Category Archives: 15 Minutes A Day

Facebook Finally Offers Users Encryption

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If you regularily use Facebook in the lab or on unsecured wireless hot spots (like Starbucks or Barnes and Noble), you should read Tim Brookes article from from MakeUse.com.  The articles explains how to use Facebook’s new setting so your entire Facebook session will be encrypted and less vulnerable to hijacking.

Facebook Finally Offers Users The Encryption They Deserve by Tim Brookes

If you’re an avid Facebook user then there’s one new feature you’ll probably want to enable straight away – the option to login, browse and do all your social networking worry-free, using a secure HTTPS connection to the server.

Facebook previously used HTTPS to handle logins, but from then on the site reverted to a non-secure version. Using the new setting found in the Account Security area under Account Settings (look for Secure Browsing) the whole session will be encrypted and less vulnerable to hijacking.

Users considered to be most at risk are those who regularly login from public access computers and unsecured wireless hot spots. If you do regularly use Facebook from any public places then we’d recommend changing to the HTTPS option as soon as you can.

As a consequence of the secure connection, pages may take longer to load than usual. There are also a large number of applications that are not yet compatible with the HTTPS.

In a blog post, Facebook’s Alex Rice said: “Some Facebook features, including many third-party applications, are not currently supported in HTTPS.

“We’ll be working hard to resolve these remaining issues. We are rolling this out slowly over the next few weeks, but you will be able to turn this feature on in your Account Settings soon. We hope to offer HTTPS as a default whenever you are using Facebook sometime in the future.”

Faculty Focus: Education Remix: Unlocking Creativity to Boost Learning

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John Orlando posted a great article this week on Faculty Focus titled Education Remix: Unlocking Creativity to Boost Learning discussing social media and remix culture.  One of the most common forms of remix culture is making videos, which can be used as a great learning activity in the classroom.  As Orlando states, “remixing is also a fundamentally creative process, as the creator must develop links between two different topics. The process forces the creator to see the topic from new perspectives.”

Orlando also notes that “one simple way to use remixing in your classes is to provide extra credit to students who develop a short video that reinterprets some part of popular culture in a way related to the class subject. The original can be a song, commercial, movie, etc. Students can also remix elements of photographs or text.”

If you are interested in using remix culture in the classroom, or are considering how remixing can foster engagement, creativity, and learning, take a moment to read John Orlando’s article and follow the helpful links he provided in his article below.

Remix examples:

Discussions:

President Emeritus Stern’s autobiography now online

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In 2001, the library published President Stern’s autobiography, No Problems, Only Challenges.  Thanks to the efforts of the Lowcountry Digital Library team, a digital edition is now available and freely available at http://lowcountrydigital.library.cofc.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/CCF&CISOPTR=3874&REC=2.

If you haven’t had a chance to explore the collections available at the Lowcountry Digital Library we encourage you to do so.  The Lowcountry Digital Library digitizes and makes accessible unique local resources, providing access to materials that, in the past, required a fieldtrip or were not available at all. In order to provide a well rounded digital collection, the library works with partner institutions in a collaborative manner.  Participating institutions include:

Faculty Focus – Using smartphones to conduct polls

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If you are not familiar with Faculty Focus I highly recommend it.  It is full of great information and ideas for teaching.  Today’s article by John Orlando, PhD is about Using Polling and Smartphones to Keep Students Engaged.

I was familiar with some of the polling software provided in the article, but many were new to me.  I enjoyed reviewing the different recommendations.  If you have considered using polling in your class but do not have access to iClickers (or other clicker technologies) or just want to try it out and see what you think of it, this may be a great option!

I am including a brief excerpt and the “Links” section from the article below.

While many instructors consider smartphones the bane of teaching—causing distraction and even cheating during a test—polling turns the technology into a teacher’s advantage by engaging students with the content.

Orlanda has also provided an informative screencast, demonstrating how easy it is to use polling software. Watch it here »

Links

  • Vorbeo (http://vorbeo.com)
    Another system for creating a poll to embed in your website.

Work together in real time on the same Prezi with Prezi Meeting!

