“Flipped Classroom” debate reminds us of our real product
The recent discussion created by Stanford student, Ben Rudolph, in his blog post about the Rigor of Stanford’s Free Classes, is a good opportunity for us to step back and critique the larger picture of our digital course delivery strategies. The reality for most of us is that we will deal with an increased adoption of online interaction in higher education teaching and learning. For pure online courses there are best practices, similar rules for blended or hybrid delivery and yes traditional course delivery can benefit from the adoption of online tools. But we have to keep a proper focus on what the product really is. For the traditional college degree which still relies on a Face-2-Face model, that product may be less about the dissemination of information but it will always be about the shaping of knowledge.
Stanford student, Ben, does ask some valid questions about why his course experience may be diluted by a course design that caters to a massive public audience. And it may be that this specific course lost its true compass, but it has caused me to consider where this may be headed. I think most of us have been intrigued by the increased amount of open access to courses at some of our most prestigious institutions. I have written it off mostly as publicity that they can afford. Of course it does offer valuable structured learning material that is sometimes helpful to other educators. And these open courses that Stanford and MIT have offered that connect a form of certification of completion do move toward a new form of a student’s accreditation of learning. This is good for our society, it provides opportunity for all. But let’s make sure we in higher education understand our product. We help a student transform information into knowledge and hope to mold their character so they utilize that knowledge to benefit a greater “Good” for all. Higher Education must deliver a version of that product and our warranties must be true to the expectations of our students.
Mobile Budget Report via PeopleSoft
We just released a budget review module for our iGFU mobile site. Now that may not sound that impressive, but I don’t know of any other university mobile site that can give a budget manager a live view of their budget vs expenses complete with lots of presentation bells and whistles. The real story is how easy this was to do by utilizing the existing tools provided by our PeopleSoft ERP. The key as I have mentioned before “Bragging about our Mobile Portal” is the involvement of your DBA who holds the keys to the database and in this situation a programmer willing to tap the potential of the PeopleSoft Component Interface based Web Services via PeopleTools. The web services allowed us to leverage the existing user access security structure that allowed us to manage user qualified budget access. All we then needed to do was produce the WSDL repository which is then easily accessed and presented by our mobile web portal, iGFU.
If you are interested here is the tutorial for this Budget App.
Growing up with Steve Jobs
I am about the same age as Steve Jobs and in many respects we did grow up together at least with our involvement with technology. He obviously was a bit more involved which was good because that had a significant influence on me. I was supposed to be a doctor but realized that was not my real dream however, I did get a degree in Chemistry out of it. As a chemist I discovered “computers” or powerful calculators that controlled analytical instrumentation in the laboratory. Yes, college courses introduced me to computers that you interacted with via stacks of paper cards but the concept of creating something on your own computer just totally grabbed me. I then heard of these personal computers like Heath Kits but it was the discovery of a ComputerLand store in Chicago that did me in. This is 1979, an Apple II computer emerging and I had to have it. The serial number was 2014. So began the journey that placed me very much in tune with what Jobs and Wozniak were up to. Owning my own computer at that time was amazing.
At this time in my career as a chemist I just happened to be making a lot of money, at least for me, due to working through a strike situation with my job. In late 1979 I convinced my college buddy who had just graduated with an MBA and Law degree to partner on starting a computer store/software business. Jobs and Wozniak we were not but what a great adventure, start a computer business with about $10K in Steamboat Springs, CO. Maybe the location doomed ultimate success, but the adventure was real. Programming on an HP 85 actually was my best option for the lab management software I was developing but Apple was a part of our lives. Well this is a just a teaser for my life growing up with Steve. There is a book in this but the story is still evolving. I did actually run into Steve at the Frys in Milpitas back in 1987. As I remember there was a NEXT facility nearby. I have gone through the Apple roller coaster of love, confusion, pity, and amazement. Yes Steve was amazing and Apple Inc. is an impressive portion of his epitaph. I do feel fortunate to have lived during the life of one of the greatest people of all time.
