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Focus Group – Graduate Students’ Voice – Open Access Week Questions

»Posted by Sintjago on Oct 15, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

Focus Group – Graduate Students’ Voice – Open Access Week

10/15/2011

Question	Time Estimate
– What is your favorite news website?	5 mins
– Is this site open to the public? Does the site being open play a role in whether or not you access it?	5 mins
– To what extent are journal articles accessible for university students and individuals throughout society in general?	5 mins
– List or Map – How do you define open, in terms of information? What qualities would you include in what it is to be open? (Questions written for everyone to see. They are then asked to circle or tell us the quality that best describes “open” for them)	15 mins
– When you think of an open access journal? What quality is the most important?	5 mins
– You have three choices… free open journals, open journals where you have to pay to submit, journals where individuals or institutions need to purchase articles, which one would you choose and why? How could that option be improved?	10 mins
– What do you consider to be some of the strengths of open access journals?	10 mins
– What do you consider to be some of the limitations of open access journals?	10 mins
– To what extent do you consider open access journals sustainable?	5 mins
– To what extent would it be possible to write a good article on their topic using only open access journal articles as sources? Why is it or why is not possible?	10 mins
– To what extent do you feel openness increases the quality of scholarship? (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree)	10 mins
– Projecting yourself two, five years into the future what role do you see open access playing for academia and society?	10 mins
– Have we missed anything… Is there anything that we should have talked about but didn’t?	10 mins
Total Time	110 mins

1) You have just written an article and you have three choices:
1) completely free open journals or free open journals where the university would cover the writer’s fee to submit the article
2) open journals where the writer or the grant that is sponsoring him or her has to pay to submit the article
3) Traditional, toll-access journals where institutions and individuals subscribe for access and have to purchase articles, but the writer submitting an article does not have to pay.
Which of these three journals would you choose and what are some of the reasons you would chose this journal (please indicate what would be the most important aspect in making this decision)? How much does the journal status as an open access journal (OA) or toll access journal (TA) plays a role in making your final decision?

All Original Questions – Focus Group – Graduate Students’ Voice – Open Access Week

– What is your favorite legal image, video, or music hosting site? Why do you visit this site?

– Tell us what one of your passions is, and what attracts you to it?

– What is your favorite news website?

– Is this site open to the public? Does the site being open play a role in whether or not you access it?

– To what extent are you supportive of the open access movement?

– To what extent do you consider who produced a digital resource (a page, a picture, a video) when deciding whether or not to use it for a course?

– To what extent are journal articles accessible for university students and individuals throughout society in general?

– When considering where to publish an article, does the openness of the journal play a role in your decision?

– To what extent do you think openness encourages innovation?

– Have you ever felt your work had been plagiarized? Please describe the situation.

– To what extent do you feel (from 1 to 5) a strong need to protect creative works with copyright?

– To what extent do you feel information should be open and accessible to anyone in the world?

– Projecting yourself two, five years into the future what role do you see open access playing for academia?

– What do you consider to be some of the limitations of open access journals?

– To what extent do you consider open access journals sustainable?

– To what extent do you consider open access to be part of a movement? Perhaps part of a broader movement? What is it?

– To what extent do you feel that copying an image, an audio file or a video file from a website is a violation of copyright?

– To what extent do you feel it is different whether or not the purpose for borrowing a resource is for profit or non-profit objective?

– What are some of the feelings that you experience when you are not able to access a resource (journal article) when you need it?

– To what extent does open access or openness to information help or hurt the development of countries?

– All things considered, can openness improve academia?

– Suppose you had one minute to talk with someone about the importance of openness, what would you say?

– To what extent do you feel openness decreases the quality of scholarship? (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree)

– To what extent do you feel openness is unfair to traditional paid subscription journals?

– Have we missed anything… Is there anything that we should have talked about but didn’t?

– (Silent) List (Give them a paper) — what are some problems with openness, what are some of the positives aspects of openness?

– To what extent do you feel the current publication system is fair? (Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor). [(also on a list) — what could be improved……]

– In terms of promoting open research what grade (from A to F) would you give the University?

– In terms of promoting open research what grade (from A to F) would you give the United States government?

– In terms of promoting open research what grade (from A to F) would you give your department?

– In terms of promoting open research what grade (from A to F) would you give grant giving agencies?

– You have three choices… free open journals, open journals where you have to pay to submit, journals where individuals or institutions need to purchase articles, which one would you choose and why? How could that option be improved?

– Pictures of different industries… (runway show, journal articles, movie, comedian, book) which one, in your opinion, would have the strongest copyright protection in the US and why?

– Draw an emblem or a design pattern (as good as you can, you don’t have to be an artist but put some effort into it, perhaps a pattern that could be reused in some way) for five minutes.. .then pass it around to the next person who draws for five minutes… is this a violation of copyright?

– Was that drawing that you received from the person beside you copyrighted? To what extent is the style original?

– To what extent do you think sometimes you borrow ideas and you aren’t quite sure you remember where you heard them or if they are yours, but you use them or build on them anyway?

– Map what qualities come to mind when you think of an open resource? When you think of an open access journal? What node is the most important?

– Close your eyes… How do you imagine academia would be different if all journals were open?

