Cole W. Camplese

Apple TV Thoughts: The Wireless Content System

I've been using my Apple TV for close to two weeks now and I am really enjoying it. After some initial setup issues (with my old receiver, not the Apple TV) I have had nothing but good things to say about it. It has worked perfectly with my iMac in the other room -- wirelessly grabbing content any time something new flows in. All I have to say is that it just works. Not a surprise, but for a new space for Apple, this thing works like a second or third generation product.

Seeing that I am not into the hacks that so many people seem to be psyched about, I would like to share a thought about the Apple TV ... I think it could be a killer school-based content platform. What strikes me is how easily it all works -- plug it in and let it grab content wirelessly from anywhere. Imagine a school with one in every classroom all connected to not only a central iTunes library, but to any other iTunes enabled machine in the vicinity. Schools could subscribe to any of the thousands of available audio or video podcasts and be constantly playing fantastic educational content in their classrooms.

If you used it in combination with a school-based iTunes U implementation, individual teachers could easily subscribe and share their own content as well as student work. What an affordable way to create a high end "streaming" solution. I don't know yet if there is a limit to the number of Apple TV systems you can setup and connect to one machine (I know there are limitations in the other direction), but it all seems like an outstanding option for moving audio and video around in an educational context.

Here at PSU, our public broadcasting network is establishing a nice presence in the Penn State on iTunes U space we've been creating. Imagine schools simply connecting to that and the other Universities' spaces to grab resources that are now easily and affordably moved around a building. I think it makes the case for Apple to include an educational discount for this device. Talk about a new age wireless cart for content distribution! Am I missing something or is this a great way to leverage the emerging public iTunes U spaces as well as the podcast directory and the Apple TV?

With the Apple TV it seems like you could (un)wire access really well.

More Twitter Stuff

By now if you've either shown up here at the blog or talked to me you know I am nearly consumed by Twitter. Not in a way that is destructive, but in a "I wonder how this thing can do good, not evil" sort of way. Yesterday morning I tried something new ... For some reason I decided to head over to one of my colleagues sites to see what was new and saw that he had added a link to his newly created Twitter page. He didn't just have the link, he added a little commentary saying that "Big Brother Begins."

Seeing that I decided to see if I could create an opportunity for engagement ... I quickly created a very short post over at the ETS Blog space asking if Twitter is Big Brother. From there I simply sent out a quick Twitter asking for my friends to respond to a post over at the ETS site.

I know it didn't create a ton of conversation on the blog, but it did in real life. I will say that within 10 minutes two people responded and posted comments from my Twitter network. What I wanted to see was if Twitter could spark (and perhaps encourage) discussion in another form. It has me wondering how students would react to similar stimuli ... you know, ring the Twitter bell and see if they respond the way you've conditioned them. Maybe ask an instant poll via Twitter (like Brad did yesterday) as class is ending and see what you come up. Like I said, I am really interested in how this shakes down for good, not evil. I am interested in how this type of quick, casual conversation can create an opportunity for a larger conversation. Does anyone see potential?

My New Course Design ... Come on In

So I've been writing about designing a course in the open over the last few weeks ... well, I have actually been designing a new residentcourse that I hope to next Fall. I didn't do it in a wiki, but did use Drupal 5 to post the initial design. It isn't 100% complete, but the schedule is well rounded and there are a handful of solid assignments that are both new and from the IST 110 days. I would love to get your feedback on the whole thing ... it is over at the Course Design Site. I did a quick podcast today explaining a little of the philosophy behind the whole thing, so that is available to listen to as well. I am still trying to figure out the login and account stuff in Drupal 5, so that may be a little flaky for the moment -- I am basically terrified of spam and have it locked down until I have some time in the next few days to really work with that.

The real idea is to expose the course in this format for the community to comment on and help shape ... I will then use the same site to teach the course from, give students blogs there, and continue to build on this foundation over time. If you have ideas, thoughts, or anything else just leave a comment here, or there. Thanks!

The META Blog

I am getting really excited about the potential for our PSU Blog Project ... just last week we made some significant progress that I am hoping will lead us to the potential of a pilot for the Spring -- maybe a specialized call for a series of Engagement Projects. What is great about that is the fact that I am teaching and could use our environment to support my efforts. I'm working on a post that will highlight parts of the PSU Blog solution ... for now I have a question.

If I give all my students blogs in the new PSU space I will want to aggregate all their posts into one META Blog for the class. I know it can be done, but what is the easiest way to pull it off? Anyone have advice for me?

FaceBook in Class

My good friend Brian Smith is going to try something a little different this semester -- coordinate his course via FaceBook instead of PSU's CMS, ANGEL. I am very interested in how this is going to shake down. Brian says he'll be posting his thoughts during the semester over at his site. This could be interesting.

Rip, Mix, Burn Classroom Podcasting ...

