Campus Pet Peeves. Fall 2013 Edition:

1) Today the din in the LC common area was so loud it about knocked me over. Worse, one young woman's irritating shriek-voice could be hears above it. Yes, yes, I know I am an active listener who can't abide noise, but I fantasized elbowing my way through the crowd (as if such a thing would be possible), taking her by the shoulders and say "you ever hear of 'inside' voice?"

2) Skateboards. Ban them from the podium, please. There seems to be more young men riding them every semester. A chill goes up my spine every time one whizzes past me. I have a vision of being knocked down, of my foot getting run over, of my left leg getting more injured, of my right leg joining my left's feebleness, of losing the ability to walk, or at the very least, acquiring an even worse limp. I know I sound like a bitter old lady who doesn't remember the joy of being young, but why can't the d-mn sk8ters just walk?

3) I can't stand Aramark, the new food contractor. Yes, I think it's fabulous that they are featuring some local foods and vendors, but the majority of choices are carbohydrate heavy. Maybe that's what students prefer, I don't know. Pretend to be "green" and "organic" and "healthy" while you scarf down a bagel and hot pretzel. Most upsetting to me, the fruit, yogurt, granola bar is gone! That was one of the things that made it worthwhile to limp over there.

I’m fortunate to be able to wear clothes to work that are pretty much always in the “business casual” arena. Besides that, my usual garb consists of tattered, roomy tee-shirts and shorts or sweat pants when I am home, or jeans and a “nicer” long-sleeved tee when I am out.

Trying to find clothing to wear to a “fancier” event is a chore. This is definitely complicated by my hatred for shopping. I buy nearly everything I wear online, from LL Bean or Hanes. I have some more formal clothes that I have worn a few times or bought for a special occasion and wore once. Yesterday I tried on numerous items in the closet in an effort to find something decent to wear. Studying my reflection in a few of the outfits reminded me of a hilarious Mimmie-ism: “Looks like a burlap sack of potatoes with a string tied around the middle.”

I finally came across a couple possibilities for a skirt, pants or blazer, but no shirt was right. So I entered the black hole of searching online. It was frustrating to say the least. It seems in younger days you can look good in nearly anything, but I don’t think clothing manufacturers are considering the middle-aged with some of these styles. I finally found what I hope will be a suitable shirt (on amazon!). I’ll know Wednesday whether to bring a hoe or a handbag with me as an accessory.

I'm sort of annoyed about my textbook this semester. The issues I have with the Create book have not been successfully resolved, despite the best efforts (or maybe that should be double talk) of the rep. In fact, I'm considering throwing in the towel, and going back to two books. A Sage representative has been "after" me, and I just might go with them for my second book.

Today was the last straw. I want a desk copy of the Create book that I can see on a tablet or smartphone. I want to see what students are buying, and I want to be able to read it on a device. I've asked several times and thus far have been unable to pry this from the publisher. So I installed Calibre and tried to convert the PDF proof into Kindle format. Guess what? The file is locked by DRM. Of course it is!

Collaborate in the classroom still eludes me this semester. I tried the camera at home, and got the same error message in Collaborate as on campus. So I tried it with other apps, and it worked fine.


I tried google, and discovered these two links:

http://support.blackboardcollaborate.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=8336&task=knowledge&questionID=2565

http://discussions.blackboard.com/forums/t/54633.aspx

I haven't been able to get the work around solution to work at home yet, as I don't get an update driver choice in device manager. I will stop trying to figure it out at home at this point, as I have spent too much time on this already and my regular lower-end webcam works just fine. That's what I use at home anyway.

I'm not sure why the widescreen worked fine over the summer in my class, maybe something to do with XP? Or the driver in the room? I still want to use the widescreen on presentation days (all mid-November) on campus. I doubt I will have time to install/test the work around in the classrooms in the 10 minutes between classes (or the machines will let me).

The response I received so far? "Use your home camera instead of the widescreen."

In the online class, the situation is brighter. Collaborate is perfect for the initial real-time group chats. And yesterday I canceled my evening class and recorded my lecture and slideshow using Collaborate at home for students to watch instead. Worked great!

