In the past 24 hours, my blog traffic has spiked dramatically. Of the 69 people who've visited my blog in the past 24 hours (and I've had a total of 90 visits this week, so that's a huge proportion), about 95% of them have been looking for a rap song called "One Man One Cup," and landed on my post about Till Eulenspiegl.
If you are one of those people, and you were just looking for an innocent youtube clip of this song, I'm sorry about what you found. On the one hand, it's pretty obvious from the google search page that I'm not talking about rap music. On the other hand, it's pretty cool that my blog is the first or second thing your search turned up.
Now if only someone would write a song titled "Madologist."
Showing posts with label making use of technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label making use of technology. Show all posts
05 December, 2008
22 August, 2008
The Move
Well, that was easy. Welcome to the new version, folks. I'm going to be updating some of the other stuff in the next little while, too.
Cheers!
Cheers!
17 August, 2008
New URL
In roughly a week, on Friday, this blog will be moving to http://debilitasmentis.blogspot.com
I'll leave the link up here for a while, but I suggest updating your links.
I'll leave the link up here for a while, but I suggest updating your links.
29 May, 2008
Look, Ma, I'm famous!
Round Two in the exciting news of Alison's academic life: my own guest post at In The Middle.
19 February, 2008
BOOK LOVE!
Today someone mentioned asking for a Lewis and Short* for Christmas. That made me think to check abebooks.com and alibris.com to see if any were available and what the asking price was. abe had nothing. Alibris had a copy for $40.
$40.
This book normally sells upwards of $250. Used, you're lucky to find it at $150.
Naturally, I bought it on the spot. This sort of book is an invaluable tool, a career investment.
I own a Lewis and Short!
* The ultimate Latin dictionary, for those not familiar.
$40.
This book normally sells upwards of $250. Used, you're lucky to find it at $150.
Naturally, I bought it on the spot. This sort of book is an invaluable tool, a career investment.
I own a Lewis and Short!* The ultimate Latin dictionary, for those not familiar.
03 February, 2008
Homesick
First really bad bought of homesick today.
My boyfriend and my best friend went to the symphony orchestra last night, and today they were both on camera together, having breakfast. When there's just one person on the other end, it's not too bad, it's like a phone call.
But when it's two people, and they're interacting, I can feel how much I'm missing, how much I wished all three of us could be having breakfast together.
I love it here. I'm settling in and I'm having lots of fun. There are so many adventures to be had!
I just wish the people I love could be here too so we could share them.
This is the first time I've really felt homesick, and I need to go out and do something or I'll just sit here and cry.
My boyfriend and my best friend went to the symphony orchestra last night, and today they were both on camera together, having breakfast. When there's just one person on the other end, it's not too bad, it's like a phone call.
But when it's two people, and they're interacting, I can feel how much I'm missing, how much I wished all three of us could be having breakfast together.
I love it here. I'm settling in and I'm having lots of fun. There are so many adventures to be had!
I just wish the people I love could be here too so we could share them.
This is the first time I've really felt homesick, and I need to go out and do something or I'll just sit here and cry.
09 January, 2008
Most Excellent Airline
Not only does Zoom Airlines have the cheapest flights I can find ($229 Toronto->Manchester), and not only do they transport bicycles free of charge, they also have a rather impressive "green" policy.
My favourite highlights:
What can I say? I'm impressed. Check this airline out, folks, if you're flying. Fares are cheap and you're reducing your enviro-footprint a little.
My favourite highlights:
- All of our drinks tumblers will be made from corn starch instead of plastic. On-board cutlery and hot meal dishes will be made from sugar beet and cane products; and drinks stirrers will be made of wood from renewable sources.
- Our tea, coffee, sugar and orange juice products – both on board our aircraft and in our offices – are all sourced from approved FairTrade suppliers, guaranteeing a fair price for the commodity producers in regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America. We’re also proud to be offering a choice of beers and wines on our flights, which will include FairTrade products.
- Environment briefings for every staff member during induction and initial training – including providing them with low-energy light-bulbs to reduce their electricity usage and carbon output at home. [my emphasis]
- Zoom is also actively focusing on environmental issues when agreeing service contracts with our suppliers including catering companies, ground handling companies and the hotels in which our aircrews stay.
