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[infopri]

How would this relate to the 'online teaching' child-board of 'in the classroom'?  Is there going to be overlap?    Or is the tech forum for mostly hardware?  (Overlap is fine, I'm just wondering.)

As I see it, the online teaching forum addresses mostly pedagogical issues, although technical issues might come up related to using the course management software (Blackboard, WebCT, etc.) to accomplish instructional goals.  The new tech forum would be more generalized (i.e., unrelated to teaching, per se) and would address any kind of technical issue related to hardware or software (operating systems, word processing, spreadsheets, etc.).  I suppose a technical question about WebCT/Blackboard might fit on either board, but I'd probably see that more as an "online teaching" issue, while questions/advice about viruses, which laptops are good, alternatives to MS-Word, experiences with Vista or Windows 7, and the like as fodder for the proposed new tech forum.

[marigolds]

I think it would be awesome.

[helpful]

What about one for PalmPre, too?

[neutralname]

Will we need to a different forum to boast about the latest great gadget we just bought?

[bread_pirate_naan]

What about one for PalmPre, too?

PalmPre is in the subject of one of the smartphone threads, but I will do a search later.  The dean is the only other user I can think of. He switched to Blackberry, but not enthusiastically.  I will also try to gather the laptop and microsofty threads, but I don't promise to deliver. 

Will we need to a different forum to boast about the latest great gadget we just bought?

As a humanist who got caught offguard and needed to submit a manuscript in LaTeX having only glimpsed a passing reference to it on the fora, no, this is not just abut gadgets. I am a user of those gadgets.  They are adaptive tools of survival when the adaptive behaviors aren't enough.  They have helped me with my cognitive deficits to the tune of threatening to be a productive scholar against some tough odds.

You will probably see some stuff from the cult/serfs of google (docs/maps/earth/wave).  At least I hope to.

[namazu]

Yeah, I think a tech board would be a good idea, too.

Just last night I was looking for info on PDAs/tiny laptops/etc. that I could carry around and synchronize with my calendar, and that wouldn't cost too much.  (BPN, we should talk...)

[bread_pirate_naan]

(BPN, we should talk...)

Oh yeah?  I might tell you if it's not in my Berry, I don't show up. If you're not in the berry, I can't/won't call you.  I might tell you a million day runners over decades never helped me manage a calendar.  I might also tell you that since my last post I have managed to get out of the house and to the office where I have, for the very first time, linked my HP2140 netbook to the monitor of my old desktop; which means that I officially have no excuse for not writing seriously in aforementioned office long into the night and many days after. 

I might tell you that if glitter and sequins and jazz hands won't fix it; a Blackberry, multivitamins, and movement/breathwork might.

That said, you might want to evaluate Apple if you want an integrated solution and have a flexible budget.  mobileme looks pretty cool, but their hardware+services are too expensive for me.  You are paying as much for looks and cache as you are for functionality.  Unless you do a lot of media/film/photoshop design/editing type stuff.  Then you must go mac/iphone.  I can go to a lab for that. 

[magistra]

Just chiming in that I'd love a tech forum.  It'd be a fantastic resource.

I'd argue that we could get rid of the Online Teaching child board because of this.  It's a good idea in theory but it isn't terribly active, mostly I suspect because some people never go in there.  But lots of the questions apply to anyone using their CMS, or are even just general education questions -- it's a lost opportunity when so few see the questions.  Sometimes stuff appropriate for Online doesn't go in there anyway, since some posters seem to avoid it.  If we add a Tech board, where CMS technical questions would be answered, there's even less need for it. 

[marigolds]

That said, you might want to evaluate Apple if you want an integrated solution and have a flexible budget.  mobileme looks pretty cool, but their hardware+services are too expensive for me.  You are paying as much for looks and cache as you are for functionality.  Unless you do a lot of media/film/photoshop design/editing type stuff.  Then you must go mac/iphone.  I can go to a lab for that. 

What BPN said about her Blackberry, I say about iPhone + MobileMe + MacBook.  That is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

It is pricy, though.  

[francie_]

Mods, look!  It's practically a Tech Forum already!  Pleeeaaase!

That said, you might want to evaluate Apple if you want an integrated solution and have a flexible budget.  mobileme looks pretty cool, but their hardware+services are too expensive for me.  You are paying as much for looks and cache as you are for functionality.  Unless you do a lot of media/film/photoshop design/editing type stuff.  Then you must go mac/iphone.  I can go to a lab for that. 

What BPN said about her Blackberry, I say about iPhone + MobileMe + MacBook.  That is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

It is pricy, though. 

[moderator]

Thanks for the suggestion. We'll see what we can do.

Best wishes,

the moderators

[infopri]

Thanks for the suggestion. We'll see what we can do.

Best wishes,

the moderators

Thanks, moderators!

[annmarie]

Yes, thanks Mods.  I am sure that more of us will help gather up the old threads.

[annmarie]

Thanks MODS.  I see the Tech Talk for Befuddled Academics board has started!

[francie_]

The new Tech Forum is here!  The new Tech Forum is here!