– Do a task before coming – Search for 4 relevant articles on a topic of your professional interest – were the most relevant articles open for you to use without your university access? Were any relevant articles open? How much did each cost for an individual?

– Think back to the last papers you wrote, how extensive was the contribution of open access journals articles?

– To what extent would it be possible to write a good article on their topic using only open access journal articles?

Exercise – Compound interest, Discounting, Annualization and Present Value

»Posted by Sintjago on Oct 12, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

EDPA 5521

October 12, 2011

PROBLEM SET #2: Compound interest, discounting, annualization and present value

Rather than pay you $100 a month for the next 20 years, the person who injured you in an automobile accident is willing to pay a single amount now to settle your claim for injuries. Would you rather an interest rate of 5% or 10% be used in computing the present value of the lump-sum settlement? Comment or explain. To calculate the present value of this stream of payments, use the formula in the textbook on page 93. Each payment of $1200 per year must be discounted by the appropriate factor. See #6, below, for an example. The most common error is to discount the entire set of $24,000 payments by the discount factor that is appropriate for the $1200 payments in year 20. This is clearly not appropriate, since the $24,000 payments are spread out over 20 years and each year’s payments must be discounted separately, by the appropriate discount factor. You would prefer a 5% discount rate because it results in a larger present value lump-sum payment.

Compute the future value of $800 invested for 12 years at 6% compounded annually. Compute the present value of $1,200 due in 9 years at 11% annually. FV = 800 (1+.06)¹² = $1609.76

PV = 1200/(1+.11)⁹ = $469.11 [Recall that the present value of $1200 due in one year is $1200/(1+.11). In other words, t=2. The present value of $1200 due in 9 years means that t=10]. The most common error is to assume that t=9.

Mr. Jones has $15,000 to invest for the future college education of his new granddaughter. He wishes to know how much it will amount to if he invests it at 5% per year for 18 years. What if he were to invest it at 8% for 18 years?

FV = 15000 (1 + .05)¹⁸ = $36,099.29 (t=19)

FV = 15000 (1+ .08)¹⁸ = $59,940.29 (t=19)

Ms. Olson wishes to be sure that she has at least $25,000 in 9 years when her daughter will begin college. How much must she invest today to accomplish this purpose if the interest rate is 6% per year? How much would she need if the interest rate is 9 percent per year?

PV = 25000/ (1+ .06)⁹ = $14,797.46 (t=10)

PV = 25000/(1+ .09)⁹= $11,510.69 (t=10)

In order to establish a fund that will provide a scholarship of $5,000 a year over four years, with the first award to occur now, how much must be deposited if the fund earns 6%? How much is required if the fund earns 10%?

PV = 5,000 + 5000/(1+.06) + 5000/(1+.06)² + 5000/(1+.06)³ = $18,365.06

PV = 5,000 + 5000/(1+.1) + 5000/(1+.1)² + 5000/(1+.1)³ = $17,434.26

A local foundation helps the University to establish a new Center for the Study of Educational Efficiency and has agreed to pay $9,000 now and every year for another 10 years. Because of a potential change in the leadership at the University, the Foundation wishes to discharge its obligation by paying a single lump sum to the University now in lieu of the payment due and all future payments. How much should the Foundation pay the University if the discount rate is 7 percent per year?

PV= [9000/(1+.07)^1-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^2-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^3-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^4-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^5-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^6-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^7-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^8-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^9-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^10-1]+ [9000/(1+.07)^11-1]

PV= 9000 + 8411.215 + 7860.949 + 7346.681 + 6866.057 + 6416.876 + 5997.08 + 5604.748 + 5238.082 + 4895.404 + 4575.144= $72,212.24

The foundation should pay the institution $72, 212.24 if the discount rate is 7% per year. This discount rate was applied to the initial payment and the subsequent 10 additional years using the PV formula. The most common error is to assume that there are only 10 payments of $9,000. Another error is to add up the payments and divide $99,000 by the discount factor that is only appropriate for the last $9,000 payment received in year 11.

Your school district, bowing to parent pressure, just purchased a new set of “smartboards” to install in classrooms, at a total cost of $170,000. The system is expected to wear out in 5 years. How much in costs for this equipment should be charged against calculating instructional costs each year when the district is borrowing funds at 6%?

From Table 4.1 annualization factors: 5 years at 5% = .2310; 5 years at 7% = .2439. Average these factors to obtain approximate rate for 6 years = .23745.

.23745 * 170,000 = $40,366.50 (see the textbook, pp. 64-70, for an explanation of the annualization factor)

Assume that you are asked to review the costs of a 5-year technology upgrade project for the Cranberry Schools. After doing a careful identification and specification of ingredients and their costs, you obtain the following costs:

Year 1: $12,000

Year 2: $12,500

Year 3: $21,000

Year 4: $16,000

Year 5: $31,000

What is the present value of this stream of costs for both a 5% and 10% discount rate. Compare the present values obtained with these calculations with a simple summation. Why do they differ?

Five year cost with 5% and 10% discount rates:

	No Discount	5% Disc Rate	Present Value @5%	10% Disc Rate	Present Value @10%
Y1	$12,000.00		$12,000.00		$12,000.00
Y2	$12,500.00	12,500/1.05 =	$11,904.76	12,500/1.1 =	$11,363.64
Y3	$21,000.00	21,000/1.05² =	$19,047.62	21,000/1.1² =	$17,355.37
Y4	$16,000.00	16,000/1.05³ =	$13,821.40	16,000/1.1³ =	$12,021.04
Y5	$31,000.00	31,000/1.05⁴ =	$25,503.78	31,000/1.1⁴ =	$21,173.42
Total	$92,500.00		$82,277.56		$73,913.46

Without discounting, the sum of costs totals $92,500 and is different from the discounted totals because it does not include any discounting, meaning the time delay in spending for the second through fifth years is not considered. For those years the money could be invested and earn interest thus lessening the loss for those years.

Drinking beer! Donna likes beer! She consumes 24 cases of beer over the course of a year. Her local store tells her that she can buy beer in disposable bottles for $12.75 per case or for $12.00 a case of returnable bottles if a $1.50 refundable deposit is paid per case at time of purchase. She must buy all 24 cases at the same time and then return any returnable bottles at the end of the year. If she is currently getting 9% per year on her savings, how much does she save by buying the returnable and thereby losing the use of her deposit money for one year.

Option 1: 24*$12.75 = $306

Option 2: 24*$12 = $288

Initial savings = 306-288 = $18

Deposit = 24*$1.50 = $36

Have $36 – $18 = $18 less to invest

Lost interest from deposit = $18 *(.09) = $1.62

Net savings = $18 – $1.62 = $16.38

You have just won the powerball! They are offering you either $1,200,000 a year for the next 12 years, or $10,000,000 today. Which option will you select and why? Would the decision likely be different if your rich grandfather won the powerball?

There are two methods of solving this problem. The first method is to compare the future value of the yearly payments with the future value of the lump sum payment.

METHOD #1. Select the $1,200,000 a year for the next 12 years. Assuming a 4% discount rate, the first $1,200,000 may be invest for 12 years at an interest rate of 4%. The next payment may be invested for 11 years at 4%. Etc. At the end of 12 years I will have a total of $18,752,205.22 (see below for calculations).

However, if I took the $10,000,000 today and invested it for the next 12 years at a 4% interest rate I would have a total of $16,010,322.19 which is much less money in the end.

Since my grandfather may not live to receive 12 years of payouts, he should elect to receive the immediate payment of $10,000,000.

*1,200,0001.04¹² =**	$1,921,238.66
*1,200,0001.04¹¹ =**	$1,847,344.87
*1,200,0001.04¹⁰ =**	$1,776,293.14
*1,200,0001.04⁹ =**	$1,707,974.17
*1,200,0001.04⁸ =**	$1,642,282.86
*1,200,0001.04⁷ =**	$1,579,118.14
*1,200,0001.04⁶ =**	$1,518,382.82
*1,200,0001.04⁵ =**	$1,459,983.48
*1,200,0001.04⁴ =**	$1,403,830.27
*1,200,0001.04³ =**	$1,349,836.80
*1,200,0001.04²=**	$1,297,920.00
*1,200,0001.04 =**	$1,248,000.00
Total:	$18,752,205.22

Compare this with the future value of $10 million in 12 years:

10,000,000*1.04¹²= $16,010,322.19

This result holds for discount rates of up to 7.45%, far above typical discount rates of 3-5%. Beyond 7.45%, it is better to select the $10 million payment now.

METHOD #2. The second method of solving this problem is to compare the present value of the yearly payments with the present value of the lump sum payment.

PV= ∑ [1200000/(1+.03)^1-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^2-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^3-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^4-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^5-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^6-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^7-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^8-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^9-1]+ [1200000/(1+.03)^10-1] + [1200000/(1+.03)^11-1] + [1200000/(1+.03)^12-1]

PV= 1200000+ 1165049+ 1131115+ 1098170+ 1066184+ 1035131+ 1004981+ 975709.8+ 947291+ 919700+ 892912.7+ 866905.5= $12,303,149.00

Now compare this amount with the lump sum payment of $10,000,000 (which is, by definition, in present value terms). Clearly, it would be preferable to select the yearly payments. Again, the result holds for discount rates up to 7.45%.

The most common error is to compare the present value of the yearly payments with the future value of the lump sum payment. This is clearly not appropriate. You must either compare the present value of both options, or compare the future value of both options. Do not mix present and future values.

Open Access Pledge

»Posted by Sintjago on Oct 11, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

Open Access Pledge

… We hereby:

Call upon universities to support Open Access

We believe universities should adopt policies that ensure Open Access to their faculty’s research, such as the policies adopted at Harvard University and Stanford University.

Call upon governments and research funders to support Open Access

We believe research agencies should adopt policies that ensure Open Access to publicly funded research, such as that of the National Institutes of Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
We believe charitable funders likewise should adopt policies that ensure Open Access to their funded research, such as that of Autism Speaks and the Canadian Cancer Society.

Call upon researchers to support Open Access

We believe researchers should publish in Open Access journals, and/or deposit their peer-reviewed manuscripts in Open Access repositories.

Commit to support Open Access in our activities

We will undertake activities, in our membership and on our campuses, to educate students about Open Access and to engage them in efforts supporting Open Access.

CEHD Graduate Student Opinions about Open Access Journals and Open Content

»Posted by Sintjago on Oct 11, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

CEHD Graduate Student Opinions about Open Access Journals and Open Content

October 29, 2011

Thank you for your participation in this online focus group session. Your responses are very helpful in understanding the opinions of graduate students at the University of Minnesota regarding open access journals and open content. Below there is a brief report based on your comments. If you feel this report misrepresents the group’s opinions you can email me at sintj002@umn.edu and express your concerns. The report is organized by the questions and the day in which they were posted, and it concludes with a brief synopsis as well as a list of suggestions about possible next steps to follow.

What Are Your Sources of Information? (Day 1 Summary)

In general, graduate students seem to primarily access sources of information that are available to them because they are graduate students at the University of Minnesota. While access is important to them, and most of the news sources they access are open to the public (NPR, CNN, or the open sections of the NYT), they felt that, as university students, they were able to access most of what they wanted at present. However, they are generally worried about the level of access they will have once they finish their graduate degrees. At times, when attempting to access sources outside of the university without using a VPN client, some students seem to have difficulties accessing relevant sources. One individual used their partner’s account to access sources when she was not a student of the University of Minnesota.

What are Open Access and the Open Education Movement? (Day 2 Summary)

There was a general understanding among participants that “open” implies that materials are accessible to anyone and that it is free or generally free. While “open education” used to refer to education that anyone was able to attend, rather than free education, “open” today seem to be understood as meaning more accessible or free to access to the forum participants. This new interpretation of “open” matches the changes that have been seen in the discourse of distance teaching and learning rhetoric in recent years. There was some familiarity with MIT’s open courseware movement, and the meaning of some terms seemed to be intuitive. When discussing some of “open education’s” potential, participants mentioned how, while it would be beneficial in terms of access, quality remains a major concern. Also, a journal being openly available online does not mean that anyone can access it since a user is still faced with problems of connectivity and digital literacy concerns. Increasing the quality of open access journals by strengthening their peer review system seemed a common concern. While in other fields, peer-review validity is debated, peer-review was not questioned as a quality standard by the focus group participants; rather it was seen as the goal or the level of quality to be emulated.

Opinions of Open Access Journals and Experiences (Day 3 Summary)

When discussing whether or not open access journals increase or decrease innovation, the responses of participants varied, with some support for a positive impact on innovation, particularly because there are more ideas influencing individuals. However, another student expressed how, for financially motivated individuals, open access journals might discourage innovation. In terms of quality, the responses were also divided between a belief that openness increases others’ ability to test, question and add to existing findings, but that it also increases what is out there, and the feeling that the internet has allowed for large amounts of information of limited quality to be posted. So far participants also felt that, while a person could publish in an open access journal in their field, and that there are articles that could be used to write a publishable paper, the quality and quantity of open access journal is not yet comparable to that of toll access journals.

Opinions About the Future of Open Education (Day 4 Summary)

While many of the participants saw the open access movement as a positive influence for the future of academia and felt that its quality would improve over time, when presented with the question as to where they would most likely publish in the future, in general, participants felt that publishing in a well ranked or well respected journal was more important than publishing in a journal based on its level of openness. There was general support for greater openness and change or a modification of the system. In general, the participants did not feel that they should have to pay to publish, even if they may consider doing so, but rather one participant mentioned that instead she should be paid to publish. With scholars both writing and reviewing articles, the system is seen by some as unfair. While they were generally uncertain as to whether Open Access Journals will dominate or gain ground in relation to Toll Access publishing, they were enthusiastic and openly supportive of the idea.

Conclusions and Suggestions

Open access journals and open content was a topic that seemed important to participants but one about which they had limited prior knowledge. Various times they expressed opinions supporting both of these comments. While they appeared to have a strong support for the idea or the concept of open access journals and open education, they were generally hesitant to mention whether the open access movement will transform academia or it will remain a minor arena for publication. To most of the participants open access’ potential for improving education and academia was clear, but they still questioned whether it would initially impact the quality of scholarship and innovation in a negative way. This perception is very relevant to this study as it is the researcher’s opinion that a greater awareness of the open access movement will help increase its support within the University of Minnesota. The study will hopefully continue to explore these themes, possibly contributing to greater discussion of, and support for the open access movement among University of Minnesota faculty members, students, and staff. Additional focus groups should also be carried out to ensure further saturation of responses and the improvement and relevance of the report. Visibility can improve quality.

Strangled Essay – October 10, 2011 (Immigration)

»Posted by Sintjago on Oct 10, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

Strangled Essay – October 10, 2011

Immigration Essay

Strangled, asphyxiated, your imagination should run free but your body lies in chains. Asymmetries everywhere surround you. To speak not only endangers you but also other ones that supported you. A PhD program should be empowering, and in many ways it is. I am a lucky one. Since the moment I was born I been lucky. My parents are together, and I don’t have any major complains. Yet, the American dream has been hard to obtain. I have been here most of my life, back home or here, I feel foreign in both states. Does the sign now really read no vacancies? I grew up reading the promise of America to the rest of the world. A beacon of light sat at top of a hill. A place of freedom where aristocracies had been abolished and social mobility was a clear possibility. I would love to contribute to this country, a country that I grew up believing in, it was constructed upon an idea of a civil rather than ethnic identity, where you were not defined by the color of your skin, your background, your culture, but rather by your desire to uphold the constitution and further the belief in a representative democracy where all man are created free and are endowed with unalienable rights. This is however to many only a fairy tale or a best possible outcome, as it is only possible with a great amount of effort, supports, and luck.

