ETC Final Project

The final project for the ETC course was a challenging one for me because I had some technical difficulties while shooting video of my students working together and also when recording their comments about the two tools we used.  Fortunately the audio recording I made was good enough for me to jot down notes with their feedback, however it was not of sufficient quality to include audio excerpts.  I need to figure out a better way to record audio statements that can be imported into iMovie.

I also had some challenges recording the voice-over narration within iMovie.  Every time I tried to record, the recorder would cut in and out and I would lose part of the narration.  I didn’t have the time to figure out what I was doing wrong, so I decided to record the audio as a podcast in GarageBand and exported it to my iTunes library.  I was then able to drag and drop the entire audio file into the project in iMovie.  From there it took me a bit of time to adjust the timing of my visual elements – most of which were photos that I imported from my iPhoto library. 

I really appreciated the assistance of my Executive MBA students in the Lubar School of Business for their help with this project.  They were willing to try out Dabbleboard and Simple Diagrams on fairly short notice and gave me some excellent feedback on the tool.  If you have any interest in using visual thinking strategies, I highly recommend that you check out these tools.  Thanks for your interest in my work.  Feel free to share your comments below.

For those of you who are interested, here is the Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario Plan that I submitted before implementing this activity on January 21st, 2011.  Feel free to try it yourself!

1.  Target Audience: 

The target audience for this Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario (RILS) consists of the 14 executive managers who are currently enrolled in my graduate course in strategic management.  There are 11 men and 3 women in the class and they range in age from 25 to 49.  Five students are employed by non-profit organizations and nine people work at for-profit firms in the financial services, grocery, household fixtures, and a variety of manufacturing businesses.  Each person in the class has at least five years of management experience, however, most have more than that, yet only one student has an undergraduate degree in business.  One student holds doctorates in engineering and computer science and another is a licensed cardiologist.  This course is the capstone in the executive MBA program and is intended to integrate the knowledge students have gained in other business disciplines, such as marketing, finance, economics, accounting, information systems, leadership, statistics, business law and operations management.

2.  Materials: 

In order to complete this RILS activity, each student will need to have a copy of Dan Roam’s book entitled The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures, and a copy of Michael Copeland’s August 16, 2010 Fortune article entitled Google: The Search Party is Over.  In addition, each student will need to have access to a computer and Internet connection or be willing to share computers with each other.  It would also be nice to have a video projector and screen attached to a computer so we can project the visual thinking diagrams for everyone to see.  Finally, each student will need to create a free Dabbleboard account.  If students elect to draw their diagrams by hand on a piece of paper, we will also need access to a scanner so we can scan their diagrams and upload those image files to the Dabbleboard website.  Since I will also be interviewing students about their reactions to the Dabbleboard tool, I will need a microphone, digital video camera and tripod to document their comments.

3.  Objectives: 

One of the primary objectives I have for this course is to help my students develop their skills as strategic thinkers and be able to use those skills to solve problems. Over many years of teaching the course, I have realized that it is important to use visual thinking strategies to explore various dimensions of strategic problems, communicate effectively and design practical solutions that add value for the organization.  So in this course I adopted a book by Dan Roam called The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures.  We are just beginning to read and apply Roam’s visual thinking techniques this week, so it is a perfect time to ask students to use Dabbleboard, a web-based interactive whiteboard, to share their diagrams with each other and further develop their visual thinking skills.

The primary objectives for this RILS activity are as follows:

Objective #1 – Help everyone get familiar with the Dabbleboard tool – take a short tour of the site, create a free account, and learn how to share the whiteboard canvas so we can work collaboratively to create visual thinking diagrams.

Objective #2 – Have each student create at least one diagram that applies one of the visual thinking techniques from Roam’s book to the Google article that has been assigned for the week.

Objective #3 – Use Dabbleboard to share and revise our visual thinking diagrams and stimulate face-to-face discussion of the tool and the diagrams that students have created.

4.  Procedure: 

I sent the following email to my students at 12pm CST on Monday January 17 to request their participation in this activity:

Hello members of Team Undefined, EDJE and Road Scholars. 

I hope the rest of your classes went well on Saturday and that all of the Packer and Bear fans in the class were able to enjoy their team's playoff victory.

As you may recall, I am currently enrolled in a Master's program in Educational Media Design and Technology (EMDT).  I was just given an assignment that I hope you will be willing to help me with, since you are the only students with whom I am working right now.  I am also hoping that participating in thi activity will help you get started on the final course project - your review of some Web 2.0 tools that can be used to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing.

For our next class on January 21, I have asked you to read Part I of Dan Roam's The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures and apply some of his visual thinking and problem solving techniques to the article on Google that is posted in the Content Area of D2L.  For my EMDT assignment (and your final project on Web 2.0 tools), I would also like you to try out a Web 2.0 tool called Dabbleboard - a web-based interactive whiteboard that can be used to share your diagrams of the Google article with me and the rest of your study group.

