CIT Monthly News and Events

Guest post by Julie Reynolds, Duke University

Twitter posts are limited to 140 characters, but I discovered it takes slightly more than 140 characters to convince colleagues of Twitter’s value. I’ll try to make my argument for why professionals should use Twitter, and I’ll do it in just 14 tweets. Here we go.

#1) Professional use of Twitter 1 of 3: Post URLs for blogs, articles, & events that you want to make public to a larger audience

• #2) To promote publications, ex: “When Communicating with Diverse Audiences, Use Velcro to Make Science Stick http://bit.ly/4GD4fX“
• #3) To publicize students’ work, ex: “#DukeEngage interns turn dung into fuel in India http://bit.ly/c3u1a”
• #4) To publicize events, ex: “Citizen Science Training Opportunity July 19, 2009 http://bit.ly/16NYgc”

#5) Professional use of Twitter 2 of 3: Network w/folks who share interests or are using similar pedagogy/technology/research method

• #6) Networking tip: be sure your Twitter profile has a descriptive bio so people can find you, ex: http://bit.ly/Vqepp
• #7) Twitter can be like a virtual business card. Be sure your profile bio and webpage are up-to-date and informative
• #8) Join a twibe to find similarly-minded people. Visit http://twibes.com/ to search and join twibes
• #9) Add yourself to http://wefollow.com twitter directory so people can find you (I use #scientist #conservation #educator)
• #10) I posted ex of students’ use of edu software, was contacted by software maker to ask if they could showcase my students’ work!
• #11) Retweet to share info & build community, ex: “RT @saprasanna: Our DukeEngage project is on Duke News: http://tinyurl.com/nmuxkz”
• #12) Search for keywords http://search.twitter.com/ (or via Tweetdeck, my fav Twitr app) & follow people who have interesting tweets

#13) Professional use of Twitter 3 of 3: Back-channel conversation at conferences for feedback on talks & updates on things you missed

• #14) Ex: search for #NECC09 for examples of rich conversation and information resulting from back-channel conversations at a conference

You can follow this conversation on Twitter by searching for #TwitValue. For professional updates, follow Julie at http://twitter.com/JulieReynolds88.

Blackboard was upgraded over the summer; the new version of Blackboard is similar to the previous version. Those who use the gradebook (renamed the Grade Center) and the Discussion Board will notice the biggest changes.

This upgrade is to ensure that Blackboard, Inc. will continue to provide support for our system.

There are many ways to get help.

• Blackboard help pages now include short video tutorials.
• Call the help desk 919-684-2200.
• Contact CIT to arrange for training for a group of instructors.
• Contact CIT to request a personal office visit.
• Read more about the changes to the Grade Center, emailing announcements, and what students think of the new version.
• Attend a workshop (schedule coming soon). Check our calendar for details.

3D modeling software allows users to create or view 3D objects or environments. There are a wide range of uses of this software, from special effects for films to illustrating books or graphic novels. In education, the software is typically used for students to view and manipulate scientific models or environments for building and manipulating models or prototypes. By building and exploring 3D models, students can gain insight into how reconstructed historical spaces might have been used, explore how spaces have changed over time, or investigate how objects or spaces are constructed.

One of the emerging tools used at Duke for engaging students in the process of creating and exploring 3D models is Google SketchUp. Available for Windows and Mac, the software is a powerful, easy to use program that allows you to create 3D objects and environments. Items can be exported in a variety of ways and even used in other programs. Google also offers an online library, 3D Warehouse, where SketchUp users can upload and share objects created in SketchUp. SketchUp is available in a free downloadable version suitable for many classroom uses and a “pro” version that adds some enhanced features for more in-depth work.

Some faculty are also using Autodesk Maya at Duke with courses. Maya is a professional level commercial software package that has been used for computer aided design and 3D work for several years. ISIS, for example, has offered courses where students can explore representations of spaces and data using Maya and the software is used for constructing spaces for use in the Duke immersive Virtual Environment (DiVE).

Through building 3D objects, students can gain “real world” experience in a wide range of fields where 3D is used for building and prototyping. Architects and urban planners are using SketchUp and other 3d software to design buildings and structures, engineers for designing facilities and products, and historians recreate and explore spaces and structures.

If you are new to using 3D software, SketchUp is an easy way to get started. You can download the software and view some basic tutorials on Google’s website. Explore the Google 3D Warehouse to view a wide range of models and objects, developed by users of the software, that may be useful in your courses. Some that might be of interest include:

• Bridges (149 models)
• Museums (168 models)
• Frank Lloyd Wright (39 models)
• Egyptian monuments (7 models)
• Places of worship (259 models)
• Thessaloniki, Greece (22 models)

Sometimes we instructional technologists get so excited about the next big thing (or Wave) that we forget to let everyone know about some of the really useful tools we use on a daily basis. Case in point – Firefox. Firefox is a free “open source community-powered” web browser developed through Mozilla. The Firefox website provides a good summary of Firefox’s key features. Some of my personal favorites include Firefox’s excellent use of “tabbed” browsing, the “awesome bar,” and the ability to zoom in and out of pages.

