ASSETT

It’s not easy keeping track of each and every comment and recommendation given by our professors. It becomes tougher if these comments have to do with our presentations. With the YouSeeU software, students can now have access to their comments right at the time they need them. YouSeeU is a web based application that allows students to upload self-recorded presentations, and allows professors to comment on them. Dr. Jeff Lewis, associate professor in the Marketing Department at Metro State, developed this software in his classrooms to comment on his students’ presentations. He believes that YouSeeU provides a high level of coaching which really cannot be accomplished by just a traditional classroom system.

How does it work?

Students video record themselves while delivering a presentation. After recording, they upload their videos to the system. Once the video is uploaded, students get access to sync their PowerPoint slides or other visual aids to the video that they have created. Dr. Lewis said, “As a professor, I am able to watch these videos and see my students deliver their presentation. Also, I can see their PowerPoint slides show up at the right time.”

Dr. Lewis believes that this software is a very user friendly system. He said, “We haven’t had any issues with students having challenges with creating video. They use YouTube all the time, and YouSeeU uses a similar process. Lewis also mentioned that the value added with the YouSeeU software is the security it provides. He believes that it doesn’t violate student privacy rights since everything is password protected and secured.

What is the sync comment feature?

According to Dr. Lewis, the sync comment feature allows him to give his students a high level of feedback. He said, “As my students say something or make a gesture, it allows me to pause the video and enter a comment in so that when the students come back to re-watch their videos, they see my comments right at the right time. And so they are connecting the behavior that they demonstrated with some feedback and coaching.” He added, “If I had a student delivering a presentation in a classroom, I cannot say ‘stop the presentation; let me tell you about the gesture you just made’. But using the video it really becomes a high level coaching tool that allows students to see themselves in a way they haven’t before.”

Dr. Lewis believes that this software works very well for public speaking and most business classes where the students have to deliver presentations. He also strongly believes that by using this software, professors are taking an opportunity to allow their students to improve their presentation styles. He stated, “It’s hard to find a class where there is not student presentation. And so anywhere there is student presentation is an opportunity to allow them to improve and get better with their presentation skills. Delivering quality presentation is an important skill that they need in the business world.”

How do I get YouSeeU for myself?

There are three ways to get this software. First, an institution can license YouSeeU. Second, students can purchase the program themselves. They can do this by visiting the website, www.YouSeeU.com, and pay for a subscription when enrolling in a class. Finally, YouSeeU an access code can be bundled with a textbook, as it is with  Effective Preparation for Speeches and Presentations.   According to Dr. Lewis, the most convenient option would be to buy it online at the website. He also mentioned that the professor’s accounts are free.

Future Goal

Dr. Lewis believes that better communication skills are required in any job. He said, “If you are a good communicator, I call that a ‘leverageable asset’; something that students can use to advance themselves in their careers. And I think YouSeeU really facilitates that.” He believes that the goal of this software is to help students become better communicators. Though this software may be something new to students as well as professors, it may have a potential to improve a student’s communication skills in the long run.

Written by: Manaslu Bista, CU ’11, ASSETT Reporter

In another note on the increasing drive to make social media an asset instead of a distraction, Twitter is gaining popularity at Purdue and the University of Texas as a quick and dynamic way to make a lively, contributing forum out of the “one-to-many conversation” of a 100+ lecture hall.  The procedure is simple: display the class feed at the front of the room. Instead of raising their hands—drawing attention to themselves in a crowd of hundreds, which can incur severe classroom shyness and make students reluctant to participate—students can just quietly type or thumb in their questions and responses. The instructor can then respond to these aloud, which draws more responses, continuing the conversation.

The fun doesn’t stop there.  “…Conversations continued inside and outside of class,” notes David Parry, Professor of Emerging Media at the University of Texas.  Students are checking the feed hours, even days after the class ends, finding a sense of community in a common goal of understanding.  Reviewed afterwards, the history of the feed can make a handy study guide—just look for the “significant terms,” as one of the participating students noted.

To read more about Twitter’s use in classrooms in particular and academia in general, check out this post by David Parry, or take a look as Dr. Rankin, his colleague in History, explores the use of Twitter in her history class. Youtube Link

–Written by Susan Craft-Rendon, CU ’11, ASSETT Teaching Technology Assistant

Endless note taking during exam time can be time consuming to many. While some students still comply with this traditional way of revising, many students also create their own note cards to help them memorize difficult terms. What if these note cards were to be online? And what if you could embed pictures sounds, audio and colors to these note cards? Now with the online flash cards, you can create your very own note cards which may help you with your study. A flashcard is a set of cards with information, as words or numbers, on either or both sides. Online flashcards too, follows the same concept, except they are created and accessible on the internet.

