Ryan Collins

🕹️ Do Something Great! 😄

Author: ryan

  • Skills You Should Know (SYSK) – vi

    I’m starting a new category, that goes along with my blog post
    Yes I will lead. The new
    category is called Skills You Should Know – SYSK. Little bits of
    information that through my experience aren’t something that you may not
    necessarily use every day, but may someday save you a ton of trouble.

    Today’s topic is vi.
    Vi may be the only editor
    installed on a new unix based system, and a few commands will get you to
    the point where at least you can edit a few files before installing
    something a little more user friendly such as pico (or nano).

    Vi has two modes, command and insertion. It was designed this way
    because sometimes the keyboard you would be using might not necessarily
    have all the keys we take for granted today, especially when it comes to
    the arrow keys. In command mode you can move the cursor around with the
    arrow keys or hjkl keys. To do an editing, you’ll need to switch to
    insertion mode. Vi defaults to command mode when it is started.

    i – Switches to insertion mode
    \ – Switches to command
    mode

    In a nutshell, you’ll start the editor with a file:

    vi somefile

    Once the file is open, you’ll press
    i to switch to insertion mode.
    Make the changes to your file. Press
    \ to switch back to command
    mode. To exit you’ll press the following (these all start with the
    colon):

    :wq – Write the file and then
    quit
    :q! – Quit the file without
    saving the changes. A great way if you mess up and just want to not save
    your changes

    These preceding commands should at least get you started. For more info,
    you may want to visit the following pages:
    vi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Vi Cheat Sheet
    Mastering the VI editor

  • Interactive response systems

    [Esperando a Missa começar][]
    [Creative Commons License][] photo credit:
    swperman    As we investigate ways to use mobile Internet
    devices in our classrooms, it hit me that they could be used as an
    interactive student response system (ISRS). Since current ISRSs are
    around \$100 per person, why not invest in a more useful device such as
    the iPod Touch, Sony PSP, or Nintendo DS (with Opera)?

    I found one company that already is thinking this way, Pocket Mobility
    with their Quizzler Pro     product. Me on the other hand, loves the
    challenge of coding something up myself.

    Has anyone worked with ISRSs? What did you like? What didn’t you like?
    Is this something I should look at as a summer project? 🙂

    [Esperando a Missa começar]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66012103@N00/2368050904/
    “Esperando a Missa começar”
    [Creative Commons License]: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
    “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License”

  • Your assignment: 20 minutes on your DS before school

    Scottish authorities [have begun other trials of ‘More Brain Training
    with Dr Kawashima’ on the Nintendo DS][] in 16 schools:

    A 20-minute burst of the ‘brain training’ exercises on Nintendo’s DS
    console at the start of the day apparently improves performance in
    maths tests by as much as 10 per cent, according to a Scottish study.

    The results of the completed 10 week study certainly are fascinating:

    In a maths test at the end of the trial, their performance improved by
    an average 10 per cent, and the time to complete the test also dropped
    from 17 minutes to 13 minutes and nine seconds.

    Pretty impressive results, although I don’t know what game they’re
    talking about, unless it happens to be Brain Age 2. Checking Amazon UK
    shows a DS game called More Brain Traing, which may just be a relabel
    Brain Age 2. I guess I’ll have to do some more checking. What a solid
    return on your investment though. It would cost a class of 25 \$3,750 to
    outfit the entire class with a DS. Throw in the DS Browser and you have
    even more ways to integrate it into your classroom.

    How long until a company comes out with a mobile version of Brain Age 2
    that you can play from any mobile computing device?

