Recently in Tech Tools Category

Beyond the social networking functionality of Twitter, the popular micro-blogging service can also be utilized as a method for keeping tabs on new product releases, press releases from governmental agencies, and keeping up to date with breaking news.

If you are interested in learning more about Twitter, during the week of November 16th - 19th, the CTC will be presenting a workshop series entitled Creating Your Professional Social Network Presence which includes: Twitter: What do so many people have to say?

As a starting point, here is a list of four Twitter feeds of interest that have more than one million followers:

CDC Emergency

http://twitter.com/CDCemergency
CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response: increasing the nation's ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies
http://emergency.cdc.gov/

cnnbrk
http://twitter.com/cnnbrk
CNN Breaking News
CNN.com is among the world's leaders in online news and information delivery.
http://cnn.com/

Downing Street
http://twitter.com/DowningStreet
The official twitter channel for the Prime Minister's Office based at 10 Downing Street.
http://www.number10.gov.uk/

The White House
http://twitter.com/Whitehouse
Official WH twitter account. Comments & messages received through official WH pages are subject to the PRA and may be archived. Learn more at http://wh.gov/privacy
http://www.whitehouse.gov/

click here for a list of additional interesting Twitter feeds to follow.

On Tuesday, June 16th the Digital Media Services team conducted a hands-on session entitled: SHU Tube & iTunes U for the TLT Center's annual Summer Series. Practical applications were provided for incorporating video in the college classroom. SHU faculty have an awesome opportunity to take advantage of iTunes U, Seton Hall's personal space on Apple's iTunes. Faculty can request to have a course added and use iTunes U to manage all of their educational video and visual clips. For more inforamtion contact Michael Soupios, Associate Director of the Digital Media Services team at soupiomi@shu.edu or visit: http://tltc.shu.edu/itunesu/.

The use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook are quickly changing how we interact with our local community and the larger world.

Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics. http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html

Twitter is a free service for individuals to communicate via short (140 character) messages answering the question "What are you doing" or "What are you thinking"

Twitter is unique in that it is designed to be used from a number of different devices including Laptop PC's, Smartphone's (either via stand-alone applications or the web browser), and traditional cell phones via text messaging.

What are some potential educational uses of this technology?
At UT Dallas, Dr. Rankin, professor of History, wanted to increase student involvement in class discussion in her U.S. History course with an enrollment of 90. Below is an overview of the project:

Dr. Rankin has also written a summary of the project, available at: http://www.utdallas.edu/~mar046000/usweb/twitterconclusions.htm

How to get started:

1. Visit http://twitter.com and sign up for a free account


2. Use the Find People search feature to look for colleagues or groups that you are interested in


3. Read how the people you are following are answering the question "What are you doing" or "What are you thinking"

If you are interested in learning more about Twitter and how it might be incorporated into your classes, please contact your Instructional Design Liaison.

Earlier this week PBS launched a new video portal (http://www.pbs.org/video) featuring numerous full-length videos from programs including Frontline, Nature, Nova, and The News Hour.

Video content is organized by program and by topic. Additionally, a search feature allows users to find content on a specific topic.

According to http://www.pbs.org/video/about.html, the new PBS Video website offers "award-winning national programming and locally produced shows..."

To discuss potential methods for incorporating video into your classes, please contact your Instructional Designer.

Earlier this week, the TLT Center hosted a Google Day Workshop where we looked at a number of topics including: Google Alerts; Google Books; Google Scholar; Google Docs; and Google Sites.

A number of additional Google Tools are currently available. A comprehensive list is available via Google's Website.

The Google Day agenda is available: click here

Video Resources:
How to create a Google Alert: click here
What is Google Mail: click here
Google Docs in Plain English: click here
Google SketchUp Concepts: click here
1-800-GOOG-411: Google's 411 service: click here

Additional Resources
Discover Ancient Rome in Google Earth

Google Earth: Whats new in v5.0

Did you ever wish you could read your student's mind? What possibly could they be thinking when they answered that question? Or maybe it is about the "process" and not the final result that is important however, how do you capture that?

Check out the Livescribe Pen! It mirrors traditional paper and pencil yet captures writing and audio that can then be shared as a "pencast". Faculty at Loyola Marymount have recently begun experimenting with this simple tool in the Math and Sciences to assess if students really understand important concepts or need additional help. As students solve problems, they record their thought process. Other additional uses for the pen include notetaking, recording homework solutions or post lecture notes, creating tutorials, and for language learning.

The pen costs $150 - $200. Notebooks are four for $20. You can also print your own paper if you have a laser printer.

For more information, watch the video below or check out the website at http://www.livescribe.com.

The availability of quality online video content is growing by leaps and bounds every day. Here is a quick list of some of the video sites that I look at on a regular basis:

ForaTV

Collection of video drawn from live events, lectures, and debates going on all the time at the world's top universities, think tanks and conferences, organized into categories including: The Economy, Green, Politics, Science, Technology, Culture.

Video and channels from Colleges and Universities including Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Seton Hall University!

Top News, Business, & Entertainment Videos

Global forum connecting people and ideas

Ideas worth spreading - Inspired talks by the world's leading thinkers and doers.

Documentaries organized into categories including: Biography, Business & Economy, Conspiracy, History, Lifestyle, Religion, Science, War.

Commonwealth Club
San Francisco, CA
05.01.08
G. Richard Wagoner Jr.

Every so often I come across a free web application that is plain fun. I tell myself there has got to be some educational use if I think hard enough. Xtranormal, which allows one the ability to create 3-D movies easily, is one of those tools. If you can type, you will be successful! You can choose the scene, characters, music, sound effects and camera angles. Check out this video that one university produced to advertise their writing center. It really grabbed my attention and made me laugh!

The inclusion of quality video in education has never been easier than it is today. With a variety of documentary films and tv programs being produced every year, locating the content of interest can become a challenge. A new website, SnagFilms, is making the search a little bit easier!

SnagFilms allows users to search over 550 full-length documentary films from well established organizations including National Geographic and PBS, to independents including Brave New Films and IndiePix.

"SnagFilms is committed to finding the world's most compelling documentaries, whether from established heavyweights or first-time filmmakers, and making them available to the wide audience these titles deserve."
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/about

The Nova program - Mars Dead or Alive, has been included below as an example of the content currently available. Additional information about the SnagFilms website can be found in the SnagFilms 2009 Media Kit.

On Wednesday February 25th the TLT Center held a Wiki workshop. The presentation is available online, click here.
Additional session handouts are available for download at the end of this post.

A video describing the functional overview of how a Wiki works has been produced by CommonCraft, and is available below:

As we all settle in with using the new Pirate Net portal, you might not have noticed a very useful technology resource available to the entire SHU community called Element K.

Element K is a free, computer based training solution that anyone at Seton Hall can access and use to improve their tech skills in a particular software package or maybe learn something entirely new. The great part about Element K courses is that you take them at you own pace and at your own convenience. Since the resource is internet based, it's available whenever you have time.

The login module is located on the Offices & Services tab of the Pirate Net portal. Just click the link and you have access to 120 different self-paced courses and there all not just on technology.

Of course, the Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 courses are offered, but there are also some business "soft-skills" courses and some higher end technical courses as well. It's a great resource to have at your fingertips.

The Computer Training Center regularly offers classes on university-supported software, but sometimes you may not be able to fit a class into your busy schedule. If that's the case, Element K is an excellent substitute for instructor-led training. Try it out today and contact me, otskeybi@shu.edu, with any problems or for more information.

Google Latitude is a new application introduced recently by Google that allows individuals using laptops and smartphones to track the location of their friends/family through their phone or online through Google Maps. The program uses GPS technology to allow you to view a general location of your friends/family that you have invited to share information.

There are very detailed privacy options that you can customize with this program, including the option not to accept a friend's invitation to join Latitude, hide your status from your friends temporarily, etc. To view more information about Latitude and ideas for its use in educational settings, click here.

