have a iPhone, iPad, or Android phone?  Using the fastest browser around, you can have all of your bookmarks and web apps synced across every computer you use, as well as your smartphone.  If you don't already have Google Chrome installed on your computer, I would highly recommend going to this link and installing it.  It is a free application.  As part of the install process, you will be asked if you would like to import your bookmarks and settings from Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.  I would recommend doing that, as that will make your transition to Chrome easier.

Once you have installed Chrome, follow the directions on this page and sign in to Chrome.  If you have any other computers, install Chrome and sign into those as well.  If you have an iPhone or iPad, go here to download Chrome for iOS and if you have an Android phone, go here to download it.  From now on when you add or remove bookmarks or web apps, it will be synced across all of your computers and your phone.  You will have a seamless experience everywhere.

For more information on signing into Chrome and why you should do it, you can watch this short video:

The Google Chrome browser is compatible with both Angel and Canvas, so you will have no problems using it with either system for your classes.  

Skitch

Skitch is a great tool for taking screenshots on your computer.  Skitch was recently purchased by Evernote so now it integrates very nicely with my favorite note taking tool!  You can grab Skitch from http://evernote.com/skitch/.  It is a free download and if you are using a Mac computer you can get it directly from the App Store.

The integration with Evernote is great.  Once you snap a screenshot the image is automatically loaded into Evernote for safe keeping.  But Evernote isn't the only way you can use your images.  They can be saved to your hard drive or shared out via email or social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter.

The fun doesn't end once you take the screenshot.  Skitch has annotation tools built in so you can point out or highlight areas of the image and you can add text to help explain different elements on the image.

Here's a tip from the eLearning team.  If you are having some technical difficulty with an eLearning tool (Canvas, Angel, Tegrity, etc...) and you need to submit a ticket, use Skitch to take a screenshot of the problem and include it with the ticket.  This will help us see the problem and aid in our troubleshooting.

Have fun exploring this free tool!  

Mythbusting Media: Expert Tips and Techniques for Effectively Using Social and Digital Media

This was a pre-conference session at EDUCAUSE.  Since we are working on a social media strategy at TCC I thought it might be a good idea to get some different perspectives on this topic. What I found most interesting about this session was hearing from different educators from around the country "busting" some myths around social media 

One presenter talked about her usage of social media as a tool to market the Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas. In this role she is able to interact with students that are interested in the college. One of the myths she "busted" was that it really isn't necessary to separate yourself from your "brand". She felt it is important to be yourself when interacting with people via social media as it helps build connections.  http://www.slideshare.net/marleysmom1/marketing-myths-for-sm-use-in-highered

Another presenter is a student who actively uses social media for her online classes. The primary myth she "busted" is about building real relationships via social media.  She commented how she has developed the same kind of relationships in her online class Facebook groups as she had in her face-to-face classes.  

What do you think about these myths?

College blogs of intrest

Did you know that Tacoma Community College is one of the early adopters of new technology and a leader in eLearning advancements in the state of Washington?  Other colleges look to our examples. However good we are, we can’t know everything. So I did some looking around for some other college blogs out there that you may find of use as a student making your way through this maze that is college and life.

Hack College
   Hack College is a blog dedicated to helping you “work smarter, not harder.”  All content is written by students, so it comes from the source.  It is not just tech stuff like tips for cleaning up inappropriate Facebook photos from last week’s party or recovering your missing English final from a corrupt hard drive. They have some really well written articles and they are trying to help you change the way you learn.

MyEdu
    You want to know exactly what your grade point is at any given time right? You also want to know what time your anthropology discussion starts, and how you can save up to 20% on books and tuition. And you want to do it all in one place.

    That’s where MyEdu comes in. They let you do everything listed above, as well as find out which classes your friends are taking, plan your degree by semester, check up on your professors, and much more. Best of all, it’s all free.

Rate My Professors
    Nobody wants the lecture with the professor who reads aloud from the textbook (or spits on the front row when he talks). Get the most out of your college dollars by checking up on professors before you enroll in their class.

    This free service rates professors on a 5-point scale for easiness, helpfulness, clarity and rater interest. 

Gizmodo

    This site is an offshoot of Lifehacker, another blog for the geek in all of us. But I like the flow and feel of Gizmodo in how it brings college students all the latest information on new, must-have technological gadgets and gizmos, allowing us to stay in sync with the cool trends.

Chromebook - The thin, fast laptop with 6.5 hour battery for only $249

Thin, Fast, Low Cost
How would you like to get a thin, fast laptop with a 6.5 hour battery for only $249?  Well, the Chromebook is your laptop then.  Google has created the Chrome OS, which is a lightweight operating system designed for people that spend most of their time online and they have put this onto the Chromebook laptop.  Instead of using Windows 7, Windows 8, or the Mac OSX, you are using the Chrome OS, which centers around the Chrome browser.

Web apps
Instead of installing applications on the computer, you "install" them in your Chrome browser.  You can browse applications to install in the Chrome Web Store.  Are you worried that you'll lose all of the applications you are used to using like Microsoft Word or iTunes?  Instead of Microsoft Word, you can use Google Docs for free.  I explain here about using Google Docs and Google Drive instead of Microsoft Office.  Instead of iTunes, you can upload your music to the free Google Music.  There are also lots of other free, web-based applications that you can listen to music with.  If you need to edit pictures, you can use Aviary for Google Drive.  These are just a few examples of the many available, free web applications that you can use instead of the desktop applications that you are used to using.