Recently we went to the City Beer Hall. It's located in a building I've always loved. It once housed the telephone company and the interior wood panelling is gorgeous. Years ago it was a favorite fancy restaurant of ours. Since then it has been a few different bar/restaurants, none of them very good. In between it has been sadly vacant. Well, I'm delighted to report it is a good place again. Not fancy, but the food is delicious and different (and several choices are vegan or vegetarian), and for those into beer, the selection is wide. The wine list is short, but it has one of my NYS favorites (Salmon Run Chardonnay).

The latest error when I try to use my webcam with collaborate in the classroom. Sigh.

Collaborate is working well in the online class. I used it for the initial real-time chat with the first group instead of Blackboard chat. There were only two students attending, and they loved it. They even suggested having an all-class session. After my experience in the blended class this summer, I agree that would be something to pursue in the fully online class, but before requiring one or maybe two real-time all-class webinars, I would prefer the dates be published in the schedule, so students are committing when they register. Maybe I will pilot this during winter session. I usually only have 10-12 strong students enrolled. Spring will depend on how that goes.

Neither of the two students used the webcam, and I did not either. I used a mic and talked to them, and they typed questions for me in chat, and also interacted with each other using text chat. They planned to try using it for their four member group this week, without me. I will have to follow up with them to see how that went.

On campus had been more troublesome. The drivers were installed in my classrooms late last week, so I decided to test it on Tuesday. I had a packed agenda already, but since it was mostly a lecture class, I thought it might be good to have it recorded. Absent students or the online class could watch it. This was the day where I schlep a suitcase on wheels full of common school artifacts to class. That alone is hassle enough (as the LC level is not very accessible), but this email arrived shortly before class.

All in all, the class turned out good – I was “on” and students were on their best behavior, also very participatory and engaged with the objects and material. But the webcam didn’t work, I got an update Windows administrator log in prompt. I didn’t have time to waste on fooling with it, what with the Provost’s office & Economic Development videographer taping class.

In the evening class, I wasn’t optimistic that it would work, and it didn’t. The same Windows update prompt came up when I plugged in the webcam. A barrier to trying to troubleshoot in this class was that while I had spoken to them briefly about Collaborate on the first day, I hadn’t bothered to show it to them, because I already knew the drivers wouldn’t be there. Just me plugging in the webcam and pointing it at class made them apprehensive. The evening section this semester has more slightly older than traditional college-age students who work full time. They are very serious and a little anxious and overwhelmed. So I cut my losses, and told them the only time I would use it (assuming I can get it to work at all) is in November on their presentation day.

I contacted classroom tech support again, and they tested it this morning. The Windows update prompt came up, but apparently the webcam will still work (at least in Windows Movie Maker, which is how they tested it) after doing nothing but closing the pop-up. So I will try it in Collaborate next week.

Happy Birthday to me! But...52! How can that be? We're going to go on a dinner cruise on the Dutch Apple.

At 11:47 AM, I received the following email from the Provost's Office: "Some moments ago I tried to call each of you regarding a request from a videographer from the Empire State Development Corporation who is working with the Governor's office to get background scenes of campus life for a START-UP NY piece. They would like to take stock footage (video, no sound) in a variety of teaching situations sometime before 3 p.m. today. The Registrar has identified your class as a candidate for this purpose, and I wanted to try to contact you in advance to obtain your permission." 

My class started at 1:15 PM. My first thoughts were "thank God I wore decent clothes and my hair looks good today." (LOL.) The crew showed up a few minutes after class started. Students were on good behavior. I can't wait to see the footage.

Three weeks into the semester and I have a pretty good sense of my classes. In the online class, I tried using Collaborate for the initial group chat and I couldn't be more pleased. The evening section is a very serious and high calibre cohort so far. Many of the students are a little older than traditional college aged, and that's always a good thing. The day section has one group of very engaged students, but the jury is still out on the rest of class. Finally, Toleration seems as if it will be pretty good, although it's still early (it has only met twice due to last week's holiday).

Changing the book in foundations has been both a disappointment and a good challenge.A Disappointment because of all this, and also because I've had second thoughts about some of the chapters in the new book I chose. A good challenge because it has forced me to be creative and to make some long overdue changes in certain assignments.

Today Mimmie would have been 109. I don't think she'd mind a shameless plug for my book. Happy birthday Mimmie!

Today I will link to my post from the 10th anniversary.

