Month: February 2016

Microcomputers… The New Where It Is at in Tech

From time-to-time, I like to write about new technology or gadgets that I find out there in the eWorld.  I like to brainstorm how these devices could be utilized in education or how I might have fun just playing with them.
Intel just released the info on their 2nd Gen of their Compute Stick.  http://www.cnet.com/products/intel-compute-stick-2016/  This device will help revolutionize education technology.  With its $120 price (at Micro Center), any home with a tv can now easily afford a computer.  Just add a keyboard, mouse, tv, and internet connection and you will be surfing the web or streaming media in minutes.  This device runs Win10 or Ubuntu (Linux).  I think I might purchase one to play with at home.
Do you want to teach a child about computer hardware and how to code?  Want to make it fun?  Check out this kit put together by Kano.  http://us.kano.me/  This kit takes advantage of the nerd cult sensation known as Raspberry Pi.  Add a tv to this little microcomputer, and once again you have a somewhat powerful computer and are connected to the web.  This kit, being geared towards engaging children into the world of code, provides fun tasks that include making your own Minecraft world.
Check out the17 links.

Paper and Pen Meet the 21st Century

Are you like me and you just love the way a good ink pen writes or draws in a notebook? Do you love putting things in the microwave? I sure do. Like me, would you die without the Cloud? Would you like to combine all of these loves? “Tell me more,” you say. Meet the new innovative Rocketbook Wave: Cloud Connected Microwavable Notebook.

It is a notebook that you write/draw in with an ink pen like any other notebook. Then using the special smartphone app; all of your notes and sketches make it to your prespecified Cloud locations (Dropbox, Google Drive, Evernote, MS Notes, email). Now, that is truly cool. But this nifty notebook isn’t done. You can erase the entire notebook, all the pages, by heating it up in the microwave! Shut the front door, you say. This notebook is designed to be heat-resistant. Just write in it with a Pilot Frixion pen, which you can get at any office supply stores. These pens use a special thermochromic ink that turns clear when exposed to heat. Just microwaving the notebook with your afternoon Hot Pocket will wipe the entire thing clean. You can even use a hair dryer to erase a single page.

This amazing idea launched on Kickstarter on February 3. As a videographer and an artist, I am going to buy one to help me make storyboards for my videos.

www.kickstarter.com – Rocketbook: Cloud Connected Microwabable Notebook

Go check out their demos for yourself.

 

What is Quality Matters Eleven?

Online courses are becoming an increasingly important part of higher education. Recently the ID (Instructional Design) department within EHE EdTech has begun to introduce the QM11 (Quality Matters) syllabus checklist. The QM11 checklist is a new way to review syllabi and suggests ways that classes can meet higher education national standards for both regular and online courses. EdTech created the QM11 checklist from the Quality Matters rubric and the OAA/EHE Curriculum Committee Syllabus Guidelines. The Curriculum Committee has adopted the QM11 checklist as part of the documentation for the evaluation and approval of all courses.

review

QM11 allows the ID department to provide suggestions to professors to help them improve their syllabi.  QM11 helps make sure that professors can give students well-designed courses that are student-centered. QM11 is the first step for the education program to receive a full Quality Matters Certification.  Quality Matters is a researched based national standard for online courses that Ohio State started adopting as a quality benchmark for both regular and online courses as of fall 2015. The goal of the Quality Matters standards program is to improve the quality of coursework for all students. EHE EdTech hopes that these changes will bolster the education of our students.

To request a QM11 review email us at ehe-edtech@osu.edu.

The QM11 checklist can be found at http://ehe.osu.edu/downloads/assessment/qm-rubric-and-review.pdf along with the QM aligned Syllabus Guidelines http://ehe.osu.edu/downloads/assessment/qm-aligned-syllabus-guide.docx

For more information about Quality Matters and its impact on higher education be sure to check out: https://www.qualitymatters.org/higher-education-program