This is my first post from Ping.fm. Supposedly I will be able to update all of my accounts from this one site. If it works, that will certainly be a timesaver.

New theme

Mashable has a good display of 10 Beautiful Free Blogger Templates. The one I'm using now is one of them. They're a welcome break from the standard Blogger templates. I still need to set up the links to the social network sites, but that will come.

Using Bloglines in my class

Last year, I used a combination of Blogger and Netvibes with my classes: blogger for blogging and netvibes for RSS feeds so students could see what they their classmates were writing. This year, I was considering switching to Elgg, because it seems so intuitive and clean, and most importantly combined blogging with RSS feeds. However, I couldn't quite figure out how to get the RSS to work right. The subscription was "successful," but I didn't see any posts. So, for now, I've decided to go with Bloglines, which combines the two functions I'm interested in. Because my students are using Bloglines, I need to do so, too, to understand better what problems they might run into. Now, I need to decide what sorts of posts I'll put here  as opposed to there. And what will I do with my other blogger account. Hmm. Well, I'll wait until they update Blogger and see what happens. Perhaps it will be better than Bloglines.

Having problems with Elgg

I tried setting up a feed from ESL Writing to my Elgg account, but the feed, although subscribed successfully, doesn't seem to be working. Hmm.

Blogged with Flock

Checking out new feed at Elgg

This is just a test post to see how my feed at Elgg is working.

Blog Tools

Darren at ProBlogger has compiled a good list of blog tools:

A couple of months ago I asked readers to share which blogging tools they use the most in some of the following areas. The suggestions were a nice start but I’d like to see the list expand as I’m certain there are more blog tools and services out there.

Earlier this year, Darren wrote a good article on Choosing a Blog Platform. Rather than recommending a particular platforms, he goes through questions you should ask yourself before beginning a blog, such as, What are you goals? What is your budget? Your level of technological competence? Answering these questions should lead you to an appropriate platform. At the end of the article is a list of other readings on blogging platforms.

Blogged with Flock

Measure Map

I decided to give Measure Map a try on my other blog Explorations in Learning, linking to my latest post "Experts in the Learning Profession." It is supposed to measure how many people visit your site, make a link to it, etc.
I've been able to see two visitors. Now with this post, I'll see if it records the links.

Slowing down for the summer

As this blog is for my classes and I will not be teaching during the summer, summer posting will occur at my blog Explorations in Learning.

Self-discipline better than IQ in achievement

David Munger, a research blogger who reports on cognitive research, has a recent article, "High IQ: Not as Good for You as You Thought", which reports on research by Angela Duckworth and Martin Seligman that shows that self-discipline is much more important than IQ in academic achievement. According to the study,

Most impressive was the whopping .67 correlation between self-discipline and final GPA, compared to a .32 correlation for IQ.

In other words, practice makes perfect, and the more one practices, the more perfect one becames.

That makes sense. We wouldn't expect an Olympic athlete to not put in lots of hours of practice and work-outs if s/he wanted to win a gold medal. Why would anyone think differently about academic achievement?

Oral presentations

Today in class, we covered the elements of oral presentations. For evaluation criteria, students came up with speaking, content, organization, presentation aids, thesis statement, creativity, and coherence. We then compared it to an article on Steve Jobs' presentation skills, "How to Wow 'Em Like Steve Jobs" by Camine Gallo in BusinessWeek Online. According to Gallo, what makes Jobs' presentations great are the following elements: Sell the Benefit; Practice, Practice, and More Practice; Keep it Visual; Exude passion, energy, and enthusiasm; and "And One More Thing ...". Obviously, there were some connections and some not-connections.

After comparing Jobs' style, we then looked at The Ten Commandments of Client Presentations. Three of the 10 commandments were Tell a Story, Don't Tell What it is, Show What it Means; and Be a Person. These three in particular reminded me of the summary on Steve Jobs' presentations.

When we think about how to apply these different perspectives to an academic presentation, it becomes more interesing. Research papers have a question/thesis, data collection methods, analysis/interpretation of the data, comparison with readings of research in that area, and then a conclusion. It seems that "Sell the benefit" would be related to the research question/thesis, and "Keep it visual" would connect to graphs and charts on one's data. But some of the other aspects take more imagination to connect. Hmm. Why?

Little things matter

Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan, believes little things matter (from Garr Reynolds of the Presentation Zen blog). Despite managing the huge company of Nissan, he has taken the time to learn how to use chopsticks in order to influence company employees. Rivas-Mcoud states:

"Holding chopsticks correctly was necessary if Ghosn hoped to make a good impression on Japanese subordinates and colleagues. The lesson reminded Ghosn of the importance of the tiniest facets of managing a company. You can not ignore them, just as you cannot ignore the proper way of holding chopsticks."

Garr Reynolds condenses key presentation points down to four items: 1. Show more passion. 2. End cookie-cutter design. 3. End confusion. 4. Think benefits not technology.

Annotated Bibliography

Just a few notes on the Annotated Bibliography to turn in on Monday. Mostly, you will simply copy and paste what you've already done at goodwriting.editme.com into a MS Word document so you can print it out and turn it in. That is, you will keep both the bibliography information and the paragraph(s) summarizing and responding to the article.

After that, you'll need to make sure that you have the correct format. Are you using APA, MLA, or another style? See what the journal requires. If you're not certain, visit or email me. According to the journal format you're using, it should be either alphabetical or perhaps numerical in order, which means that the summaries you have can't stay in the same order as they are at goodwriting.editme.com.

