I wanted this …
… but I got this.
Oh, well! Technical comparison coming soon …
Archive for September 16, 2006
BAISnet’s Killer Apps
BAISnet is the Bay Area Independent Schools Network, a very active community of education technology professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. One member recently asked the question, “what are today’s killer apps?” The responses included some items I would like to explore for the first time.
iStopMotion, for simple animation and slow motion
ComicLife, for easy portfolio and digital yearbook creation
Tinkerplots, for representing information visually
Scratch, for programming in the early years
Category: Software/desktop |
2004 eMac: The Risk of Buying Low-end
We have just discovered that 17 of the 21 eMac computers in our lower school lab suffer from a fatal flaw in the eMac. A capacitor on the system board leaks brown fluid, causing the machine to crash regularly. We began to suspect that something was up when two, then four, then six, then more eMacs began exhibiting similar crashing patterns. Now, Apple has opened 17 cases from us, and we will soon find out how long this computer lab is going to be out of commission. This is apparently common in eMac machines manufactured during the summer of 2004.
This underscores the risk of buying the least expensive computer in a product line. Computer manufacturers use the least expensive components in budget computers, leading to a risky situation in which system failure is more likely to happen. It makes the cost of a budget machine higher than it might appear. Some makes and models succeed at this price point, but buying there is always risky.
It appears that Apple acknowledged the problem and introduced a “repair extension program” in June 2006. Too bad that it’s not a recall, and you have to wait until your machine seizes up to get service. With 17 of 21 machines in our lab up for service, it appears that they are all bound to get there eventually. We also hear that the replacement parts are heavily backordered!
On the web: CNet | MacFixIt | Apple | Wikipedia
Update
AppleCare has arranged to replace our dying computers with 2005 eMacs! That is great news for us and speaks positively to Apple’s customer service. I still think that Apple should issue a recall. All of our 2004 eMacs became unusable only two years after purchase. Surely this suggests that Apple should make a greater effort to reach out to owners of these machines and notify them of the problem. Imagine the users who think that only they have the problem!
Update #2
Turns out that Apple ran out of 2005 eMacs but did come up with replacement logic boards two weeks after the request was made. A local Apple service center came out and replaced 20 logic boards in five hours — not bad! Our eMac lab is running perfectly again, though we are still sore over the experience.
Category: Hardware |
Inexpensive Fundraising Software for Maru-a-Pula
I provide a fair bit of technology advice and web site support to Maru-a-Pula School in Botswana, at which I taught in the 90′s. My latest adventure is helping them improve their alumni/fundraising effort through the acquisition of fundraising software and development of a new alumni web site.
Today, I did a little research on fundraising software options. I found three articles helpful in this regard:
Selecting Fundraising Software
Forum discussion: Raiser’s Edge
In addition, I visited the web sites of a number of inexpensive fundraising products and marked ones that looked promising to me. I don’t have direct experience with any of these. Do you?
Exceed! Basic ($499 MSRP, $299 at TechSoup)
GiftWorks ($35 at TechSoup)
eBase (Mac/Win, free software, fee-for-service costs, runs on FileMaker
Server)
Nonprofitbooks ($1,000)
Fund Raiser Select ($1,500)
Please let me know if you have experience with any of these or know people who do!
Category: Software/desktop |
Copying From iPod to Computer
We regularly wipe and reinstall software on student laptop computers, but we do not copy music collections as a matter of policy. We believe that most students have illegal copies of music files on their family-owned computers, and we should not knowingly store such files on our servers or pass them through our network. While this causes a headache for many students (who has 20GB free on another computer to back up their music?), it’s our current policy and practice.
iPod copy utilities make this transition easier. If a student has a copy of their music collection on their iPod, they can copy it back to the computer after the imaging work is complete. I haven’t use them before, but here are three popular utilities for mac that I found online. One is cross-platform. Another one is free. Does anyone have experience with these in order to know which is best?
It’s too bad that Apple’s policies make it difficult for some users to perform legitimate file backup operations, in an attempt to block illegal file copying.
Category: Software/desktop |
phpMyFAQ
An article about intranet web 2.0 tools by Miguel Guhlin led me to phpMyFAQ, which fills I need I have been thinking about for a while. I want a way to catalog tech tips and answers to frequently asked questions, but this piece of software adds an important component: user additions and revision tracking. This could allow the entire Catlin Gabel community to maintain a knowledgebase of technical knowledge so that individuals improve their knowledge and self-sufficiency over time.
Features:
* Various supported database systems:
You can use MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Sybase, MS SQL Server, MaxDB, IBM DB2, IBM Cloudscape, or Apache Derby.
* LDAP integration:
Add your company’s LDAP based user management into phpMyFAQ
* Content Management System:
You can administrate your users, news, themes, categories and records in the password protected admin area.
* User Administration:
Selected users can edit and administrate records.
* Record Administration:
Your users can write new records, the administrator has to unlock the record. The admin can also edit the record, move into a another category or delete the record.
* WYSIWYG editor:
Write your articles like you do in OpenOffice.org or Word.
* Image Manager:
The Image Manager provides an web interface to browse for image files (JPEG, PNG, GIF, and others) on the web server.
* News Administration:
Write news that appear on the FAQ mainpage.
* Revision system:
Store the old entries in wiki-like revisions.
* User-Tracking:
Analyze the way of your users through your FAQ.
