As Quincy Jones once remarked, "I’ve always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain’t that the truth." That said, Edu-fun Friday is a series devoted to adding some humor to the lives of teachers who visit this blog. After all, there’s nothing better than ending the week on a positive note! Plus, do we have the best topics to provide us with some comic relief or what? But I bet they’d like to try! A shout out to artist Randy Glasbergen for this week’s edtech humor!

One of the problems of working in a large organisation is linking events and knowledge between departments and sharing best practice. Without having a protocol for absolutely everything, and enabling creativity and innovation to take a forefront in how we work, how can we collaborate and form these links between staff students, between schools and faculties to be a better, stronger, more efficient university? I’m not saying I have the ultimate answer to this, but  have been demonstrating software to groups within the university to enable collaboration, and the possibility of using social media for this has been a discussion point in the learning technology office for some weeks. So on this topic I ask the question - What do we want collaborative software to do? Is it simply a place to put information? or to communicate? to demonstrate, or to search for information? or all of these? Whatever your needs, currently we are trialling using google + and google drive for collaboration and I have put together the following presentation as a handy help guide for sharing documents and video conferencing. Google + basic from theresacompton If you are using google + and would like help or if you have questions about anything in the presentation, please contact Theresa Compton, Learning Technologist.  

6 Bad Digital Habits and How to Beat Them Infographic As much as technology and the internet have benefited us, they’ve also created some really bad habits. The 6 Bad Digital Habits and How to Beat Them Infographic presents the most common ones, and how you can kick them. 1. Bad Email Etiquette Why it’s bad: If you work in an office, bad email etiquette - such as requesting read receipts, or ignoring emails completely - can frustrate your colleagues. Did you know? ‘Ping-ponging’, or rapid replies to office emails, is the most annoying habit according to a Kingston University study (2011). Emailing out of hours isn’t helpful - try saving the message till the next day. How to stop it Keep email content in sync with the subject line - making it easier to find later. Get to the point quickly - use separate emails for multiple requests. 2. Being Glued to Your Phone Why it’s bad: Excessive phone use can lead to sleep disorders and depression. Did you know? Over 20% of Americans believe their mobile usage causes marital conflict, according to a TIME study (2012). 17% of users check their phone at a meal regardless of company, according to the same study. How to stop it Turn it off - if that’s too hard, stop using your phone or other gadgets in or before bed. Set up custom alert profiles - this phone feature vets your notifications to avoid needless distraction. 3. Obsessive Gaming Why it’s bad: Like other stimulants, gaming - particularly online gaming - can be hugely addictive. Did you know? 9% of children are addicted to gaming, according to an American Academy of Pediatrics study (2011). 46% of online gamers play Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGS), making it the most popular online gaming experience. How to stop it Set time limits - modern consoles have password-protected controls to limit gaming time. Alternatively, try finding a walkthrough or cheats for the game online. That way, you’ll complete it quicker. 4. Social Media Why it’s bad: If used wrong, it can be a huge waste of time. 121 billion minutes were used up on social media sites by Americans in July 2012! Did you know? 40 minutes a day - the average time Americans spend on Facebook. That’s over 243 hours a year. 500m tweets are sent each day by Twitter’s 271 million active users. How to stop it Delete or deactivate your accounts - or just let them drift off into obscurity by posting less often. Download StayFocused - this Chrome app cuts off access to time-wasting websites. 5. Pornography Addiction Why it’s bad: It’s claimed that watching online porn can lead to issues with secrecy, depression, anxiety and relationship problems. Did you know? 64-68% of young adult men view porn at least once a week 9% of porn viewers have tried unsuccessfully to stop. How to stop it Consider joining Reddit’s ‘NoFap’ community - an online meeting place for people who abstain from porn. Alternatively, use internet filters as a deterrent from seeking out pornography. 6. Failing to Back up Data Why it’s bad: Your computer and devices aren’t bulletproof. Malware, power surges, hardware failures and natural disasters can all leave you without your precious files. Did you know? Only 23% of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) back up data daily. 50% of SMBs only start backing up data after a catastrophic loss. How to stop it Create physical backups - copy all of your music, videos, documents and pictures on to a hard disk. Alternatively, back up all your devices on an online storage ‘cloud’. Whether you’re a gaming addict or glued to your phone, don’t let bad habits take over your life. Follow these tips and you can end your digital-dependence. Via: www.studyweb.comThe post 6 Bad Digital Habits and How to Beat Them Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