Tribute to Bill Mitchell
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| Bill Mitchell, GeoAid International |
I have another post that is not exactly Higher Ed Tech Talk but it is worthy of this audience. I am the Chairman of the Board for the humanitarian aid organization, GeoAid. This all came about because of Bill Mitchell, the Executive Director of GeoAid who recruited me about 3 years ago. GeoAid was created to provide humanitarian aid typically in the form of community development to the community affected by the Geovic mining operations near Lomie, Cameroon, Africa. Lot’s more to the story but basically we were given enough funding to setup programs to help the Cameroonian people that would be affected by this Cobalt mining operation. So we were allowed to do “Good” as “God” would lead us. And we have, shipping 3 large containers full of medical equipment and numerous shipments of medicine delivered with health fairs and clinics. We have laid the foundation for many successful micro enterprises with an effective Cameroonian presence. We have earned the loyalty of the people and the Cameroonian government. This year we plan to expand into New Caledonia and Papa New Guinea. All of this because of the leadership and drive of Bill Mitchell.
Unfortunately this post now turns to a tribute to Bill since he died last Friday. But how he died exemplifies how one gets the most out of their life. Six years ago Bill, then 65, experienced a mild heart attack wake-up call that has forced him to deal with an at risk heart condition. Many people would have backed off an active lifestyle in order to live longer. But Bill jumped into GeoAid, travelled many times to Africa, worked long hours, etc. Bill also loved to play golf and his ideal script for how he would exit his physical body would be while playing golf. Last Friday this is how the script played out in the form of a massive heart attack at the 9th tee. And he could not have been happier, not because of dying while playing golf but because as a Christian he looked forward to this day with great anticipation. Bill packed more into those six years then some of us do in a lifetime. While working with Bill on world humanitarian development issues he instilled in me his slogan: “Change is Inevitable, Growth is a Choice“. We at GeoAid are definitely dealing with change now and I am confident that it will lead to Growth. It was an honor to know and support Bill’s efforts. The world will miss you him.
No Pain No Gain
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| Looking West at “The Husband” peak |
First I would like to thank the Oregon Hikers Organization for providing me with valuable information that helped me and friend Bob put together a great 5 day trip around/through the 3 Sisters peaks. Also this is a trip report from a couple of old guys who were mostly concerned about survival but ended up anxious for more such multi-day trips.
South Mattieu Lake
This trip starting and ending at the Lava Lake Trailhead, Sept. 14-18, 2011. We decided to modify the traditional 50 mile loop around the 3 Sisters with a 35 mile version that cuts through the Middle and South Sister via Camp and Chambers Lakes. The choice to go from the East over to the West was determined by believing that finding the trail would be easier once leaving Camp Lake heading west. We found that it probably did not matter, the trail was well defined all the way. 
Day one on Sept. 14 (fairly warm day) nearly did me in going 12 miles to Soap Creek. Problem, I was consuming more water than planned and we had been warned that Alder Creek was dry. I did thank God for a strong flowing Alder Creek due to the warm afternoon snow melt. But we did push our old bodies a bit. I’m a 57 year old office guy with 2 artificial hips and Bob is 64. Our packs were about 38 lbs which worked out pretty well, we did end up taking more food then was needed.
First night at Soap Creek junction of the trail to Green Lakes and Camp Lake we met backpacker Jeff, a Medical School Intern at Emory. He also started at Lava Lake and was on his last night. His friends had scared him into believing that bears were a problem so he never cooked anything at night in fear of become a victim of a bear attack. He did say he was heading to Bronco Billy’s for all the ribs he could eat and we to ended up there at the end of our trip.
After re-hydrating and a good night’s sleep day 2 took us to Camp Lake which turned out to be the easiest hiking day. Luckily we got there before a front came in which brought wind, cold and low clouds. But Camp Lake is a treat especially when it is all yours. This was our critical decision point. 
Would we be able to climb over the steep wall to get out of the Camp Lake basin. The trail led us to a fairly steep ice/snow covered incline we had to climb with just hiking poles and normal boots. I am so glad we decided to do it because the reward of going down the West side along Separation Creek was exceptionally beautiful.
Husband Peak coming down Separation Creek
We ended up camping at Reese Lake just North of the trail junction with the PCT. 