We had a baptism at church on Sunday and I am still irritated. I wish our pastor would either announce at the beginning that non-Catholics shouldn't go to Communion, or better yet he would tell the parents to let their friends & relatives know what is appropriate behavior. This family was mostly from downstate & they were so rude. The kids who were with them got up constantly and had to be taken to the bathroom. That wasn't too bad, and I tried hard not to feel judgmental but it was not easy mostly due to the adults. One young woman sitting in front of us was quite zaftig and wearing a ridiculous revealing and unflattering dress. She & her boyfriend or husband and another couple spent the whole Mass talking, rolling their eyes, and snickering. They would not give us room to kneel, they did not shake our hands during the sign of peace, they exited loudly as a group before the final hymn, and before the priest & altar servers came down the aisle. They went to communion, cutting off the people in the pew ahead of them to get in line. I don't know if they were given a host because I'm sure they had no clue what to say to receive and when it was my turn, the priest was whispering something to the other eucharistic minister. They did not even clap when the baby was welcomed to the congregation! When we came outside they were standing there smoking. I know I should be happy that they came at all, but I wish they showed some respect. If they are going to act like a-holes, why did they bother to come? Just go directly to the party -- or be honest about your feelings and RSVP "no" entirely. I don't know how the priests tolerate it.

Speaking of tolerating, one lesson I took from the church nightmare is that I have to be sure to remind my toleration class about being respectful when they visit the sites for the Discomfort Zone assignment. I always do, and I think students take it to heart, but the baptism is reminding me. There has only been a problem once that I know of (when a guy took his girlfriend who wasn't in the class along with him to an Overeater's Anonomous meeting and he hadn't warned her to keep her mouth shut and just observe and she "outed" him). 

And...for something completely unrelated, this has not been a good year for my garden overall, but my pole beans are doing great!

We saw Ain't Them Bodies Saints on Saturday night. It was an interesting movie, thoughtful and well-acted. Don't see it when you are seeking an "upper," however. Before the movie, we went to New World and sampled their excellent eggplant "meatballs." They are in a competition for U.S. Food Next Top Product.

I got the new Margaret Atwood book and it was all I could do to resist reading it immediately this morning! But it's a beautiful day and I had to do "poop patrol" and weed whack first, so I forced myself.

Question: why do students miss some class requirement (such as several classes or an assignment) and then send me an email that says "I hope this won't impact my grade" ?

Since I've had two weeks of classes at this point, I written some feedback on the publishing tool / process I used (called Create) to make the required book.

1. Electronic version:

• I never received anything from the publisher, for either my Philosophy of Ed reader or Foundations reader, aside from a password-protected PDF "proof." I would have liked to have an electronic desk copy I could have tried on my droid
• The PDF does not allow me to copy/paste or print. I'd like to be able to do this when I am creating course materials, rather than having to type text myself, or scan/photocopy from the print book.
• The format of the ebook is for apple or android only. So while a Kindle fire works, a plain Kindle or Nook do not. Many students (& I) use plain Kindle (or Nook) -- it is hands-down the most popular & best ereader since it is not backlit.

2. Design:

• The print book for Foundations is large & cumbersome. I prefer a smaller size for thick books.
  
• The Table of Contents lists the readings as Chapter 1, 2, 3 etc. I would much prefer it if it kept the format of the original book.
• I'd also like an identifying divider page between the two books.
  

3. Cost etc.:

• The ereader from the publisher is a good value, but the print version from the bookstore is not.
  
• I am not sure that it is worthwhile for me to spend the time making a Create book, given the fact that the electronic version is not available for a kindle, and the print version is large & cumbersome, when I can direct students to purchase two off-the-shelf books instead, i.e., the full taking sides & studying education books from amazon in paper or kindle format, or as electronic apple/android versions from the publisher. 
• If I didn't feel bad about students spending $81 on the book (and the bookstore has a nasty returns policy), I would probably not use it again this spring. This assumes the bookstore gives them anything for it in buyback, but I have my doubts. As it is, I don't believe I will bother making updates so I can use it again in '14-'15.

For the second semester in a row, my afternoon class is in one of the small lecture centers. The windows that overlook the large fountain in the LC level have been covered with plywood and sheetrock for over a year. This semester the plywood is gone, but the work is not finished yet so the doors to the stairs in the courtyard are still blocked. I took this picture yesterday.

