Sweet Spot

Not to pull esteemed readers away from this fine site, but I have been posting on my blog fairly regularly lately.  It has evolved, and reflects what I’ve been thinking about most lately–the changing educational landscape brought about by technology (specifically web 2.0 technologies) and a growing culture of multiliterate learners (digital natives/net generation).

Personally, I’ve been wondering what I need to do and be thinking about to help meet the changing expectations of this new demographic–in terms of teaching and learning.  I do believe the changes are significant, but come at a(n unknown) price.  I’m also concerned about the rapidly growing societal divide between the connected/participating, and the disconnected/nonparticipating.

Anyway, hop on over, take a look, add me to your blog roll, and write me a comment or two.  I continue to pull in some good presentations and posts from other sites on my aggregator feed that can be found on the right hand side.  Enjoy.

-Joel Galbraith

edusign.blogspot.com

Working on a new look for Sweet Spot.. (hasn’t been tested on a Mac yet). Any suggestions/feedback appreciated. Also, please upload an avatar for yourself in your Users tab (50×50 pixels for best, non-squished results).

Why can’t I control how much bandwidth different programs on my computer use?

I’m sitting here in a hotel trying to download my email for a quick check. I have 10 minutes before I have to run. And though my mail usually comes down pretty quickly, and I’m on a halfway decent wifi connection, it’s like molasses. Why? Read the rest of this entry »

One common feature I’ve noticed in certain types of software is the ability to select different levels of complexity for the preferences/settings pane.  Essentially, the application will assume you are a “beginner” until you specify that you would like access to the “expert” feature set.

 The problem is that there is no gradual transition into this elite class of user. Read the rest of this entry »

So I have trained myself to start storing things that I find on the web for future use–who knows when they will disappear. But there’s one important issue: I can’t find out where it’s from if I only have my local copy. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s not uncommon for somebody to send a card around the office for get well wishes or retirements… why hasn’t anybody made a group e-card interface? Read the rest of this entry »

I know enough to know that I don’t know if the following is even feasible. Read the rest of this entry »

ok, here’s a silly idea. We print things on dead tree pulp, then shred the stuff back into pulp and start over, calling it recycling. Except every time the fibers get shorter and the stuff is less useful. Also dirtier. Read the rest of this entry »

I have a terrible time with email overload. I process approximately 100 real emails (not spam) per day. Some are basically irrelevant and I can delete them immediately, some require more attention, and often, I get backlogged by weeks or even months on things that I would read if I could get to them.

My big issue is that others have no awareness of why I’m not emailing back. Read the rest of this entry »

Those of you who are academics will appreciate this one. The other night, I’m out during our conference crying into glasses of beer with colleagues who’ve had their work stalled by the slowness of a journal’s review process. Read the rest of this entry »