“USB (Universal Serial Bus) 3.0 will create a backward-compatible standard with the same ease-of-use and plug and play capabilities of previous USB technologies. Targeting over 10x performance increase, the technology will draw from the same architecture of wired USB. In addition, the USB 3.0 specification will be optimized for low power and improved protocol efficiency. USB 3.0 ports and cabling will be designed to enable backward compatibility as well as future-proofing for optical capabilities.”

Read the full article at:   http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20070918comp.htm?cid=rss-90004-c1-183629

via Email | Helpdesk
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Access to network files on server Drayton will not be available tonight, Thursday, September 20, 2007 from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight due to emergency maintenance.  Thank you for your cooperation during this maintenance outage.

Please e-mail the HelpDesk at Helpdesk@cofc.edu if you have any questions.

Trying to make sense of all the new tools available to use in the classroom? Do all the new Web 2.0 applications sound like a foreign language?

The Learning Toolbox categories the TOP 100 TOOLS FOR LEARNING (selected by 109 LEARNING PROFESSIONALS) by type of tool The Learning Toolbox consists of two parts:

1 – Personal Tools: tools to access and view content as well as communicate with
others (for your own personal learning/working)

2 – Producer Tools: tools to develop and deliver content and other learning solutions (for yourself and others)

The Recommendations are the highest ranked tools in The Top 100 Tools list in each category. Other suggestions are other tools that appear in the Top 100 Tools and Extra 50 Tools list in the same category.

See also

• REVIEWS of Top 10/100
  Tools activity
• ANALYSIS OF TOP 100
  TOOLS LIST – our preliminary analysis of the list
• SUMMARY INFORMATION AS
  A FREE PDF - your own personal copy
• 10 MOST VISITED TOOLS PAGES
  - what tools are people finding interesting

The Learning Toolbox

Paul McCloskey | Campus Technology
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9/17/2007

By Paul McCloskey
Georgia Tech librarian Brian Matthews has teamed up with GT computer science professor Blaire MacIntyre to develop a space in the Second Life virtual world from which students could “check out” land parcels in order “to hang out, explore, and learn the basics of the software.”

“Our [rationale] is that if there is an interest, let’s say 20 students or more, then we’ll work toward purchasing an island for them,” wrote Matthews in his blog, The Ubiquitous Librarian. “The idea is still in the very early stages, but ideally we’re following this basic principal: just as [students] can [check out] a book, they can also [check out] a plot of virtual land. In this framework it becomes a discovery experience.”

The two academics want to develop the space as a resource for students to burnish their digital design skills and as a place to use just as a creative outlet. “The premise is that since so many of our students use digital design tools for class work, they can also benefit from exposure to Second Life,” Matthews wrote.

“Maybe SL isn’t sustainable long-term, that’s fine, we can just move to another virtual environment. My personal feeling about technology is that everything you learn can be applied elsewhere, therefore the more you know the better.”

Read More:

* The Ubiquitous Librarian
* Brian Matthews Site

9/18/2007

By Paul McCloskey
Social Web hotspot Facebook is the focus of a new course at Stanford this semester designed to teach both techies and non-science majors how to build “engaging Web applications.” In fact, the name of the course is called–in Learning Annex-style–”Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook.”

Yet the site will not focus directly on building applications. Instead, it will teach how to design “persuasive and engaging user experiences” in Facebook, according to its instructors.

The course will be taught by B.J. Fogg and Dave McClure. Fogg is involved in the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford. In addition to teaching the Stanford course, McClure is currently organizing a conference called “Graphing Social Patterns: the Business and Technology of Facebook.”

According to a fact sheet on the course on the Facebook website, the instructors are looking for “a mix of students with technical background and non-technical backgrounds. However, if you already have a background in Facebook application development, we want you in this class.”

Plusmo.com | Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:44:02 GMT
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Google has been working on adding PowerPoint-like functionality into their online office applications suite – Google Docs. Well, now it’s live and you can create your presentations online.

Here’s what you can do with presentations:

• Import existing presentations in .ppt and .pps file types.
• Export your presentations as HTML.
• Edit your presentations using our simple WYSIWYG editor.
• Insert images, and format your slides to fit your preferences.
• Share and edit presentations with your friends and work colleagues.
• Allow real-time viewing of presentations online, from separate remote locations.
• Publish your presentations on the web, allowing access to a wide audience.
• Each presentation can be up to 500K, plus 2MB per embedded image.
• Each user has a combined limit of 5,000 documents and presentations and 5,000 images.