Made a video but only want to share it with a limited audience? Want your website to be the only place your film is viewable on the web? Take a look at this lovely presentation for step by step instructions on how to privately share your videos using You Tube. YouTubebasics from Theresa Compton If you have any questions or need any help with this feel free to contact Technology Enhanced Learning & Assessment at tel@plymouth.ac.uk.

Plymouth University have created a guide for students who are having difficulty setting up and accessing their University e-mails on their iPhone, iPod or iPad. If you are a student in this situation, please view Plymouth University’s ‘how-to’ guide on setting up e-mail on your iPhone, iPod & iPad.

Check out the infographic below for an interesting look at some data related to the perceived crisis on the educational scene as well as the latest trends—technology game changers such as the use of Web 2.0 tools, social media and blended learning movements—that could potentially resolve some of the issues. Of course, this Geeky Girl most definitely thinks technology—when integrated thoughtfully—can impact the teaching and learning process in ways never before possible. Not only can it meet the demands and increase learning opportunities for all learners, but tech tools and resources can also reduce costs without sacrificing instructional quality. What do you think? Feedback and comments are always welcome! A shout out to TopMastersInEducation.com for creating and sharing this informative visual.

The Most Exciting Summer Internships Infographic A summer internship can provide valuable workplace experience and access to industry professionals who may become great contacts in the future. The Most Exciting Summer Internships Infographic shows which companies offer the most exciting summer internships. NASA Available to high-school juniors through graduate students attending full-time accredited programs relevant to the NASA internship. Interns will engage in scientific/engineering research, development, and operations activities. REQUIREMENTS: US. Citizenship. Major in a relevant field. GPA of 3.0 for college-level interns. Marvel Entertainment - "ART RETURNS INTERNSHIP" Available to full-time undergraduates. Interns will help file and mail documents that organize and process original artwork from Marvel Comics artists. Must be proficient in Excel and Word. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Available to currently enrolled college sophomores through graduate students. REQUIRED SUBMISSIONS: Cover, letter and resume. Letter of reference or recommendation from a professor in your field. Personal statement as to why you should be considered. Allhiphop.com Available to currently enrolled undergrads, graduate students, as well as non-students. REQUIREMENTS: Urban music and culture Marketing Business Development Social Media Communications Letter from your college or university confirming that you will receive school credit. Excellent computer skills and strong organizational skills. Photoshop, FinalCut, iMovie, PowerPoint, Keynote, and Excel skills a major plus. Applicants with photography/video skills will be given special consideration. Wildcare.inc - "SUMMER WILDLIFE INTERNSHIP" Available to undergraduates interested in the care and treatment of injured/orphaned wildlife. Must be able to work 20 hours/week from May to August. Internship is unpaid. Disney - "DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM INTERNSHIP" Available to undergrads and graduate students of all majors who are currently enrolled in an accredited college or university and who have completed at least one semester. Must be at least 18 years old. INTERNSHIP ROLES: Attractions Main-entrance operations Custodial Guest relations Guest research PhotoPass photographer Resort transportation and parking Parking cashier Ticket taker Hopper All internships take place at Walt Disney World theme parks and resorts MSNBC - "NEWSROOM INTERNSHIP" Available to currently enrolled college sophomores through graduate students with interests in careers in media or broadcasting. REQUIREMENTS: Must be at least 18 years old. Must have knowledge of politics, history, and current events. INTERNSHIP ROLES: Work with Senior Producer performing production assistant functions such as: Answering phonesLogging/retrieving tape Researching story ideas Printing scripts Collaborating with Digital Media Intake Department Nike Inc. - "DESIGN INTERNSHIP" Available to full-time graduate students fill concentrating in apparel/fashion, textile, product, interactive/digital, graphic or architecture design. REQUIREMENTS: Must be skilled with design programs. Must demonstrate excellent communication, organization, and project-management skills. TWITTER - "PRODUCT MARKETING INTERNSHIP" Available to undergrads and graduate students pursuing degrees in computer science, economics, business administration, or the equivalent. Must have experience with database query tools. INTERNSHIP ROLES: Video production and editing. Partnership management. Content management. Research and software development. Facebook - "PRODUCT MARKETING INTERNSHIP" Available to graduate students who can understand and help optimize Facebook’s service value chain to both advertising agencies and companies. REQUIREMENTS: Strong interest in sales. Flexible thinking and ability to work collaboratively. Excellent time-management Ability to reach and influence decision-makers. Willingness to succeed. Desire to make sales/service teams more effective and efficient. Nordstrom Inc. - "VISUAL STYLIST INTERNSHIP" Available to college juniors and seniors with experience in merchandising and visual styling. REQUIREMENTS: Must thrive in a fast-paced environment. Have strong organization skills. Ability to quickly learn new processes and procedures. INTERNSHIP ROLES: Learning the art and business of visual styling through hands-on experience. Building store visual displays and window presentations. Creating promotional displays that show off latest merchandise. Instagram - "FASHION AND ART COMMUNITY INTERN" Available to undergraduates. REQUIREMENTS: Passion for social media and emerging trends Strong knowledge of emerging creative on Instagram. INTERNSHIP ROLES: Assist the Community Lead in day-to-day projects relating to fashion and art community members. Google Inc - "SOFTWARE DEVELOPER INTERNSHIP" Available to full-time college sophomores through graduate students pursuing degrees in computer science or related technical fields. INTERNSHIP ROLES: Test engineering. Site reliability. Product and systems development. Via: www.campusbooks.comThe post The Most Exciting Summer Internships Infographic appeared first on e-Learning Infographics.