I would really appreciate it if you would take the following steps before we meet on the 21st -

1) Visit the website at http://www.dabbleboard.com and take the short tour that is highlighted on the home page;

2) Sign up for a free account and let me know what username and email you used to create your account;

3) Use the Dabbleboard tool to create a diagram that applies one of the visual thinking techniques to the Google article or create your diagram by hand (or by using another diagramming program) and upload an image of your diagram to your library on the Dabbleboard site;

4) If you have access to a laptop, please bring it with you to class on Friday, Jan 21 so we can access and use Dabbleboard during class.  I will have two MacBook Pros available to share if you do not have access to or do not want to bring your laptop to class.  Unfortunately the Dabbleboard site uses Flash, so it is not compatible with the iPad.

5) I will also offer 4-5 extra credit points to the first two people who create a Visual Thinking Toolkit with at least four elements and upload it to the public library in Dabbleboard by class time on Jan 21.  Please send me an email if you are taking advantage of the extra credit opportunity and name your toolkit "Visual Thinking Toolkit 712" so we can all find it easily and copy it to our libraries in Dabbleboard.  The extra credit points can either be used to replace another application assignment or be added to your total points at the end of the course - the choice is yours. 

Toward the end of class on Friday I will ask you to share your feedback on the Dabbleboard tool and how you might use it in the future - feel free to incorporate that feedback into your end of class project on Web 2.0 tools.

Please let me know if you have any questions and also send me an email if you intend to take advantage of the extra credit opportunity.  Thanks for your help and I hope you have some fun exploring dabbleboard.  I'll see you on Friday.  Have a great week.

Dr. Jude Rathburn

On Friday, January 21^st our class meets from 2:30 – 5:00pm and we will spend most of that time sharing our diagrams and discussing the article about Google.  At the beginning of class I will ask for one person from each of the three study groups to volunteer to share his/her diagram with the rest of us using the sharing feature within Dabbleboard.  I will project those diagrams, one at a time, on the big screen and ask the creator to talk us through his/her diagram.  We will then break into smaller groups and each group will add their own ideas to the original diagrams – thereby trying out the “real-time” collaboration features of Dabbleboard. 

After about 15-20 minutes we will come back together as a large group and take a look at how the diagrams have changed, with each group explaining the changes they made to the original diagram.  After comparing the three group diagrams, we will then be able to step back and discuss if there is anything missing from the diagrams.  I will be curious to see if an “anchoring bias” affected the group diagrams or if group members were able to move beyond the restricted viewpoint of the original diagrams to incorporate a broader perspective.  The final step will be to discuss their experiences using this tool and share ideas about how they might use it in their own work environments.

5.  Web 2.0 Tool: 

Dabbleboard, an interactive electronic whiteboard and collaboration tool that can be found at http://www.dabbleboard.com

6.  Social Participation/Social Learning:

This RILS activity incorporates social participation and social learning in a couple of important ways.  First of all, at least three students will share their visual thinking diagrams with the rest of the class and talk us through their diagrams.  I expect that we will discuss the ideas that are presented and also make comments on the various visual thinking techniques that each presenter chose to include in his/her diagram.  The second opportunity for social interaction and learning will occur when the students break into their smaller study groups (4-5 people in a group) and start revising the original diagram that was shared by a member of their group.  I anticipate that each group will have a lively and highly interactive discussion of what should be added or deleted from the original diagram in order for the final product to include elements that each group member deems important.  The third opportunity for social interaction will occur when each study group shares their revised diagram with the rest of the class and talks us through the changes that were made and the rationale behind those changes.  We will also be able to compare the diagrams of each group to determine if anything is missing and if the collaborative diagrams actually incorporated elements from each group member’s diagram.  Finally, in our debriefing session, students will have the opportunity to share their reactions to the Dabbleboard tool and discuss how they might use this tool in their own work environment, thus learning from each other and coming up with a variety of scenarios in which this tool might facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing in the future.

7.  Making Connections:

Throughout the first eight weeks of the course we have used a variety of different techniques to encourage collaboration and knowledge sharing.  Students have worked in their study groups to create concept maps, design and deliver short presentations, participate in online discussion forums and provide peer reviews of presentations.  As we discuss their experiences with Dabbleboard, it will be fairly easy to ask them to compare our use of this tool with the experiences they have had throughout the course using other collaboration tools.  I am also curious to see if any students take advantage of the extra credit opportunity and create a visual thinking toolkit that can be copied and used by other members of the class – another way to build connections among team members.  Finally, I am curious to hear their reactions about how the use of Dabbleboard made them feel about their drawing skills – did it make it less (or more) intimidating to share their drawings with each other?  We have already had some thought-provoking discussions of our fears about sharing our visual thinking and drawing skills in public – so it will be interesting to see if this type of tool impacts that fear.

