The Crabby Office Lady from Microsoft Office Online

Crabby, yes, but helpful, too.

Check out the page to see if your Office question(s) is answered

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/FX101679371033.aspx?ION_CL=009

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and to find out about the real woman behind the crab, go to

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA011264381033.aspx . You will also learn how
the column got started.

Starting Point Resources for Gaming and Online Learning

Scavenger Hunt Enhances Students' Utilization of Blackboard
Dianne C. Jones, Pofessor
Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Coaching
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
http://jolt.merlot.org/Vol2_No2_Jones.htm

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants, Part II: Do they really think differently? [On-line]. Available:
http://www.twitchspeed.com/site/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20%20Part2.htm

Prensky, M. (2001b). The games generation: How learners have changed. [On-line]. Available:
http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Ch2-Digital%20Game-Based%20Learning.pdf

E-Learning 1.0
Interact! With Online Learning
By James Kirk
http://www.learningcircuits.org/2001/jan2001/elearn.html

Lewis, M. (2003a). Interactive multimedia pedagogy: How interactivity supports leaning. [On-line]. Available:
http://www.thelearningcurve.com/lessons/resources/media/TLC_interactive%20pedagogy.pdf

How do you like your Librarianship? Straight-up or Blended?

A one page article from Mark Herring in which he shares the basics of what blended librarianship is about and its relationship to the rapid change in our profession, calling librarians to seek new models that better fit the times.

--Go to "Against the Grain" at
http://www.against-the-grain.com/d/fulltextarticles

--Select vol.20 3
p. 75 June 2008
Mark Herring
Little Red Herrings
pdf

Any comments?

Tools to get rid of Junk Mail from all sources

I found these in August's issue of Good Housekeeping magazine. They look good. Now, do we have the time to follow through? :-)


http://www.obviously.com/junkmail/

http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm

From K-Grey (Lifelong Cyberlearning)

Thanks to Gerry McKiernan, Associate ProfessorScience and Technology Librarian at
Iowa State University Library
[ http://tinyurl.com/6ngdaz ]

Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge / A 21st Century Agenda for the National Science Foundation

Report of the NSF Task Force on Cyberlearning

[Christine L. Borgman (Chair), Hal Abelson, Lee Dirks, Roberta Johnson, Kenneth R. Koedinger, Marcia C. Linn, Clifford A. Lynch, Diana G. Oblinger, Roy D. Pea, Katie Salen, Marshall S. Smith, Alex Szalay] / June 24 2008 / Posted August 11 2008

Excerpts from Executive Summary

The Task Force on Cyberlearning was charged jointly by the Advisory Committees to the Education and Human Resources Directorate and the Office of Cyberinfrastructure to provide guidance to NSF on the opportunities, research questions, partners, strategies, and existing resources for cyberlearning. This report identifies directions for leveraging networked computing and communications technology. It also calls for research to establish successful ways of using these technologies to enhance educational opportunities and strengthen proven methods of learning.

Imagine a high school student in the year 2015. She has grown up in a world where learning is as accessible through technologies at home as it is in the classroom, and digital content is as real to her as paper, lab equipment, or textbooks. At school, she and her classmates engage in creative problem-solving activities by manipulating simulations in a virtual laboratory or by downloading and analyzing visualizations of realtime data from remote sensors.

Away from the classroom, she has seamless access to school materials and homework assignments using inexpensive mobile technologies. She continues to collaborate with her classmates in virtual environments that allow not only social interaction with each other but also rich connections with a wealth of supplementary content. Her teacher can track her progress over the course of a lesson plan and compare her performance across a lifelong “digital portfolio,” making note of areas that need additional attention through personalized assignments and alerting parents to specific concerns.

What makes this possible is cyberlearning, the use of networked computing and communications technologies to support learning. Cyberlearning has the potential to transform education throughout a lifetime, enabling customized interaction with diverse learning materials on any topic—from anthropology to biochemistry to civil engineering to zoology. Learning does not stop with K–12 or higher education; cyberlearning supports continuous education at any age.


Full Report Available At
[http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08204/nsf08204.pdf] / 62 pp.