I had posted last week about the idea of students taking ownership of the podcasting process in the classroom based on an article I came across.  I had mentioned it was an intersting twist of fate that they would be the ones not only recording, but editing, posting, and distributing the lectures that way.  This morning I awoke to find a very interesting comment from James pushing the notion that it may be the natural evolution of the whole concept.  His comments really got me thinking differently about how to provide the right types of lecture based podcasts in my class (and beyond).

I think what James said pushes us to look at the classroom experience in a new light ... most of us talk about creating a "student-centric" opportunity, but in most cases it ends up being a lot of push to them ... with a significant amount of pull thrown in, but not a true two way street.  James wewnt on to say, "I actually think the idea of students editing portions of a lecture may be something that is ultimately encouraged especially if the student does this appropriately (audio citation?) as a way to further develop the ideas that are brought to life in the class."  So I think I may have come across a wonderful new approach to try out in class ... encourage students to produce versions of my lectures as they see fit.  What would be so wrong with them taking the basic lecture recording, editing out the nonsense, maybe adding in supplemental material, and cutting in their reactions?  If I can figurre out how to do it right, it would be an amazing learning opportunity.

Simple Twist of Fate

Not the Dylan rendition of the song of by that title, but a pointer to an interesting read over at the Edupodder blog, "Revolution from the edge: students posting class recordings". Going into the whole Podcasting for Penn State, we never really thought the content would be posted by students. It only makes sense as they become more and more savvy with today's web publishing tools that they will engage in this type of behavior. I wonder how it will feel when the tables are turned? I post my class lectures as podcasts because I think they belong to me ... but if you listen carefully you'll hear students talking. Doesn't that make them ours? Going forward I am curious as to how this will play out. Will faculty be ok with this notion? A lecture recorded, maybe even edited, by the students for the students. Should I get to sign a release form? How does this change the notion of the commercial "note trade" that goes on at major Universities? Is there a new business model in here? Podcast Notes ... hmm.

Common Sense

In a quick read of one of my new favorites, Fred Stutzman lays out some common sense advice for students' use of the FaceBook. Just a good read -- and if you are teaching in a place where students are using the FB, send them this link.

A Little Competition ...

Last Summer during the now defunct PA Governor's School for Information Technology I used a little bit of custom code on my Drupal powered site ... I was teaching pieces of Information, People, and Technology to a group of very smart high school kids.  I always put students in teams and make them compete against each other to solve a large real world challenge.  In and of itself, this is usually enough to get the kids really motivated.  During the Gov School I decided to put every single point into play as part of the competition, so we created a module for Drupal that we called the Leader Board.  It was essentially a dynamic point calculator that kept track of who was in first, second, third, and on ... it also worked like a golf leader board in that the leader was zero points back, the second place could have been five points back, and so on.  It was interesting to see how much more energy they seemed to put into the class just to see their teams climb the Leader Board. It was interesting and very cool to listen to hall chatter, "we are in first place" during the 5 week program.

I used it again last fall with my IST class and it seemed to work there as well.  I am not using Drupal this semester as I am engaged in some formal research related to the use of WordPress for teaching so I can't plug it in.  This is where things get even more interesting for me ... in my new role as director of education technology services at the University, one of the first things I wanted was a place where the entire teaching and learning with technology group at PSU could contribute in a protected area.  What I wanted was an Intranet ... one of my colleagues created a Drupal space that has become the center of communication almost overnight.  The space is heavily used ... what the hell does this have to do with the first paragraph you might ask?

So when the site was developed he put a little piece of custom code at the top that pulls out the top contributors and commenters.  I have fallen victim of my own motivational tricks!  I can't tell you how much seeing my name in second or third place on that bugs me -- in other words, it somehow drives me to participate.  I doubt everyone feels that way, but I am intensely competitive and this little constant reminder pulls at me to write, contribute, comment, and be a more active member of this community.  This stuff has been going on for a long time, it is just interesting that when the tricks we use to help motivate students get pushed back at us.  Take a peek:

Odeo and Some Early Results

I have been using Odeo in my IST 110 class this semester.  I am actually very impressed with it and it appears as though a good majority of my students are as well.  I have been looking at the early results of my latest class survey and of those who have responded almost all of them like the service (I will share the best later this weekend when they are all in).  So far, the results have really surprised me -- students are liking all the technology I am throwing at them and they really like Odeo and del.icio.us ... Outside of the survey the thing that really surprised me was that my outstnading TA, Helena, reported to me that she felt grading the podcasted Discussion Activities was easier/faster than grading the written ones.  Cool ... we'll test that again this semester to see if we were right.

Speaking of podcasts, I just added another one to the class blog ... and speaking of Odeo, you'll notice the ugly badge in my sidebar ... that is an Odeo powered thing.  I am thinkng of tons of ways to integrate mobile devices and th Odeo service.  I am going to be talking more to them soon and I can share what I come up with.  For now, leave me a message.