Massively Open Online Courses, or MOOCs as they are better known as, are becoming ever more popular.  Academic institutions offer course materials at no cost to the students over the Internet.  This has lowered the threshold for attendance, bringing education to the masses resulting in tens of thousands of students registering and attending these online courses. Will this be the future of education for the masses or it is just a means for which institutions can provide tasters for potential paying students? The Concept Massively: To give an understanding of how massive these courses are, one course can have 40,000+ students worldwide; this is more than every student on every course that Plymouth University currently offers.  Due to the vast number of students that sign up for these courses a number of institutions have opted to host their materials via a dedicated MOOC provider to minimise the impact on their university’s infrastructure. The 3 main providers are Cousera, Udacity and EdX. Open: it is free for the participants to take the course and the work created by the students is shared.  Some institutions will, however, charge for any accreditation associated with the course. Online: Internet connection is vital, as the entire course exists online, there is no physical space that the students are expected to attend. All of the content has to be pre-prepared, including help guides and explicit learning outcomes, as to minimise student support needs. Thorough planning is essential. Course: MOOCs are short, typically around 6 weeks duration. Rather than simply accessing content on the web, the content is divided up into weekly tasks. This guides the students as to what they will be expected to cover/produce as part of attending.  Apart from having set weeks the students are not expected to engage with the content at specific times.  Students are required to submit for the final assignment.  One means of dealing with a large number of assignments is to use peer review. This is by no means a new concept, the term was coined in 2008 and many universities already offer a range of these open courses most notably Stanford University and MIT. Want to know more? Videos What is a MOOC?  by Dave Cormier (YouTube) Success in a MOOC by Dave Cormier (YouTube) Daphne Koller: What we’re learning from online education  (TED.com) Websites Me and my MOOC (the one that failed) By Flea Palmer (Blog) What is a MOOC? JISC (webinar) Edward Bolton’s experience as an end user I found the MOOC a most invaluable experience. The topic was "E-Learning and Digital Culture" and being an e-learning professional I thought that this would be a good place to start my first MOOC. I thought that the content would be familiar to me and I could find out how these MOOC things work. The content was nothing what I expected and this opened my eyes to a vast range of different sources and perspectives that I had not previously considered. This is one I found particularly interesting: Johnston, R (2009) Salvation or destruction: metaphors of the internet Even though I knew about MOOCs the actual experience was a lot different to what I was expecting.  I thought it would be more directed with pre-recorded lectures and tasks for each week (although some MOOCs do work like this) the course I attended consisted of collaged videos and reading materials with suggested activities. Students were prompted to contribute via Twitter, blogging and discussion forums. These activities were not compulsory and gave the students opportunities to reflect, collaborate and discuss in a medium that best suited them. I found this YouTube video (Amy Woodgate) describing what it felt like to be part of a MOOC.  I have taken two quotes from this video that resonated with my experiences of the MOOC: "Like shouting out in a crowded railway station trying to make myself heard over 40,00 others." Celia Popovic "This course feels like an ocean so I’m making myself post this comment as a way of dipping one toe in the water." Ellie Kennedy One thing that the course should have facilitated or at least suggested that students should do; is to put themselves into groups. The reason being was that all of the discussion forums had pages and pages of entries with only the first few being responded to. As a result if you weren’t the first to contribute to a certain discussion you did not feel that you could be part of the conversation as your post was sent off into the ether never to be seen again (even by you!). As a result I found that I was engaging with the material but I saw little or no point contributing to the site, which has probably had an effect on my learning experience.   This does not however mean that I will never engage in a MOOC again, it just means that I now know how to act when I next attend one.

Are tablets just shiny toys or can they be used in a professional work environment? Google Drive, a free cross platform mobile and desktop application, provides way for people to take work with them without the hassle of emailing copies. This software also boasts a synchronous collaborative work environment.  Above all tablets should provide functionally and convenience whilst on the go, but does Google Drive provide what you need? Try Google Drive for yourself and search "Google Drive" in the iOS and Android stores. There has been much debate about the functionality of a tablet and if it is appropriate for work life. The main issue with tablet devices is being able to access and edit documents particularly when later accessing the same document on your desktop. This is important when a user is away from their desktop, typically at a meeting or traveling. A way of getting around this was to email the documents to yourself, edit it on the tablet and email the edited version back. This usually results in time wasted managing versions and clearing one’s inbox. Utilsation of cloud services would provide users’ access to their documents regardless of their location and device.  There is still a lot of development regarding connecting these cloud services with mobile editing applications. Dropbox appeared to provide part of the solution by keeping a copy of the most up to date version of a document on all devices, but due to licensing there is no ability to edit the document, only to view it.  Editing would require that the document be opened in another application, invariably creating more duplicates of the same document. Google Drive appears to be a step closer to integrating documents, the cloud and mobile devices. With the Google Drive app, available on both iOS and Android, users can edit documents on the go knowing that they always have the most up to date version. What are the benefits? Live online collaboration: Documents can be shared with others thereby allowing multiple editors to shape a document providing an effective means of collaboration. This video demonstrates a time-lapse example of live collaboration. Not only is there live collaboration but this works cross platform; users can be editing simultaneously from their iPads, smart phones, android devices and desktop computers, all being able to edit and see the edits of others in real time. Stores version history enabling documents to be reverted if accidental deletes are made. Ease of sharing:  Google drive is designed to add collaborators, anyone with a Google account can be added. View only links can be sent out or it can be made public on the web. No matter who is editing and where it is being edited from there is only ever one copy of the document. (Copies can be made and a version history is kept.) Collaborative discussion amongst editors, across platforms. What are the constraints? This software does require a constant Internet connection to edit files, not necessarily a problem in a meeting but potential problems can occur when traveling on a train where mobile Internet comes and goes. Having tested this personally it does not require much of a connection to work. Google Drive employs live saving so if the Internet connection does go down then you know that the document is safe. Limited editor in the mobile version; the text editor is simplified in comparison to Microsoft Word, so don’t expect to create wizzy graphics, but for most simple documents it has good functionality (these include; fonts, bold, italic, underline, alignment, bullet points and indentation). The web based interface does have significantly enhanced functionality. Mobile versions only allows the creation of text documents and spreadsheets (presentations can be played). Other points Google use their own file format, when downloading the file users will be given the options to convert it into PDF, Microsoft Office or Openoffice documents. Google Drive in Higher Education Having discussed this technology with the academic community, there are a number of ways they are using it. Supporting meeting documentation. For all those who do not have a tablet device and still rely on paper in meetings/lectures/seminars, a good way of giving access to Google Drive documents is to put a "bit.ly" (shortened web link) at the top of the printed off document.  This will then provide a student or staff member the ability to access the document and see any updates that have subsequently been made as a result of the meeting/lecture/seminar. Promoting continual engagement among students, especially useful for continuing a seminar. For example giving students access to a document that they can contribute to collaboratively in the seminar as part of completing a task (assuming each student has access to the internet). Each student then has access to that document after the seminar has finished and may continue to collaborate and update it. Data privacy: A cautionary note that applies when using cloud software The majority of companies that provide cloud storage have their main offices in the United States.  This means that when you save your data to the "cloud"  it is probably being sent to a data storage centre in the United States.  The United States less stringent regulations on how personal data is stored that the EU, therefore subject to more abuse.  On top of this all data stored in the United States is subject to the USA PATRIOT Act  meaning that their government can scrutinise the data without court order or warrant. So what about data stored within the EU?  If you were instead where to use the services of Google UK or Mircorsoft UK this would mean that data would be stored within the EU.  To deal with data privacy issues the  EU and US have come to an agreement when data needs to be sent back to the main office (in the US), it is protected to the EU minimum standard (Safe Harbo(u)r).  Unfortunately once the data enters the US it is still subject to the USA PATRIOT Act. It is my opinion that these risks are almost unavoidable when using cloud solutions, and for me the benefits outweigh the risks. My personal advice is to ensure that you do not breach any of the EU’s data privacy legislation is to not store any personal information of others on any cloud service. Further Reading: Safe Harbor: Why EU data needs ‘protecting’ from US law Patriot Act can "obtain" data in Europe, researchers say    