Here are some of the links to create your own online Flashcards:

ProProfs Free flashcards maker:

This site requires you to open a login account through which you will create your online flashcards. From this site you can:

• Create your own printable flashcards with colors and images
• Access to free flashcards on several subjects

To learn more about this site, please visit, http://www.proprofs.com/flashcards/

Flashcard Exchange

You can make your own flashcards on this site by clicking on to the Make New Flashcards link. This link will take you to a page where you give your card set a title, description and assign some tags to it. Then, a card creation page will show up, which will ask you for your consent to create the flashcard.

• Create as many flashcards as you want
• Many languages supported
• Flashcards can be shared online
• Import your flashcards from text files such as Microsoft word
• Embed images
• Embed audio
• Include a “hint” section to help you with the study

To learn more about this feature or to get started with your own, you can visit, http://www.flashcardexchange.com/, for more information.

Quizlet:

With Quizlet you can browse and use flashcards created by other teachers and students. This site requires you to create a log in ID in order to create your own flashcards. With Quizlet you can:

• Create a group so that you can study with others and share flashcards
• Discuss answers via live chat
• Get alerts on posting of new sets of flashcards
• Edit and improve already existing flashcards

To learn more about Quizlet, you can visit, http://quizlet.com/features/.

While note cards are created to assist studying, flashcards too can be considered a potential tool to assist students during exams. Because it is accessible online with embedded colors, audios, videos and diagram, it may make learning far more interesting than note cards.

Written By: Manaslu Bista, CU “11, ASSETT Reporter

Searching for innovative ways to teach and share technological skills, ALTEC (the Anderson Language Technology Center) organized its annual ‘Language and Technology Share Fair’ on April 16th. Teachers and instructors from different languages departments spoke about the technologies they are using in their classrooms to assist learning and sharing among students.

The following highlights the CU foreign language instructors who have adopted technological tools in their classrooms and shared their insights at the Share Fair-

The ‘digital storytelling in the language classroom’, presented by Juliette Bourdier:

Juilette Bourdier, a GPTI teaching French, integrated the use of Ning with software called the ‘Photostory.’ This product allows students to record their voice over pictures. It enables the students to create a video with pictures that corresponds to their recorded voice. This format could be compared to an audio form of flashcards. While using this program, students are required to come up with a suitable title, introduction and an entire composition matching the selected pictures and their chosen topics in class.

‘Potatoes for Grammar review,’ presented by Andrew Maurer

Andrew Maurer, a GPTI teaching German, adopted the ‘Hot Potato’ tool to create his own grammar exercise. These exercises were designed as assignments for his students to practice grammar at home. The ‘hint’, ‘check’, ‘undo’ and ‘restart’ button are the main features of this tool. These features assist students to work on their grammar exercise. This program’s availability of immediate feedback on the exercise makes it useful to students who seek immediate result to their answers. Another additional feature of this tool is the inclusion of audio and YouTube files. Instructors and teachers can embed YouTube videos or audio files in any of the chosen exercise files.

‘Do you Speak Italian? Yes, I do with Ning,’ presented by Tina Pugliese

Senior Instructor Tina Pugliese used Ning as a means of communication between her and her students. By making Ning the platform to carry out interactions, she encourages her students to upload pictures, songs and lyrics related to their experience with Italy. She added that student’s privacy is protected while using this site as only people with the Ning invitation sent by Pugliese can become members of this group. Many students from her class believe that this has made Ning exciting compared to CU Learn. Also, because this networking site is open-ended in nature, students who have graduated still have access to connect to their groups on the site.

‘The Best of Spanish Yabla,’ presented by Courtney Fell

“The Best of Spanish Yabla” is an online video magazine site. Here, Spanish learners have access to hundreds of Spanish videos that enhances their Spanish speaking ability. Instructor Courtney Fell uses this site as a learning tool in her class. She believes the site provides an authentic learning experience through videos made by native Spanish speakers. One of its key features is the ‘flashcard’ option. If a student is unfamiliar with a word, clicking on the flashcard option will display a dictionary with the meaning of the word. The flashcard option also saves all the words that you are unfamiliar with by creating a word bank and you can refer to throughout the semester.

