What’s on your mind?
How’s your semester going?
Do you need advice or feedback about something related to life and work in higher ed?
Do you have advice or feedback to share about something related to life and work in higher ed?
What would you like to see covered at ProfHacker?
Remember, we’re still technically in our “beta” phase with an “official” launch scheduled for–gasp!–next week.
Let us hear from you in the comments!
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21 Responses to Open Thread Wednesday!
Lola Swint - September 2, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I would appreciate some info on the pros/cons of a netbook and/or mini-laptop. Thanks.
Logan - September 2, 2009 at 3:07 pm
I’m a masters student. Last night some of the reading for today was posted to Blackboard at around 5pm. I am all for distributing readings for class electronically, but not 53 pages worth at 5pm. Get it up there early, make it accessible from the beginning of the semester, and make sure students know where it is. You are as responsible to your students to make assigned reading accessible as they are for doing the work. I’d like to hear some thoughts on this, digital delivery is a big failure if the instructor isn’t on top of her/his game.
Joanna - September 2, 2009 at 5:20 pm
This is a good reminder to me of something I learned early on in messing around with Course Management Systems; you have to keep up with them because there is no fudging a time stamp. I hope your professor had a plan B.
Logan - September 2, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Unfortunately I think this is going to be par for the course. He expects us to do everything he asks, which isn’t an incredible amount actually, but then fails to give us the tools and time to do it. I am not encouraged things will get better.
Nels - September 2, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Sounds like the need for a post aimed at undergrads and graduate students about how to approach professors who are not on the ball?
Logan - September 2, 2009 at 5:30 pm
That sums it up nicely, Nels. I am going to approach my TA about it after discussion group and see if she can’t find the professors ear.
Julie Meloni - September 2, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Could you be more specific regarding the things you’d like to know about? We cover a lot of info/point to other reviews in the recent netbooks post, and there are several additional reports of experiences from users in the comment thread attached to that post.
William Patrick Wend - September 2, 2009 at 9:38 pm
I taught my first college classes today and they went pretty decently I think. There were very few issues with students and most nodded along with my policies. I was a little nervous reading parts of the syllabus to my classes, but overall it went well. This afternoon I spent some time creating a spreadsheet in Google Docs to store my grades, attendance, etc.
T.J. - September 2, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Do you have any insight into Zoterro vs. Endnote? Also, how can I make the most of my office hours?
Amy Cavender - September 3, 2009 at 8:18 am
Zotero, definitely Zotero. It’s very powerful, it readily allows syncing across multiple computers (admittedly that’s in the beta version, but I’ve been using it for months and found it to be very stable), it opens up interesting collaborative possibilities, and the price can’t be beat.
Joanna - September 3, 2009 at 10:11 am
Congratulations! I hope you find teaching to be as deeply enjoyable and rewarding as I have over the last 35 years.
Joanna - September 3, 2009 at 10:13 am
I have found that by encouraging students to sign up for a time slot during office hours, and even taking time in class to circulate a sign-up sheet, I get more of them to show up. Depending on the number of students I have, I may post a sign-up sheet outside so people can sign up and come back instead of waiting around.
Nels - September 3, 2009 at 11:58 am
Sounds like George needs to do a post on Doodle for office hours, which I bet he has planned somewhere.
George H. Williams - September 3, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Why, yes. Yes, I do.
In a nutshell (all I have time for right now):
First, decide on all the times you might be available for office hours.
Second, create a poll on Doodle that will allow students to vote on all the timeslots they would be able to make your office hours. Give them a week or less to vote.
Third, determine which timeslots have received the most votes and choose those for your office hours. Of course, you’ll still want to be available by appointment, too.
William Patrick Wend - September 4, 2009 at 3:53 pm
So far, so good. A lot of running around this week, but I think once we settle into the semester it will be good.
I ended up picking up another course, so now I am also teaching a Comp II class where I get to teach Borges (Yes!!!), Atwood, Calvino, etc. A lot of my favorite authors.
Caleb - September 4, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I’m a little late to this open thread. But thanks for a great site! I’ve enjoyed reading.
Lately, I’ve been contemplating replacing my “hipster PDA” (aka, my Moleskine notebook) with an iPod Touch. Could you do a run-down of “apps” for iPod Touch/iPhone that would be particularly useful to academics?
The main things I’m interested in having an iPod Touch do are:
1. Run my favorite GTD app, “Things”
2. Allow me to read PDFs (ideas about good readers?)
3. Take text-file based notes that can easily sync with files on my computer
But other ideas about apps for academics would be much appreciated as I try to decide whether replacing the trusty Moleskine is really worth it.
jmcclurken - September 5, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I’m hoping to get a post up here at ProfHacker on Zotero in the next two weeks based on a couple of presentations happening at my campus. In the meantime check out this post on historical research using Zotero by Zotero’s Community Lead, Trevor Owens.
William Patrick Wend - September 6, 2009 at 12:07 pm
After years, and years, of searching for a good PDF reader I have finally settled on Okular. It is light weight and handles even the most graphical PDFs I’ve thrown at it pretty well.
Beth Kuebler-Wolf - September 8, 2009 at 4:04 pm
Does anyone know of something akin to doodle but that would allow me to post a sign up sheet of paper topics (for example) where the students are given their choice on a first-come, first-served basis? I could really use something like that, instead of tracking them all via email.
George H. Williams - September 8, 2009 at 4:58 pm
You can do that with Doodle, Beth. There are options that allow poll participants only 1 choice (rather than several) and that allow only 1 poll participant per choice.
I’m planning an upcoming ProfHacker post on using Doodle for various purposes, so stay tuned…
Beth Kuebler-Wolf - September 8, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Thanks George! I’ll look forward to that post.