Diaz Ideas

Maricopa's Web 2.0 Tour

2008-08-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

Just yesterday, Maricopa's learning technologies brain trust gathered to coordinate what is an extremely comprehensive offering of Web 2.0 tools for teaching and learning. So far, it looks like our 08-09 tour will visit several colleges and include the following web 2.0 and web 2.0-related tools:

pbwiki, wetpaint, wikispaces, TeacherTube, YouTube, FLVix, Creative Commons, Flickr, Wikimedia, Pixenate, MyPictr, Blogger, Wordpress, dimdim, vroom, yugma, skype, Lively, VoiceThread, CrowdAbout, Jing, SnagIt, Screencast-o-matic, flipvideo; vimeo, kaltura, mailemotion, and gabmail.

Our schedule will be posted on the new MCLI site before the end of August. Stay tuned....

CommentPress

2008-07-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

Cool tool to comment on written work: http://www.futureofthebook.org/commentpress/
Examples: http://www.futureofthebook.org/commentpress/examples/

Catching Up After Busiest Week of the Year

2008-05-10T12:14:00.001-07:00

Having been at Maricopa for a brief year and a half, I'm learning that this last week could quite possibly be the worst of the year. Not only was it filled with last minute (and not so last minute) planning for the 2008 Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference (shameless plug), which now has a growing wait list, but I had to cram in a 2-day Sloan-C Conference in Carefree, AZ. It was worth it, presentations are available at Slideshare.

Electronic Plagiarism-Detection Tool Ruling may have Google Implications

2008-04-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday, March 26, 2008, a federal judge ruled that TurnItIn.com, a commercial plagiarism-detection tool does not in fact violate the copyright of students, even though it stores digital copies of their essays in the database that the company uses to check works for academic dishonesty. Click here to read more about the implications of this decision for digital services, such as Google's effort to scan books in major libraries and add them to its index for search purposes.

Desire2Learn CEO Speaks Up

2008-03-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

Recently, John Baker, Desire2Learn's president and CEO, gave an interview where he discussed the case with us, its impact on the company and its customers, and the implications for education technology as a whole.

Blackboard vs Desire2Learn

2008-03-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

Interested in keeping up with the Blackboard vs Desire2Learn saga? You can learn more at these sites:

http://www.desire2learn.com/patentinfo/
http://www.downes.ca/cgi-bin/page.cgi?topic=8
http://tatler.typepad.com/nose/2008/03/east-texas-cour.html

The Higher Learning Commission's Academic Quality Improvement Program

2008-03-13T09:26:00.001-07:00

For me, this seems to be the Spring of peer review. In February, MCLI launched the Maricopa Quality Matters Peer-Reviewer Program and in March (over the last 3 days), I attended the the Higher Learning Commission's Academic Quality Improvement Program Peer Reviewer training in Chicago, Illinois. The training lasted a total of 55 hours over 2 1/2 days and was extremely valuable and insightful in many ways:

what is the role of accreditation in the US
who are accrediting bodies in the US and how were they established
what are the options for accreditation and continuous improvement for institutions
what is AQIP, how does it differ from PEAQ and how do institutions interact with each

It is my understanding that PEAQ is the traditional form of accreditation and that AQIP is the new kid on the block, at least over the past 7 years. From the past few days, I've learned that AQIP seems to be a much more continuous improvement process. PEAQ takes place every 10 years, while AQIP has contact with the institution regularly over a 5 year period in a process that emulates strategic planning. It seems that several institutions are opting in to AQIP and out of PEAQ (although an institution has to be PEAQ-approved to be able to participate in AQIP).

It may seem odd to some that an instructional technologist would be involved something like this, but this experience gave me such a comprehensive overview of quality and improvement issues in higher education. Our training concludes tomorrow and then I'm on the list to be a peer-reviewer. Aside from the time commitment (of 25-30 hours), I'm very much looking forward to participating.

Quality Matters comes to Maricopa Community Colleges

2008-02-29T05:27:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I attended the overview session of Quality Matters (QM) with Dr. Ron Legon, Executive Director of QM and although I already knew something about the program, I was very pleased for its potential for Maricopa students and faculty members.