It also integrates well into Google Docs and you get the same sharing, publishing and revisions features as for documents and spreadsheets. You can also get a preview of the presentation, which is useful for fine-tuning those slides.

There’s no support for animations, sound or video in there yet and you can’t export a presentation in PowerPoint format so it’s not quite a PowerPoint killer but, if all you need is a simple set of presentation slides with a few images in there, it’s ideal and, of course, free!

Visit Public Safety’s website at http://www.cofc.edu/publicsafety/, and view a short clip on the “Whistle Alert Program”. The intent of the Whistle Alert Program is to provide a means to diffuse an immediate threat or a crime in progress, not to eliminate the crime.  Public Safety does not encourage anyone other that trained Law Enforcement Officers to use physical means to subdue a criminal offender; the whistle provides a positive, non-confrontational alternative.

Your new personal defense system for our Campus, a “FREE” key chain safety whistle can be picked up from Public Safety 24/hrs a day 7 days a week.

Cpl. V. R. Parker
Crime Prevention
953-5609

via Emai|Human Resources
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 , 200 7
9:00 AM TO 2:00 PM
STERN STUDENT CENTER BALLROOM (4TH FLOOR)

Get ready for Open  Enrollment in October.  Representatives from the Employee Insurance Program and the South Carolina Retirement Systems will be here as well as vendor representatives of the State Optional Retirement Program.  Other representatives include CIGNA, BlueChoice Healthcare, MUSC Options, FBMC (MoneyPlus), SC Deferred Compensation,  Social Security Administration, banking services, financial planners, chiropractic care, and many more.

Special sessions will be held at the Stern Student Center Meeting Room 409 to announce changes to insurance plans effective January 1, 2008 .

9:30 AM                Employee Insurance Program
Nancy Evans

10:30 AM             BlueChoice HealthCare and MUSC Options
Donna Arndt

11:15 AM              CIGNA
Beverly Clark

This is a great opportunity to ask questions and receive updated information concerning your insurance and retirement benefits.

Be sure to attend and register for door prizes.  We look forward to seeing you there!

For additional information, contact Sandy Butler, Benefits Manager, Human Resources, at 953-5709.

via Email | Joe Kelly | Classroom Management Committee
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Dear Colleagues,

As speaker of the faculty I serve on the Classroom Management Committee, which was recently created to find ways of better managing our classroom facilities. With the President’s and Provost’s backing, we’ll be tackling some acute and not-so-acute problems with our classrooms.  But right now, I am seeking your immediate assistance for securing equipment and extending courtesy toward your teaching colleagues.

When you leave the classroom (especially if it is the last class of the day) please remember to

1. return desks and chairs, etc. to their original seating configuration (room arrangement charts will soon be posted in all classrooms);
2. erase boards;
3. turn off lights; and
4. close and lock classroom doors.

If you teach in a smart classroom, please also

1. log off the computer;
2. turn off the projector;
3. put all controls into the right-side cabinet; and
4. lock the cabinet. (We’ve had problems with theft of everything from CPU’s to controls, and also unauthorized people have been getting into the computers and tampering with programs).

If you suspect that the wrong furniture–either number or kind–is in your classroom, please contact your chair or Adam Cruz (3-6337) in the Registrar’s Office.  Thanks,

Joe Kelly
Dept. of English
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC 29424
843-953-4815 (office)
843-953-3180 (fax)

The Addlestone Library is pleased to announce the following upcoming sessions

• Basic PowerPoint:  (Instructor: Jared Seay)
  Always wanted to do PowerPoint, but digital confusion and fear stilled your hand?  Or maybe you just never got around to it.  Come learn how to easily create a PowerPoint presentation and include graphics, animations, sound, and hyperlinks.  Learn some nifty presentation tricks including how to avoid the “PowerPoint of Death.”  Beginner to near beginner welcome.

  Dates / Place / Time
  September 13           Addlestone Room 120    12 – 1:30pm
  September 14:          Addlestone Room 120     3 – 4:30pm

• Painless Web Page Editing: (Instructor: Jared Seay)
  Create web pages fast and easy with no blood, sweat, or tears.  Painlessly create web pages from scratch with free downloadable software. No prior experience with web editing necessary.

  Date / Place / Time
  September 21:          Addlestone Room 120      3 – 4:30pm

Register by responding to this e-mail indicating your choice(s) of session date(s).

To Register: Contact Jared Seay at seayj@cofc.edu
These sessions can also be scheduled as part of a special lecture (during your class time) for those instructors who require their students to produce a presentation in web page or PowerPoint format.  Contact Phillip Powell @ powellp@cofc.edu or 953-8006.