8.  Create/Produce: 

Each student will create a diagram that applies the visual thinking technique of their choice from Dan Roam’s The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures, to the article entitled Google: The Search is Over.  Students have the option of creating their diagram using the Dabbleboard tools or by using some other diagramming program or hand-drawing and upload their diagram to their Dabbleboard library before class.  During class we will also create some collaborative diagrams as we share the diagrams created by individual class members and revise them in real time to incorporate insights from our face-to-face discussion.

9.  Reflection: 

Each student will reflect on his/her experience using the Dabbleboard tool to create their individual diagrams and also the process of sharing diagrams with each other and updating them in real time.  Students will also reflect on how they might be able to use this tool in their own work environment to facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing.  In addition, students will have the option to include this tool in their final project – reviewing three Web 2.0 tools that can be used in the workplace to help people share ideas and collaborate more effectively.

PE5_Dabbleboard vs. Simple Diagrams

I just came across another cool visual thinking tool that is actually a bit easier to use for simple diagrams, like those suggested in Dan Roam's book The Back of the Napkin.  This tool is called Simple Diagrams and the free version is available at http://www.simplediagrams.com.  Here is an example that illustrates the same info that I shared in BP4_Dabbling with Dabbleboard.  I am going to share this tool with my executive MBA students too and see which one they like the best.  Actually we might end up using both of them because the Simple Diagrams can be exported as PNG files and then uploaded to Dabbleboard.  I'll let you know which tool my students like the best.

Simple Diagram of Google's Where Problem

After playing around with the free version of Simple Diagrams and watching a video review of the tool that was posted by Chuck Frey on his Mind Mapping Software blog, I decided to spend $15 to upgrade to the full version and get access to a few more tool libraries.  One of the things I really like about the libraries in Simple Diagrams is that the elements have the "hand drawn" look - for some reason using these images has lessened my anxiety about actually having to draw the pictures myself.  It is easier for me to "think in pictures" if I can just drag and drop images that will work, rather than having to draw them freehand as is the case in Dabbleboard.  It will be interesting to see if my MBA students are able to create some easy to use visual thinking toolkits for Dabbleboard that will reduce or even eliminate this weakness of the Dabbleboard toolkit library.  My second example uses the Simple Diagrams program to illustrate a How and Why problem confronting Google as they must deal with changes in how customers use the web and figure out an effective response to those changes.

Simple Diagram of Google's How and Why Problems

The final example shown below is a test of how it will look when we import Simple Diagram images into the Dabbleboard canvas to evaluate and revise them in small, collaborative groups.  Having the two tools juxtaposed against each other like this reinforced my impression that the Simple Diagrams tool is much easier to use than Dabbleboard without an appropriate toolkit for our visual thinking strategies.  If you end up trying out these tools, please come back and post a comment to let me know which one you like best.  As always, thanks for your interest in my work.

Importing Simple Diagram image into Dabbleboard for comments

PE4_Dabbling with Dabbleboard

After many hours of thinking about how I could use a Web 2.0 tool as the basis of my Relevant and Innovative Learning Scenario, I decided to go back to Dabbleboard and try to figure out how the students in my executive MBA class might use this tool to share their visual thinking skills. Over the next four weeks we will be reading and discussing Dan Roam's book called The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures.  For next week I have assigned Part I in the book, along with a Fortune article by Copeland and Weintraub (2010) entitled "Google: The Search Party is Over."  I asked my students to apply some of the visual thinking techniques outlined in Roam's book and draw at least one diagram that highlights some of the issues raised in the article about Google.

Screen shot of Dan Roam's book

Earlier today I emailed my students and asked them to use Dabbleboard to share their diagrams with me and the members of their study group.  During class on Friday, January 21st we will view each others' diagrams and discuss the various types of problems confronting Google as its search business slows down and the company needs additional sources of revenue.

Dan Roam argues that all problems can be classified into one of six categories -

• Who and what? - problems that deal with things, people and roles
• How much? - problems that require measuring and counting
• When? - problems associated with scheduling and timing
• Where? - problems regarding direction and how things fit together
• How? - problems about how things influence one another
• Why? - problems related to seeing the big picture

I decided to use Dabbleboard to create my own diagram that reflects a where problem that was mentioned in the article about Google.  Now that the growth of Google's core business in search has slowed down, Copeland and Weintraub (2010) suggest that Google must figure out from where its next big source of revenue will come.  I created this drawing in Dabbleboard to depict the possible paths that Google can follow, at least according to Copeland and Weintraub (2010).

Dabbleboard Diagram - Where problem at Google

The first path is the one that Google appears to be taking right now, as illustrated in its recent acquisitions of YouTube, Double Click and Ad Mob, for $1.6 billion, $3.1 billion and $750 million, respectively.  This path continues Google's reliance on selling advertising as its primary source of revenue and profitability.  According to Copeland and Weintraub (2010), in 2009, approximately 91% of Google's revenue and 99% of its profit came from selling display advertising on its various Internet properties.