I took two examples from goodwriting.editme.com to post here. Notice that the two authors are in alphabetical order. The difference between here and in print is that you need to indent (tab) the second and third lines of the bibliography information. I wasn't quite sure how to do that on this blog, but it's easy in MS Word. Also, I had problems getting the font and font size the same for all the entries, but again, that's easy to do in MS Word.

Elias, P. (2005, August 18). Researchers Creating Life from Scratch. Retrieved February 2, 2005 from Breitbart.com Website: http//www.breitbart.com/news/2005/08/18/D8C2G7P01.html

Paul Elias, a biotechnology writer, calls synthetic biologist “bold” because of what they are claiming. Synthetic biologists believe to make living thing one molecule after another. They are mostly combining DNA’s chemical computers for a better future, which will be to make biologically based computers and an more improvement in medicine. That group of biologists, synthetic biologists, gathered together after 30 years of work from other scientists who tried to combine genetic materials of two species which was not successful. Synthetic biologists bring in a different approach that consist of using the same strategies in architecture and computerization. Synthetic Biologists have created a polio virus and another smaller virus. The world tiniest computer has been created in Israel by engineering DNA to carry out mathematical functions. The biological revolution has been a money attraction. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated millions in grant to the creation of a new malaria drug.

This article gives an overview of what synthetic biologists really do and what their intentions. It does show that they are determined to improve our world. The article gives information to those who are interested in synthetic biology, what the goals really are, and what is involved in their researches.

Hamburg, D (2006, February 22-28). Government Of, By and For the Pharmaceutical Industry. Retrieved
March 15,2006 from Santa Monica Mirror Online Web site: http://www.smmirror.com/MainPages/DisplayArticleDetails.asp?eid=2423

In this article, Dan Hamburg talks about another issue concerning the controversial issue: Thimerosal in Vaccines. Since Thimerosal has been added in vaccines, Autism has rose except for those who have been exempt because of religious reasons. While Autism has increased among children being vaccinated, it has not been among populations that do not get any vaccines. To prevent pharmaceutical companies from being sued, the President has passed a law prohibit parent from suing pharmaceutical companies for reasons such as Autism.

There is evidence that can definitely relate Thimerosal and Autism even though the relation between them has not been proved. The fact that Autism has not been found among people like the Amish should be used in order to prove that mercury in vaccines in harmful.

Using Citation

Citation, our bibliographic software, has been a little confusing, especially as we started in the middle of the semester. Plus, today, while wanting to use it through the projector for all to see, I learned it hadn't been yet integrated into the teacher's computer. The learning curve is a little steep, and the time remaining is more than a little short. So, I can't require that it be used. Still, if time is spent at home learning to use Citation, it will be worth it, as it can be used in other classes before graduation and perhaps even after.

Swales' Four Moves

According to John Swales, a professor of linguistics at The University of Michigan, all science journal articles mak four rhetorical moves in their introductions. These moves are designed to show to readers that the article is worth reading and that it has something new to say. These moves do not always occur in the same order, but they are always present. The four moves are:

1. Announce the topic and show its importance.
2. Review and summarize previous research pertinent to the topic.
3. Make a gap in the previous research, showing that it is incomplete in some way.
4. Introduce the author's present research as filling that gap.

The title of Graff and Birkenstein's book on argumentation condenses these four moves to just two: They say, I say.

Good blogging = Telling a good story

Chris Garrett of Performancing has a few paragraphs and pointers on good blogging as "telling a good story." Garrett notes that the 17 pointers need to consider the context and audience: For example, humor is not appropriate for all audiences. Some tips should always be considered, such as: "start with a good title."

Working memory

I was working with the bibliographic and research note software Citation about a month ago and found out how to use its research function to download bibliography information directly into my datafile. What a savings of time! Well, I was just trying it again and can't remember how I did it. I had to go back to the manual, and no wonder: it's just a copy and paste of the abstract information. It's not quite perfect, however. Perhaps, I need to review it a little more to better understand it. I can't imagine that the company wouldn't have figured this out yet. Even so, I do like the way it lets you add notes to your sources, search them, and so on.

Cute Overload

Cute Overload has lots of "cute" photos. They say:

At Cute Overload®, we scour the Web for only the finest in Cute Imagery™. Imagery that is Worth Your Internet Browsing Time. We offer an overwhelming amount of cuteness to fill your daily visual allowance. Drink it in!

Springdoo: talking emails

Springdoo is a way of adding voice to your emails. Basically, you record your voice to an online storage place, copy the site location, paste it into your email, and send it: Podcasting without the iPod. Distant grandparents will love it!

Online calendars

The number of online calendars is proliferating. I have a CalendarHub account and I'm also signed up at planzo.com. I like planzo because it also has a "To Do" feature that emails me every day if I want it to to remind me of what I want to do.

And yesterday I signed up for a 30 Boxes calendar. I have to say it is easy to use, and one outstanding feature is the ability to have "buddies" whose events can come to your calendar, and your events to theirs, that is, if you want to do that.

Richard Mamanus on ZDNet reviews these and other "best of breed" online products. He cites Thomas Hawk's review of 30 Boxes as the "Best... Calendar... EVER."

Blogging via Flock

Flock, a web browser with a built-in blog editor, has been updated. The editor lets you

drop in photos from the topbar, include Web quotes and links, and tag your post. When you're ready, click Publish, and your wisdom is transmitted to your readers.

Also, you can store web items on the Shelf:

The Shelf is a scrapbook where you can keep interesting URLs, pictures or text snippets from any web page. When you're ready to blog about them, you don't have to search--they're on the Shelf.

Anything you drag from the Shelf into a blog post is automatically formatted as a blockquote, with proper citation.

Flock makes blogging easy. It's still in beta, however, so be prepared to encounter a few bugs.