‘Skype Exchange with Senegalese Students’ presented by Elisabeth Denizot

Elisabeth Denizot, a French teacher at Boulder High School, uses Skype to communicate and interact in French with students from Senegal. Students from her class have one-on-one conversations in French with the Senegalese students. One important feature of Skype is the ‘screen share button’. This feature allows these two parties to share any documents that are displayed on the computer screen. So far, Denizot has experienced only a minimal level of technical difficulties.

Though the degree of technology applied depends on the nature of the classroom and its course content, the users of Hot Potato, Ning, Skype, Photostory and Yabla are benefitting from these technological tools. Please see our help resources on Ning for more information about this tool [http://assett.colorado.edu/post/1182].

Written by: Manaslu Bista CU ‘11, ASSETT Reporter

CU Librarian Alison Hicks recommended some useful tips using the web for research at the Faculty Teaching Excellence Program’s (FTEP) Summer Institute in her workshop “Increasing Students Engagement and Creating Learning Communities Using Web 2.0 Tools.”

Hicks suggested over two dozen different resources, including many “widgets” that can shorten the time and effort it takes to find resources through online article databases and other resources.

One local resource that is also interesting is a system that can alert you to new library materials. Often times, when you’re visiting a website, you might see a small orange box at the bottom or top of the page. This box activates the website’s RSS (Really Simple Syndication). RSS alerts you to updates on the site.  You can sign up for alerts of new library acquisitions in many fields by going to http://libraries.colorado.edu/screens/newtitles.html.  The libraries has a greta explanation of how RSS works here: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/how/rss.htm .

To learn more about the many resources available at the library, visit Alison Hicks’s presentation materials at http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/research/subjectguides/codelibrary/ftep.html

For more information about the FTEP Summer Institute, visit http://www.colorado.edu/ftep/events/sinmp.html

Written By: Manaslu Bista, CU ’11, ASSETT Reporter

Geology is center stage recently as several strong earthquakes rocked the earth in the past months. But if you are a geology major or instructor, you know geology is much more than rocks and plate tectonics.  Here are three resources to help in your study of the earth’s physical matter:

United States Geological Service

This is one of the premier centers for geological research in the northern hemisphere. USGS is the program usually responsible for providing information relating to the earth’s physical behavior. For example when an earthquake strikes, they are usually the first to know its location and magnitude. Want to know just how many earthquakes struck the earth recently? One of its most interesting features is a global map displaying the latest earthquakes in the world for the past 7 days.  Information on other natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, landslides, volcanoes eruptions and tsunamis is also found on the site.

The site also hosts podcast shows called CoreCast. These are audio recordings of USGS officials interviewing experts who provide information on various subjects. And even though this website centers around geological studies, expanded pages on biology, geography, geospatial studies and water resources are on the site.

Since the site functions as an extensive archive, it may appeal to more experienced researchers who are looking to find the latest information on natural disasters and geological news.

LukeW Interface Designs

Luke Wroblewski is the Chief Design Architect at Yahoo! Inc. As part of his online portfolio, he decided to create two multimedia applications about planetary geology.  These professionally made flash apps were created in partnership with University of Illinois Geology professor, Albert T. Hsui.

• Slope stability demonstrates the effects of slopes on an object, in this case, a boulder, showing how landslides can be formed.  You can control the slope angle and weight of the boulder in addition to the friction coefficient and surfaces.

• Moments of Inertia measures the moment of inertia factor in all nine planets and the moon. You can additionally tweak the core density and outer shell density, however this doesn’t seem to have any effect on the motion of the animation.

The Habitable Planet: A Systems Approach to Environmental Science

Published by Annenberg Media, The Habitable Planet combines the visual appeal of a video series with a 13-chapter electronic textbook. This vast series includes 13 chapters that can be individually downloaded, all which are accompanied by a video. Some of the topics covered included the oceans, ecosystems, water resources, and agriculture. The thirty-minute videos are viewable in a pop-up video player at no cost.

Additionally, Interactive labs features five different simulations relating to the chapters and material. Visuals offer photographs and illustrations relating to the subjects, while the scientist feature lists the 40 professors and scientist who contributed the websites’ content.

This site is an extensive set of data with many resources for each subject it covers. These resources could be used by professors for lectures and for students as study aids.