More recently Google has entered the mobile Internet business with the release of the popular Android operating system for mobile phones.  Unfortunately, at least according to Copeland and Weintraub (2010), Google's decision to share the operating system at no cost to mobile operators (e.g. AT&T,  Verizon, US Cellular, Sprint and T-Mobile) means that the company will continue to rely on revenues generated through advertising, rather than licensing fees.  Ultimately, what this means is that Google has not been able to diversify its sources of revenue beyond the collection of fees from advertisers.  I agree with Copeland and Weintraub's (2010) conclusion that Google's stock will continue to decline in value and its growth will slow down even more if the company can not find new sources of revenue that are independent of advertisers.

In this class (ETC) we have explored using a few Google applications, such as iGoogle, Blogger, Google docs, and Google forms, etc., but most of us have not paid any licensing fees to use these applications.  Google does license a suite of productivity applications to companies in an effort to get them to switch from providers of other office applications, such as the Microsoft Office suite, but these licensing fees only provided approximately $350 million in revenue during 2010 (Copeland and Weintraub, 2010).  I doubt that Google will be able to gain much market share in the office applications market, no matter how low they set the price for licenses per employee.

I agree, to some extent with Copeland and Weintraub (2010), that Google needs to figure out how to tap into the popularity of social networking, which in many cases has eliminated a user's need to turn to Google to search for product recommendations or answers to questions that can be answered just as easily by posting a comment on Facebook or Twitter and getting immediate feedback from Friends.  I am not sure what the answer is for Google's where problem, but Dabbleboard helped me to diagram the different options and make the dilemma more visual.  It will be interesting to share my diagram with my students on Friday and see how their diagrams differ.  I guess you'll have to come back at the end of the week to see my video documenting what happens when Dabbleboard goes to the eMBA classroom at UW-Milwaukee.

References

Copeland, M. V., & Weintraub, S. (2010). Google: The search party is over. (cover story). Fortune, 162(3), 58-67.   

Roam, D. (2009). The back of the napkin: Solving problems and selling ideas with pictures. New York: Portfolio.

BP7_One Minute Movie

For this One Minute Video assignment I visited http://www.dabbleboard.com and used the Apple Grab utility to take some screen shots as I toured the website.  I saved the screen shots to the ETC One Minute Video project folder on my desktop and then imported them into my iPhoto library so I could access them through the media browser in iMovie. 

I then used Telestream's screen capture software Screenflow to create a simple screen cast using the Sports' Toolkit in Dabbleboard's Public Library.  After editing the screencast to include callouts that highlighted the movements of my cursor, I exported the screen cast as a .mov file (Quicktime) and added the file to my iPhoto movie library so I could easily import it into my iMovie project.

At that point I "went analog" and sketched out a storyboard to show the order of the screen shots, along with the script I would use in the voice-over narration.  With my script and storyboard in hand I opened up iMovie and used the drop and drag feature to collect the screen shots and Screenflow video clip from the media browser and add them to my ETC One Minute Movie project.  After adjusting the timing of each still photo (i.e. screen shot) and trimming the screencast clip, I was ready to add titles and transitions to bring the video to the one minute target duration (no more, no less - per Rena's instructions).  Once I had all the visual elements of my movie working properly, I used two takes to add the voice-over recording.  (Much better than my last narrated iMovie which took about seven takes and more than three hours to complete.  I guess this is what we call a "learning curve" in the education business).

The last step was to add the royalty-free music jingle (i.e. Acoustic Sunrise) from the iMovie media browser, apply ducking settings so that the music did not over-power my voice-over narration and, after about two hours of work, preview my final production.  I then exported the file to Quicktime, uploaded it to my Viddler account and copied the embedding code into this blog posting.  I am actually fairly pleased with how it turned out and the new Dabbleboard, Screenflow and iMovie skills I used in the process. 

You might want to click on the FULL SCREEN button at the bottom right of the video player in order to be able to read all of the text in the screen shots.  Let me know what you think...  And thanks again for your interest in my work.

BP6_Comment on Sheri's Blog

One of my Full Sail classmates is also considering using a wiki in her classes, so she posted a review of the Web 2.0 tool called Wikispaces.  Follow this link to my comments on Sheri's blog about Wikispaces.

I decided to check out Wikispaces myself and created a wiki called 4edtechies as shown in this screen shot.  Now I just have to figure out how to use the wiki to support my teaching and my Action research project.  Stay tuned for future posts about my use of Wikispaces.

BP5_Comment on Cheryl's Blog

Follow this link to my comments on Cheryl's blog about a Web 2.0 tool called Ge.TT, which allows people to share files easily to facilitate effective collaboration.

