2015 week 31 in review

Work

It was a tough week - 7 high-profile layoffs over in IT. One of them was my partner for the Blackboard-D2L migration. The project would have failed miserably without her guidance from the IT side. She'll be missed by many. Four of the layoffs were IT Partners - the team I was in for 3 years back when I did my tour of duty in IT. I know a lot of people, myself included, who were shocked by many of the names on the list.

The summer learning-technologies-and-spaces research project is really coming along nicely. We have to student research assistants working with the team for the summer, interviewing instructors, students and staff about how they use technologies and spaces, and what their needs are. Some really great stuff coming out of the project, and I can't wait to release the findings at the end of the summer!

Read

• Alan Levine
  • The UdG Agora Project (part 1 of ∞)
  • Building the Main UdG Agora Web Site
  • The UdG Agora Daily Try
• Tanis Morgan: #UdGAgora – a bit about the model and the team
• Jim Groom
  • XML-RPC Blocking using htaccess
  • Two Years of Reclaim Hosting
• Tony Bates
  • Privacy and the use of learning analytics
  • Appropriate interventions following the application of learning analytics
  • Appropriate interventions following the application of learning analytics
• Stephen Downes - Higher Education: Access Denied
• Audrey Watters: AlphaSmart: A History of One of Ed-Tech's Favorite (Drop-Kickable) Writing Tools
• e-Literate
  • Phil Hill: UC Davis: A look inside attempts to make large lecture classes active and personal
  • Phil Hill: Reuters: Blackboard up for sale, seeking up to $3 billion in auction
  • Michael Feldstein: Blackboard's Messaging Problems
• Badges
  • Campus Technology: Pairing E-Portfolios With Badges To Document Informal Learning
  • Kate Kalil: Open Badges UBC – Pioneering Badge-Based Learning Pathways
• Tim Klapdor: Personality in Teaching: Content, Activity & Relationships
• Scott K. Johnson: No, scientists aren't predicting 10ft higher sea level by 2050
• Michael Wong: 5 High Impact Teaching Practices
• David Hopkins: Supporting emerging technologies
• Chris Lott: July 28, 2015
• mcruz: The Power of Decentralization in the MOOC
• Dean Shareski: You're Not Number One
• Kyle Orland: Epic's Tim Sweeney: Augmented reality will replace traditional screens
• Rob Kelly: Where Does Innovative Teaching Come From?
• Bryan Alexander: Giving a great presentation: notes on using PowerPoint
• Miscellania
  • Beyond capitalism and socialism: could a new economic approach save the planet? | Guardian Sustainable Business | The Guardian
  • Video game characters with realistic body types
  • Aaron Chatha: Calgary gamer using Twitch to overcome social anxiety, cover baby costs
  • Input: Fonts for Code
  • From Gamergate to Cecil the lion: internet mob justice is out of control - Vox
  • Chris Leggett: XYZprinting Announces Windows 10 Compatibility; Upgraded 3D Printing Software
  • Joe Mullin: Filmmakers fighting "Happy Birthday" copyright find their "smoking gun"

Other

Not much time to get out for a ride this week - The Boyâ„¢ commuted with my on the train because he was in a golf camp all week. But, that gave me a chance to carry in the big/heavy 10mm lens on my DSLR to try to shoot the new building…