–Written by Esteban L. Hernandez, CU 12′, ASSETT reporter

If you’re thinking about redesigning your website, and you’re looking for a simple, clean design, we’ve got a new resource for you.  We’ve posted several templates that you can download and open in any web editor (such as the free program Kompozer).  We’re also happy to come help you get started. Contact Mark Gammon or Amanda McAndrew for assistance.

The templates are on our page, Create Your Academic Website, http://assett.colorado.edu/resources/create-your-website

As you might know, the campus is in the middle of a process to consider a replacement for CULearn, our CU-branded version of Blackboard. Now is the time for us to decide what that will be.

Four vendors have been invited to give presentations to the campus, specifically to the campus RFP committee, chaired by Michelle Clifford of ITS.  Members of the campus are invited to attend.  The vendor presentations are May 24 and 25 (from 10-12 and 1-3 in ATLAS 100).  If you plan to attend, please contact Michelle Clifford (michelle.clifford@colorado.edu).

In addition, each vendor has an online “sandbox” for faculty and students to try out their system. These will run May 15-June 15. Please contact Mark Inglis (mark.inglis@colorado.edu) if you would like to try out the system and give feedback.

Congratulations to the members of A&S Departments and Programs who recently received ASSETT Development Awards to support their use of technology in teaching and learning. Look here over the coming semester to learn more about each of these proposals!

• Anne Costain, Professor, Political Science & Women and Gender Studies, “Bringing More Recent Women and Gender Studies Materials into the Classroom’
• Lori Emerson, Assistant Professor, English, “Request for Laptop and Software”
• John Flynt, Lecturer, Applied Mathematics, “Summer Digital Explorations: Teaching Using Technology and Participatory Labs”
• Nan Goodman, Associate Professor, English, “Projector, Laptop, Wheeled case, and Cart”
• Carmen Grace, Senior Instructor & Juliette Bourdier, GPTI, French & Italian, “Encore! Online practice to review and strengthen your French”
• Pui Fong Kan, Assistant Professor & Amy Thrasher, Clinical Assistant Professor,  Speech, Language & Hearing Sciences, “Telepractice: A learning module for implementing language assessments for children”
• Elena Kostoglodova, Senior Instructor, Germanic & Slavic Lang & Lit, “CU Around the Globe Pilot Program”
• Carole McGranahan,  Assistant Professor, Anthropology, “Anthropology 2.0: Creating Course Websites, Wikis, and Blogs”
• Beth Osnes, Assistant Professor, Theatre & Dance, “Empowering Women’s Voices for Change DVD”
• Ed Rivers, Professor, English, “Keeping Students on the Cutting Edge: Teaching Technology and Teaching With Technology”
• Rebecca Safran, Assistant Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, “Enhancing Sound Quality in Video Production”
• Deborah Whitehead, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, “Multimedia Case Studies for Exploring Religious Diversity in the U.S”

Calls for ASSETT Development Awards are posted twice a year.  Members of A&S units are eligible to apply.  Proposals were reviewed by a committee of chairs from each division in Arts &Sciences. For more information, please see http://assett.colorado.edu/project-portfolio#awards. The call for proposals for the next round of Development Awards will be posted at the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester.

Few newspapers boast the prestige and reputation of The New York Times.  Online it is more than just a newspaper, and some of their web-based applications are evidence of how online resources, useful for education, are expanding.  Business and economic majors may find the “Is It Better to Buy or Rent?” calculator beneficial, especially those interested in real estate. The calculator helps you decide whether it is better to buy or rent a home.

And for any student currently interested in knowing more about the cost of attending CU, the Estimating the Cost of College calculator maybe be of use. It helps paint a clearer picture of your education’s total cost.

Is It Better to Buy or Rent

Five text boxes for five factors affecting a home’s overall cost are found at the top of the calculator—the monthly rent, the home price, the down payment, mortgage rate and annual property taxes.

After you add the appropriate values to each box and press calculate, a plot line will graph the overall cost over a period of 30 years. You can also adjust the annual home price appreciation and the annual rent increase/decrease if applicable.

To the left of the graph you will find a summary of buying and renting options including the initial cost, operating cost and return of deposit on the overall cost. Clicking on any single plot point will show you this information.

Additional factors such as rent deposit, rental broker’s fee and renter’s insurance rate can also be calculated into the renting option. Additional factors for the buying option include deductibility of charges, costs of selling home, length of mortgage, capital gains exclusions and additional monthly utilities.