When I visited the Ge.TT website I found this Prezi file that gives viewers a feel for the site's functionality.  If you keep clicking on the PLAY arrow you can navigate through the entire Prezi pitch.  Now I am really looking forward to trying out this new tool.  Let me know what you think!

Getting to know Gett on Prezi

BP4_Dabbleboard

One element of my action research project focuses on improving my visual thinking skills so that I can incorporate more visual-spatial intelligence in my teaching, as well as strengthen my ability to think and learn through images.  So when I was looking for a Web 2.0 tool to review in this blog post, I went to the website at http://www.go2web20.net/ and searched for visual thinking tools.  The tool named Dabbleboard caught my eye, so I clicked on the link to check it out.

Dabbleboard is a web-based digital whiteboard that makes it easy to draw diagrams, brainstorm, create mind maps, flow charts, decision trees, organization charts, floor plans, user interface designs and use a variety of other visual thinking strategies with a simple click of the mouse.  One of the most interesting features is that a user can draw a shape that approximates a circle or one corner of a rectangle and the tool automatically recognizes the shape and creates a perfect circle, square or rectangle that can be easily scaled, moved or copied - all with a click of the mouse.  There are also toolkits for flowcharting, drawing floorplans, sports, network design, etc. that other users have created and shared in the Public Library.  The tool also makes it easy to draw freehand objects, change colors, group objects together, enter text and save drawings for later use.

Here are two examples of how I used Dabbleboard to test out some of its features.  In the first example I drew a simple floorplan to help me to decide where to put my new high definition 40" LCD television and the two new chairs that are being delivered to my house on Thursday - just in time for Saturday's big playoff game between my Green Bay Packers (yes, I am an owner) and the Atlanta Falcons. 

Dabbleboard - Simple Floor Plan

In the second example I conducted a short brainstorming session (with myself) to come up with some of the DOs and DON'Ts I have been reading about as I review peer reviewed articles on using PowerPoint in university and corporate settings.  I must admit that I was skeptical at first when I read the description of all that this whiteboard tool can do - it seemed too good to be true.  But sure enough, the tool is fast and easy to use.  There are a number of tutorial videos that demonstrate the possibilities and it appears that more and more users are sharing their content in the public library.  The tool seems quite flexible, especially since no hardware is required besides a computer, mouse and Internet connection.  Users can also easily share their drawings with others and you can even import other file types, like jpegs and pdfs and then use the Dabbleboard tools to highlight key sections of those documents or suggest revisions with team members who can see and write on the same interactive whiteboard from distant locations.  I can't wait to try this tool out with my executive MBA students.

Dabbleboard - Brainstorming session

There is a free version available, which can be easily upgraded to a pro version that has increased functionality.  Prices for educators include a 50% discount, although the only subscriptions that are available right now are month-to-month for $4.  One major downside of the tool is that it is not compatible with the iPad and the customer service representative told me via email that they do not plan to create an iPad or iPhone app - at least not in the near future.

All in all, Dabbleboard seems like it could be a great tool for me to use to strengthen my visual thinking skills.  I am looking forward to trying it out and sharing it with my critical friends.  Stay tuned for future examples of how Dabbleboard adds value to my action research project.

PE3_iMovie

My brain is feeling a bit overwhelmed after spending much of today learning about iMovie '09 and trying out some of its features.  I decided to try to put some of this new knowledge to use by creating a short video tour of my Aunt Vonnie's award winning flower gardens.

I have never created an iMovie video before by just using photographs or the photo frame theme in iMovie.  So for this example project I decided to import some of the photos I took last summer during a visit to my Aunt Vonnie's house in my hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin.  After importing photos into iPhoto I was able to use the media browser in iMovie to scan through the 130+ photos I took that day and select the ones I wanted to showcase in this video project.  I decided to let iMovie insert transitions automatically, at least for the first pass.  I then made some adjustments to those transitions by deselecting the automatic transitions feature and editing the framed photo transitions to include the specific photos I wanted to appear in the transition.

I also used the music media browser to select the royalty free "Buddy" track and dragged it to the background of the video project panel.  The track was not quite long enough to keep playing for the entire movie, so I merely inserted another copy of the track - not the greatest solution, but the best I could do given my time constraints.  After editing the text for the titles and adding a second credit slide at the end of the movie, I was ready to preview and then exported the project to my Mobile Me gallery.  I also exported the movie as a Quicktime file which I attempted to embed into this blog posting.

Even though the video was only 2 minutes and 14 seconds in length, after more than 15 minutes of uploading the file into the blogger editing tool, I got an error message saying that the file could not be uploaded.  So I decided to go back to the Viddler option and then embed the code into blogger.  Please add a comment if you have other suggestions for including video files into blog postings.

Obviously this is just a "rough cut" but it gave me an opportunity to practice using some of the lessons I learned today about creating an iMovie video by just using still photographs.  When I have some extra time I will add some sound effects and a bit of voice-over narration, as well as experiment with other transition effects besides the default Ken Burns effect.  But that fun stuff will have to wait for another day - I have articles to read, a concept map to create and a literature review to write.  So long for now - I hope to see you again soon.