    [have begun other trials of ‘More Brain Training with Dr Kawashima’ on
    the Nintendo DS]: http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3552834.ece

  • USPTO overturns Blackboard’s 44 patent claims

    [Courtroom Drama][]
    [Creative Commons License][] photo credit: Erin
    Nealey    Desire2Learn is reporting that the United
    States Patent & Trademark Office has overturned all 44 of Blackboard’s
    patent claims:

    On March 25, the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office issued its Non-Final
    Action on the re-examination of the Blackboard Patent. We are studying
    the document, found here, but in short, the PTO has rejected all 44 of
    Blackboard’s claims. We caution that this is a NON-final action; both
    Blackboard and Desire2Learn will have an opportunity to comment before
    a final action will issue, and after that, the decision will be
    subject to appeals.

    This is good news, especially not only for Desire2Learn, but also users
    of all online coursework delivery systems. Although I’m torn on the idea
    of software patents, the ones awarded to Blackboard in my opinion did
    not pass the obviousness test. Blackboard has gone on record that they
    were not going to go after open source implementations like Moodle, but
    I can’t help to think that just the idea that Blackboard could sue would
    put a damper on some new Moodle installations.

    [Courtroom Drama]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/77421543@N00/2365885779/
    “Courtroom Drama”
    [Creative Commons License]: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
    “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License”

  • Paradox of choice

    [day 65][]

    ![Creative Commons License][] credit: javYliz

    In the technology world it seems we’re continually confronted with new
    products, services, software, hardware, etc. And for those of us who
    have a tough time focusing on one thing at a time, this dizzying array
    of choices can easily distract us or keep us from finishing previous
    tasks.

    In The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz it
    describes why this is a problem:

    “We normally assume in America that more options (“easy fit” or
    “relaxed fit”?) will make us happier, but Schwartz shows the opposite
    is true, arguing that having all these choices actually goes so far as
    to erode our psychological well-being.”

    As a technology coordinator, I’m constantly trying out new things, and
    it’s very hard to decide whether to actually implement something. Will
    this new product be easy enough for staff and students to use? Is the
    learning curve mild enough that my users will learn this product and use
    it?

    When you ask others in the educational technology community what’s the
    best wiki, blogging software, operating system, etc. you’ll get a ton of
    choices. So many choices may ultimately lead you to either never be
    satisfied with your final choice, or worse, never make a decision.

    In this blog I am going to try to only give one or two choices for
    solutions to specific problems. They may not be the best choice, but in
    the long run, they will be good enough to be of use (I hope).

    [day 65]: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8104466@N08/2339107459/
    “day 65”

  • Linux Terminal Lab (and test post )

    [![][]][]


    [Linux Terminal Lab (and test post )][]

    Originally uploaded by [mr.rcollins][]

    This is an eight station computer setup in one of our middle school
    classrooms. Five of the machines are Linux terminals, booting over the
    network.

    (* I’m also trying a test post of a picture sent from my phone to
    Flickr. *)

    []: http://www.flickr.com/photos/15076398@N00/2363091899/
    “photo sharing”

  • Inventory control

    [fmpinventory.jpg][]Keeping track of inventory can be a difficult,
    and it seems like every four months someone is asking about what product
    to get to use for inventory control. I created a simple database in
    Filemaker Pro     to keep track of our inventory. Why Filemaker Pro?

    • We already had it.
    • I didn’t need anything that fancy.
    • We also had FMP Server and FMP Unlimited (version 5.5) so I could
      easily publish the database onto the web, that way it can be updated
      from anywhere with a web connection.

    I’m not a big fan of using barcodes on our equipment. Our asset tag
    numbers are only 5 digits long, it doesn’t take time at all to easily
    type them. We do use a barcode reader when inventorying new equipment.
    It cuts down on errors when entering serial numbers or MAC addresses.
    The barcode reader can read the barcodes right off of the box.

    To enter new equipment, we use a spreadsheet. Once the spreadsheet is
    filled out, it is imported into the FMP database.

    I don’t track help desk requests along with hardware. We have
    approximately 700 machines, and it’s very rare that a piece of equipment
    will have one hardware failure, let alone multiple failures that need to
    be tracked.