This is a very practical calculator created for use by potential homeowners or current homeowners. It manages to turn a complex system into a clear, reliable solution. Students studying economics can use this to calculate real-world applications.. Be cautious when using this calculator for homework or study. Think of it as a supplement to your learning instead of a replacement for learning these concepts.

Estimating the Cost of College

This is a simple and straightforward calculator. It might make you feel a little disheartened about how much you’ll end up paying for college, but at least you’ll know the amount.

You can choose between a 2-year of 4-year institution to begin your calculations. Add the total cost per year, as well as when you’ll be starting college and the annual increase. The total is then shown with corresponding bar graphs measuring the costs of each of the years in the two or four year period. The basic design of this calculator is useful for estimation, especially with the annual increase option reflecting the variable change of tuition.

Visit Is It Better to Buy or Rent and Estimating the Cost of College to try out the calculators for yourself!

–Written by Esteban L. Hernandez, CU 12′, ASSETT reporter

Studies show that over 85 percent of undergrads use facebook (http://www.livescience.com/culture/090413-facebook-grades.html). Now there are some applications on facebook that may assist students and faculty members in learning and exchanging new ideas. Here are a few of the apps we thought might interest students the most:

Veechi http://www.facebook.com/Veechi

Veechi is especially designed for college or university students. It aims towards helping students search for the right job, course or professor. Some of its feature enables you to:

• Access professional resume critique, job board and job hunting tips
• Get information on the professor’s rating, signing up for classes on the basis of educational information you provide while searching
• Access the compiled information on instructors
• Get access to the grades posted by the instructors along with the course requirements

Goodreads Books http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2415071772

This app can be a potential review guide for books that students and faculty members have read in the past and are hoping to read in the future. Its feature enables you to:

• Keep track of what you are reading
• Let your friends know what you are reading
• Share thoughts and ideas on your favorite book
• Get recommendation for your next literary collection
• Access hundreds of books reviews from Goodreads users
• Create your own book club and discussion segments

The Language Exchange http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2516930352

This app may be a potential starting point to people interested in learning a new language. It can also be a site where participants may engage in mutual learning with other interested language learners. Some of its features enable you to:

• Find a language partner who might help you build your foreign language skill
• Take turns in becoming the ‘student’ or the ‘teacher’ by learning your partner’s native language and teaching your partner your own language
• Learn more and faster than learning on your own

Philosophers + Philosophy http://apps.facebook.com/philosophers/discourse.php

This facebook app may be useful to philosophy majors and teachers. Some of its features enable you to:

• Access bibliographical information on major philosophical articles
• Access famous quotes and a list of publications on some of the books on philosophy
• Choose your favorite professor to display on your profile
• Engage in philosophical discussions, polls and debates with an active community member

One beneficial aspect found in all of these apps is that they all are cost-free. Applications like these, if used wisely, may help students tailor learning in the social networking environment where they already spend a great deal of their time.

-Written by: Manaslu Bista, CU ‘11, ASSETT Reporter

We’ve got a new resource we’re excited to tell you about. As a community of learners and researchers at CU, we like to know where we’re going before we go there. We don’t ship off to exotic destinations without first finding some information about the local culture, language, and geography (and this applies equally to Anthropologists and Astrophysicists).

Up until now, there hasn’t been an easy way to apply this same principle to the classrooms on campus. If you wanted to know what your classroom looked like before class, you had to physically go there. Today I’d like to introduce you to Places, a repository of all the centrally-scheduled classrooms on campus, complete with vital stats on the classroom, a picture, and a section to add comments.

Now, as with any travel guide, there are a few things to keep in mind when using this tool:

• First and foremost, it is a beta product (that is, it’s still a pilot project). You’ll notice slowness and quirks. We’re working to iron those out.
• Places is only available on campus or through VPN.
• The vital stats are up-to-date as of the date below the classroom name for each classroom.
• The number of white/black/green boards is somewhat arbitrary. We tried to take a standard length of board and call that one board, but some classrooms didn’t lend themselves to that measurement.
• The number of power outlets is counted as a power outlet group, so it’s best to think of that as the number of locations in the room where people can plug in rather than as the number of devices that can be plugged in.
• Comments on the classrooms are moderated, so you will have to wait for your comment to appear.

Please let us know what you think, and have fun browsing your next teaching destination.