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PREZI recently announced that you can now work together in real time on the same prezi! With Prezi Meeting, teams can collaborate live or simply present prezis with up to 10 people in a prezi at one time.  What a great enhancement to an already great presentation program. Click HERE to learn more about how to start Prezi Meeting!

cinfolit cinema + information literacy

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A great new blog found by Jannette Finch, Librarian at the Lowcountry Graduate Center.

cinfolit available at http://cinfolit.blogspot.com/ compiles popular film scenes, TV shows and YouTube examples to help demonstrate information literacy skills in the classroom.

Posted by Ellie

Twilight in the Classroom!

One way to ask students to create their own criteria for evaluating the reliability of websites is through a clip from the popular film Twilight. We see the main character, Bella Swan, use Google to find a website about the Cold Ones and use the website to come to a conclusion about Edward Cullen. Students are asked questions about the reliability of the site based upon what they see and what other kinds of conclusions Bella can draw outside of vampire.

Here is the clip from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BGVeLelmQc

15 Minutes A Day: Helpful FaceBook Hacks to Make Your Life Easier

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While reading 6 Facebook Hack Codes And Tips To Show Off Your Geeky Skills By Ryan Dube from makeuseof.com I ran across a couple of interesting and useful hacks.  The second hack mentioned, “Aye, Make Yer Profile a Pirate’s Page…” would be great for Talk Like a Pirate Day. It is not particularly useful, but we can just call this one fun.  What is useful is that Facebook allows users to select the Language their page is displayed in.

The second profile hack is also one of the easiest to implement. Facebook offers users the ability to transform their Facebook pages into any language that they like. If you scroll down to the lower left corner of your profile page, you’ll see your current language setting. Click on this, and you’ll have a list of all languages available to you. Notice the English Pirate option?

The 4th Tip “Download Complete Photo Collections from Your Friends Profles” was one that I have been looking for.  I can’t count how many times my I have run across an album from a conference, event, etc. and wished that I could download the entire album for myself.  According to the author, you can download the Firefox plug-in FacePAD and download entire albums.

After you install the FacePad plug-in, make sure you select Tools->Add-Ons, and configure the options for FacePad so it has your correct Facebook language. Then, all you have to do is go to your friend’s photo albums, right-click on the title and select “Download Album With FacePAD.”  That’s right, you’re not downloading a single picture – but an entire album.

Another tips I found useful in the article was “Scheduling Facebook Status Updates with Sendible.  If you use your Facebook status to let people know where you are but can’t be at a computer, can’t use your cell phone or don’t have internet access, this could solve your problems.

The last tip I would like to share is how to “Hide Your Online Status from Certain People.”  Unfortunately with the merging of business and personal there are times when Facebook can be a real time drain.  If you are trying to schedule your day there are times when you don’t need unwanted interruptions.  Everyone also has the friend/friends that just don’t seem to have anything to do.  I had set my Facebook status to offline but this seems as though it would be far more useful, allowing you to talk to who you want to when you want to.

…open up your chat icon in the lower right corner of your Facebook display, click on Friend Lists, and create a new list called “BlockList.” Make sure after you create it that it’s configured under “Display these lists in Chat.”  Now, all you have to do is either click “edit” and add the friends you want to block, or if they’re already online, just click their name and drag them under this new list. Once you’ve got everyone there who you want to block from see your online status, hover your mouse over the green dot to the right and click on “Go Offline.” Now, you appear offline to only those certain friends.

To full article from by Ryan Dube from makeuseof.com, visit: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-facebook-hack-codes-and-tips-to-show-off-your-geeky-skills/


15 Minutes A Day: Rethinking the Visualization of Data

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Data presentation can be more than tables, pie charts and bar graphs.  To convey the message you want to present, you might want to be a little more creative to catch your audiences attention.  Here are a few creative approaches to help you reconsider your average pie chart.

found via Libology from VisualLiteracy.org

A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods is a great resource if you have information you need to present visually, but don’t know the best way to express it. Simply go to the site and let your mouse hover over the examples in the different categories.  Note the creative use of the Periodic Table structure…”

Other great resources on the visual display of information worth reviewing: