Curious David Redux

Speaking my mind

I will be  uncharacteristically brief. I must confess that I'm initially very impressed by the capability of this voice dictation software. As I sit here beside the dog awaiting the arrival of additional family members, I thought I would try using this new software I installed.

Considering that I have yet to read the manual or look at the help screens, I must confess I'm amazed at the accuracy of the software.

HAL, you frightened me in 2001. To be continued... The turkey calls me.

What's the Best Blogging Software? In Search of the "Write Stuff."

For the past few years I have followed with interest and admiration the blogging and developments in thinking of Jane Hart about uses of social media to enhance learning. In particular, I have been interested in exploring the annual lists she creates of top 100 learning tools based on judgments by educational professionals. Here, for example, is a list she has created of "blogging tools" accompanied by comments by individuals who endorsed a particular tool.

Jane has directly and positively influenced my teaching. Motivated by her contributions, I created a first-year seminar last year based on her top twenty-five tools. I continue to find myself increasingly incorporating tools identified by her into my classes.

My introduction to blogging tools in turn has reinvigorated my personal interest in writing and enhanced my judgment of the value and ease of including writing exercises in all of the classes I teach. These tools could be used to enhance a student's civic responsibilities (writing a thoughtful response to a New York Times online article  or local paper), to improve their writing, and to learn about "publishing."

I have had a number of false starts blogging---and explored a number of different kinds of software whose primary function was blogging. Is there a BEST blogging software? Based on my experiences I would argue "no." 

I reject the notion of "best teaching practices" or best psychological therapy. Instead, I ask myself best for what purpose? best for what kind of user? best in terms of ease of use? best in terms of cost (time and money)? best in terms of likelihood of existing in 3-five years? For me, for my purposes, based on my trying five such kinds of software, I find that Typepad serves me best---for now. Admittedly, the fact that it is also used by Jane Hart also influenced my decision!

Is there a need for so many other kinds of blogging, micro-blogging, and wiki software? I would argue "yes". There is no one size that fits all learners, all learning, and all learning contexts. The more ways my students and I can learn independently and collaboratively, communicate, and learn to learn, the better.

Keep those lists of tools coming, Jane! And thank you for your path-breaking leadership.

What ELSE a professor does: On Being a Person of Letters

What does a professor DO? My answer to this question changes as a function of when you ask me.  I began to address this question in my first blog for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in October of 2007. At that time I had the pleasure of being one of their online educational community columnists.

One of the major demands on my academic life this week (i.e. during Thanksgiving break) will be writing letters of recommendation---an important task which consumes increasing larger amounts of my time. Having been a faculty member at Carroll for more than thirty years, I have gotten to know and be known by an increasingly larger number of students. Moreover, I like staying in touch with former students, and the ways I keep connected with them have multiplied with the of use of email and the increased use of social networking tools such as Face Book  and Linkedin.

This academic year has been particularly challenging. We have over fifty graduating senior psychology majors, and in addition I have received an unusually large number of requests for letters from former students who graduated a number of years ago and who now are changing life directions. The modality of requests has ranged from being asked in person in advance, materials being placed under my office door, telephone calls, Face Book messages, and electronic messages from graduate programs.

I conservatively estimate that I shall be called upon to write 5-6 letters for at least 30 individuals within the next month or so. Easy solutions include using a template or form letter, using a rating scale or check list, keeping the letter short, limiting the number of letters written per student, being very selective about for whom I write---or just saying NO, limiting the amount of time written per letter, and/or teaching students ways that they can make my letter-writing easier. I wish that I were able to follow my own advice!

There exists quite a literature of the art (how does one write convincing letter?) and science (how valid and reliable are they?) of writing letters of recommendations. One of my favorites that I return to time and again immortalizes some ambiguous phrasing I strive to avoid---but am often tempted to use.

Meditations While Walking with Freud

As I was walking Freud, my father-in-law's dog this morning at 5:00 a.m, I was overcome by a flood of wonderful thoughts both of Walt, a giant of a man, (Download Rev.CharlesValenti-Heineulogy and of how dogs have affected my life and the lives of members of my extended family. Beware of how dogs can capture your heart!

Do dogs match their owners in physical appearance? in personality? There is an interesting body of research dealing with these questions. Here is one citation. Here is another entire  article (Download Roy).

Under what circumstances does pet ownership reduce stress? increase it?  Hardly profound questions (but those tend not to come to me before the sun rises---the Muse of Profundity is drowsy, too!) but nonetheless interesting and empirically verifiable questions. Perhaps, a teaching moment has developed.

These might be  "engaging" questions to give my Introductory Psychology students to encourage them to conduct a literature review.  Perhaps in the process I'll teach them about Evernote, Diigo, Delicious, or Zotero and have them help me compare the strengths and weaknesses of these tools in addition to comparing the kinds (and quality) of answers they get using Internet search engines versus library data bases.

Here is some anecdotal evidence provided by one of my playful students that owners like me (though there is a debate between Robin and me as to who is the owner) may start looking like their dogs!

Trivia question from Robin: What was the name of the dog who accompanied Lewis and Clark?

Answer is here if you fail to find out---and even if you do.

Have a healthful Thanksgiving.

Curious David and Robin the Newf

How to Avoid Internet Pollution

I have a friend who once commented to me (electronically) that he wondered how much wasted space existed on the Web. That is, how many pages have been started but abandoned out of frustration (a tyro who gave up), forgetfulness (oh, yeah, I forgot that I have a Yahoo account, too in addition to my 20 other accounts) or lack of continued interest---or of reader interest! I wonder how one could get a valid estimate of that "problem." IS it a problem?

The thought occurred to me as I was revisiting and reflected upon Jane Hart's categorizations of blogging and micro-blogging software. I rediscovered my own documented attempts to use many of these tools across the past 5 years. How can we avoid polluting or exhausting the Internet world? Is it possible to exhaust Internet resources? Is there a way to put a time limit on Internet storage? Should there be? Should there be a global (or selective) erase tool linked to everything one creates on the web or would its existence be misused? How can I most efficiently clean or clear my Internet desktops?

Unfinished Business - The Zeigarnik Effect Revisited

I was first introduced to the Zeigarnik effect (people typically recalling interrupted tasks better than their recalling completed ones) by my first Oberlin College Introductory Psychology professor, Celeste McCollough. My participation in her visual perception studies of the "McCollough effect" formally introduced me to the science of psychology. I remember being both amused and fascinated by Professor McCollough's sharing an anecdote that she intentionally used the Zeigarnik phenomenon as a motivator for her to resume working on manuscripts that she was writing for publication.

I find it curious how a phenomenon such as the Zeigarnik effect can be discovered, experimentally investigated, popularized, misrepresented, forgotten, and rediscovered. Try conducting a "scholarly literature review" (e.g with, say PsycINFO) on this concept--now try the same with say, Google Scholar or some other such Internet learning tool.  How can one ascertain quality control of information when anyone (including yours truly) can through the Internet purport or imply that (s)he is an expert?

As I am winding up---or is it winding down---my academic career I find that there is so much unfinished business and so many interrupted tasks in need of completion. This Zeigarnik tension need not be aversive. Still, there so much to learn and I am fascinated by the many new ways of learning. I welcome any readers who'd like to join and assist me in exploring ideas through this blog---especially focusing on the top 21rst century learning tools categorized by Jane Hart.