What can I say? I'm impressed. Check this airline out, folks, if you're flying. Fares are cheap and you're reducing your enviro-footprint a little.
03 January, 2008
Victory!
Well, folks, I'm in. I received my housing letter today via email! York has been fabulous with helping me get all my paperwork. I don't know who hired the admin staff, but they are doing a bang-up job, and I want to hug them all. They have gone above and beyond for me. They have faxed and emailed and expedited their hearts out. Thanks, York Admin Staff.
Anyway, I have a place to live! And it's the exact house I wanted! It's the closest one to my building. Since my building is ~1.5mi from main campus, this is a big deal. On chilly wet days, I don't want to have to travel far. Don't get me wrong - the library, all the shops, admin, and the gym are all on main campus, so I'll be trekking over there quite often. I just don't want to have to make the trip every single day.
Man, I'm so excited. All I need now is my OSAP papers.
Anyway, I have a place to live! And it's the exact house I wanted! It's the closest one to my building. Since my building is ~1.5mi from main campus, this is a big deal. On chilly wet days, I don't want to have to travel far. Don't get me wrong - the library, all the shops, admin, and the gym are all on main campus, so I'll be trekking over there quite often. I just don't want to have to make the trip every single day.
Man, I'm so excited. All I need now is my OSAP papers.
02 December, 2007
A New Month, the Same Old Red Tape
It's December 1st.
I still have not heard back from OSAP. This is incredibly depressing, and I have the sinking feeling that this is going to stretch out into mid-January, wreaking havoc with both my classes and my living arrangements. Hopefully some of this can be arranged via fax, because otherwise there's no way I'm going to make it.
But if I can fax York the financial paperwork and if they can fax me back a copy of the acceptance letter, there's a tiny chance I can get this done.
Flight prices are going up and up, which makes me awfully nervous. Zoom currently has a seat sale for travel to the UK between 15th Jan and 30th April, if you book return. Since I kind of want to come home for Easter, my birthday, and Kalamazoo, this may work quite to my advantage, still. I need to check it with my advisors, but seeing as Kalamazoo is part of that, I hope I won't have much trouble.
On the up side, it seems I am getting out of this frozen wasteland before we head into the worst winter in over a decade. It's something of a comfort. I hate the cold.
Waiting. I hate waiting.
I still have not heard back from OSAP. This is incredibly depressing, and I have the sinking feeling that this is going to stretch out into mid-January, wreaking havoc with both my classes and my living arrangements. Hopefully some of this can be arranged via fax, because otherwise there's no way I'm going to make it.
But if I can fax York the financial paperwork and if they can fax me back a copy of the acceptance letter, there's a tiny chance I can get this done.
Flight prices are going up and up, which makes me awfully nervous. Zoom currently has a seat sale for travel to the UK between 15th Jan and 30th April, if you book return. Since I kind of want to come home for Easter, my birthday, and Kalamazoo, this may work quite to my advantage, still. I need to check it with my advisors, but seeing as Kalamazoo is part of that, I hope I won't have much trouble.
On the up side, it seems I am getting out of this frozen wasteland before we head into the worst winter in over a decade. It's something of a comfort. I hate the cold.
Waiting. I hate waiting.
27 November, 2007
One more step in the preparations
I might be playing a waiting game when it comes to paperwork, but goshdurnit, I can start getting ready in other ways.
Chief among them today were the acquisition of a set of Latin Scrabble tiles (hat tip to Brent, who picked them up for me), and purchasing a webcam. Now, I already have a webcam, myself, but it is not nearly so cool when there's no one to talk to. So before I go I am going to teach my mother and father how to use it. It's a lot cheaper than phones, to be sure.
The next thing on the list is a cellphone that is usable on British frequencies.
Chief among them today were the acquisition of a set of Latin Scrabble tiles (hat tip to Brent, who picked them up for me), and purchasing a webcam. Now, I already have a webcam, myself, but it is not nearly so cool when there's no one to talk to. So before I go I am going to teach my mother and father how to use it. It's a lot cheaper than phones, to be sure.
The next thing on the list is a cellphone that is usable on British frequencies.