“I am not racist, but….” some say. Really, then why are we any different than any other group that migrated to America? Do you not believe that we can assimilate? Are you are afraid of losing the benefits that you have fought hard to create. America is a place where hard work is rewarded, where red lights at intersections are more than meaningless colored light blubs. The law is obeyed and so it should, but we must not forget that there are unjust laws as there are unjust men. Many of us came here escaping the fear of an uncertain tomorrow. Would we be abused, killed, or victimized in any number of ways if we went back to were we came from? Probably. As the puritans left England to explore this brave new world, this hemisphere, we are not different, we also wish to start anew and be given a new opportunity. In addition, helping some now may reap rewards in the future. How many patents are developed by human capital that migrated from all over the world, many of them hoping to call America their new home. Even for those how have successfully migrated, our country of origin remains in our thoughts or so it should because in many ways we are the lucky ones, and we most remember where we came from and do what we can to help those less fortunate.

It is my dream that other countries will develop so that those who migrate will do so for the excitement of exploring a new culture. However, if you continue to help us destitute immigrants worldwide, perhaps we will be able to obtain the strength to go back or send some of our income and knowledge back, but we need you to increasingly accept us. I love America and there is a place in my heart for it that will never go away. A great number of people have helped me along the way, yet many other immigrants have not been as lucky. As a Christian, loving your neighbor as much as yourself has always represented for me a guiding principle. Lets continue to love to work, and challenge ourselves as we have done many times before to achieve the best not only in educating new immigrants but also to instill in them the responsibility of passing on the favor, passing it on to the four corners of the world. This is the “evangelism” of love, compassion, and freedom that will help America strengthen its relationships across the world in the 21^st century.

Yes, doing so may represent a financial sacrifice, a cost. Helping other takes time, and sometimes if someone doesn’t want to help themselves, when we extend a hand, they may even bring the boat down with themselves, yet many of us want to improve and extend our arms hoping for help. Take us the poor, the destitute, the meek, and help us someday return the gift, and perhaps pass it forward all across the world.

Again, I am lucky, like everyone else, I struggle every day to improve myself. Educational visas have helped me stay in America. America has paid for my BA, MA, and now my PhD, yet I do not have a permanent status. In this sense, I am a bit constrained, I cannot choose to be an entrepreneur and attend school part time while working in an innovative project. But, I am having a good time where I am, a good time because I am doing what I would like to do, to study subjects that may one day help me give back all that I have received. I don’t want riches, fame, but the ability to return the favor, the favor of knowing that my life was worth saving, and so are many others. There are just waiting for the right motivation.

Thanks,

From Alfonso Sintjago and many others immigrants like me.

Camtasia 7 Tutorial – Presentation

»Posted by Sintjago on Oct 10, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

Camtasia 7 Tutorial – Presentation

October 10, 2011

Discussion

What was your experience like recording lectures with Camtasia?

I what ways did you find Camtasia limiting?

Overview

– Recording a PowerPoint presentation

Pausing the recording (Ctrl+Shift+F9)
Stopping the recording (Ctrl+Shift+F10)

– Editing a PowerPoint – Camtasia recording

Timeline – How does it work!
- Different tracks
- Zooming in and out
- Playing and editing a section
Adding additional resources

– Editing sounds

ChannelTechSmith

– How to use the PowerPoint Add-in Toolbar with Camtasia Studio 7

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqe7GDdwQPI&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB

2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaYaoPZSi20&feature=autoplay&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB&lf=results_video&playnext=2

– How to set Editing Dimensions and Save Project in Camtasia Studio 7

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ag3P1EV94CY&feature=autoplay&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB&lf=results_video&playnext=3

– How to Cut and Split using Markers in Camtasia Studio 7

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6HyhBIYpBI&feature=autoplay&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB&lf=results_video&playnext=4

– How to use Markers to Create a Table of Contents in Camtasia Studio 7

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixzow49aPJ4&feature=autoplay&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB&lf=results_video&playnext=5

– How to use Audio Enhancements in Camtasia Studio 7

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPaMR9UCsLw&feature=autoplay&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB&lf=results_video&playnext=6

– How to produce your Camtasia Studio 7 Videos.

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wq5fzJQaY7Y&feature=autoplay&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB&lf=results_video&playnext=7

– How to share your Camtasia Studio 7 Videos on the Web

1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ShEEEsfcDQ&feature=autoplay&list=PL281AA340A022BDEB&lf=results_video&playnext=8

Sophia.org – A Collaborative Learning Environment -“Teach What You Know, Learn What You Dont”

»Posted by Sintjago on Oct 6, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

Sophia.org – A Collaborative Learning Environment –“Teach What You Know, Learn What You Dont”

October 6, 2011

Project Part A – EdPA 5501

Procedures Used to Collect Information: Most of this information was gathered from the Sophia.org website as well as from a one hour meeting with Dr. Angie Eilers, the Vice-President for Academic Outcomes for Sophia.org. Additional information was obtained from listening to recorded interviews of Don Smithmier, founder and CEO of Sophia.org, as well as a number of press releases.

Program Rationale/Philosophy: Sophia.org emphasizes the need to instruct students taking into consideration students’ different learning modalities. Unlike previous generations, today’s youth have grown up in a more interrelated and interconnected world, having access to personal computers, mobile phones, and the Internet. Today’s “digital natives” are used to consuming, and sometimes producing, different types of media. Some of them prefer to learn through the use of audio visuals. As technology plays a greater role in society, students stand to benefit greatly from learning how to use technology effectively. By harnessing the improvements of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in recent years, such as the increased access to broadband Internet signals, individuals are now able to access quantities of information that were previously only available to individuals who lived near a library or another information repository.

Today, information is everywhere and, as such, appropriately setting and using filters is pivotal for reducing information overflow. Sophia.org aims to both harness the potential of the Internet for increasing connectivity and social learning, while at the same time developing a Learning Management System (LMS), a learning taxonomy, and an educational resource ranking system that permits users to sort resources according to their topic and quality. As access to information becomes more prevalent, the adequate classification and application of educational resources becomes increasingly relevant for harnessing the potential of the Internet in transforming education.

To ensure a high level of quality in their educational resources, the site believes in the importance of specializing in the development of educational packages. Sophia.org does not intend to be the place where a person can learn about any subject. Instead, it does encourage the publication of similar resources that explain or illustrate an educational topic in different ways by different instructors. A different instructor may contextualize a lesson in an alternative way that may be more appealing to a particular student or may be helpful for another instructor when searching for finding ideas to improve their own lessons. The social environment and exchange of multimedia files available through social digital networks represent new opportunities that education is now able to harness through technology.

Program Goals/Objectives/Outcomes: One of the long term goals of Sophia.org is to reduce the achievement gap by improving access to, and the quality of, education. To accomplish this goal, Sophia.org provides teachers or experts with an environment through which they can share their knowledge and experience with the Sophia.org community using either a PowerPoint presentation, a video, text and images or an audio file. The site also provides an organizational framework to facilitate the development of learning packets. A growth in the development of learning packets, the increased grouping of packets in collections, and the increased development of topic oriented user groups through its LMS are some of Sophia.org’s most quantifiable goals. Along with the desire to increase the number of resources accessible through the site, another of Sophia.org’s major aims is for individuals to increasingly use the site. Sophia.org tracks changes in all of these variables through its use of site analytics. A visitor to Sophia.org can easily browse through different resources and find out the number of visitors and followers every resource has obtained. Site analytics also provide Sophia.org with the demographics of the individuals that visit the site. This is important for its goal to increase the diversity of users over time.

Attempting to develop a vibrant culture in the organization, Sophia.org hopes to become a major player in ICT for education, and become one of the top educational websites. Sophia.org aims to be one of the major players in terms of personalized online education multimedia repositories. Unlike other fields in which there is a clear industry leader, no clear front runner has solidified its position within this category on the Internet. Because of the diversity and volatility of website businesses, while Sophia.org is growing at a rapid rate it is difficult to assess which companies will grow to account for a larger share of this market in the future.

To improve the quality of education, anyone who opens an account in Sophia.org can develop a learning packet and classify it according to Sophia’s educational taxonomy. After a packet is completed, individuals who access it are able to rate the packet from 1 to 5 in terms of quality. In addition, the package may also be evaluated by topic field experts to receive an “academically sound” badge. To increase a sense of community Sophia.org encourages members to invite their friends, and comment on other users’ videos and profiles. Users are encouraged to develop their profiles and receive badges for completing tasks within Sophia.org (Community Organizer, Aced Packet, Class President, Librarian, among many others). Tutorials have also been developed to guide the packet producer through the different stages of creating an educational packet. In addition, to encourage both the participation of producers and improvements in the quality of resources, individuals are able to decide whether or not to share their educational packet under a creative common license (CC licenses), and users are also reminded that the packets they develop will remain their independent intellectual property, even if they decide to remove it from the website and to no longer belong to Sophia.org. Sophia.org is currently focused on improving the user community by increasing its size and making changes according to community’s feedback. In a co-constructive fashion, Sophia.org developed a number of features that it hopes will be helpful for community members, yet it intends to continuously improve and modify its features based on community comments and requests. Over time, through suggestions and increased recognition for the transformative impact of its innovation on the online education landscape, Sophia.org hopes to encourage a macro-change for the broader educational sector, harnessing the new possibilities brought by modern ICTs.

Setting: Sophia.org’s central office is based in located in Minneapolis, Minnesota yet their community is everywhere. Sophia.org is available to anyone in the world with access to the Internet. Sophia.org is currently not accessible in other languages aside from English, therefore limiting its current possible global impact. Being a globally accessible website, contributors to Sophia.org can be living anywhere in the world, and currently a considerable percentage of them live outside of Minnesota. As it is still in project in beta development, most of its users live in the Twin-Cities greater city. While Sophia.org is a beta project, it is common for Internet start ups to stay in a “beta” stage for years, despite being fully functional and active. Because of this, evaluating them in the beta stage is not only acceptable but could be highly beneficial.

Resources at Sophia.org are developed for students of any age. These resources are of different quality levels, and they use different types of media to teach different topics. The educational packets are classified using a complex taxonomy which includes: applied sciences, English/literature, humanities, learning strategies, mathematics, sciences, social and behavioral sciences, visual and performing arts, world languages. Within every one of these categories there are many sub-categories. For example, humanities includes: history, philosophy, and religion or sciences includes: biology, chemistry, earth sciences, physics, and space sciences. There are currently 9295 resources within Sophia.org (October 5, 2011). Since anyone can develop a resource, the setting of Sophia is both Minneapolis and everywhere.