MCLI has secured a subscription for its one-year pilot of QM to begin in 08-09. Today 35 Maricopa peer reviewers will be trained to begin reviewing courses next year.

So... a bit about QM:

Quality Matters came out of a FIPSE grant that was meant to support adult learners and distributed/distance learning and originally had these 4 goals:

provide statewide leadership in distance learning
maintain a web gateway for online higher education in Maryland
collaborate on faculty training
facilitate online course and program sharing

Over 700 faculty members, 158 institutions and 28 states participate in QM (they are non-profit).

The QM toolset and processes include

faculty-driven, peer-review process
collaborative process among faculty peers
commitment to continuous quality improvement
based on national standards of best practice, the research literature, and instruction design principles
designed to promote student learning

Overall, QM is designed to support student retention and satisfaction in online and hybrid courses. Reviewed courses don't have to be perfect, but QM aims at better than just "good enough".

Here you can read about the underlying principles of Quality Matters and how it aligns with accreditation standards and is supported by the research literature.

The review team takes the perspective of a student (as a novice to the course) and asks basic questions to assess quality. QM is NOT about the individual instructor, about faculty evaluation, or about win/lose pass/fail regarding course review.

The rubric contains 8 key areas of course quality, 40 specific review standards including 14 essential standards, and detailed annotations and examples of good practice for all 40 standards.

The 8 key areas of course quality include

course overview and introduction
learning objectives
assessment and measurement
resources and materials
learner interaction
course technology
learner support
ADA compliance

Areas 2-6 must be aligned. Throughout the review, their is a focus on improvement and support of instructor-student interaction, content-student interaction, and student-student interaction.

We are hopeful and excited about bringing QM to Maricopa (first in Arizona--who says we don't lead). Stay tuned for more...

Web 2.0 and the Student Experience

2008-02-26T15:55:00.000-08:00

I recently had the privilege of speaking with EDUCAUSE and Laura Blankenship, Senior Instructional Technologist at Bryn Mawr College about Web 2.0 tools and the Student Experience.

Podcasting and Google Apps at Educause SW Regional 08

2008-02-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

This week I attended the Educause Southwest Regional Conference in Houston, TX. At the start of the conference, I presented with Dr. McGee on Blended Learning: Implementing the Instructional Model of Tomorrow.

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Our presentation covered all the essential components of implementing Blended Learning on an institutional level: faculty development and support, student support, costs, blended learning models, marketing, and course redesign processes. 25 faculty members, CIOs, IT professionals, and faculty development professionals attended our session. This is a much needed area of support as our attendees spanned the spectrum in their involvement and awareness of Blended Learning.

Also attended a podcasting session presented by the University of Southern Mississippi: http://podcastpilot.blogspot.com/. They have a nice site supporting podcasting with video tutorials. This session was packed.

Yesterday, I attended a session on Google Apps. At the end of the session attendees started asking questions (and also sharing their interpretations) about copyright and web 2.0 technologies. I was struck by how much poor information is out there. Perhaps there is a need for another session: Copyright 2.0: How to navigate web 2.0 without violating copyright...

Gateway and Mesa Colleges Kickoff with Technology

2008-01-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Both Gateway and Mesa College of the Maricopa Community Colleges kicked of 2008 with Cole Camplese (and a little help from MCLI). Cole, Director of Education Technology Services at Penn State, identified 3 trends in teaching and learning as they intersect with technology: social spaces, mobility and user-created content. Social "virtual" spaces involve creating an environment that is interconnected or networked with FOAF applications, such as facebook or myspace. Such environments enable profile creation, connections, and collaborations, which lead to a very interesting point that was made: identity management and marketing.

This concept is related to the next area: the rise of student as creator and developer of knowledge in the "content is king" paradigm (sorry, I tried not to use this word). We've all heard of constructivism, but now it has really taken off. With such a plethora of tools that a 5-year old can use (literally), students are taking off with content development. Tools such as utube, blogspot, google, and others have enabled students to do all the things they wanted to do. While higher education was figuring out how to, how much it would cost to, and if they should, students found easy-to-use tools to meet their needs. Now their content is connected, shareable, and preserved for all time. The accelerated use of these tools is a testament to what can happen when you put a simple, but powerful tool in the hands of a user: The State of the Live Web, April 2007.

What else? Well, that leaves mobility. Mobility and technology is not new, but consider that by all reports, technology use and ownership is spreading progressively faster among our youth than in the last few years. This is true. For those of you who have kids or have friends or family that have kids, what kinds of gifts did Santa bring them?? How about ClickStart's My First Computers (for toddlers)? Or Webkinz (don't ask). As one faculty member said in response to the question, "what motivates you to use technology?" "Keeping up with my kids," he said. If nothing else, toddler technology will force you into the 21st century.

As a means to communicate, today's students prefer cell phones, text, instant messaging, and email---in that order. The other idea of identity management and marketing...well, I'm still thinking about that. As a former BSchool learning technologist, I totally get this, but I'm not sure how that fits in with what students perceive as an identity. Which identity? Marketing to whom, anyone? Perhaps it's as simple as "this is who I am, what I'm doing, and who my friends are." I think identity management can really evolve, especially when coupled with content creation.

On a final note, Cole demonstrated a nifty tool: feed2js.org. What is it? In Alan's words: It is a rather simple technology that allows you, the humble web page designer (or instructor), to have RSS feed content displayed in your own web page, without having to know a lick about XML! Thanks Alan!

annual maricopa teaching and learning with technology conference .08: update .1

2007-11-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

Maricopa's Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference planning has begun.

TLTC .08 will be at Mesa Community College on May 13, 2008. Featured speakers include Michael Wesch, Alan Levine and (hopefully) Project Tomorrow. Stay tuned for more....

Back from Educause, Off to CIT

2007-11-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

I'm back from a wonderful trip to Educause with some Instructional Technology Leadership Council faculty members (John Lampignano, Alisa Cooper, and Mary Jane Onnen).

While Educause National is my favorite annual conference (ps conference materials are now posted, so you can go look for sessions you attended), it is primarily composed of 4-year institutions. Next year, Educause will be in Orlando, FL and I already have lots of ideas on sessions for Maricopa.

This week, for a couple of days only, I'll be at the League for Innovation's CIT Conference. CIT is much smaller, but attended exclusively by community colleges. Chris Dede from Harvard will be keynoting among others.

While at Educause, I heard Dede speak on data mining to assess student learning. While this practice of examining large data warehouses to develop predictive models for various higher education challenges is not necessarily new, we're hearing much more about how it's done (i.e., how the models work) and how it's supporting the strategic use of resources. I attended three sessions on educational analytics at Educause, but there were probably others. If you haven't already done so, check out these recently published materials on analytics.

Diaz and McGee Present at Educause 2007

2007-10-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday morning (10/23), Patricia McGee, UTSA Professor, and I will present our preconference seminar at Educause 2007 in Seattle. Our talk will focus on information/learning technology strategic planning, institutional grand challenges (access, accountability, assessment), and forecasting for the future among other topics.

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Second Life: The Numbers Speak

2007-10-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

This week, New Media Consortium released [what I believe to be] the first data report on the Second Life community. Over 200 lifers told us about themselves.....very interesting. What did they say? First, they're newbies with 70% having been in SL for one year or less. This may be an indication of "experimental" behavior as opposed to deeper (and consequently) more meaningful use. Second, the vast number of users, 82%, are 35 and older. This tells us that the "Net Generation" is absent from this emerging technology. I think this has to do with SL's lack of social networking potential and heavy emphasis on imitating real life--ironically. Something that should be taken into consideration when using this tool in colleges and universities.

When asked about SL's educational potential, respondents noted that artistic expression, role playing, and simulations (in that order) were the best areas for application.

In any case, NMC asks the right questions and capturing this kind of data will allow us on the sidelines to observe its evolution.

No Life in Second Life?

2007-08-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

Now that the (first annual?) 2007 NMC Symposium on Creativity in Second Life has come to a close, it has left me with two questions:

1. Who are the individuals and organizations in Second Life at this time?
2. What are the instructional issues/problems being addressed in this vehicle?

