I was talking with Emily Dalton-Smith, Dawn Feldman and Phil Regier yesterday about all things ASU Online. One of the things we discussed was that, for online students, any and all services they are offered have to be available without ever coming to an ASU campus, an obvious but often overlooked fact. Some of these services, such as enrollment and registration, are already available online 24/7 through myASU. But we were talking about some that aren't, like for example Career Counseling.
So we start brainstorming, as that group is wont to do, when what I thought was a really good idea emerged. Essentially a mashup between an online career site -- say Monster.com -- and student profile information, resulting in a daily feed of job postings suited to the student's major, coursework and interests. So right there, in MyASU, from day one (even as you're applying perhaps), ASU would be showing a student a steady stream of jobs that their training and interests was preparing them for.
Ahh, but wait. There's more. Now mash up against an idea from Pandora. No, not the planet from Avatar. The music site. The one that feeds you a steady stream of new music based on a match against your interests. With every song, they ask for a thumbs up/thumbs down, and use that info to guide the music they send in the future. In the proposed context of course, students would give a thumbs up/thumbs down to the the days' job listings, and we (or Monster) could use that information to better understand what jobs interest the student (and prospective graduate) in the future.
I'm thinking this is a career service that would get our students thinking about careers early, help them flesh out their ideas about what kinds of careers they are preparing for, and get them thinking about what separates a good job from a bad one for them.
Good idea?
The State Press recently released the article "Official: ASU wireless network open to hackers" in its October 9, 2009 edition. The article makes some good points on the importance of knowing how to protect yourself and your personal information online but may lead readers to believe that ASU's wireless network isn't safe to use. I'd like to re-assure the ASU community that every precaution is taken to ensure the safety of users on ASU's wireless network.
ASU's wireless network allows students, faculty and staff to connect to the Internet, My ASU, Blackboard and other ASU resources from anywhere, anytime. Because ASU's wireless network doesn't require a password, it is considered "unsecure," but this is no different than any other public Wi-Fi spot like your favorite coffee shop or cafe.
In general, wireless networks are typically less secure than wired networks, so there are precautions users should take with any wireless connection, even in one's home.
There will always be a Wile E. Coyote looking for a way to outfox users online, and this is true at just about any Wi-Fi location. The important thing to remember is that instead of getting scared, you simply need to use wireless networks safely while keeping your best interests in mind, which means knowing when and where to access personal information online and knowing how to avoid common trickery like phishing and email scams.
For more on information security at ASU, visit http://getprotected.asu.edu
As always, your comments and suggestions are welcome.
ASU has outgrown its current blog and wiki service, the one we started as a beta back in February 2006. That's close to age 65 in blog and wiki years.
Although many students and faculty members have used this service successfully over the past three years, we're finding it hard to keep up with superior external services like Blogger, Twitter and Google Sites.
These newer services offer improved editing tools, more intuitive interfaces, customizable templates, enhanced multimedia features, upgraded commenting and collaboration features, better group blogging controls, and the ability to post to your blog from your mobile device.
So rather than spend money while continuing to fall farther behind, we're considering retiring ASU's blog and wiki service due to the small number of users and the existence of good, free alternatives like the ones listed above.
I'd like to hear your thoughts and notions about this possibility.
Would it inconvenience you if ASU discontinued this particular service?
How important is it for you to preserve the contents of your existing ASU blog or wiki? Would you be willing to migrate the content yourself into a new blog or wiki if we could show you how, or would you want ASU to do it for you?
How important is it to you that ASU provide blog and wiki services directly or would external services like Blogger or Google Sites be sufficient for your uses?
Please email me with your comments at uto@asu.edu or post them below.
For most college students, it's almost a rite-of-passage to spend big bucks at the bookstore. But with advancements in online publishing, digital textbooks are no longer out of the question. Not only are they cost effective, they're convenient, searchable, environmentally friendly, and may even incorporate rich media, giving students the ability to both read about a subject and maybe watch a video about it too.
And yet, even with all their advantages, traditional paper-based books still rule at universities around the country. What gives? Well, in my view, it's a complicated interaction between publishers, faculty, and students all caught in a 20th century business model that's yet to give way.
But all that may be changing, and soon.
Beginning in Fall 2009, ASU is partnering with Amazon to try out the Kindle DX, Amazon's latest digital reading device, to replace traditional textbooks in the classroom. Selected classes of students will begin using the Kindle instead of paper books, and we'll be comparing how they fare relative to their paper book wielding counterparts.
For example, thanks to a proposal from Dr. Ted Humphrey, President’s Professor in ASU's Barrett Honors College, a group of students enrolled in this fall's Human Event course will receive their textbooks not as bound books but on a brand new Kindle DX instead. The Human Event is a two-semester course required of all Barrett students that covers a wide range of material from about 50 different sources.
ASU is actively working with Amazon to find those courses of study for which the Kindle is a good alternative to traditional texts. In those areas, Kindle delivered e-books would provide students with a significant cost savings and provide them with an additional flexible learning tool. In addition to cutting textbook costs and reducing the weight in students' backpacks, digital textbooks are available for download wirelessly and reduce the amount of paper used to print and distribute textbooks.
Electronic texts provide the capabilities that today's students have come to expect--they're searchable, flexible, easy to annotate, and less expensive than traditional texts. I'm pumped to work with Amazon and to see how the Kindle can help the University accelerate the adoption of electronic textbooks into a variety of courses.
ASU is one of five universities participating with Amazon in the Kindle pilot. The others are Princeton University, Case Western Reserve University, Reed College, and Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia.
As always, your thoughts, notions, questions and comments are welcome.
Imagine picking up your favorite cereal brand at your local grocer and projecting information about that cereal onto the box - information like what kind of impact the cereal has on the environment, where it was made, etc.
Pattie Maes and Pranav Mistry of MIT are making this possible through the use of what they call the Sixth Sense, technology that connects the world to the Internet and delivers information to you about the things you're interested in.
The Sixth Sense (via a camera and mini-projector slung around your neck) recognizes objects around you, then projects information about that object onto any surface - your hand, that cereal box I mentioned earlier, your best friend's white t-shirt. Finger sensors allow you to control and access this information in a way that is most desirable to you.
They did a great presentation on it at TED. You really have to see it to believe it.
Not sure what time it is? Trace a circle on your wrist for an instant watch. Want to take a photo? Frame the image with your hands and the Sixth Sense will snap a pic. On your way to the airport? Take a look at your boarding pass for real time flight info.
Just when you think we're out of ideas, the exponential future pokes its head out...
Wanted to make everyone aware of the Confiker (or Downadup) virus that's rumored to strike on April 1st. The Confiker worm disables Windows security features and can compromise an infected computer so that it can be used to attack others. The virus can gather personal and other forms of information as well.
To protect your personal and home machines:
