TB-L Archives

December 2009

TB-L@LISTSERV.ONEONTA.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Reply To:
Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 6 Dec 2009 15:00:33 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (75 lines)
Dear Don,
I respectfully suggest that you not judge too harshly based on the performance of our e-mail system.  When working on Google Docs I often talk to someone on the phone while working on a document.  The comments he types on his document appear on my computer within a matter of seconds.  One of the big topics currently being discussed is "real-time" web, where you can read someone's comments seconds after they are posted.  I realize that technology sometimes has problems, but it is not accurate to assume that the problems you are encountering are typical of the real world.
 
Cordially,
Harry Pence

________________________________

From: Teaching Breakfast List on behalf of Don Allison
Sent: Sat 12/5/2009 6:15 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Invite to Social Media Final Presentations



Jim (and others),

 

I find it amusing that your announcement about student uses of social networking technologies illustrated one of the flaws of using technology for education at all...

 

Your message was sent Thursday, 12/3 at 11:47AM...it was received by my email account on Saturday, 12/5, at 10:38AM, and viewed by me at 5:21PM on the same day.  That an electronic message would take two days (47 hours!) to transit from the listserv machine to the email machine, when they are most likely sitting next to each other in the subbasement of the library illustrates one of the problems of using technology in education (or in any application that values timeliness and reliability)...  If your message had been urgent, I would have failed to respond properly, and if I were one of your students, would have been penalized for a technology failure (eg if a test had been moved forward two days).

 

The phone company generally seems to have the best handle on reliable technology, having set a standard (and generally hitting it) of 5 nines (99.999% availability) but even they have trouble meeting this standard at times (for example the NYTel fire of 1975 in the Second Avenue Exchange Building).  As access and control of technology becomes more distributed, it becomes more fragile.  (If I am able to set up a DNS server on my machine but either through ignorance or malicious intent, misconfigure it, how much damage can I do to the network infrastructure?)

 

How can we, as educators, deal with this?  We face issues ranging from judging whether a late assignment really WAS late because of some technology failure (network outage, SAMBA outage, Office outage in the lab, etc), on up to much more serious ones...so do we have to add expertise in technology infrastructure issues to our expertise in subject matter in order to be effective teachers today?  And even if we acquire that expertise, how do we get the information we need to apply it effectively, when most IT support organizations do their best to hide any details of how things work behind an impenetrable curtain?  Locally, for instance, did any of you receive notification or an explanation for the Banner outage at 3AM one morning last week?  I noticed it when I tried to log in to answer a student's question, and couldn't get the spring course list through the web (the only way the list is now accessible), but wasn't able to find out if it was a normal outage or if there was a problem with Banner.  This is just one (real-life, recent) example...

 

don

 

From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jim Greenberg
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 11:47 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Invite to Social Media Final Presentations

 

TBers, 

Today's discussion on student use of social networking technologies was excellent, thanks to all that attended.  Since there seems to be interest in student's use and perception of social networking technologies,  anyone from the TB group who is interested is invited to the final presentations from my Social Networking class.  Groups from this class will be making presentations that center around  how social networking technologies have impacted  privacy, relationship building, dating, stalking, and cyber bullying.   

The presentations will be in Physical Science 228  at the following times and dates: 

Dec 10th 4 pm - 5:15 pm
Dec 15th 11 am - 1 pm 

Space in limited in this room, so drop me an email if you would like to come so I can be sure we don't out grow the room!  Thanks and have a great end of semester.  

Mr. James B. Greenberg 
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center 
Milne Library 
SUNY College at Oneonta 
Oneonta, New York 13820 

blog: The 32nd Square at http://32ndsquare.blogspot.com <http://32ndsquare.blogspot.com/> 
wiki: The 32nd Square at http://32ndsquare.wikidot.com <http://32ndsquare.wikidot.com/> 
email: [log in to unmask] 
phone: 607-436-2701 
fax:   607-436-3677
IM:  oneontatltc
Twitter: greenbjb


"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever" 
P Think before you print! Please consider the environment before printing this email

ATOM RSS1 RSS2