Author Archive

netiquette and email

‘Reattaching for convenience’: nine passive-aggressive email phrases that must end now

A poll has uncovered the most irksome phrases colleagues write in emails. But what do they actually mean?   @stuheritage  M

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2018/aug/27/re-attaching-for-convenience-passive-aggressive-email-phrases-poll

Apoll by Adobe has uncovered the most annoying phrases to receive in a work email.

‘Not sure if you saw my last email’

‘Per my last email’

‘Per our conversation’

‘Any updates on this?’

‘Sorry for the double email’

‘Please advise’

‘As previously stated’

‘As discussed’

‘Reattaching for convenience’

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more on netiquette in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=netiquette

IoT and libraries

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Libraries

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Libraries

breakdown of IoT functionality, from Deloitte. They give 5 general types of services that IoT “things” can do:

  1. Internal state: Heartbeat- and ping-like broadcasts of health, potentially including diagnostics and additional status reporting (for example, battery level, CPU/memory utilization, strength of network signal, up-time or software/platform version).
  2. Location: Communication of physical location via GPS, GSM, triangulation or proximity techniques
  3. Physical attributes: Monitoring the world surrounding the device, including altitude, orientation, temperature, humidity, radiation, air quality, noise and vibration
  4. Functional attributes: Higher-level intelligence rooted in the device’s purpose for describing business process or workload attributes
  5. Actuation services: Ability to remotely trigger, change or stop physical properties or actions on the device.

Examples of IoT in action

There are some pretty well-known IoT products that some of you already use, including:

  • Nest Thermostat (and others). These allow you to control your AC from your phone, anywhere that you can connect to the Internet.
  • Smart lights: Same concept, but for lights. You can turn lights on/off from your phone. Phillips Hue is an example of this
  • Bluetooth Trackers – Tile (https://www.thetileapp.com/) is an example of a Bluetooth Tracker. Put one on that thing you always lose (i.e., car keys). The next time you lose those keys, you can find them again via an app on your phone.
  • Smart Home appliances – things like Google Home, Amazon Echo, and Apple HomeKit.
  • Smart power switches – Belkin’s Wemo Insight Wi-Fi Smart Plug is an example. They let you turn the plug (and therefore anything connected to it) on and off, set schedules for the plug, monitor energy consumption and use, etc. You can also connect it to Amazon Alexa and Google Home for hands-free voice control
  • Health and exercise trackers – Fitbits “fit” into this category, too.

How does IoT affect libraries?

Here are some ways libraries are already incorporating IoT technology into their libraries:

  • Smart Building Technology: As libraries retrofit their buildings with newer technology (or build new buildings/branches), they are starting to see more IoT-based technology. For example, some libraries can can adjust heating, cooling and lights from a smartphone app. Some newer building monitoring and security systems can be monitored via mobile apps.
  • RFID: RFID technology (sensors in books) is a type of IoT technology, and has been around for awhile.
  • Beacon Technology: There are at least two library-focused companies experimenting with Beacon technology (Capira Technologies and Bluubeam).
  • People counters: Check out Jason Griffey’s Measure the Future project. Here’s what he says about Measure the Future: “Imagine having a Google-Analytics-style dashboard for your library building: number of visits, what patrons browsed, what parts of the library were busy during which parts of the day, and more. Measure the Future is working to make that happen by using open-hardware based sensors that can collect data about building usage that is now invisible. Making these invisible occurrences explicit will allow librarians to make strategic decisions that create more efficient and effective experiences for their patrons.”
  • Library classes! Libraries are also teaching classes about the Internet of Things. These include classes focused on introducing patrons to IoT technology, and classes that focus on an aspect of IoT, like a class on making things with Arduinos or how to use your new Fitbit.

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more on IoT in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=internet+of+things

proposal for Arduino library counter: https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims/2017/11/18/service-based-learning-library-counter/

eXtended Reality XR

eXtended Reality (XR): The New World of Human/Machine Interaction

Wednesday, October 31 | 9:45am – 10:30am MT |
Session Type: Breakout Session
Delivery Format: Interactive Presentation

eXtended reality (XR) technologies present opportunities to advance the higher education mission and prepare students for a new world of human/machine interaction. In this interactive session, we will explore what is being done today and what is possible in four key areas of XR: use, technology, content development, and gamification.