PE2_iMovie

Screen shot from http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=450

One of my resolutions for 2011 is to become more organized - so there is no better place for me to start than by developing a system to keep my video projects organized so that I can find clips and projects easily.  The iMovie '09 Essentials Training video suggested the use of an external hard drive that is dedicated to my video project library.  So after consulting with my friend Sue who is one of the business consultants at my local Apple Retail Store, I decided to get a 1TB "My Passport SE for Mac" because it has a large storage capacity, is light weight, extremely portable, fits easily in the palm of my hand and matches the silver color of my MacBook Pro and my 24" iMac.

As you can see from these screen shots, I connected the drive to one of my computer's USB ports and labeled it as "Dr Jude's Videos" in order to distinguish it from my other external drive called "Full Sail EMDT."  I also created two folders - one for Full Sail Video Projects and another for UWM Video Projects.  Within the Full Sail Video Projects folder I added sub-folders for each of the first four courses in the EMDT program.  I will add folders for the other courses as soon as each course begins.  Note that I also labeled the folders with a number - "01" for month one, "02" for month two and so on - so that even if I forget the acronym for the particular course, the folders will show up in sequential order in the finder window.  I still need to copy the video files I created in the first three courses to their respective folders - but that will have to wait for another day.  Right now I will just make sure that all of the video projects I create from this day forward will be saved in the proper folder on my dedicated drive for video files.

Screen shot of Dr Jude's Videos - dedicated hard drive

Screen shot of Full Sale Video Projects folder

Screen shot of Month 04 ETC Video Projects folder

Some of the other tips I took away from the training had to do with using keywords to label video clips so that I can later search or filter my clips by entering desired keywords and then selecting search for all or search for any of those key words.  The use of keywords will also help when I insert comment or chapter markers into my clips and/or video projects.  Another great feature is the ability to add keywords to multiple clips at once through the AUTO APPLY feature or add them individually in the INSPECTOR panel.  Now all I have to do is import some new video footage into my computer and get started experimenting with these new found ways to keep my clips and videos well organized.  Stay tuned for reports on my progress.

PE1_iMovie

As you can see from the "Certificate of Completion" shown above, this morning I finished watching the iMovie '09 Essential Training videos at www.lynda.com.  The process of watching the videos, taking notes and trying out some of the features reminded me of the final reflection I created in the TMD course.  Once of the insights I gained in the TMD course was that I prefer to read instructional manuals when learning a new software program or becoming familiar with a new technology gadget, such as a camera or smart phone.  However, when I was trying to figure out how to use iMovie for the first time, the digital instructional manual was not very helpful because I did not know the proper terminology for the various techniques I was trying to learn.  Now I realize I could have saved myself many hours of frustration, confusion and mistakes if I had gone through the iMovie '09 Essential Training video a couple of months ago.  Better late than never, I guess.

One of the features that I am curious about has to do with the various methods for sharing completed video projects.  In previous courses we were asked to upload our videos to www.viddler.com - however, one of the downsides of using that website is that video content is removed from their servers after approximately 30 days.  I discovered this the "hard way" when a video I posted for one of the courses I teach suddenly disappeared and I started getting emails from frustrated students who could not go back and watch the video before the first exam.  I ended up posting subsequent videos to You Tube, yet I feel uncomfortable about having course related videos out there for the world to see.  According to the essentials training, another option might be for me to share video files through my Mobile Me Gallery or through a dedicated channel on iTunes.  I haven't had the opportunity to test out these options yet, but will do so before posting any videos for the upcoming semester than begins on January 24, 2011.

I was also surprised to discover that some of the features and techniques that were described through the training videos, were things I stumbled upon through my own trial-and-error approach as I experimented with the software in previous courses.  In many instances I did not know what I was doing and had a hard time replicating actions, such as using the precision editor to trim clips or using the "ducking" function to reduce the volume of music so that narration could be heard more clearly.  These are some of the same issues or problems with which my students have struggled, so now I know what language to use to point them in the right direction or offer quick tips on how to resolve the issues. 

The iMovie project that I am working on to include later in this blog, will help me demonstrate to students some ways to improve the quality of their videos - for example, stabilizing shaky clips, adjusting the volume of audio and slowing down the credits that roll at the end of the production.  I am looking forward to experimenting with some of the advanced editing tools as well, such as customizing the images or clips that appear during transitions in the "Photo Album" theme and incorporating key words to help me organize clips for easy retrieval.  Stay tuned to future posts to see how I am able to utilize some of the many fun features that were highlighted in the iMovie '09 Essentials Training.