A very scenic location looking up at the South Sister and the lake was warm enough to entice us into a swim. However, that 3rd night was the coldest. We woke up to plenty of frost causing our departure to be a bit delayed.
South Sister with a Scarf
Our goal for day 4 was to get beyond the Obsidian area hopefully to beyond Opie Dilldock Pass.
Obsidian Falls
With a late start and late afternoon high cold winds we stopped at Sawyer Bar. The winds were strong and the outlook for comfort bleak, but all this changed by morning to give us balmy temperatures to get an early start.
Actually climbing over Opie Dilldock was more work then we expected, but we saved some energy for a climb to the top of Yapoah Crater.
Overall this 5 day 35 mile loop turned out to be a fabulous trip. No rain, plenty of water, awesome mountain scenery and wild flowers at their finest. I highly recommend this Sisters cut through but realize that the window of opportunity is fairly short when snow does not clear until late summer.
Trail back to Lava Lake Trailhead through Lava Field
My words of wisdom are to set your goal, be persistent with commitment. Be flexible when trying to include others who may not have the same commitment. Do diligence in preparation will pay off. And don’t underestimate what the human body can accomplish especially when survival depends upon it. Or maybe just “No Pain, No Gain“. And be confident that your next adventure will be that much better but no less difficult. Live long and be healthy.
Memorial Day in Oregon
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| Magic Mile run at Timberline on Mt. Hood, May 28, 2011 |
Tomorrow begins the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities, CCCU, Technology Conference, that we will be hosting. Should be about 80 tech folks from the 100 or so institutions that make up the CCCU. What a conference of this size lacks in number of quality sessions it does make up for with valuable networking. The weather here in Oregon will be typical with rain, sun and not so warm temperatures. However, I think most of the visitors will love the lush green country and appreciate the temps in the 60’s and safety from tornadoes and floods.
Oregon is a different kind of place. I went skiing Saturday, May 28th, at Mt. Hood. I’ve never skied in May before, but my first run I was floating through 5” of fresh powder on top of 180” snow base. But the prize of the day was skiing the Magic Mile (see photo). Going up that high on Mt. Hood in the winter is generally not possible nor is it desirable. Sunday I played golf, also great, and today I am nursing a sore back, but it was worth it.
Bragging about our Mobile Portal
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| iGFU Main Menu |
We were one of the earliest institutions to release a mobile app, iGFU, back when the iPhone was initially released. And we had high aspirations for doing much more with mobile development mostly because I had a talented developer who wrote the original version of the geocaching mobile app for Geocaching.com (see previous post). Well, shortly there after we started implementing PeopleSoft and there was no time to think about mobile apps any more. However, now that we are making great progress in utilizing our PeopleSoft portal we found that it was extremely easy to use that as a foundation for a new and improved iGFU mobile app.
iGFU is similar to all the other university mobile apps or portals, but I do have to say that ours offers exceptional content and value, even though I would be prejudiced. The reason I believe this is because I feel that it leverages the critical needs for a customized portal and we produced it essentially for free thanks to my developer squeezing it in to task list and the acquisition of icons from a recent graphic arts alum. The key is that we provide information that is useful to a mobile university user such as news, course catalog, food menus, campus events, mapping, etc. But the kicker is the access to our PeopleSoft ERP data as this student view shows.
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| MyGFU access from iGFU |
Now for some details: this is just a web app written in PHP with the different functions called from PeopleSoft. The functions are setup pretty much as you would for the PeopleSoft Portal. Presentation manager creates the structure drawing from an oracle table holding the specified data. And then it is called and presented by the PHP code. Since it is all controlled under PeopleSoft we can easily toggle a function on/off and designate the security access roles. When lists are involved like for a professor to see their class roster, that is also an easy call. Because we auto-create our course identifier in Moodle we can also grab whatever we want out of our LMS for students and faculty. The most interesting function may be the survey tool that allows a professor to easily solicite response from class with results displayed live. This is all made available because we are working with an advanced ERP solution built upon today’s web principles.