–Written by Grant Matheny, ASSETT Technical Director

Imagine a blue Buick launched from a cannon at 77 degrees of inclination traveling 20 miles per hour.  Now imagine solving it; try using one of those extensive projectile motion equations. Stumped? The University of Colorado’s PhET interactive simulations may provide some assistance for a quicker solution.

This treasure of a website offers 85 interactive programs simulating equations and theories in physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences and math. Most are accessible to any grade level, although a few are specifically created for university level subjects.

Created by CU scientists, software engineers and science educators, this site is designed with the help of the creators’ prior research and testing.

In the about page of the website, PhET assures each simulation is tested by students and are the subject of in-class evaluations. In other words, these sims are actually used in class settings in conjunction with lectures, homework and lab work.

The sims are written in Java and Flash and can be download or launched-off from the website. Some of the sims are even available in as many as 19 different languages, from Arabic to Tieng Viet.

Here are three simulations you will find both interesting and entertaining.

Projectile Motion 2.02  http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Projectile_Motion

This sim allows you to shoot objects like baseballs, pumpkins, pianos, Buicks and humans from a cannon. You can choose the angle of the shot, the initial speed, the mass and the diameter. Air resistance can also be calculated to the launch. The range, height and airtime of each launch is recorded during the flight of each object. A measuring tape is provided for additional gauging.

Natural Selection 1.01 http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Natural_Selection

Those in anthropology and biology might find this a bit more satisfying than a line of text about the theoretical evolutionary phenomena. Here you control the mutations, environment, gene variation and other natural selection factors to help bunnies thrive. You choose their traits and then measure the growth of each mutation and gene variation with a line graph following the population growth of the bunnies. If you are successful, bunnies will rule the world!

Wave Interference 1.08 http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Wave_Interference

Three types of waves are simulated on this sim: water, sound and light. This sim demonstrate how each of these waves behave under specific conditions. As a result, this simulation houses more variables than most sims on the site. The water wave simulation allows for the control everything from the frequency of drops, the amplitude of the drops, the number of drops and even allows you to view the wave formation from above or from a side view.

So how useful can these interactive simulations be? With their quasi-flash game appeal, they can function as a very useful tool for physics and other sciences. To test out a simulation for yourself, check out PhET. For a history and background on PhET, see our earlier post “PhET Simulations: Moving Physics to the Web” at http://assett.colorado.edu/post/409

–Written by Esteban L. Hernandez, CU 12′, ASSETT reporter

Creating a blog for a course may seem like a large, overwhelming task. Traditional blogs seem to beg for insightful entries and time-intensive content. This is not necessarily the case with a blogging site named Tumblr <http://www.tumblr.com/>.

Tumblr is a microblogging site that is media-friendly and has a clean, simplistic design.

A Tumblr blog can be used by a course instructor as a place to easily upload course-relevant images, videos, links to articles, and text. The Tumblr blog would serve as a stream of pertinent information for a course.

Creating an account is quick and the content is public; making it easier for students who don’t want to be forced to create their own account to access the information.

Students can subscribe to Tumblr through their RSS feed, making it convenient to view the postings.

Tumblr also allows students to ask questions which can then be answered and posted in the Tumblr stream, decreasing the amount of times an instructor spends answering the same question.

While Tumblr still has some of the cons of traditional blogging in the classroom, it is an easy straight-forward format that can provide relevant resources to students.

A few examples of educational Tumblrs are 18th Century History, Geology Rocks and Eucatastrophe. While these Tumblrs are not tied to a class, their format is a great model for potential course-related Tumblrs.

More information on Tumblr can be found in this Fast Company article. If you have questions or would like assistance creating a Tumblr for a course, contact an Academic Technology Assistant, or an ASSETT Teaching Technology Assistant.

–Written by Mary Rochelle, ASSETT Teaching Technology Assistant

Studying philosophy can be an intimidating task. Here are three online resources you may find very helpful in deciphering everything from Aristotle to zombies (seriously) from academically oriented websites.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy<http://plato.stanford.edu/>

Quite possibly the most extensive collection of publications relating to philosophy, this free encyclopedia covers countless philosophical concepts, theories, and ideas. It even has an entry that explores the possibility of zombies from a philosophical perspective. This encyclopedia first launched in 1995, and is revised with updates quarterly .  A comprehensive search option allows you to search by keyword, title or author name. Articles found here may be suitable for research in addition to reference.