Sophia.org Staff: While anyone can collaborate in the growth of Sophia.org, the website itself is hosted, and administered by a small number of individuals.

– Don Smithmier – Founder and Chief Executive Officer: Don Smithmier worked 14 years for Capella University, eventually rising to the job of Vice President. Capella was the first fully online accredited university (NSDQ:CPLA). During his years at Capella Smithmier was involved in marketing, business and technology leadership roles. He was the founder of Matter Worldwide, GoKartLabs, Rumble, and Sophia.org.

– Steve Anastasi – Chief Operating Officer: With over 25 years of experience as a software industry executive, Steve Anastasi joined the company in 2009 to help develop the Sophia platform. He is the head of the engineering and operations teams. He previously helped to develop various web applications including Best Buy’s e-commerce platform.

– Allison Gage – Senior Vice President, Business Development: Allison Gage is responsible for business development, market research, client services, and product strategy. Having arrived in the United States in first grade, she is interested in increasing students’ access to the tools that will help them realize their objectives. She was previously the Executive Vice President with Living Independently Group which she helped to grow nearly 600 percent in sales.

– Dr. Angie Eilers – Vice President, Academic Outcomes: With over 20 years of working in the field of education, Dr. Angie Eilers has observed the impact of technological changes on education and the capabilities of the Internet to extend and improve learning. Dr. Eilers is responsible for overseeing Sophia’s academic content to ensure its standards and integrity. Dr. Eilers’ research has focused on policy implementation and effectiveness, and educational reform.

– George Tattersfield -Vice President, Program Management: George Tattersfield has worked for over 30 years of experience with education and technology across the world. George was the co-founder of Guaranteach.com, an online adaptive learning company that was acquired by Sophia.org in May 2011. George works in the customization of Sophia.org and Sophia Pathways to meet the needs of teachers and students from different partner institutions.

Program Participants: The participants in Sophia.org include both volunteer instructors and students. Encouraging students and other community members to interact with the different educational packet producers, Sophia.org hopes to foster the improvement of resources over time. The importance of feedback is not only relevant for the larger organization, but also for the educational packet contributors and the students. After an educational packet is published, the author can obtain feedback from students and use it if they wish to upgrade the educational packet. The community hopes to increase the quality of the packages over time. Students and instructors can both create “collections” to further personalize learning for themselves or a group of students. By creating “collections” individuals can create a sequence of packets that can then be used to illustrate a point during a class module or help a student follow a sequence of activities during a week, a month, or a semester. Over time as the student spends more of his or her time in the community; he may encourage his friends, other students or educators to join the site. That student may also eventually consider developing his or her own educational packets for the rest of the community to use. Packet developers are also encouraged to borrow from other packets that have been created under an open license such as CC and its derivatives. To summarise, a Sophia.org participant is anyone who visits the website and uses the resources for whatever educational purpose suits them. Currently there are 7029 registered users, however, without a statistical analysis and access to the site analytics, it is difficult to gauge how many users are active. Also, individuals who are only visiting the site to use a resource are not currently required to register and would not be included in the total number of registered users.

Instructors: A person does not need to be an official expert to develop a Sophia.org educational packet, rather Sophia.org hopes that the best packets will gradually rise to the top of their search engine as a result of resource ratings.

Students: Students of any age are encouraged to visit and learn from using the resources located on Sophia.org. A resource can be recommended for a particular audience, (middle school, high school, college or post-graduate).

Reviewers: A registered member is encouraged to review others’ resources. To do so, a reviewer must specify his or her area of expertise in the different areas of study previously mentioned (humanities: history, religion, etc… or mathematics: calculus, statistics, etc…). A reviewer must select the fields he has experience in and describe the type of experience they have. They must also accept that they understand the importance and responsibility of being an academic reviewer.

Organization/Structure/Administration: While Sophia.org is an open learning environment where everyone can contribute, Sophia.org is not a wiki. By having closed packets instead of open collaborative packets the author can retain rights over his/her intellectual property. By having packets made by single individuals, a packet is not aiming to become the definitive source of the most comprehensive information, instead they are just one way of explaining a particular academic subject. Sophia encourages different resources to be created that teach the same subject but contextualize it in different ways. This individualization of resources could allow for the development of brand names or for the resources of one particular instructor to be followed by students. Students could potentially find their favorite instructor. A student could eventually develop a short list of instructors that best align with that student’s learning modality.

Sophia.org has a non-advertising structure. Because of this, unlike YouTube EDU, a contributor or an instructor is currently unable to benefit financially for having more students use or view his/her resources. However, since Sophia.org is currently in a beta stage, it is likely that some of these positions may change over time. At the heart of Sophia.org is an innovative leadership that challenges the status quo, promoting innovation to find the best ways in which technology can improve education and, by doing so, improve society.