While it’s true that many other browsers (Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome) have also implemented similar features, one key Firefox feature really makes it worthwhile: Add-ons. According to Mozilla, add-ons are “little extras that customize Firefox.” With nearly 6,000 of these “little extras” now available, Firefox can be customized to fit most any workflow.

Here are six of my favorite Firefox add-ons that I use almost daily.

1) Easy YouTube video downloader

Ever needed to show a YouTube video at a conference, but didn’t have internet access? Or maybe you wanted to archive a clip for a research project? This add-on places a small set of links within a YouTube video’s page, allowing users to download the video in various formats. (Note: All applications that download content should be used in compliance with copyright law.)

2) Tab Scope

With the ability to open a link as a new “tab” instead of as a whole new “window,” tabbed browsing can really help keep things organized. However, it can also get out of hand quickly if you end up opening too many tabs at the same time. The Tab Scope add-on aims to help by displaying a small preview of the contents of a particular tab when you hover over it.

3) Delicious Bookmarks

This add-on integrates the social bookmarking tool Delicious with Firefox (see the CIT page about Delicious). Once installed, you can bookmark and tag pages and search your Delicious bookmarks from within Firefox. Any new bookmark or change is automatically synced to Delicious on the web – so you can still access the Delicious website from any computer to retrieve bookmarked sites.

4) Read it Later

Sometimes you come across a website, article or blog post that’s not perhaps valuable enough to bookmark, but that you’d still like to revisit and finish reading some other time. Read It Later was created for just such a purpose. Visit the developer’s website for more info.

5) Zotero

Zotero “is a free, easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources.”  For more information, see the blog posts in the Duke Library Hacks blog or go directly to Zotero.org.

6) Evernote Web Clipper

Evernote is a web notebooking tool that helps you collect web clippings, articles, pictures, screen-captures and more. Installing the web clipper add-on helps make copying and tagging content from the web into Evernote an even easier process. For more info on Evernote, see CIT’s toolkit page.

To learn more about using Firefox in general, see the Firefox tips page.

Trudi Abel, in History at Duke, wondered “How do they connect? The past and the present?”

CIT provided Trudi Abel with funding and student support to create digital versions of historic maps of Durham using Google Earth. Using high quality digital copies of maps from the late 1800’s, Abel worked with CIT staff to figure out the best methods for converting, importing and placing images as overlays into Google Earth. The “georectification” of these maps presented several obstacles, requiring the team to consult with local Durham mapping and historical experts to complete the placement and positioning of these maps.

Several of the resulting digital maps have recently been added to Abel’s ongoing project – the Digital Durham website. Google Earth files can be downloaded and opened on users’ computers for exploration. Visitors to the site can also access several high resolution screen captures of the map overlays without the need to open or use Google Earth. The resulting maps can also be used in Abel’s work with Duke and local high school students – providing a basis for student research projects. Audio pieces created on iPods, geotagged photography and even short video clips can be linked directly to their historical and/or present-day locations.

“I think these maps will help users visualize an industrializing city and gain a better understanding of the process of urbanization in this New South community.”

VIew the Digital Durham page for Sanborn 1884

VIew the Digital Durham page for Sanborn 1888

Presentations

See a video excerpt from the presentation “Everybody’s Doing It: Web-based Visualizations and Mashups in the Social Sciences” which CIT consultant Shawn Miller gave at Duke’s Visualization Forum in September 2008. The full video is available from the Visualization Forum website.

Trudi Abel also presented about the project and the larger Digital Durham project at a Visualization Forum in March 2009. The video from her talk is available here.

Abel and Miller discussed future possibilities for the Digital Durham project at Duke’s Tech and New Media Tuesdays forum. The presentation is accessible on iTunesU.

Articles about the project

The Digital Durham Project: Creating Community through History, Technology, and Service Learning by Trudi Abel

Duke News article: New Map Collaboration Helps Tell Story of Durham’s History

MyNC.com article: Duke, Durham Merge Google Earth technology with historic city maps

Duke Research Blog: Seeing Through Time: Historic Maps, Google Earth, and the Transformation of Durham

Independent article: What Google Earth doesn’t show you: A small movement of alternative mapmakers seek to revolutionize our understanding of the Triangle and the world