First week back on campus is a wrap. This was taken yesterday on the way to my afternoon class.  It's quite a shock to see so many people after my quiet summer! Two changes in student "style" noted: 1) Enormous Jansport backpacks are back in and 2) Huge black-framed eyeglasses are all the rage.

It was good to see these guys after my long day.

I settled on how to use Collaborate this Fall in all my classes. I recorded the welcome lecture for online class using it. The upside was that I can have the slideshow captured with the audio and video. Using my old record pad for audio uploaded to box.net required students to run the powerpoint & audio file separately/manually. The downside, the audio quality is not as good as with record pad, so I am undecided whether to record future lectures with it. I'm wondering if using a separate mic would help. I don't want to use my table mic because it will be awkward on video, and I think my headset would also be awkward. I have seen clip on USB mics, perhaps something to consider. Regardless, I am planning to try it for the first optional real time “office hours” chat I offer (9/9), rather than using the built-in blackboard chat tool, which I have never liked.

On campus, I decided that I would show it to them on the first day, and plan to use it to record their group presentations in November. Whether I will use it otherwise is TBD. I think if weather is bad later in the semester or something else crops up that would result in canceling class, I might try holding a collaborate session instead. I’ve also been considering using it to tamp down two behaviors I dislike, excessive absence and non-class related laptop / tablet / smart phone use in class. If students know they are expected to join class via Collaborate when they are absent, and log into it from their laptop (or tablet) when they have devices in class, that would be turning negatives into positives. I’m not sure of the logistics at this point, so it’s still just under consideration. Yesterday few (no?) Students had laptops and while smartphones were almost as common as ever (some students are careful on the first day), I saw few tablets.

In general, the two on campus foundations sections seem to be less familiar with technology than usual. That's not strictly true, I don’t really have a sense in the afternoon class, as much time was wasted (by me) with Collaborate in the beginning. (More on that later.) In the evening section, I asked about their experience with Blackboard, and significantly less than half were familiar with it. I think maybe I have a lot of transfer students, because how can that be? Are a lot of UA faculty not using web-enhanced approaches?

In the afternoon, I headed to my first class really early. I wanted to get the webcam set up and upload my powerpoint into Collaborate. Alas, things did not go exactly as planned. There are only 10 minutes between the prior class and mine. The instructor of that class went the whole time and had not erased the board, gathered up her crap or surrendered the console and exited yet. A couple students had things they immediately wanted to talk to me about such as permission numbers, or routinely leaving early to make the bus because his next class is downtown. The machine demanded a log on and password, and “Guest” didn’t work. I called Classroom Tech Support and it rang at least 20 times before they answered. The connection was not good, but I managed to hear that the machines were upgraded to Windows 7 and now require individual log on by every instructor. Was there an email alerting faculty to this change that I’ve neglected to read? Oh, probably, LOL. The only “change” email I noticed was gushing about all the new eateries in Campus Center. Bye-bye Tim Horton's!

I finally got Collaborate & my powerpoint running, but couldn’t get the webcam to work. It seems I needed administrator rights to accomplish this. Oh well. I muddled through the class, but afterwards was sure I’d confused the students. I didn’t remember to ask them whether they were familiar with blackboard or if they needed me to walk them through it, instead I spent too much time with Collaborate (not really working) and it probably seemed intimidating. Ha ha, they will probably go on Rate My Professor and report that I’m disorganized & “out there.” Is that better or worse than being “weird” (my all-time favorite Rate My Professor slam from one of my students).

I have been thinking about how the task force I was on last spring and various offices try to encourage innovative approaches to teaching, but bureaucratic processes and technical glitches get in the way. Today Classroom Tech Support said they would install the drivers for the webcam on all three classroom machines I’ll be using this semester. Yay.

My classes start tomorrow. Feeling a little blue today. The end of summer break is bittersweet and it is particularly so this year.

Yesterday I spent some time thinking about how to use Collaborate in my fall foundations classes (not sure about toleration), and put the final touches on my fall online class. I used Collaborate to record the welcome, and I am pleased with the result. I am likely to use it for the real-time chats as well. I still have to figure out how to use it in the classroom, but today I updated all syllabi and I do plan show it to them on the first day. I'm practically brain dead from all the syllabi revisions I made today, many more than the average semester. Tomorrow I have to get all the Blackboard materials ready, and I will be all set for the fall semester.