Friday, November 21, 2008

Have Joined Classroom 2.0

I have joined Classroom 2.0. At the moment my profile there is somewhat undeveloped. I hope to post something of significance over the weekend.

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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Ryan Johnson at Livescribe is starting to spamming my blog (and others)

On Tuesday Ryan Johnson posted a comment on my blog:

 

I’ve read your blog post of the Pulse smartpen and wanted to share some new commercial and demo videos that we just uploaded to the Livescribe YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/nevermissaword From now until 12/31/08, you can get 5% off a Pulse smartpen at www.livescribe.com by using SCRIBE5A50 at checkout. Thanks, and enjoy the videos!

 

Fair enough – a little bit of promotion for a device (the Livescibe Pulse) I actually liked and have suggested to others. I decided not to delete the comment (and instead posted a reply). 

 

Two days later he posts the exact same comment on another post on this blog. That was not a good decision. This demonstrates a cookie-cutter approach to Internet marketing. There are ways that smart companies can embrace social media and user-generated-content. This is not one of them.

 

I checked to see if Ryan actually works for Livescribe. His LinkedIn and TED profiles indicate that he does. I hope whatever search tool he is using to monitor blog posts alerts him to this message:

 

Ryan,

 

Social media is a conversation. Your current approach to Internet marketing misses the mark. It goes so far as to do your company a disservice. It insults current customers. You are demonstrating that you are not really reading blogs. You are not engaging in conversation.

 

You have just motivated me to research the number of blogs you have said the exact same thing on. So far Google tells me there are five, but I am sure the number will grow. Please stop and try something different. There are some great books and courses out there that explain how to embrace social media. Follow good advice and become part of the conversation.

 

Your company has a great product. Please don’t alienate your customers

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American Youth & Social Media

An excellent piece of research on how American (U.S.) youth use social media has just been published. The research should be used to inform the development of online learning courses and programs. I highly recommend reading the study (or at least the two-page summary). 

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Lively Shutting Down

Lively is shutting down. Google is pulling the plug in December. More can be found on the Google Blog and the Lively website… 

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SEO Book Chapter - Now on Amazon

I contributed a chapter to the IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) Handbook on Search Engine Optimization. The book is available to order via Amazon or the publisher (Racom Books). The chapter follows a similar structure to the SEO Seminar I present.

 SEO is a moving target. However, most of what I wrote still stands. A planned approach to relevance, utility, quality and web standards is more than half the battle.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Technology Tuesdays: Upcoming Session

Podcasting with the Sansa Clip / Netbooks
  • Date: November 25th 
  • Time: 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
  • Location: DPC 7406
Podcasting with the Sansa Clip: Learn how to record your class with the Sansa Clip MP3 player/recorder, edit with Audacity and upload to iTunes U or our streaming media server. Your students can then download your audio lectures and listen on their computer, MP3 player, smartphone, etc. Also: NetBooks. NetBooks are a new subcategory of laptops. Cheap, light and small – you will start to see them spring up in your classes. Discover how your students and other faculty are using these affordable devices. RSVP at: https://condor.depaul.edu/~jmoore/presentations/tech_tuesdays.php

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Monday, November 17, 2008

Livescribe Pulse Smartpen Update

I am generally impressed with the Livescribe Pulse pen  (which I introduced to faculty during August’s Technology Tuesday session). I pretty much carry this with me everywhere. It is great for taking notes and the concept of pencasting is extremely innovation. Livescribe just announced that they are releasing the Mac Desktop Public Beta sometime in the next seven days. The Mac desktop offers two new features that I am particularly interested in:

  • Export notes as PDF
  • Export recordings as AAC

Windows users should have the option to purchase Handwriting to Text Transcription shortly. The cost should be about $29.95. The software is offered from VisionObjects.

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Blackboard 8 Upgrade

DePaul’s Learning Management System (Blackboard) will be upgraded to version 8 on the weekend of November 29/30. The new version of Blackboard has significant improvements. The notable features are:

  • Wimba integration. Each Blackboard course has a corresponding Wimba room.
  • Improved discussion board
  • Enhanced Gradebook
  • New quiz and assessment methods
  • SafeAssign integration (plagiarism prevention tool – similar to Turn-it-In)

 ITD is providing training for all these new features. I highly recommend that you sign up.

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Thursday, November 6, 2008

At Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning

I am at the 14th Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning today. I will be presenting on Vodcasting in the Classroom. My presentation, video and handouts can be found here.

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