Outcomes:
*Identify best-of-class tools and methods available for the design and support of XR in higher ed
* Explain to campus stakeholders the potential of XR to support pedagogy, research, and student success
* Understand the areas of focus of our growing XR community of practice and how you can participate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_reality
 augmented reality (AR), augmented virtuality (AV) and virtual reality (VR)

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more on gamification in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=gamification

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=virtual+reality

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=augmented+reality+education

https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=mixed+reality

 

web site evaluation

A Game, a Video, and a Framework for Teaching Website Evaluation

In this age of fake and misleading news being spread through social media, it is more important than ever to teach students how to view websites with a critical eye. Here are three good resources

The RADCAB website offers short explanations of each of the aspects of evaluation and why they are significant. The site also provides a rubric (link opens PDF) that you can download and print for your students to use to score the credibility of a website.

Website Evaluation Explained by Common Craft teaches viewers to think like an editor when reviewing the claims made in articles on websites.

http://factitious.augamestudio.com/#/

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more on fake news in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=fake+news

browser by China

China’s first ‘fully homegrown’ web browser found to be Google Chrome clone

The startup’s founder has said that while Redcore is based on Google Chrome, it includes important independent innovations

China’s first ‘fully homegrown’ web browser found to be Google Chrome clone
byu/zorbix intechnology

 

reading digital

Digital Text is Changing How Kids Read—Just Not in the Way That You Think

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/49092/digital-text-is-changing-how-kids-read-just-not-in-the-way-that-you-think

According to San Jose State University researcher Ziming Lu, this is typical “screen-based reading behavior,” with more time spent browsing, scanning and skimming than in-depth reading. As reading experiences move online, experts have been exploring how reading from a screen may be changing our brains. Reading expert Maryanne Wolf, author of Proust and the Squid, has voiced concerns that digital reading will negatively affect the brain’s ability to read deeply for sophisticated understanding, something that Nicholas Carr also explored in his book, The Shallows. Teachers are trying to steer students toward digital reading strategies that practice deep reading, and nine out of ten parents say that having their children read paper books is important to them.

Cognitive scientist Daniel T. Willingham said that digital devices aren’t changing the way kids read in terms of actual cognitive processes—putting together letters to make words, and words to make sentences. In fact, Willingham is quick to point out that in terms of “raw words,” kids are reading more now than they were a decade ago (thanks mostly to text messaging). But he does believe, as he writes in his book, The Reading Mind: A Cognitive Approach to Understanding How the Mind Reads, that kids’ reading habits are changing. And it’s reasonable to guess that digital technology, in all its three-second-video and Snapchat glory, is changing those habits.

For many parents and teachers worried that spending so much time with video games and Snapchats will shred kids’ attention spans—the average 8-12-year-old spends about six hours a day in front of a screen, and teenagers spend more than nine — Willingham thinks they may be concerned about the wrong thing. He isn’t convinced that spending so many hours playing Super Smash Bros will shorten kids’ attention spans, making them unable to sustain the attention to read a book. He’s more concerned that Super Smash Bros has trained kids’ brains to crave experiences that are more like fast-paced video games.

instead to help kids distinguish between the easy pleasures of some digital media, and the more complex payoff that comes when reaching the end of the Harry Potter series. He recommends telling kids that you want them to experience both, part of a larger strategy to make reading a family value.

“It’s watermelon or chocolate for dessert.

According to Julie Coiro, a reading researcher at the University of Rhode Island, moving from digital to paper and back again is only a piece of the attention puzzle: the larger and more pressing issue is how reading online is taxing kids’ attention.

Each time a student reads online content, Coiro said, they are faced with almost limitless input and decisions, including images, video and multiple hyperlinks that lead to even more information.

 

Data Use and School Leaders

Five Questions About Data Use for School Leaders

https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rick_hess_straight_up/2018/08/five_questions_about_data_use_for_school_leaders.html

Anna Egalite, assistant professor of leadership and policy at NC State. Previously, Anna taught elementary school and did a postdoc at Harvard. She’ll be writing about education-leadership research—what we know, where we have good intuitions, and where we’re still very much in the dark. 

It’s back-to-school time and education reporters are highlighting stories about how school leaders are “leaning on data” to promote student learning, making administrative decisions that are “supported by a data-driven process,” and drawing on their experience in “data-driven instruction.”

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more on data use and ed leaders in this IMS blog
https://blog.stcloudstate.edu/ims?s=data+ed+leaders

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