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| Responseware for Class |
I’m not trying to promote iGFU as the greatest mobile portal but I do think it is important to put development of a mobile portal into proper perspective. It should be a web app so that it runs on all devices and can be centrally managed. Keep it simple, what is not accessed from institutional data sources, should be easily maintained by content owners such as with a shared document. We use a simple spreadsheet layout to allow conferences to build their schedules out.
iGFU is a very young service and we are quickly becoming aware of the desires for enhancements and content placement. So now the real work begins in deciding just how we want to manage this service. Probably best to let everyone assume that modifications are difficult. Maybe that is the real advantage of an commercial version.
Be Cautious of Your Personal DNA Report
Hot topic on the news wire lately is the over-the-counter availability of “Your Personal DNA Report” from Pathway Genomics. This service involves sending in a saliva sample to a “Certified Lab” where comprehensive genotype testing will be performed regardless of your decision to order a report at additional cost. The first concern here is that the comprehensive genotyping data will be stored by Pathway Genomics. The second concern is that you believe that storage record is anonymous.
So why am I talking about this. Only because these things dredge up all the predictions and fears that I had in writing my 2003 thesis, “Security of Your Personal Genome” for my MS in Bioinformatics. I do think it is dangerous for us to venture down this path. I’m not sure we should tread so close to God like knowledge. But my real fear is that if a record of your genome exists, the risk of it getting into the wrong hands is not worth the knowledge it may bring you. As for anonymous, wrong, if your genomic information is compromised or is shared, and it could be under this “anonymous” label. It is not difficult for today’s search algorithms to match characteristics from the genome with say protein results from a past blood test or maybe your family tree had a certain trend toward a disease. One little link of information is enough to complete a match to you. So with the direction health care is going I would not want an insurer or an employer to be able to make a calculated estimate about my health future. Of course I might be OK since my grandfather lived to be 102 and my dad who is 95 expects to beat that mark. Just be careful and really think about how you control or protect your personal genome, it is your ultimate ID.
May 18, 2010 – Unbelievable – UC Berkeley having incoming freshman submit to a DNA analysis to stimulate discussion about nutrition.
May 28th – Unwinding Berkeley’s DNA Test, InSide HigherED article.
August 13 – The California Department of Public Health demands that Berkeley change its freshman DNA experiment. Double Helix Trouble, InSide HigherED article.
Update 2017 – With many of my predictions about the availability of DNA testing now coming to fruition, I refer you to this article explaining the risks that you take with services like Ancestry.com.iPad Survives flying off car roof at 55 mph
Here is what happened. Left work at 5:00 tonight. I set my iPad in its case on top of my car as I was putting other things down to get into my car. Yes there were distractions, like dealing with my recovering new hip and the Remote TV crew that was filming for some reason in front of our university. No excuse for me forgetting that my iPad was on the roof. As I was leaving the Newberg City limits I was accelerating to 55 mph when luckily I saw the black pad fly off my roof and bounce on the highway via my rear view mirror. I quickly turned around and was the first car to get back to my iPad which was fortunate since it could easily have been run over. I jumped out, new hip and all, grabbed the iPad, saw that it appeared to be intact, opened up the case saw that the iPad screen was OK and voila I turned it on and all was well.
Well this iPad owes its life to the extra strong convertible case jacket by incase which was recommended to me at the Apple Store when I bought the iPad. It was $60 and obviously nicer than you might think you want or need, but now I feel like a genius for buying it. The iPad itself has a couple of small scratches on one end but otherwise it is as good as new.
Hip Resurfaced
I have been out of commission for a few days thanks to receiving a new hip Monday by way of the Hip Resurfacing procedure. Amazing technology on all fronts. I was a strong candidate for resurfacing being younger with strong bones. It appears playing way to much basketball along with some arthritis from my mother wore out my natural hips, but these chrome-cobalt ones are actually better. No more basketball but handball and golf work fine.
I will put a plug in for resurfacing, definitely explore it vs. Hip replacement. It was recently FDA approved.
PS – created this post with the iPad, had to revert back to old editor due to Flash incompatibility. Lack of Flash is definitely the biggest problem with the iPad. Have been using the iPad on and off for a day and a half and I’m at 57% charge. This heartrate monitor connector on my left pointer finger is a bit annoying as well.
The Adventure Continues 