21 November, 2007
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
An interesting article came to my attention today. Oh, wikipedia, you fickle resource...
Wikipedia: time-saver for students, bane of professors everywhere.
Or is it?
If there’s one place where scholars should be able to question assumptions about the use of technology in the classroom (and outside of it), it’s the annual Educause conference, which wrapped up on Friday in Seattle. At a morning session featuring a professor and a specialist in learning technology from the University of Washington at Bothell, presenters showed how Wikipedia — often viewed warily by educators who worry that students too readily accept unverifiable information they find online — can be marshaled as a central component of a course’s syllabus rather than viewed as a resource to be banned or reluctantly tolerated.
That’s what Martha Groom, a professor at the university’s Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences program, tried to do for the first time last fall by requiring term papers to be submitted to the popular, user-edited online encyclopedia. The project comes at a time when instructors and administrators continue to debate the boundaries of certain technologies within the classroom and how to adapt to students’ existing online habits.
At first glance, a college term paper and a Wikipedia entry appear to have little in common. Term papers are intended for an “extremely limited audience, namely, me,” as Groom pointed out, they have little impact outside of the classroom and are constrained to a specific “time” and “place” in the world of ink-on-paper documents. “That is not a very good model of scholarship, to say that anything you produce [belongs] in this tiny space,” she said.
On the other hand, shared, public online documents have characteristics in common with parts of the academic review process. “The shift to thinking about placing the term paper as a Wikipedia encyclopedia entry allows for another level of peer review,” Groom said. Such entries have references and citations; allow for a process of repeated, continual editing; and encourage collaborations between authors.
Article continues at Inside Higher Ed
I like this idea quite a lot. It makes use of wikipedia in a constructive way, and might be especially useful in first-year classes where students are still stuck in the Five Paragraph Essay mindset. It more closely mimics the academic process, and it gives students the feeling that their work is actually worth something beyond a grade. Speaking as one who despises busy-work, I love the idea that students get the gratification of seeing their work "go somewhere." This could also work well in, for example, a Latin composition class. Vicipaedia needs more articles!
I will have to keep this in mind for when I finally get a classroom of my own.
Wikipedia: time-saver for students, bane of professors everywhere.
Or is it?
If there’s one place where scholars should be able to question assumptions about the use of technology in the classroom (and outside of it), it’s the annual Educause conference, which wrapped up on Friday in Seattle. At a morning session featuring a professor and a specialist in learning technology from the University of Washington at Bothell, presenters showed how Wikipedia — often viewed warily by educators who worry that students too readily accept unverifiable information they find online — can be marshaled as a central component of a course’s syllabus rather than viewed as a resource to be banned or reluctantly tolerated.
That’s what Martha Groom, a professor at the university’s Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences program, tried to do for the first time last fall by requiring term papers to be submitted to the popular, user-edited online encyclopedia. The project comes at a time when instructors and administrators continue to debate the boundaries of certain technologies within the classroom and how to adapt to students’ existing online habits.
At first glance, a college term paper and a Wikipedia entry appear to have little in common. Term papers are intended for an “extremely limited audience, namely, me,” as Groom pointed out, they have little impact outside of the classroom and are constrained to a specific “time” and “place” in the world of ink-on-paper documents. “That is not a very good model of scholarship, to say that anything you produce [belongs] in this tiny space,” she said.
On the other hand, shared, public online documents have characteristics in common with parts of the academic review process. “The shift to thinking about placing the term paper as a Wikipedia encyclopedia entry allows for another level of peer review,” Groom said. Such entries have references and citations; allow for a process of repeated, continual editing; and encourage collaborations between authors.
Article continues at Inside Higher Ed
I like this idea quite a lot. It makes use of wikipedia in a constructive way, and might be especially useful in first-year classes where students are still stuck in the Five Paragraph Essay mindset. It more closely mimics the academic process, and it gives students the feeling that their work is actually worth something beyond a grade. Speaking as one who despises busy-work, I love the idea that students get the gratification of seeing their work "go somewhere." This could also work well in, for example, a Latin composition class. Vicipaedia needs more articles!
I will have to keep this in mind for when I finally get a classroom of my own.
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