Michael Wesch and the Crisis of Significance

(Author's note: I originally posted this essay on October 2010 on my personal blog at http://4edtechies.posterous.com/michael-wesch-and-the-crisis-of-significance)

I was first introduced to Michael Wesch’s work a couple of years ago when a colleague in the University of Wisconsin System played his video – A Vision of Students Today – at a workshop I attended on using technology to enhance student learning.  Since then I have visited Dr. Wesch’s You Tube channel many times, finding other gems, such as his presentation for the American Democracy Project called The Machine is (Changing) Us: YouTube and the Politics of Authenticity.  So I was not surprised that his article on Anti-Teaching: Confronting the Crisis of Significance was as compelling and thought-provoking as his other work.  

The environment in which I teach at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) is very similar to his world at Kansas State University (KSU) – both schools are research and publication oriented, and utilize large lecture courses to increase the efficiency with which huge numbers of students can be processed through the assembly line known as higher education.  I struggle on a daily basis with students who are disengaged, refusing to purchase their textbooks, much less read them, and who couldn’t care less about learning the material that the Undergraduate Program Committee deems important for all students to master.  I also hear the same complaints from faculty colleagues that professor Wesch hears at KSU – students are lazy, undisciplined, lack motivation, and only want to socialize and party with their friends, etc.  

Yet, when I look into the eyes of the 150 people who sit across the aisle from me in that large lecture hall, I see something very different.  I see human beings who are starving for authentic and genuine human connections, who want to be passionate and interested in something greater than themselves.  I see people who really do want to learn, but they need some guidance in order to recognize how material in a textbook applies to their lives.  Many of them need a bit of nudging and coaxing to figure out how the critical thinking and analysis skills I ask them to apply in class can help them be more successful and satisfied with the choices they make outside the classroom.

Even before reading about brain-based learning in one of my Full Sail Online (FSO) courses, I realized that some of my personal learning preferences hinder my ability to connect with my students in meaningful ways.  I have excelled in academia precisely because I possess strengths in verbal-linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences, which are hallmarks of the higher education system.  Yet the majority of my students are strong in visual-spatial intelligence and have grown up in the hyperlinked, multi-tasking, discovery-based world of digital natives.  Many of my colleagues hold the opinion that it is the student’s job to figure out how to adapt their learning styles and preferences to the way each instructor feels most comfortable teaching.  I think this belief is at the heart of the crisis of significance that Wesch described so eloquently.  My response to this crisis has been quite different than most of the faculty with whom I work.

Rather than continuing to be frustrated by the blank stares and lack of motivation and engagement I see in so many of my students, I have been gradually changing how I teach so that I can make better use of all of our talents as learners.  I am developing my skills as a visual storyteller and am revising all of my lecture presentations using Garr Reynolds’ Presentation Zen approach.  I am also working very hard to encourage my students to see the connections between the lessons we discuss in class and their everyday lives and the choices they make.  I know I have a long way to go to make a dent in the crisis of significance, but I can already see a difference, not only when I look into the eyes of my students, but when I look into my own heart and feel the renewed passion, sense of purpose and pride I feel as an educator who is committed, not only to lifelong learning for my students, but for myself as well.

BP3_iGoogle Screen Shots

A couple of days ago I started the fourth of twelve courses in the Educational Media Design and Technology Master of Science program offered through Full Sail Online.  One of our assignments for this week is to use iGoogle to build a Personal Learning Environment (PLE).  According to Educause's publication 7 Things You Should Know About Personal Learning Environments, the term PLE "describes the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals."  According to this definition, a Personal Learning Environment should be self-directed and used in ways that fit with my goals and preferences as a learner.  That said, there are a few elements that are required in the assignment, that I wouldn't necessarily choose on my own, like a "to do list" on every page, for example.  But for the most part the idea of using iGoogle as the platform for my Personal Learning Environment is rather interesting.

I am still trying to figure out how to make the best use of iGoogle and am looking forward to seeing how others are using it as the foundation for their PLE.  Here are the screen shots of each of the four pages that I have created so far: Home, FSO, AR and ETC.

Home Screen

FSO Tab

Action Research (AR) Tab

ETC Tab

So far I have incorporated Facebook and Twitter gadgets and a To-Do list, as well as the Google Reader RSS aggregator so that I can have all of the blogs that I follow updated in one place. We were also required to add links to Flickr, Viddler, the FSO course management system, web conferencing site (e.g. Wimba) and Full Sail email. In addition, I have added links to my AR iWeb site, the CBR example web site, the EMDT CBR Social Networking Site, Purdue University's Online Writing Center, the APA's formatting website and the APA Guide to Electronic Resources.

