What I Do When I Put the Keyboard Down
Those of you who know me personally are aware that technology is my M-F obsession, but that my weekend gig is as a pediatric ICU nurse and ECMO specialist. Yes, I really do work seven days a week! I have several reasons for working this much, but perhaps the most honest and accurate reason is that … Read more
Pencasts: Bringing the Whiteboard Lecture to Blackboard
Pencasting-the act of sharing uploaded handwritten pages and audio recordings as a single interactive file. Pencasts are playable from the beginning like a video file, or a student can click on a specific area on the page to pick up with the lecture at that very point. Viewers also have the option to download the pencast as a … Read more
They Saved the Best for Last
I have always believed that higher education could learn a thing or two about student engagement from the K-12 world so I was pleased that a session simply titled “Developing Online Courses that Meet the Educational Needs of ALL Students” featuring a successful K-12 program was on the agenda. Before anyone in higher education gets … Read more
Three is a Magic Number
Three is a magic number, Yes it is, it’s a magic number. Somewhere in the ancient, mystic trinity You get three as a magic number. The past and the present and the future. Faith and Hope and Charity, The heart and the brain and the body Give you three as a magic number. IF you … Read more
Blackboard Asked ME
Blackboard sent an email a couple of weeks before the conference asking for volunteers to participate in one of their Research User Activities. I signed up for the Survey Reporting Activity, not really having any idea what I would be doing. Once I arrived I was greeted by Beth who explained that Blackboard wanted to … Read more
Engaging and Empowering: Today’s Keynote Address with Dr. Freeman Hrabowski
Remember the days when student orientation began with “look to the left, now look to the right, our goal is that all three of you graduate.” No? That wasn’t the speech you heard? Me neither, until today. Conference keynote speaker, Dr. Freeman Hrabowski took the stage with a dynamic and engaging message of responsibility, creativity, … Read more
Smarter Measure Measures Up
Lunch today was spent in the wonderful company of the folks from Smarter Measure. Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana (where I am from) has been using Smarter Measures for a while now, but the utilization and application of that data is not consistent among the 14 regions and their respective campuses…yet! We spent a … Read more
Plan YOUR BbWorld
I am often asked how I manage to keep everything in my life straight between having an extremely active teenage son, a M-F career, and another completely unrelated career on the weekends. My answer is simple…I stay organized by making strong use of my phone’s calendar. Literally, there are days I wake too groggy and … Read more
Hurry Up and Wait
The other day I read that a CT scan exposes the patient to as much radiation as 100 x-rays which I find mildly disturbing. Today as I passed through airport security I got to experience the new body scanners. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for airport security, but I had to wonder just … Read more
Tracking Down the Chargers
Being a techie means packing for a tech-related trip has the added dimension of lots of chargers. While many devices have thankfully gone to a standard micro USB, I still find myself with one for the phone, a different one for the Kindle, yet another different one for the tablet, and of course a different … Read more