    [fmpinventory.jpg]: https://ryancollins.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/fmpinventory.jpg
    “fmpinventory.jpg”

  • Yes, I will lead!

    I was thinking about my blog post from last week, contemplating on
    how I should be more positive. People using technology in schools are
    already facing enough of an uphill battle without me picking on them.
    🙂

    Stealing Alvin’s Efficiency Tips idea, I want to post little tips,
    tricks, ideas to help the technology support staff in the education
    sector. Some of my ideas may seem to be esoteric (such as learning vi),
    but others should have more common appeal (imaging machings). There are
    conversations that happen on the Technology Coordinator’s listserv that
    also need to be condensed and posted.

    Does this seem like a good idea? What about also creating handout sheets
    to help with professional development?

    Tags: RCTips

  • Twitter tracking

    I’ve been playing around with Twitter for a little while (and if you’re
    really bored, you can follow me). A very cool feature is tracking.
    It works when you link your Twitter account with your instant messenger
    of choice. I’m currently tracking the following terms:

    • education
    • ed tech
    • ipod touch
    • educational technology

    I then see any tweet posted with those terms. It’s a great way to find
    sites that you didn’t even know you needed. Just this week I found
    Glossy – MoLeNet:

    “The Glossy project will undertake a large-scale development and
    implementation of mobile learning across Gloucestershire College
    utilising the mobile devices that learners already own. A comparative
    study will be made by providing a range of mobile devices for learners
    in excluded groups at Gloucestershire College and learners with learning
    difficulties and disabilities at National Star College. The project will
    put in place an infrastructure that will allow learners using devices
    which they already own to access learning activities and content through
    a mobile learning portal in conjunction with the college VLE.”

    This is a very interesting project, to utilize mobile devices that
    students already have. I plan on following their blog and am very
    interested in their findings.

    Tags: twitter, mobile devices, education

  • Where is the importance of tech education for educators?

    Will
    Richardson sums it up so eloquently for me    :

    …which is how in god’s name can we talk seriously about 21st Century
    skills for kids if we’re not talking 21st Century skills for educators
    first? The more I listened, the less I heard in terms of how we make
    the teaching profession as a whole even capable of teaching these
    “skills” to kids. Sure, there were mentions of upgrading teacher
    preparation programs and giving teachers additional time in the school
    day to collaborate, etc. But the URGENCY was all around the kids.
    Shouldn’t the URGENCY be all about the teachers right now?

    I am absolutely shocked at the lack of technology use by
    teachers and
    technology coordinators. I’ve
    been to several technology coordinator meetings, there will usually be
    30 or 40 tech coordinators in the room, and as I scan the audience,
    there are only a handful taking notes into their computer. Most are
    writing on yellow legal pads! Maybe I’m using technology for
    technology’s sake, but I respectfully disagree in this example. By
    putting my notes in electronic format I’m already going to be able to
    easily file and more importantly find this information at a later date.

    This extends to the eTech Ohio Conference this past February. It seems
    that most teachers and
    technology staff, while promoting
    the virtues of technology integration, don’t use it themselves. When you
    start mentioning RSS, Twitter, Wikis, a lot don’t have any clue what
    you’re talking about. At least most know what blogging is now.

    What’s the solution? Teachers
    need to be shown how, at the very least, technology can save them time.
    If technology can save a teacher 10 minutes a day, that 1,830 minutes of
    the course of the school year, or 30.5 hours. Even if they need a 4 hour
    training on how to save those ten minutes, they still come out ahead! I
    believe that once they see that the computer is supposed to save them
    time as opposed to taking more time, it will ease further staff
    development.

    Technology Coordinators, you need
    to be guiding the administrators and teachers in your district. If you
    don’t use technology, then there is less incentive for anyone else to
    use it. Automate repetitive tasks. Use RSS. Setup a blog. Subscribe to a
    podcast.

    You need to lead.

    Blogged with the Flock Browser

    Tags: 21stcentury skills, professional development