A fond farewell to Travis LaFleur
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Today marks the day we say good-bye to our colleague and friend, Travis LaFleur. Travis has been accepted at the University of Michigan to a two-year graduate program beginning this fall, focusing on human-computer interaction.
Travis, Thanks for all of your contributions to Teaching & Learning, Calvin Information Technology and Calvin College…We will miss you!
Posted in: Announcements
Announcing the Teaching & Learning with Technology Showcase!
Monday, November 17, 2008
The 4th Annual Teaching & Learning with Technology Showcase is on Wednesday, April 1st of 2009!
We are always looking for people to showcase how they are embedding technology—in big and small ways—into their pedagogical practices. If you are interested in participating in this year’s showcase, please contact Krista Spahr at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
[showcase] [Teaching & Learning with Technology]
Posted in: Announcements
Introduction to RSS
Monday, November 17, 2008
by Travis LaFleur
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It provides an easy way to get updates from your favorite sites on your terms and at your schedule.
You’ve probably seen those links that promise to “Send me an email when there is an update to this web page (or when this web page changes).” This feature is handy, but it also comes with drawbacks. Unless you are vigilantly checking your email, your in-box can become quite cluttered and unruly—filled to the brim with email updates—which you will have to sort through manually (a time consuming proposition) or, perhaps more common, simply just delete them.
RSS, however, solves many of these problems. RSS is a bit like the 21st Century version of those email links. RSS saves you time by automatically categorizing updates you receive and presenting them in a way that’s relevant to you—all while saving your inbox from unnecessary clutter.
To give you a better idea of how RSS works, here’s a RSS video from a group called Common Craft (one of our favorite sites) that explains RSS in plain English:
You can subscribe to RSS feeds using web-based software (like Google Reader), a standalone desktop programs (such as FeedDemon), or just your browser. If you want to give RSS a try without a spending a lot of time up front, your best bet is to use your browser.
Posted in: Announcements: Technology Tips
Welcome to The Hoot!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Welcome to the very first posting of The Hoot—a blog about technology & teaching—designed with you, the Calvin faculty, in mind!
A blog, which is derived from the term “weblog”, is a virtual publication or website that includes regular entries and commentaries on a particular topic or group of topics. In this case, The Hoot will be a casual, on-going publication focusing on the topics and issues of the teaching and learning process, especially the use of technology.
The Hoot will feature pedagogical best practices, Calvin faculty highlights, time-saving tips, as well as emerging technologies and other new ideas we pick up along the way.
Some other things to note are:
- All of the entries will be authored by one of the members of the Teaching & Learning team.
- These entries will be displayed in reverse-chronological order, meaning the most recent entry will always appear first.
- You can search for entries—by topic, author, discipline, content, etc.—using the Search feature on the left.
- All entries are archived so they can be located and accessed at a later date. The Archive is organized by both month on the tool bar to the left.
- You can subscribe to The Hoot by clicking on the Subscribe to The Hoot button above. This is also referred to as an RSS feed.
- You are welcome to make comments about any entries included in this publication. We encourage you to read others’ comments as well.
Make sure to check The Hoot often…Better yet, check out how subscribe to the Hoot using RSS and the news will come to you!
Posted in: Announcements