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy <http://www.iep.utm.edu/>

The self titled, “Peer-Reviewed Academic Resource,”  has 25 editors who oversee the process of publication similar to that of a physical philosophy journal or book. All submissions undergo a strict review process by specialist. A search option will help you narrow your search of the hundreds of articles on the site. Articles are regularly updated to ensure credibility. This is a free and simple site full of useful writings for students needing a quick and reliable reference.

Philosophy Talk <http://www.philosophytalk.org>

Since 2003, Stanford professors Ken Taylor and John Perry have shared their voices and insight on various philosophical issues over the air. The results? A solid online collection of valuable philosophical discourse with other professors in the field. This site is structured around their weekly show, which is also available as a podcast and is broadcasted in many states, including Colorado. Their latest show was titled “The Ethics of Torture,”  with guest speaker professor Nancy Sherman. This site may not be as extensive as other resources, but it can be a welcoming change to reading about a certain topic.

–Written by Esteban L. Hernandez, CU 12′, ASSETT reporter

Swing into spring and visit the new Political Science Department website at http://polsci.colorado.edu/.   The website has a fresh new look and appeal with the latest top-level navigation, events and activities calendars, faculty and staff bio pages, University of Colorado campus map with directions, and a link to department newsletters.  The site renovation also offers visitors an abundance of undergraduate and graduate degree and program information along with scholarship opportunities and downloads to the M.A. application and Teaching Assistantship application.   The new website provides quick, easy, and informative resources for visitors.  We hope you enjoy this site and find the information and answers to your questions.

–Written by Brenda Niave, ASSETT Web and Graphic Designer

By now you’ve probably  heard of Google Docs, a set of web-based productivity tools that include a document editor, spreadsheet, and presentation program.  Google Docs is free, requiring only a Google account (sign up: http://docs.google.com) and is accessible through your web browser.  On April 12, 2010, Google announced a major update to the Google Docs suite that includes significant performance improvements and new collaborative features.

Google Docs allows you to create content through its own tools or to upload and edit files created in other programs including Microsoft Office and Open Office.  When you create or upload a file into Google Docs, you become that document’s owner.  Document owners can edit and delete files and can also share the document with others, allowing them to view and/or to edit the file.  These features have made the Google Docs service a popular one, especially for sharing and collaborating with others.

The new document and spreadsheet tools have been revamped to allow for better formatting (rulers, tabs, spell-check as you type, margins, cell editing, improved formulas, and drag and drop).  The new Google Docs also includes a Drawing Editor tool for creating and working with flow charts, designs, diagrams and other graphics.  Importantly, this update brings many new sharing and collaboration features to all of the Google Docs tools.  Google has incorporated an improved commenting system that works almost like an instant message system located beside the document (and draggable into the document itself).  Using this feature, collaborators can make comments to each other about a document in real-time.  Document editing is also real-time, with each contributor being able to see each others’ additions and changes as they happen (you actually see additional, color-coded, cursors and the text as others are typing).  Google Docs now allows simultaneous collaboration with up to 50 users for a single document.

If you’re already a Google Docs user or are interested in trying the service for the first time, these new features are likely to provide an improved experience.  The update facilitates a better user experience and is especially useful if you are interested in collaboration.  For example, if you’re working on co-authored projects with colleagues or if your department uses internally shared documents.  The improved Google Docs also provides expanded possibilities for student-to-student and student-to-teacher collaboration on many types of documents, spreadsheets, and now visual graphics. The new Google Docs is available via an “opt-in” preview.

Further information about the update is available at the Google Docs Blog:

< http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-google-docs.html>

A video introduction is also available at YouTube:

< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_hJ3R8jEZM&>

–Written by Mark Gammon, ASSETT Academic Technology Consultant

The Department of Religious Studies is pleased to announce the launch of their new website at: http://rlst.colorado.edu/. In deciding to redesign its website, the Department had three main objectives: (1) to welcome prospective students and inform current students with a user-friendly navigation; (2) to showcase its dynamic and diverse academic engagement by making the website more interactive and highlighting news and events; and (3) to underscore its intersections with campus-wide initiatives through creating links to interdisciplinary centers on campus in which its faculty regularly participate.