* User-Voting:
With the voting of the users you can analyze the quality of your records.
* Top 10:
You’ll get a Top 10 with ten of the most popular records.
* Language files:
phpMyFAQ supports more than 30 languages including Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese.
* Multilanguage support:
Write records in different languages.
* Search engine optimization:
Support for Apache mod_rewrite, IIS ISAPI_rewrite, and lighttpd mod_rewrite
* Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 search plugin support:
Search through your FAQ using the internal Firefox or IE7 search
* Sitemap:
Lists all FAQ articles in a alphabetical order
* Template system:
Custimize your FAQ to your webdesign.
* Simple installation and configuration:
Install and set up your FAQ only with your browser!
* 5 different views for records:
XHTML, printer optimized XHTML, PDF, DocBook XML and plain XML
* Spam protection:
phpMyFAQ uses captchas, bad word lists and IP ban lists to prevent spam.
* XML-RPC interface:
Support for searching over the internet.
* Backup:
Export and import from SQL tables
* Community module:
Users can write questions to the system, so that other user can answer these questions.
* Send2Friend:
User can send records up to five friends with email.
* PHP 5.x ready
phpMyFAQ 1.6.x works with PHP 5.x
Category: Software/web |
Blog Nourishment
I am catching up on the flagged items in my blog reading. Here are some items that got me thinking.
Is a Computer Like a Bicycle? (Presentation Zen)
Do elementary students in laptop programs use them to improve higher-order thinking skills? Only if they are taught how. Lesson #1: avoid software that constrains you into a particular way of thinking. Good software “gets out of the way” and equips you to think creatively within a powerful environment.
Is there a community with this text? Building a new view of teaching and community. (Christopher Sessums)
Should learners take charge of their own learning through social software? Students could build their own information sources from collections of conversations with peers and research sources within an electronic environment.
Exploring Wikis in Education with Vicki Davis and Adam Frey (Steve Hargadon)
On a similar note, Hargardon summarizes the advantages of wikis in education. Does a wiki echo the business model of “continuous improvement?” What if students began the year with a wiki and improved it little by little over the course of the year until the document was at its best at the end of the course?
Vocab Daydreams (Bill Fitzerald)
Fitzgerald outlines different ways to use the web to construct meaningful vocabulary exercises for students. This reminds me of a site I built for UHS in which students wrote up vocabulary definitions and uses for homework, teachers marked some as exemplary, and then students reviewed the marked ones for vocab quizzes. So, it”s not magic, but it did work for four years.
Category: Curricular integration |
Different Strokes For Different Divisions
Yes, working in a K-12 school is very different from working in a 9-12. The biggest difference is that the K-12 has different divisions, almost as if I am dealing with four different schools in one. Case in point: upon arrival, I was asked to provide academic technology advice to teachers in the upper school. I just assumed that this would be wanted in the middle school as well, but there I found that the middle school computer teacher was already filling that role! Why the difference? For one, the middle school computer teacher provides core skill instruction: spreadsheet, presentation tools, and others. The upper school computer teacher offers classes only in programming. He really is not in a position to advise a modern language or science teacher how to use technology in their classes! Another reason would just be accidents of circumstance. As individuals grow into their roles over time, they carve out niches. Luckily, the arrival of a new staff member such as me provides an opportunity to assess and fill those gaps.
Category: Curricular integration |
Cheap Display? Adjust Your Gamma!
I recently bought a wide screen CTL display for my MacBook Pro, in order to be kind to my neck while also keeping the same aspect ratio as my built-in display. I accepted Nancy’s recommendation of CTL as the price for this budget display was just over $200! Upon first use, I was dismayed to discover that the image quality was muddy and feared that I might have bought too low on the display food chain. However, the Apple display calibration tool saved me. It turns out that the display was calibrated to a PC gamma standard — the Mac standard (or better yet, a custom value) makes it look normal again. The image doesn’t look as great as an Apple studio display, but hey, it’s one-third the cost! The assistant is available in System Preferences -> Display -> Color -> Calibrate.
Category: Hardware |
OETC Offers Moodle Hosting
OETC is now offering free Moodle hosting, which appears to be a hassle-free way for just about any school in Oregon to get started with Moodle. One superior aspect of free, open-source software compared to proprietary, expensive solutions is that getting started is very low risk. At no cost to the school, and now with no install time, one can set up Moodle for a school.
OETC is working to expand our service offerings for our members and today we are excited to announce that we now have free Moodle hosting up to 200 MB available to members!
What is Moodle?
Moodle is a course management system based on pedagogical principles. Teachers and staff can use it to create online courses and/or facilitate meetings and groups online.o Your own Moodle can be created automatically in minutes
o Members will receive your own domain name (yoursite.eduhost.org)
o What if I want more than 200MB? Accounts can be expanded from 200MB
to 2GB each, by making arrangements with OETC. (Accounts larger than 200MB will incur a fee.)How Do Members Sign Up?
OETC members may sign-up online by going to http://www.eduhost.org and clicking “Sign Up” in the upper right-hand corner of the main page. The
web site will walk you through setting up your own domain name and activating your new Moodle account. If you have any questions or would like to discuss setting up a larger account, please contact Jake Rosenbalm at OETC at jake@oetc.org or 503.694.4499.
Category: Software/web |
Richard Kassissieh is Director of Technology and Learning Innovation at