Looking for a way to provide your students with an opportunity to demonstrate creative expression in the learning process? Then check out the Magazine Cover generator located within the suite of utilities available via Big Huge Labs, a Web 2.0 mashup tool that combines images, media and information from multiple sources into a new creation. Whether you would like your students to create a cover page for an essay or show their knowledge regarding a particular topic—characters from a novel, a historical time period or figure, an element from the Periodic Table or a math concept—the Magazine Cover option encourages them to focus on "big ideas" through the use of headlines. Completing an activity of this nature—writing that is short, concise and to the point—reinforces main idea and summarization skills while promoting inquiry and deeper thinking. In addition, locating an image that accurately depicts a specific subject is also a critical thinking skill in itself. So, enough already about why you should seriously consider integrating this powerful tool into your classroom. Check out the customized covers below to actually see why you should do so! Created for a Grade 6 Social Studies class as a culminating activity/assessment tool to summarize the most important information learned about Ancient Egypt. Created for a Grade 4 History class to highlight information about an upcoming unit on Colonial Life. Created as a cover page for a Grade 6 autobiography project. Classroom Connection: I think I pretty much used all of my persuasive powers above to try to convince you of the value of utilizing the Magazine Cover tool with students, but in the event you need more justification, here are a few more reasons to add this resource to your tech box: The more content is manipulated, the more likely it is understood and remembered—especially when visual literacy skills are added to the mix to extend learning. Besides that, the Magazine Cover utility requires students to use both the right and left side of the brain while utilizing a tech tool. And if you’re looking for an extension activity, have students use one or more of the headlines from their Magazine Cover to write an actual article. So there you have it, more than enough rationale as to why you should get busy with your very own Magazine Cover project sooner than later! Check out additional information about incorporating Big Huge Labs in the classroom by accessing my professional development wiki page here.