Explore global fishing trends, shipwrecks, and underwater volcanoes with Google Ocean, a recently released as part of Google Earth 5, currently available as a free download.

Google Ocean includes ocean floor and surface data from marine experts. The map currently includes 20 content layers, containing information from organizations Google has partnered with, including National Geographic, the BBC, Cousteau's Ocean World, and others.

Social bookmarking is not new. People have been using web services such as Delicious, Furl and Digg to tag, organize and share bookmarks online. In fact, social bookmarking activity (though it has evolved over time) has been going on for many years (see history of social bookmarking here).

What IS new is a web service that was recently launched called Brainify which is targeted for higher education. On the About page, the folks at Brainify say:

"Brainify is academic social bookmarking and networking for college and university students. If you are looking for the best sites and a great community to help with your courses, this is the place for you. It's for Students and your Professors: Brainify is only for you: University and College students and your Professors to help you with one thing - do well in your courses..."

On this same About page, there is a seven minute video that will provide you with an overview of Brainify. The video is located on YouTube as well and I have embedded it below:

Brainify was also written about in today's Chronicle of Higher Education with both the positives and negatives to using this type of service presented in the article. You can take a look at the article here.

What do you think about Brainify? Do you think the concept will fly? Do you think the idea is too specialized and should be opened up to people without academic email addresses? I'm interested in your thoughts...please feel free to email me at mary.zedeck@shu.edu.

"Free Open Source Software is Costing Vendors $60 Billion," (annually) as recently reported in an April 2008 report from the Standish Group.

Open Source software is available without cost, and support is usually available via the developers and dedicated users posting comments, tips, and updates on various blogs and websites.

Probably the biggest advantages of utilizing Open Source software is in its flexibility to the needs of the end-user. If there is sufficient demand for a new feature, an update is usually available in a matter of weeks or months (developed by multiple people working around the globe) versus waiting for the next major release from traditional software vendors.

Some well known examples of Open Source include:

• Linux :: operating system


• Open Office :: office productivity suite


• Open Project :: project management

Source Forge, one resource for locating Open Source Software, is organized by topics.

I worked in the K-12 environment for many years and two of my favorite pieces of software that I modeled for teachers to help students brainstorm or get organized and focused were the graphic organizing programs called Inspiration (grades 6-12) and Kidspiration (grades K-5).

Several faculty members here at SHU have asked me if we support Inspiration because they would like to use it with their students or for department meetings or special interest groups. Well, Inspiration is not generally supported campus wide BUT, recently, Inspiration Software, Inc. has released an online version of their software called myWebspiration!

This new online version (in some places referred to as Webspiration) is very similar to the stand alone Inspiration software (outline and diagram views, rapid fire, notes and templates) with the addition of (as with most new online tools) asynchronous and real-time collaboration and anytime, anywhere access to your graphic organizers. Plus, you can upload any Inspiration 8 file to Webspiration or download any Webspiration document for use in Inspiration 8. I know there are faculty members who will be happy about that! :-)

Below is an image of the Argument Development template in Webspiration - click on it to see the details.

• Aspen Institute
• Association for Computing Machinery
• Brookings Institution
• BYU Kennedy Center
• C-SPAN
• Cato Institute
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Georgetown University
• Hoover Institute
• J. Reuben Clark Law Society

The TLT Center is offering instruction in using Web 2.0 tech tools in teaching and learning. You may be asking "what is Web 2.0 anyway...what is all the fuss about?" This very popular video created by Michael Wesch does a wonderful job of explaining the topic:



As the above video explains, Web 2.0 has produced an explosion of innovative and exciting online technology tools that can be implemented by both faculty and students. Register for our next class which is on Wednesday, September 24th from 12:00pm-1:30pm in the CTC. We hope to see you there!

These are the course objectives and the course website will always be in beta...