A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education: Colleges Are Building in Second Life, but Is Anyone Visiting? makes just this point. As well as How Madison Avenue Is Wasting Millions on a Deserted Second Life.

In fact, with the exception of planned coordinated events that are housed within an already existing social network, like the NMC Conference, there were times where I wondered if I was doing something wrong because no one was around. Yet, several higher education institutions, over 100, have set up spaces in Second Life. See this Case Western Reserve Video Tour for an example.

This new technology, SL, reminds me of Diffusion of Innovation Theory. Since I believe we are very early in this particular cycle, we are simply seeing a technology that is true to the curve. By my estimation, we are seeing only innovators or even pre-innovators in SL at this time.

Those who are
(1) venturesome, desire for the rash, the daring, and the risky,
(2) control of substantial financial resources to absorb possible loss from an unprofitable innovation.
(3) the ability to understand and apply complex technical knowledge, and
(4) the ability to cope with a high degree of uncertainty about an innovation.

Having said all this, I do think that SL has great potential as the world becomes more digitized and use becomes more intuitive.

NMC Conference in SL: Day Two

2007-08-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

How does the idea of a conference session conducted entirely in chat sound? Kinda like watching a foreign film with subtitles? Close....

I'm not sure if it had to do with technical difficulties, but there were several sessions today that were held entirely in chat, which was not the case yesterday.

This got me thinking about the things that I truly enjoy in FL conferences: seeing old friends, meeting new people, hearing and watching sessions, collecting materials, etc. Maybe this is a little old school, but not much of that is available in a virtual space. I do understand that SL is still in its infancy and that many things are clunky at the beginning.

Other sessions, like Larry Johnson's Why Creativity Matters were very engaging (and incidentally, very FL).

Also, what's up with the name bubbles that float over our heads--sometimes there are so many of us around that the bubbles block the presenter's screen!

NMC Second Life Conference: Day 1

2007-08-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

NMC's Symposium on Creativity in Second Life started yesterday, August 12th. This is my first virtual conference, so I'll be documenting my experience over this week.

This morning, as I would normally do in FL (first life, not Florida), I took a little virtual walk through the exhibit hall, where I found absolutely no one. I found it interesting that the hall looked pretty much the way the FL ones do, but with no one to chat with. Oh, I did spot someone in the center of the hall, but he flew away as I approached. Perhaps it's too early for the conferencees--it is after all the first week before classes.

I'm off to sessions....

I attended a few sessions today, one that showed us how to create, put on, and acquire clothing and another on how to move, dance, and pick up objects. Hmmmmm. I guess this is all very useful if you're getting started with SL and need a chance to practice and learn how to do some basic things.

Tomorrow I'll be attending some sessions that have more to do with teaching and learning in virtual spaces. Stay tuned...

the versatility of the podcast

2007-07-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

2007-2008 will be an exciting year for podcasting at Maricopa...

We have many new things planned: a four-level series of podcasting for educators (see http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ for more information as we get closer to fall); a kickoff of iTunes U at Maricopa, and a new podcasting tool in Blackboard called Learning Objects. The more I work in the podcasting space, the more I am amazed by all of its applications. Check out these resources:

http://mashable.com/2007/07/04/podcasting-toolbox/
http://maricopatech.blogspot.com/2007/07/stop-reading-start-listening.html
http://mashable.com/2007/06/19/blogging-toolbox/

and this Teaching w Technology White Paper: Podcasting.

What's your thing??

2007-06-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

As I've been working to develop my blog, it has occured to me that it might be useful to begin a collection of materials and resources specific to a topic or area of interest. For me, at this time, that area is blended learning. Toward that end, I've started a wiki on blended learning resources. Over time, I'm sure this will grow, evolve, and attract readers :)

iTunes U + Maricopa

2007-06-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

iTunes U has arrived at the Maricopa Community Colleges, forever blurring the lines between education and entertainment. At least, this is one of many desired effects. A few universities have adopted iTunes U: University of Wisconsin, Stanford U, Duke U, ASU, and now.... Maricopa.

At this time, most of our sites are private while we work out authentication and copyright issues. We plan to roll out a few iTunes U events in the fall and continue to work on developing podcasting in teaching and learning. More to come...