Sophia.org Activities and Events: Learning in Sophia.org is asynchronous as learners are able to listen to a video and an explanation when it is most suitable for them. Feedback and its response are also asynchronous. The main activities which Sophia.org members are engaged in are the use of educational packets, and the creation of new educational packets. However, because these packets are openly available, the way in which they are used can vary substantially. These packets can be used by any learner during any time of the year. A teacher could create a collection of packets or provide a link for students to use particular resources. Students could also be assigned to create packets. Packets could be used by teachers to improve their lesson plans by adding additional exciting activities. Packets could also be useful for home schooled children. Since they can be accessed any time of the day, they can be used by students who are trying to review for an exam, or to better understand an equation before completing the science homework, among many other activities. These activities are not directly organized by Sophia.org, but are rather a repercussion of its open online environment.

Budget: As a non-profit, Sophia.org does not benefit from advertising revenues generated by its popularity and its number of visitors. Sophia.org is concerned about its financial sustainability but other successful websites have found ways to finance themselves through the sale of advertisements or the marketing of premium features. Sophia.org uses its own servers to store the educational packets. Sophia.org currently offers two for profit initiatives including access to thousands of math videos that were obtained from the acquisition of Gauranteach.com as well the use of its automated and personalized learning assessment software. Sophia.org is also marketing their platform for companies and educational institutions that wish to use it as their LMS. As a beta project, the income they currently generate through these ventures is currently marginal. As with other education related technology start-ups, Sophia.org is currently working towards securing their financial sustainability and future growth, because of this, the non-profit element of Sophia.org currently depends on grant funding. (All the following figures are estimates) Personnel costs account for most of Sophia.org budget, with over 250,000 dollars in yearly wages spent between its top five administrators and other employees. The servers and their maintenance have a yearly cost of 30,000 dollars. The rental space, which is shared with other Don Smithmier companies, costs 15,000 dollars a year. Another 15,000 dollars are spent in advertising. The overall estimated operation cost of Sophia.org is 310,000 dollars a year.

List of Questions – Wikieducator Interviews

»Posted by Sintjago on Sep 28, 2011 in Fall 2011 | 0 comments

List of Questions – Wikieducator Interviews

September 28, 2011

Thank you for deciding to contribute to this study. Below are some of the questions that we may discuss during the interview. The interview will be semi-structured and I am also interested in learning from you what you consider relevant. Feel free to expand on any point or make suggestions about other areas to explore. These questions are only an outline of potential topics. The questions will be refined and modified after a predetermined number of interviews to better address relevant issues. Some of the questions will not be addressed due to time constrains and availability.

Thank you for your collaboration,

———–

Alfonso Sintjago

How and when did you first become involved with OER? How has your involvement with OER changed over time? What attracts you the most about OER?

If the answer is different from the previous question, how and when did you first become involved with Wikieducator.org and the OERU initiative?

How does OER influence knowledge and technology transfers? locally and globally what, in your opinion, is the goal of the OER movement? Is the OER a social movement?

Do you consider Wikieducator.org and OERU an international movement or an international initiative. Why or why not?

What are some of the greatest obstacles facing OER? Should every country participate in the development of OER?

Should OER be produced in least spoken languages as well as major languages?

Would you say they are currently being developed in a large number of languages, which languages are most prevalent? How important is contextualization in the production of OER?

What license should OER be produced under (if Creative Commons, what type of Creative Commons)? What license do you publish most of your work under?

Are you currently employed? Does your employer support the development of OER?

How important is strong support from the university administration for the development of OER?

How important is grass roots support of local communities for the development of OER? Is Wikieducator.org sustainable? Which other OER supporting websites are, in your opinion, sustainable?

What are some obstacles that limit you from spending a greater amount of time developing OER?

What are some of the greatest obstacles the OERU and the Wikieducator initiative face? What are some of the initiative greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses?

What are some limitations of OER? Wikieducator.org and the OERU initiative?

Are most people aware of what OER means or are they passive users of OER?

What leads a person to become more active in the community? How does the community strengthen itself?

Is Wikieducator.org doing enough in terms of outreach? Is the OER community doing enough in terms of outreach?

How are the wikieducator.org and OERU community different from the OER community at large?

Should the term OER be a household or commonly known term? Have you taught your children about OER? Are your family and friends supportive of OER?

Are most of your friends aware of what OER are and are they supportive of the idea?

Have you met people within Wikieducator.org? Have these relationships extended between the online community? What has been the nature of these relationships?

To what extent do you consider OERU and Wikieducator.org to be an online community? What has limited it from growing?

If you do not mind me asking, how do you identify yourself; political conservative, liberal, independent?

How do you envision the OER movement to be in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? What role with the OERU and Wikieducator.org play in the future of OER? What role does OER play within ICT4D?

How many hours do you devote a week to the development of OER? How frequently do you visit Wikieducator.org or affiliated websites? Which other websites do you visit?

Which OER sites do you frequently visit? How did the OERU idea develop? What has been your level of involvement with the OERU initiative?

What do you think is the greatest barrier for other universities when considering whether or not to join the OER movement?

What has the OER community done to increase awareness of OER? What other steps need to be taken?

What to you is the ultimate goal of OER? Are OERs sustainable? Why or why not?

Please explain your work within OER and what led you to choose this approach when developing education resources?What is your average day like? Have you recently participated in OER courses?

If there was one variable missing from the OER that is most hindering its growth and expansion, what would that be? What is the greatest piece missing in the OER movement?

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