This will be my final thread on the wonderful world of Vista. I have described to you the benefits of the new system as well as how to make it work for you. The rest is now up to you and the best advice I can give you is... play with the system. I haven't nearly covered a good deal of Vista's capabilities because it all depends what you'll be looking for. But I can tell you, however, some of the things you'd be able to do... You can setup voice recognition so as to get the computer to recognize your voice and apply every command... Permissions can be created for every file/Parents Controls can be applied to every game so that you can have a sense of security and finally, you can automate the system so that everything that can be done to enhance your computer experience will be out of your hands through the power of Windows One LiveCare....!

As I wrap up my commentary on Vista I would like to provide you with some links that will help you understand Vista better, as well as a link to one of Microsoft's hidden deals...

VISTA

Microsoft Equipt

Happy Computing!

Photosynth from Microsoft Labs allows users to explore photographic images in 3-D!

Researchers at the University of Washington and Microsoft have created software that allows users to upload 10, 100, or 1000 individual digital images to create a 3-D representation of a physical space.

Watch Richard Szeliski from Microsoft discuss Photosynth in the following video.

Google has made public a beta release of their new web browser, Google Chrome!

Walter S. Mossberg, Personal Technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal reviews Google Chrome in the following video:

At one of our recent Technology Summer Series days, Developing Critical Thinkers ... Chris Shamberg called my attention to a free tool that is a plug-in for Microsoft Office PowerPoint called authorPOINT LITE. This application will allow you to share your presentations online through a free online presentation sharing platform called authorSTREAM. Through this process, your PowerPoint presentation is converted to a Flash format. You have the options to make your presentation "public" or "private". The private option lets you share presentations securely with only registered users that you invite through a web link. Of course, registration is free.

Diigo is a Web 2.0 tool that allows you to highlight and share your web references. This is a great research tool and makes it easier to retrieve specific information on web pages. With Diigo, you can go beyond bookmarking and saving favorites. To learn more, watch the following video:

A new search engine launched this week: Cuil. Developed by Stanford professor Tom Costello and former Google search architect Anna Patterson, Cuil offers a new way to search.

Features of this new web browser include: Drilldown, Roll-over definitions, Tabs, and Navigation suggestions.

I am such a visual person ... always looking for the perfect image to go with a publication, handout, digital story, video or website. The first place I look anymore for photos is on FLICKR. The site contains amazing shots and I have had great luck with FLICKR photographers allowing me to use their photos for various educational purposes.

Given that, I was so excited to find this online image searching tool, Multicolor Search Lab - Flickr Set at the Idee Labs web site < http://labs.ideeinc.com/> which allows you to search for images that contain a particular color or color set on Flickr. In the example below, I was looking for images with a red/green combination.

Soooooooo cool! Check it out ... hope you find it as useful as I do!

Heidi Trotta

Favthumbs is a great new tool that allows you to visualize your del.icio.us bookmarks. All you have to do is enter your del.icio.us username and sign in (your password is optional).

Once signed in, there are a few options. The default view is to show all of your bookmarks in grid view. Use the slider on the top right to zoom in and out of your visual bookmarks (click on image below to see detail).

Another option is carousel view which allows you to flip through your bookmarks so that you can see them one by one. As in the original del.icio.us view, you can always focus in on a particular topic by clicking on one of your tags that are listed on the right hand side of the screen (see graphic above). The graphic below is in carousel view after selecting the tag digitalstorytelling.


Check it out!

Two quick and easy online tools to explore: Text2MindMap and Forex Flower


Text2MindMap is an online application where you can create mind maps/graphic organizers by entering text in an outline that is then converted to a mind map. Maps can be customized and may also be saved to your computer as picture files (jpgs). Quick, fun, and easy...great for brainstorming a topic in class.

Forex Flower (sister site to Text2MindMap) is an online currency converter. Type in the number of US dollars you would like to convert and watch all the exchange rates pop up. The exchange rates are updated daily and are drawn from the US Federal Reserve Economic Data database.

Have you been wanting to try out a fresh and different approach to presenting your image, audio and video files? If the answer is yes, then Vuvox may be your solution.