My WebJunction

WebJunction launches new online social & learning Aug. 13, 2008
From the news release:
WebJunction, the online learning community for librarians and library staff, has launched a new social and learning experience in close collaboration with partners in 15 state libraries. The new site builds on the deep repository of helpful content, relevant courses, and active discussions that have been the hallmark of WebJunction since 2003.
The new capabilities make it easier for librarians and staff to:
* Connect with friends, peers, and colleagues from across the library community using powerful new social tools such as friends, public profiles, groups, discussions, tagging, and recommendations;
* Learn the skills they need to thrive in their careers with new and more flexible online courses covering general business, technical, and library skills, complimented by powerful social and learningmanagement tools that add depth to the experience

When you sign in as a WebJunction member, you get access to your own personalized web page called My WebJunction. Watch the short video where Dale and Michael explain what the page is and how to use it to track your favorite content, people, and activities on the site.
Watch the video »
http://webjunction.org/home

Remember Jing Project (dated July 31, 2008)?

I wasted enought time famliarizing myself with Jing and came to a decision. Although you can make a 5 min. video, I had no success and figure that I 'd better commit to learning and using Adobe Captivate since we, Iona College librarians, have access to it. It's the real thing.

TOURBUS Volume 14, Number 2 -- 05 Aug 2008

I really like this newsletter. Variety of e-topics: security, software, devices, the latest news and ratings. Here's an issue.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tourbus Home -- http://www.internettourbus.com/
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TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPICS: Free Anti-Virus / Botnets /
Future Input Devices / Health Records

In today's TOURBUS, I've got a review of AVG 8.0, a free anti-virus
program that I use and recommend. Are you protected? You'll also
learn about Botnets, an insidious threat to your computer. Are you
vulnerable? We'll also peer into the future of computer input
devices, to see what will someday replace your mouse and keyboard.
And we wrap with a roundup of online health records services.
Will your private medical records be safe on the Web? Read on!
------------------------------
AVG Free Anti-Virus Software
------------------------------
If your computer safe from viruses? Without the proper protection,
your computer can catch a virus faster than you can recite your email
address three times. Viruses can destroy files, compromise your
privacy, and make you vulnerable to identity theft. What to do?

AVG Free anti-virus software The first step is to make sure that you
have a decent anti-virus program installed. There are many to choose
from, but I use and recommend the free AVG software. Let's take a
look at the new 8.0 version and see what it can do to protect you
from the onslaught of cyber-nasties floating around out there.

FREE AVG - http://askbobrankin.com/avg_review.html

---------------------------
Warning, Danger: Botnets!
---------------------------
A reader recently asked me this question about botnets:

> "I've read warnings about getting caught up in botnets, but still
> don't understand the danger. Can you explain in simple terms what
> a botnet is, and how to avoid them?"

The term "botnet" is short for "robot network" -- but try not to think
of this in terms of a General Grievous-style robot army trying to take
over Cyberspace. A botnet is a collection of ordinary home and office
computers that have been compromised by rogue software.

Computers that have been caught up in a botnet have been effectively
taken over, and can be used to perform almost any task by the people
who control the botnet. Botnets are controlled by criminals and other
miscreants whose motives include selling products, operating financial
scams and crippling websites through coordinated attacks.

Learn more about botnets, how millions of computers have been caught
up in this malignant web, and how to avoid the botnets...

BOTNETS! - http://askbobrankin.com/what_is_a_botnet.html

-----------------------------
Input Devices of the Future
-----------------------------
We're tethered to our computers now, but the future of input devices
will give computer users a freedom that is nearly unfathomable. Get
ready to cast aside your keyboard and mouse. Future computer input
devices will rely heavily on the movements of our eyes, head, hands,
body, the words that we speak... and maybe our thoughts.

Learn about the latest innovations in Body Movement Input Devices,
Voice Input Devices, Virtual Reality Input Devices, and Brain-Computer
Interfaces. Are you ready for a computer that can read your mind?

NEED INPUT - http://askbobrankin.com/future_input_devices.html

---------------------------------------------
Would You Store Your Health Records Online?
---------------------------------------------
Storing health records online can be a convenient way to access and
manage your family’s medical information, saving you the hassle and
headache of filling out forms, or getting your doctor to transfer your
info to another facility. Having access to your medical history at the
click of a mouse can be extremely important or even life saving in the
case of a medical emergency.

But would you trust your personal health records to an online company?
There are several websites currently offering this service. Let’s
take a look at each one...

HEALTH - http://askbobrankin.com/online_health_records.html


That's all for now, see you next time! -- Bob Rankin

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Be Smarter & Better Looking Than [-99.386606-] Percent of Users

The Best of Everything - http://www.InternetTourbus.com/best.html