Free 100GB of online storage
With the purchase of a Chromebook, you also get a free 100GB of Google Drive storage for 2 years.  All of the documents, pictures, music that you store on the Chromebook is synced with you Google Drive and you can access that anywhere you have a web browser and an internet connection.  I pay $2.49 per month for 25GB of Google Drive storage and as I explain here, I was able to save all of the photos I've ever taken thanks to Google Drive store.  Getting 100GB for free is a great deal.

Offline editing
The Chromebook is mostly designed for people that are connected to WiFi all the time.  With WiFi at school, home, coffee shops, and friend's houses, you can pretty much be connected to WiFi almost the entire day.  There may be times when you aren't connected to WiFi though and Google Docs does have offline editing that will allow you to make edits offline and then it will automatically sync the next time you get connected to the internet.

Hardware specs
You can check out the hardware specs here.  The best features of the hardware are the 6.5 hour battery and the solid state drive, which makes the use of the laptop very snappy and a boot time of less than 10 seconds.  The 0.7 inch thickness and weight of 2.5 pounds is also quite nice and makes it a very portable machine.

Wrap up
Is the Chromebook for everyone?  No, it's not.  Is it a cheaper, effective alternative to Windows or Mac laptops?  Yes, it is.

EDUCAUSE 2012

This week I will be attending the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado.  This conference focuses on Information Technology and how to use it effectively to enhance teaching and learning in higher education.  It is one of those great conferences where there are three or more sessions that you want to see each hour of each day.  This makes it hard to decide which one to actually attend.  Tomorrow I will be attending a pre-conference seminar and then the regular conference starts on Wednesday.  My plan is to update this post blog throughout the week to discuss some of the sessions I attended.  In my summary here I will try to address sessions that may be reflected in projects at TCC and what impact these projects may have on students.

New Group Study Room Equipment in the Information Commons

If you are looking for some space to collaborate on a class project then visit the Information Commons (building 15) and check our newly installed media:scape in both Group Study rooms. Each media:scape unit is equipped with two monitors and a media sharing module that allows up to four computers or portable devices to be shared on the screen.

The media:scape was designed for a “walk-up and connect” experience:
- Open the media well and remove a puck;
- Connect the puck to your laptop;
- Share what’s on your laptop or mobile device by pressing the puck.


The rooms can be reserved for 2 hour slots. If you have any questions about the rooms you can contact Andy Duckworth, Shannon Hight (shight@tacomacc.edu) or Christopher Soran (csoran@tacomacc.edu).

Reading About What Students Want and Will Need in the 21st Century

Reflections from Jo Munroe . . .

Recently, the Educause Center for Applied Research  released its 2012 Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology. Because the study is about you and your experiences, I though that I would summarize it here and invite you to read my brief summary of what it says and to comment or  to ask questions in this forum. The study I reference here, is a study to inform higher ed folks (your instructors, eLearning support folks, your VPs and Presidents) about which technologies you prefer to use for learning, how strong your abilities to use those technologies and resources are  and what you feel about what technology adds to  (or subtracts from) your instructors' effectiveness. All of this is supposed to help us to meet you where you are and help to move you to where you want (need) to be  in terms of your educational and lifelong learning plans.

The report describes you as reflective and curious, but not interested in the new just because it is new. Here are some of the observations (loosely paraphrased) from the study:

1. You like blended learning (face-to-face mixed with online components) best  . . . if you had to choose. You enjoy this form of learning and you think that you learn best this way.
2. You don't really care that much about new, trendy technologies, but you like technology when it is used well to help you to achieve your learning goals.
3. You want more technology training and skill development for using technology . . .You think that this is more valuable than new, more or "better" technology.
4. In terms of the technology you own, you have moved away from desktop computers and feature cellphones and PDAS to laptops . . .and smartphones . . .and tablets and e-readers. You want the option to use these and the training to leverage them for academic purposes.
5. It is not true that all of you have high degrees of technical expertise . . . nor do you really want us to use social networking tools for classroom purposes. You like interacting with your friends on Facebook . . . Interacting with your teachers this way? . . . Meh . . .not-so-much.
6.   You want to interact with your instructors more . . .  face-to-face, via your course management system (like through Canvas, for example). And, while you like instant messaging and online chatting, you really do not enjoy social networking sites and telephone chats as ways to interact with your instructors.
7. You expect us to know how to use technology to engage you in the learning process, and you appreciate our guidance and encouragement about how to get started in  matching technology with teaching and learning needs. If we gave you the opportunity, you would create and present more frequently.
8. While you do wish that we would use more open educational resources and more simulations and educational games, in general, you are pretty pleased with how we are introducing and using technology in the classroom (Yay!) You think that (in general) we have adequate technology skills, that we use technology well in terms of helping you to understand course materials and that we use the "right kinds" of technology effectively.
9. You like  a continuum - deconstructed learning spaces - that push the boundaries of the classroom and give you time to reflect . . .You do not skip class when lecture components are put online. You like blended learning.
10. You would like more technology training that relates directly to succeeding in your courses . . . Just as your instructors, though, you favor on-demand problem resolution with technology rather than formal, organized trainings. 

That's what the report says . . . You can read it for yourself by searching : ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2012  . . .I hope that you will.