There are three areas to explore within Vuvox:
Vuvox Express - Instantly create and publish from RSS feeds and web albums
Vuvox Collage - Create dynamic interactive story panoramas
Vuvox Studio - Contains tools to customize your video, music and photos (you need to create an account to use this feature)

This is an example of Vuvox Collage which addresses Writing in the 21st Century created by Barbara Ganley:

Convert any media file format (Documents, Images, Audio, Video, Archives and even Units) without buying or installing anything on your PC. Great tool - and free!

Zotero (zoh-TAIR-oh), available as a free extension to the Firefox browser, provides a citation management tool within a web browser environment. Zotero allows for the collection and organization of recourses as well as providing citations in multiple formats, including APA, Chicago, and MLA.

As promised, a continuation of the Vista chronicles...

When everyone thinks about a computer now a days there is a worry as to what kind of security does it have. In truth, everyday, more and more people are exploring the online universe. People are making transactions, posting their livelihoods, and learning everything about the world around them. This has allowed for more virus makers and spam designers to exploit the common man... However, the light at the end of the tunnel is that MS Vista has the best defenses money can buy. It was so secure that it has been tested countless of times and was barely scratched, which is remarkable by industry standards. Yet, as with any perfect design there will be the potential for overlooked flaws and more advanced hacking techniques. So, with this is mind Microsoft has come up with their own reliability guarantee - A program called "One LiveCare" was specifically made for Vista. It has proven it's worth by being tested alongside with the other pre-existing anti-virus programs, i.e. Symantec, McAfee, etc. and it bashes the competition!!!

Windows One Live Care was created with the user in mind... The program does not downplay the Symantec Antivirus system we have on campus which is comprehensive for the corporate level, but it does give people, with their own personal machines a more affordable alternative. So, as I recommend to viewers everywhere, go for the program that will help you do, what you do, everyday without worry ---> http://onecare.live.com/standard/en-us/default.htm

Did you ever wish you could easily record your Skype conversations? Well, now you can. Call Graph is a new plugin for Skype that records calls and stores them as mp3s which could then be pretty handy for creating podcasts! Record Skype to Skype, SkypeIn, or SkypeOut calls. Cool.

Have you ever wanted to save a webpage and its format for offline use at a later time? Use this service to convert html to pdf. You can convert from either a URL or you can enter the html code directly. Flash movies and website links from the webpage you are converting from will become active in your pdf if you choose those options.

There is also a bookmarklet that allows you to convert webpages directly from your browser - drag the Save Page as PDF link to your bookmarks toolbar and you will be ready to go. Enjoy!

Seton Hall University subscribes to RefWorks, a web-based citation management software tool. RefWorks allows you to:

• Create and manage a web-based bibliography


• Import references from text files


• Import references from online databases


• Automatically format your paper and bibliography

Google Earth is an amazing 3D tool that provides the benefit of traveling the globe without ever getting on a plane.You can search for any address or keyword and Google Earth will fly you to the location. Including your house!

Lulu is web-based self-publishing service. Users can design, publish and print original material, including books, brochures, reports, calendars and posters. Users can also create digital content, such as audio files, videos, graphics, or e-books. EDUCAUSE recently published an article about Lulu and its application for education that you can read about here.

The folks over at the Online Education Database have compiled a list entitled "100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better". This is fast on the heels of their "100 Free Podcasts from the Best Colleges in the World" posting. I'm sensing a theme. If you have a few hours to kill I highly recommend checking out both lists.

Not to be outdone, the group at openculture.com have compiled a list of "University & College Podcasts" that reads like a who's who of the iTunes U set. If you don't feel like looking through each University's site, they've gone one step further and created a list called "Free Online Courses from Great Universities". The courses listed include topics ranging from from Archaeology to Urban Studies (what, no Yoga or Zoology?!?) Good stuff.

As a replacement for Microsoft FrontPage, the wed editing tool used to create and maintain many of the University webpages, Microsoft Expression Web is now available to be installed on your University owned laptop or desktop.

To have Microsoft Expression installed, you can visit the PC Support Consultation area ( lower level of Corrigan Hall) with your laptop or call the Technology Helpdesk @ ext. 2222 to have a field technician install the software on your desktop.