Podcasting 101, 201, 301...you get the idea

2007-06-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

Since I've been at Maricopa, it seems that our prof-lings (professors in pursuit of excellent teaching and learning) are extremely interested in podcasting. Toward furthering that interest, we've sponsored one of our faculty members to support and develop in that area. Behold, Alisa Cooper: http://soul4real.wordpress.com/. I won't take up your time here, but to go to this comprehensive site to learn about podcasts in education, how to create a podcast, where to locate free music for your podcast, and much more.

Sloaning to the Blended World

2007-06-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

I just returned from the Sloan-C Blended Learning Workshop in Chicago. This was my first Sloan/Blended Learning-dedicated event. It turns out the number of blended learning pioneers is smaller than I thought, much smaller, with only about 150 participants. Who are the leaders? Well, the UCF gang was there: Joel Hartman and Charles Dziuban (the data wizard). Also notable is the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: Bob Kaleta. Between these two organization, you have everything you ever wanted to know about blended learning and then some.

The surprise here was how many blended learning "newbies" are actually out there. Sloan has a vast collection of blended learning resources, including data, best practices, models, contacts, etc. The workshop had two tracks: one for foundational knowledge and another for those who are interested in expanding their current initiatives.

The takeaways..... 1) figure out how you're going to collect data on everything you do--this will help tremendously as your program matures and you need to justify its existence (trust me on this one); 2) don't reinvent the wheel--even though this area is relatively new, a few leaders and leading organizations can really help get you started and avoid mistakes; 3) this is a hugely exciting field that brings together many exciting educational movements: instructional technology, course redesign, and hybrid education.

Well, it's exciting for some of us anyway :)

Glendale CC's Self-Paced Emerging Tech Tool

2007-05-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered a self-paced, collaborative, emerging technology tool developed by one of Maricopa's Colleges: Glendale CC. It's called 23 Things and is similar to ELI's 7 Things. It seems that the tool is a blog that allows faculty members to move through emerging technologies (blogging, photos and images, RSS & Newsreaders, Tagging, Wikis, Online Apps, and Podcasting). It's designed to be completed in 10 weeks (over the summer) and is self-paced--genius!

Interesting how successful short chunks of content are. More manageable and digestible for busy folks.

Also interesting is how this fits in to the School 1.0/School 2.0 concept.

Here is the School 1.0 model, which as Warlick points out, illustrates instructors delivering content and skills and students acting as mirrors, reflecting content and skills back to the teacher.

Warlick says that in School 2.0 teacher’s become learners and learners become teachers, and each side is empowered with conversation, control over their information landscape, and connections with each other — with almost no constraints of hierarchy.

Students stop being mirrors, and instead become amplifiers. Their job is not merely to reflect what they encounter, but to add value to it. Content and skills are no longer the end product, but they become raw materials, with which students learn to work and play and share. Information is captured by the learner, processed, added to, remixed, and then shared back, to be captured by another learner/teacher and reprocessed.

Sound good? Are our learners ready for this heightened role? How can we make them ready?

My First Maricopa Tech Conference

2007-05-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

After several months of careful planning, the day of the 20th (whew, talk about pressure) Annual Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference finally arrived. Just about 200 Maricopa faculty came to listen to the over 25 sessions--also put on by Maricopa faculty. We heard an informative and entertaining talk on Net Gen learners from Joel Hartman from UCF--blended learning guru. Over lunch, Cole Camplese from Penn State spoke to us about students' uses of emerging technologies and web 2.0 tools and school 2.0--an interesting concept.

Biggest compliment: "Wow, there are lots of new faces here." We suffer from "serial attenders," the usual suspects (often few) who show up to all things technology. How do we reach out to newbies?

Biggest criticism: "I feel like I needed a glossary to understand all the terminology here, I needed a beginner's conference before coming to this." How do we offer enough "emerging" stuff without leaving behind those that are new and want to sample a few things? And...how can we help faculty navigate through the sea of technology? What could/should guide them?

Overall, this was a great day and a wonderful way to kick off the summer for many faculty members.