ASSETT did a tremendous job manifesting these objectives in the design of the new website. Brenda Niave and Trevor Taylor were able to take the Department’s ideas and transform them into a visual aesthetic that conveys the dynamism, interdisciplinarity, and global range of the Department. The new website features a bold color combination of turquoise and heirloom tomato, offset by a modern watermark logo and banner photos representing religions around the world. The news and events section allows the Department to highlight the remarkable array of guest speakers it brings to CU each year, the recent conferences hosted by its faculty on campus, as well as the research and publications of its dynamic faculty.

The launch of the website is timed to coincide with the visit of Jonathan Z. Smith, a prestigious scholar in the study of religion and Robert O. Anderson Professor of the Humanities at the University of Chicago. Smith comes to CU as the Cox Family Visiting Scholar through the Center for Humanities and the Arts. He will present a lecture on Tuesday, April 13 at 7:00pm in Humanities 150, titled “Now you see it, now you won’t… The Future of the Study of Religion over the Next 40 Years.”

–written by Holly Gayley, Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies

Even those who don’t study astronomy find themselves filled with awe and curiosity when they see the cosmos. Students, professors and anyone online can feed their curiosity and increase their knowledge of space with the help of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s website, a world of online resources as endless as space itself.

The site is maintained by NASA, which houses the physical building near the California Institute of Technology campus in Pasadena.

The website elaborates on specific areas such as JPL news, information on previous space missions produced with the help of JPL, a section for kids, a section for students, and a section outlining public events sponsored by JPL.

But instructors and students will find the multimedia collection most appealing. Here you will find a massive array of media focused on space. Some of the highlights of the colossal collection include:

Images-thousands of photographs are archived on this website, many taken by instruments housed at JPL.  Clicking on the photojournal link allows you to choose between any of the nine planets, small bodies, the universe and the sun, to open a set of photographs and imaging illustrations. A particularly beautiful photograph of the Andromeda galaxy demonstrates the tremendous images NASA produces of space.

Videos-countless animations and videos display everything from interviews with NASA scientists, animations of space bodies in motion and actual footage taken by the Mars Rover in its six-year residence. A recent video titled What’s Up for April? is part of a monthly series explaining and suggesting space bodies visible during the night sky. This video explains the visibility of the International Space Station in addition to providing a brief on the Lyrid Meteor Shower.

Audio-podcasts are the main resources in this section. Links include recordings of NASA scientists as well as several NASA media telecon’s from previous years, which are audio press releases for the public. A February audio post titled Podcast: Mars Rovers ‘Talk’ Via Audio files allows you to hear the sounds picked up by the devices motion sensor. All recordings are accompanied by a written transcription of the audio.

Several of the links also include interactive capabilities, including one page dedicated the Red Planet  titled  Mars Science Laboratory and a clickable pop-up map from Earthquake Studies surveying different aspects of an earthquake. And if you recently saw a 3D movie, save your glasses and watch NASA’s 3-D Slideshow for a unique photographic experience.

With unmatched scientific credentials, the site could very well function as a resource for students studying aerospace engineering, astronomy, atmospheric and oceanic sciences, geology and physics.

Visit JPL online to begin your space research odyssey.

Written by Esteban L. Hernandez, CU 12’, ASSETT Reporter

After buying the behemoth Riverside Shakespeare book to save some money, you find yourself annoyed carrying around the giant collection to your literature class. But you might not need to continue carrying around or even pay for any book by the noted English writer.

Recently updated and containing all plays, sonnets, and other poems by Shakespeare, this app is simply titled “Shakespeare,” and allows students to posses his entire body of work in iPhones, iPods, and now the iPad.

Best of all, the app is completely free.

A majority of the texts are taken from the First Folio, Shakespeare’s 1623 published collection, considered the definitive source of a majority of his works. This app is available on the iTunes store as a free download but for $2.99, an upgraded version released on March 28 is another option. It fixes some of the flaws many users complained about in the free edition, adding line numbers and re-working text formatting. This version also includes a word search feature and a Shakespeare lexicon dictionary powered by Shakespeare’s Words.

The lack of line numbers should be something to consider about the free edition, especially if you are considering using the app for academic purposes. Additionally, since most professors generally disapprove of electronics in the classroom outside of a laptop it may not completely replace your hardcopy books.

However, as a free app offering thousands of lines of some of the best English prose and verse ever written, it really is a gift to any English major. If you are interested in aquiring the app click here or search ‘Shakespeare,’ on the iTunes store.

Written by Esteban L. Hernandez, CU 12’, ASSETT Reporter