I must admit that as I was updating my iGoogle site I wondered if anyone really needs to have a PLE. But I am sure there are many folks who find it very valuable to have all of these information sources, links and connections organized in one central place. I think I am once again coming up against my digital immigrant status - I want to spend less time online, not more. I want to look for information when I need it - I don't want to have to sort through information that is thrown at me - I want to be in control of the information that I use on a daily basis. To me, that is part of what being a self-directed learner means. I don't want to give CNN, Fortune, BusinessWeek, etc. permission to bombard me 24/7 with stuff that isn't valuable or meaningful. There is so much information out there, that it is too overwhelming for me to have to sort through even a handful of RSS feeds. So I guess right now I am still learning how to find value in this type of resource and am struggling with my accent as a digital immigrant. I will ask my students if any of them use this type of tool to manage their personal learning environment - maybe we can explore its value together. I'd love to hear any comments from others who have realized the personal benefits of a PLE or who are more adept at using iGoogle than I am. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

BP2_Embedit.in

I have been playing around with a Web 2.0 tool called embedit.in - which has this tagline "the best way to show documents on your website" on their home page.  This a great tool because it allows anyone to easily embed any file type into a website without having to know HTML code or any other tricks.  The tool also allows you to mark up the original document with a red pen tool - you can highlight specific sections to draw the attention of the audience.

In this example I have embedded the PDF instruction sheet for one of the first assignments I have in my large lecture sections of an undergraduate course in organizational behavior.  Notice how I was able to highlight the due date and also point out that students are supposed to bring a hard copy of the assignment with them to class.  See for yourself how easy it is to use the scroll bar on the right side of the embedded document to move through each section of the document.  You can also use the tools at the bottom of the document to zoom in to a specific section of interest, quickly jump through pages, share the document, download it or print.  By the way, when you embed a document, you have control over making it public, as well as allowing printing or downloading.



Let me show you how easy it was to embed this document into my blog.

The first step was to go to the embedit.in website at http://embedit.in which is shown in this screen shot:

When you click on the SELECT FILES... tab you get a dialog box asking you to browse your computer for the file you wish to upload to embedit.in.  In my case I selected a PDF called Corrected guidelines for d2l profile and self assessment and was immediately taken to the embedit.in editing screen which you can see below.  Please note the areas in the document that I highlighted - due date and instruction to bring a hard copy of the assignment to class. 

Another cool feature is that you can decide if you want to embed the file like I've done above, show a thumbnail or just include a link to the file.   Here are screen shots that show how easy it is to change the way you share the file with viewers.

In this screen shot I used the red markup tool to draw a circle around the Thumbnail option and drew an arrow to show you how that changed the appearance of the document.



In this screen shot I selected the radio button next to Link and drew a red circle around it with an arrow to point out how the document looks when it is linked. In this example I also highlighted the tab that allows you to copy the code to the clipboard. I then switched back to my blogger editing screen, selected the EDIT HTML tab and pasted the code into my blog post.



It took me about 15 minutes to figure out how to use the embedit.in tool, capture the screen shots and create this blog post. I was amazed at how easy the tool is to use and am looking forward to exploring how to use it with other file types. Obviously I can also use some practice with the markup tool - but I found it was easier to use if I used the two-finger swipe on the MacBook Pro touchpad and enlarged the screen a bit. One of the downsides, however is that the site uses flash to embed the documents, so I wasn't able to use it on my iPad - oh well, maybe someday...

I will continue to explore creative ways to use embedit.in and share them with you in future posts. By the way, just in case you were wondering, the application is free, at least for now - the inventor, Increo Solutions, was recently acquired by Box.net - a company that "provides a web-based service where you can easily access, manage and share documents, media and all of your content from anywhere." (http://www.box.net/increo). Sounds like another interesting company to explore - maybe for my next Web 2.0 tool review. Bye for now. I hope you have fun using embedit.in.

BP1_Welcome to my blog

Hello Full Sail colleagues and welcome to my blog.  My name is Jude Rathburn and I have just returned to Full Sail and the EMDT-MS program after a three month leave of absence.  I am looking forward to getting to know you and learning with you through the remainder of the program.

The image I have included with this entry is the "career wordle" I created a few months ago to capture the values and goals that have guided me through the past twenty years as an educator.  I hope that my return to Full Sail will enable me to continue living these values and help me improve my teaching practice.

Even though it appears as though I have quite a few followers already, many of them are colleagues who started the program with me back in June and are now in month 6 of the program.  I hope that some of you,  my new classmates, will be willing to follow my blog, too.

Thanks for stopping by and I am looking forward to continuing the Full Sail adventure with each of you.  Happy new year!

Hello Full Sail - I'm Back

In my last posting back in October I wrote about my decision to take a break from the EMDT-MS program at Full Sail.  A lot has happened since then - probably the most important event being my unanimous tenure vote (24-0) which occurred on November 20th, 2010.  I am glad that I took time away from Full Sail to put together my 800+ page tenure application - but now I am ready to get back to learning about some new Web 2.0 tools and experimenting with how to incorporate them into my own teaching. 

To all of you who may still be following my blog - I wish you a very happy new year and hope that 2011 is a fantastic year.  If you are still on the Full Sail journey, please drop me a line and let me know how things are going.  Take care and good luck.